{"id":9051,"date":"2021-06-16T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=9051"},"modified":"2021-06-29T09:25:32","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T13:25:32","slug":"page-to-stage-smart-moves-and-funny-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=9051","title":{"rendered":"Page to Stage: Smart Moves and Funny Business"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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How many times have I rolled my eyes at our local \u201cnewspaper\u201d for running the same story twice. Then, yesterday, I did it myself!\u00a0 I posted \u201cThe Deep Dive\u201d story several weeks ago before my brain\u2019s post-covid shutdown. Today, here\u2019s the new content I wanted to share.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my Zoom class, \u201cInside the Rehearsal Room,\u201d the actors– Kate Eastwood Norris and Cody Nickell\u2014started adding movement to the script for Neil Simon\u2019s Last of the Red Hot Lovers<\/em>, which they\u2019d been working on in previous sessions. Led by Theatre J<\/a> artistic director Adam Immerwahr, we saw the now-familiar first scene taking shape. Would the character ideas they\u2019d explored in their deep dive into the script actually work on stage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norris and Nickell are married, so their living room became the covid-bubble \u201cset,\u201d with sofa, coffee table, bookcase, and cameo appearances by the couple\u2019s cat. Ground rules established where entrances and exits would be, which furniture could be sat on, what could be moved, and so on, to give the actors the greatest flexibility in engaging with what was, after all, a very simple layout. Even though they were in their own familiar living room, \u201cThe first time you\u2019re on your feet is always nerve-wracking,\u201d Nickell said. The actors don\u2019t know yet where to look, or what to do with their hands, which is why, as Immerwahr said, \u201cActors love to touch furniture!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In blocking scenes, he encourages actors to \u201cavoid the magnet of the chairs\u201d and has them delay sitting down as long as possible. Once they sit, it\u2019s awkward to find the right moment\/motivation to get up again. There can\u2019t be just random movement, or movement for its own sake; rather, the staging should convey the emotional points. Similarly, in fiction, a character\u2019s movements need to have motivation. Not just him lighting a cigarette or her brushing back to her hair to break up the dialog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Too, there may be embedded stage directions in the script. An example from Red Hot<\/em> is when Barney (hopeful of having a fling with Elaine) asks her if she wants a drink, and she does. That gives him an excuse to stand up. If he\u2019s only just sat down, then pops up again, the jack-in-the-box action underscores his indecisiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this early point in play rehearsal, actors are balancing getting their lines and knowing where to stand and when to walk. Ideas have to be tested. Here\u2019s one that worked on several levels. Elaine wanders around, checking out the apartment as they chat. She reaches the bookshelves, takes down a book, looks at it, and tosses it on the sofa. Barney\u2014scrupulously aware of not leaving any evidence he\u2019s been in his mother\u2019s apartment\u2014picks up the book, and as Elaine moves away, nervously returns it to its place on the bookshelf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though the staging process takes a lot of attention and time, Immerwahr said that, in general, a rough cut of the staging can be accomplished in about two rehearsal days. There\u2019s a physical fight between Elaine and Barney near the end of the first act, and, for something like that, they would wait for the fight director to be on hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In part because of the placement of the lights, the actors\u2019 movements have to become part of their muscle memory. However spontaneous an action may appear, the staging for a multi-person scene is almost never improvised. It\u2019s set in stone, in the stage manager\u2019s notes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How many times have I rolled my eyes at our local \u201cnewspaper\u201d for running the same story twice. Then, yesterday, I did it myself!\u00a0 I posted \u201cThe Deep Dive\u201d story several weeks ago before my brain\u2019s post-covid shutdown. Today, here\u2019s … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Page to Stage: Smart Moves and Funny Business - making characters' actions mean something","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[269,61,174,147],"tags":[747,1853],"class_list":["post-9051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-actor","category-character","category-first-draft-blog","category-theater","tag-adam-immerwahr","tag-theatre-j"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2NkiT-2lZ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9051"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9053,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9051\/revisions\/9053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}