#vanderstorm

I feel like we do less table work, like we might only do 2 maybe 3 days before we’re up on our feet. So getting everything geared towards that earlier is a thing.

and the other thing is contemporary shows are so specific in their setting whereas we get to fuck around with it in Shakespeare. In some ways it feels more constrictive. i’m not sure how to translate that feeling into what that means for stage management, but it’s in the room.

The other thing is...I feel like the Shakespeare actors are better trained in the business of being an actor? Like they know to not cut their hair without consultation, take fight choreography much more seriously, try to get off book faster...stuff like that? That’s just my experience though. I can totally see it being the exact opposite, since Shakespeare can be done by anyone.

Feelings aside, there’s not much different in the mechanics between Shakespeare and contemporary in terms of what my paperwork is or how I would call the show. I would say there’s more of a difference between spoken theatre versus non-verbal or sung theatre.

1. Classics or New Works?

New Works, preferably…BUT in that same vein, classics reimagined or thought about in NEW WAYS.  Often because I like to take a fresh look at things or try something completely new, but also because I sometimes feel like I can’t or don’t want to try to find a way to remount something I feel has lost its relevance.  Or I’m just afraid of living up to standards of a classic.  Sometimes it’s just the fear, I admit.  But I always prefer doing something new if possible.

3. Plays or Musicals?

I got INTO theatre via the musical theatre genre. And now I kind of have to be dragged to go see them…often because I feel like they aren’t directed well, actually.  Or they’re just as deep as a puddle.  I’m not itching to direct a musical any time soon. I’m selfish and I don’t like how much time has to go to music and choreo rehearsals before I can get my hands on them, generally.  But there are some musicals I’d LOVE to direct.

11. What moves you to direct? Why theater and not film or tv?

This answer could change from day to day or moment to moment, honestly…but it probably all eventually is similar to the fact that there is just nothing more magical to me than live theatre. It’s unpredictable, and while I do think some control is necessary (for safety…both physical and emotional), it’s so exciting to know that no two nights are the same. It’s VISCERAL, and I feel like film and TV can be too manufactured. It’s the human experience right in front of our eyes. And I think that’s beautiful and special.

15. What’s your end goal? Where does it all lead to?

Answered! ;) 

So I said this to an older married man at brunch for Easter and he went on about how married had fundamentally changed his relationship with his wife into something even more beautiful. So you'll have to let me know how you and Ada fair.

I mean I guess if both people expect something to change once they get married then it will? What’s funny is my mom is like “nah you’re right nothing really changes if you’re already at this point” Like we - and I’m betting a lot of younger people who cohabit before getting married - aren’t going to have any adjustment period after the wedding. There will be no “learning new habits” or “figuring it all out” etc etc that comes with moving in together for the first time (which I’m gonna go out on a limb and bet this older married man didn’t move in with his wife until right before or after the wedding, since tradition). Especially since Zach and I have known each other since high school XD

Have that be your Mega dude.......

So, take this with the following grains of salt, namely that 1, I’ve never played any of the other DA titles, or any other Bioware games, for that matter, and 2, I play on a Mac. I own no consoles, and prior to Dragon Age, the most in depth games I played were Civ V, Bastian (which I still haven’t finished), Portal, and the Sims.

So, personally, I loved it. Complex controls confuse the hell out of me. The game runs well on my computer, which is remarkable enough given that it is not only a Mac but a Macbook Pro from mid 2010. I found the gameplay easy enough to pick up on and understand, and still challenging enough even on the easiest setting for my first playthrough that I had to actually work to get through some of the bigger battles. By the end of the first playthrough, I felt ready to bump up a difficulty level for my second playthrough, which has proved really… interesting. (By which, I mean, whoops, party members have been dying more this time. My bad… I’m also not quite as good at playing a warrior, apparently.)

A lot of the time I hear critiques along these lines, it’s followed by “especially in comparision to Origins or Inquisition” and I don’t have that basis to judge by. Or the basis of any other RPG, really - this is a new and unique experience. And that makes it fun, and exciting for me.

Are there flaws? I’m sure - but I get engrossed enough in the story that I don’t mind them so much. For me, it’s not about the mechanics of the game so much because I don’t have a strong basis for comparison. I know that I am engrossed in the lives of these characters and the moralities and politics of their world, and that matters more to me when I am used to getting nothing at all.

That being said, I cannot tell you how strong the urge is to go get a freaking Windows laptop so I can play Inquisition. (Ridiculously.)