#corvallissummer

Aegeon (Craig Currier) weaves a sad tale while Gallow (Irene Drage) and Solinus (Sam Thompson) look on.

Opening night is hours away and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. Of COURSE I'm nervous! Every show is dependent on so many people and so many tiny elements to go right, including things we have no control over (such as the weather) that it's much more likely things will go wrong. I don't mean to sound pessimistic, but that's the exciting world of theatre - weeks of unbelievably hard work followed by one giant leap of faith.

Antipholus S. (Joseph Workman) and Dromio S. (Chris Peterman) share their suspicions about the people of Ephesus.

As for what we actually can control . . . I feel quite confident. Last night was the first time I actually just sat back and enjoyed the show. And I enjoyed it quite a bit. The performances were tight, confident, and engaged. And the technical elements ran smoothly. It's pretty much all I could ask for as far as the mechanics of the show. But I also began to see the individual actors having a deeper understanding and connection to the madcap Jersey/Ephesus we have spent weeks constructing.

Antipholus E. (Jonathan Thompson) lost in a world of confusion while Nell (Ricky Zipp), the Courtesan (Tucker Minnick), Angelo (Arin Dooley), and Balthazar (Richelle Jean-Bart) look on.

The characters all seemed comfortable in their animal-print-and-sequin-clad skin. The actors were owning these performances really and truly for the first time and it was delightful to watch. As I have suspected from the beginning, this is not a deeply-felt probing of the human condition, but that doesn't mean that it's not a lot of fun.

Barn I see on my run.

"If a farmer fills his barn with grain, he get mice. If he leaves it empty, he gets actors."

Shade tree and sunlight in the Quad.

"Sunlight is painting."

Another wonderful design by the talented Nathan Langner.

I had to share the graphic design for the poster. I feel it speaks to the aesthetic of the world quite well . . . as the promotional material should mind you.

This world has been a little challenging for me to get my brain around, but over the past week of rehearsal I've started to see little blurry pieces of the picture become more clear. The fight scenes I had referred to a couple of blogs ago were weighing heavily on my mind. I was conflicted between keeping up with the "reality" of the "reality television" context, but also keeping things light, fun, and funny. (The Dromio characters are beaten relentlessly by the Antipholuses and Antipholus E. threatens to cut Adriana's face!) How do these expressions of deplorable violence play to a contemporary audience? Not easily if played straight.

This world must be larger than life to work. First of all, the sheer scale of the Quad demands an over-the-top acting style and physicalization from the performers. But second, the script is pretty ludicrous - for crying out loud Antipholus of Syracuse has gone looking for his twin brother and once all these crazy coincidences happen, it doesn't occur to him at all that may just have found him. Instead, he explains away the seemingly strange behavior of all the locals he encounters to be the work of witches or the devil.