Understudy Unlimited

The understudy rehearsal began at noon on one of those blistering Orinda days of almost Biblical heat (you could make matzo in the desert kind of heat). The normally bustling Bruns Amphitheatre was like a sun-bleached ghost town; the eight understudies present that day (usually more but the understudies for Caroline and Elvy were busy finishing high school) and a skeleton tech crew. This was one of those times when Les shows how truly capable she is; on “Understudy Day” the Stage Manager is basically the director, who has to take the actors through the entire play – except in this case the actors have never rehearsed before and have five hours to get the whole thing done.

The idea is to take the understudies (some of whom are off book and some of whom are not whatsoever) through the play in it’s entirety; including especially blocking, entering, exiting and general “getting it right”-ness. It is actually very physically and mentally taxing particularly in this heat. Plus for the understudies like Kevin, Raif, Brandin and myself who are also in the show the process can be frustrating. We haven’t had the chance to come to the show with a clipboard and right down all the intricacies of the performance we’re covering. In some cases we’re performing scenes we haven’t seen since the last run-thru at the Heinz yet we’re expected to approximate the performance as closely as we can. And in my case shadowing Reg’s performance – which to be fair is full of virtuosic little nods and bits all over – is no mere thing. So needless to say there’s a lot of starting and stopping – a lot of acting and then looking out into the audience to Les asking:

“He does some funny thing here doesn’t he? Doesn’t he do some kind of dancey-dancey bit here?”

“Yes. A sort of skippy-skippy thing.”

“A skippy-skip. Then he does a grabby-grabby and then a “ha ha ha” thing, right?”

“Yes, grabby. No, ha ha.”

“That’s the next scene, right?”

“No.”

“Is it the one after that?”

“No.”

“Where’s the “ha ha ha”, then?”

“To my knowledge, Max, he never does a “ha ha ha” anywhere in this particular production.”

“….. well I would.”

Yes, as one can probably guess understudying an actor is a weird thing – there’s often a palpable sense of trespass and unworthiness. You’re basically walking around in the theatrical equivalent of someone else’s underwear. If you admire the other actor’s performance (and in this show that’s certainly the case) you may feel strange and even guilty trying to “replicate” it. Plus if you have within you a glint of desire to someday play the part you are understudying then you may feel an instinctual urge to really “go for it” on the off chance that it might be your only opportunity. I know this makes it sound really emotional and Docter Phil and it’s not really, but actor’s (like most people) are an emotional and hysterical people and this sort of thing can be profoundly weird.

We did it though. All us understudies went up and did our lines. Like I said, taxing and occasionally deeply absurd. For instance, since there are a number of parts in Richard the Third and a limited amount of understudies there is naturally some doubling up. This becomes trully bizarre, however, when you are trying to run the entire play and the same actor is understudying all of these parts. You will, for example, have an actor do a scene in which he is understudying two characters: so he does it twice, once for each character, each time talking to an empty space with Les reading the other guy’s lines. Or sometimes two understudies will do a scene and exit and then run back on to do to completely different characters. A pity that Les disallowed all stage-combat from the rehearsal; otherwise you could have seen Thomas fighting Thomas, fighting Brandin and Brandin fighting me and eventually being killed in the end by Thomas. Can you imagine? It's like Henry the Fifth performed by schitzophrenics (hey ... not a bad idea! They could call it "Henry/David/Kenneth/Alice the Fifth")

Over hill and Under Study!

A too long hiatus between blogs. I blame the weather both the crappy
type from the week before and the sublime kind we have now. Plus, I¹ve been reading my co-blogger Jim Carpenter¹s co-blog (that sounds vaguely klingon) which is so insightful. You¹d think I wouldn¹t need to read it with the source-material sitting right across from me in our musky men¹s dressing room but I do! There¹s never enough Carpentry to go around.

There¹s loads I haven¹t brought up that might be interesting I say MIGHT.

One thing was that on the Wednesday of the second week I took part in a secret mid-day gathering that only a few selective people were privy to:

The Understudy Rehearsal!
(Okay that should look different. Try to imagine it with spooky Halloweeny font! Like Baskerville Semi-bold, or some-aught like that!)

Did you know that CalShakes had understudies? Those who read my blog last year would say “Yea!”. If you recall Juliet Strong actually went on during Merchant of Venice for the then sickly Jenny Bacon. Generally, the understudies are a few of the non-union cast members who second the main parts and a couple invaluable people like Juliet who aren¹t in the play most nights but memorize a major role in their own time.

The role of an understudy is kind of like a concealed firearm. Hopefully all will go well and you won¹t have to use it, but if you must you definitely want yours loaded and ready. (That sounds so weird. Understudies shouldn’t be “loaded”)

Sometimes the understudy gig can be a big frustration with all the work and none of the back-stage betties with programs for you to sign. And if on the odd occasion you are “called up to the majors” it is necessarily a nerve-wracking experience for everyone involved.

At CalShakes there is one singular opportunity for the understudies to actually rehearse their part – mainly for practical reasons; they have to know where to come on, when to go off and how to die in costume. One rehearsal for a 3 hour play might sound absurdly insufficient … and that’s because it is. But in the event an actual “downed actor” an emergency team would be scrambled to fully prepare them to go on. Still for the time being that one Wednesday rehearsal is our metaphoric “one bullet given to Barney Fife so’s he can feel like a deputy but not hurt nobody.”

To be continued …

Here are a few glimpses into the deep interior life backstage at the Bruns Ampitheatre:

Liam in his pre-scene coma.



Jim Carpenter posing for his new play "Pope: First Blood"





And finally Elvy Yost does some Linklater-Jaw Exercises.

Opening Sesame

Well, somebody in the weather room must be forgiving because that was what the weather was like last opening night. Cold, it's true, but finally a calm, windless night. By comparison to the previews it was positively balmy.

The show went very well I think all would agree. I was very moved and inspired throughout by my fellow Plantagenets. It's such a fine group and a good vibe that I find it a pleasure to show up for work every day. Which is a good thing since the morning after opening we have to get up and do our first matinee in the sweaty California heat; irony of ironies!

Knight Fever

One little piece of something you may not know. During previews we in Richard III not only rehearse before our performance, than DO the performance, but we actually continue to rehearse after the audience has filed out of the Bruns and meandered down the hill to their Jettas, Civics and Priusii(real word?)

Last night the 2nd preview went a bit better. Still wind but much less. After a short break the actors got together on the stage to work the final fight again. But since it was late and all us actors were punch-drunk from too much pentameter Andrew (our fight captain) had us do it without weapons. The resultant "finger-fighting" was so much fun it felt like we were channeling those long-forgotten "light-saber fights" we had on the schoolyard of 3rd grade yesteryear. I (from my position as a dead guy) snapped a picture of the Richmond and Richard's deadly finger battle; rendered to you through my handy Elizabethan cell phone.

Behold!