« Dance Break! | Main | Frustrating »
December 12, 2004
Bits-N-Pieces
There was a heavy frost last night. The poor garden must be so confused. First snow, lots of it for a couple of weeks, then heavy, soaking rains until all the snow was gone and temperatures in the 50's. Now, once the protecting snow is all gone, a serious, coat everything in glitter and pewter frost. I had parsley in the garden that was still thriving under the snow. It's dead now. And now that the sun is shining and the snow is gone, I should go out and do some cleaning up in the yard. Which I will. Once I'm done with rehearsal today.
Speaking of acting, my audition on Friday was short and sweet. The first 19 lines of the Prologue from Henry V. It goes fast. I didn't rush, but never, never, never actually fill your audition time. Leave 'em wanting more. It was nice, not having to worry about getting cast. Because I don't.
I'm in MacBeth, as a witch, at the very least, but David would be stupid to not give me something text heavy, because I have more experience and, frankly, a better sense of the language than probably anyone but John, who I would consider to be of roughly equal ability and training.
And speaking of John, if my response to the audition requirement was to grouse about 1) lack of advanced notice and 2) wasting the time of the directors who couldn't cast roughly half of the people they saw because none of the BFA or MFA candidates are available for next semester, his was even more contemptful of the whole process. I went right after he did, so I got to see and hear his audition, though I was trying really hard to focus on my own stuff.
He walked in, introduced himself and announced his piece, from Tripping Home, a play I've never heard of, but that's not surprising. I'm not into a lot of modern stuff, and there's more coming out all the time. And then, as he launched into this complicated and repetetive piece, I thought, "I hate memorizing contemporary monologues. They're so hard to get into your head. And his is really complex." And it really was a great monologue. Very clear and interesting arc, great language, and he'd clearly worked on it for a while.
After our auditions, we were chatting. He mentioned he was surprised because mine went so fast, and then he told me that he'd made his up. On the spot. Yep. He thought it was a waste of everybody's time too, and he didn't have time to work one up, so he improvised the entire thing. And this is the best part: one of the professors was in the theatre and chuckled a couple of times. John said he was just glad no one asked him for the playwright's name.
That's the kind of thing I admire. Talk about a benign disdain for convention. You go John.
Posted by sally at December 12, 2004 09:32 AM
©2006 - All content copyright Sally Eames-Harlan unless otherwise noted