4/22/06 Reactions to February production of OUR TOWN
(I wrote this reaction to the Warren Wilson Theatre production of OUR TOWN, directed by Ron Bashford, shortly after I saw it, but somehow failed to post it to the blog. Rather than add it to an existing post from that time, I'll put it here.)
Reactions to OUR TOWN (2/16)
Good, good student production of a great script. Beautifully directed. Clear and simple, simple, simple. Some opportunities missed, I suppose, but many more right on the button. Great for the actors: great teaching tool about acting and theatre--good antidote to all the crap they're awash in and all the "acting" they think is expected.
I'm struck by what a truly strange play it is. Just as it seems to settle down into its placid, reassuring, quaint self, Wilder throws in something like, "A thousand marriages. One of them interesting." (or something like that). I'm struck, too, by the violence of it. George's scene with his father, especially (though it could have been pared down even more and the violence made even stranger). And the wedding scene--those moments of expressionistic outburst--strange and true. Nicely done. And Emily's mother's strange wedding speech about how wrong it is. Great writing.
Visually, the last act worked very well. The moment with the dead and Emily in the spot but not yet in her grave and the living under the umbrellas against the black of the empty house: perfect picture.
The Stage Manager's (Glenn's) speech about eternity: good choice to deliver it forcefully (yet very cleanly) because it put me right up against my own skepticism about his declaration that everybody believes that there's something that eternal about people. I don't believe that, but it's the god question--or, in the play, Nature rather than God--and I seem to be coming up against it frequently these days...
Audience on the stage facing out into the house (scrim down at the proscenium till the last act) worked very, very well. Picket fence surrounding audience was wonderful. Also, the cast welcoming the audience in while in student street clothes at the beginning and then making the transition into period dress as the action began worked to break down the audience/actor barrier while simultaneously heightening the transparent theatricality that Wilder calls for. Not a crazy radical idea or updating, just bringing the script into the here-and-now.
I think working on the New England accents was a good idea on the whole--again, the obvious theatricality (we're pretending to be people in a different place and time) but created some problems, too. Some people tended to move into a kind of Brooklyn accent which was distracting. I became aware of the accents rather than the action. At the same time, the effort was light enough that I never felt that the actors, even the ones having trouble with it, were playing the accent rather than the moment.
I was very impressed by the fact that Glenn as S.M. played with absolute focus and calm, clear ease. Even when he became emphatic, he didn't start "acting". He was very specific and played the material rather than playing a character. Good work.
Reactions to OUR TOWN (2/16)
Good, good student production of a great script. Beautifully directed. Clear and simple, simple, simple. Some opportunities missed, I suppose, but many more right on the button. Great for the actors: great teaching tool about acting and theatre--good antidote to all the crap they're awash in and all the "acting" they think is expected.
I'm struck by what a truly strange play it is. Just as it seems to settle down into its placid, reassuring, quaint self, Wilder throws in something like, "A thousand marriages. One of them interesting." (or something like that). I'm struck, too, by the violence of it. George's scene with his father, especially (though it could have been pared down even more and the violence made even stranger). And the wedding scene--those moments of expressionistic outburst--strange and true. Nicely done. And Emily's mother's strange wedding speech about how wrong it is. Great writing.
Visually, the last act worked very well. The moment with the dead and Emily in the spot but not yet in her grave and the living under the umbrellas against the black of the empty house: perfect picture.
The Stage Manager's (Glenn's) speech about eternity: good choice to deliver it forcefully (yet very cleanly) because it put me right up against my own skepticism about his declaration that everybody believes that there's something that eternal about people. I don't believe that, but it's the god question--or, in the play, Nature rather than God--and I seem to be coming up against it frequently these days...
Audience on the stage facing out into the house (scrim down at the proscenium till the last act) worked very, very well. Picket fence surrounding audience was wonderful. Also, the cast welcoming the audience in while in student street clothes at the beginning and then making the transition into period dress as the action began worked to break down the audience/actor barrier while simultaneously heightening the transparent theatricality that Wilder calls for. Not a crazy radical idea or updating, just bringing the script into the here-and-now.
I think working on the New England accents was a good idea on the whole--again, the obvious theatricality (we're pretending to be people in a different place and time) but created some problems, too. Some people tended to move into a kind of Brooklyn accent which was distracting. I became aware of the accents rather than the action. At the same time, the effort was light enough that I never felt that the actors, even the ones having trouble with it, were playing the accent rather than the moment.
I was very impressed by the fact that Glenn as S.M. played with absolute focus and calm, clear ease. Even when he became emphatic, he didn't start "acting". He was very specific and played the material rather than playing a character. Good work.
posted by Graham at 4:34 AM
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