A Week of Reflection

Rough Crossing: Week 1

It’s been over a week since King Lear closed and I must admit, I have had some serious withdrawals. I’ve been in contact with several of the other cast members and they’ve confirmed the same sense of loss; a wonderful show past into that special place inside an actors heart that only those involved can truly understand. I will forgo the common mistake of trying to articulate this feeling, but I will say it was a wonderful experience, all I could have asked for and something a little more.

So it is with that I am on to my next show. Hit the ground running on this one. A full day off between closing and the first rehearsal but that’s what we strive for as actors, stacking work. I have tried to leave the experience and happiness of Lear behind but I feel it is only natural that some of that experience will creep in to this show. I guess some of that is a good thing as we try to grow with each performance, I just hope that it will not affect the uniqueness of this experience or corrupt this show’s process in any way.

Rehearsals have been steady, although slow. Trying to navigate Stoppard is like wandering a minefield blindfolded. To some extent, you must simply go with God. I do feel, however, that great effort is being extended in our interpretation of the script and am very happy with which the ensemble is approaching the work. Our Director, George Pierce, has given the cast an opportunity to share their ideas in an open forum before we set everything in stone. I really enjoy this way of working as a team and I feel it will make us all the closer over the long run. He has many keen insights into the staging of the show and has already shown his intelligence when it comes to script analysis. It sets me at ease to know that if something isn’t working, we can discuss it and try to make adjustments accordingly.

George has made a very unique (and subsequently quirky) choice to overlay some of the conversations over one another, juxtaposing the actor’s perspectives in several scenes with their individual intentions intact. It makes for great humor but will be very much reliant on the audience to decipher for themselves all that is happening on stage. It takes a great sense of timing and control to pull this off and although we still have a long way to go, I think it will be well worth the effort once we arrive. “Rough Crossing” may yet prove to be all its name entails but, for all those existentialists out there, will provide all the more spectacular a view from the other side.