Blog #7: Important milestone reached

Blog #7: Major milestone reached 1) acceptances & RSVPs 2) program snub 3) no shows & an unexpected arrival 4) overview of project to date The week leading up to the public reading was full of promising developments. For instance, from the 13 invitations I’d sent, I received 8 acceptances. This seemed like a very good ratio of invite to acceptance and allayed any creeping misgivings about how many might turn up. As the six confirmed actors were instructed to bring at least one person each, it seemed a reasonable expectation that we’d have an audience of between 10 and 20 people; and that ladies and gentlemen would, in my mind, be a very successful outcome indeed. Alas, the reality proved quite different, but before I go into that, I’d like to describe one of the less positive occurrences of the week. Talk about seeming like a good idea at the time...I wanted to have a program for the afternoon, for several reasons: It would provide a vehicle to describe and explain the project, say a little about the plays, give something for the audience to read while they waited for the activities to start, and provide a forum for the actors to do some self promotion. I thought that it was the least I could do by way of a ‘thank you’ for the actors who had stuck it out and supported the project. Well the actors didn’t want to self-promote or even have their name or picture in the program, and thought the idea of a program for a reading was unusual practice. This was a bit of a shock. In the back of my mind a subliminal suggestion formed that maybe they didn’t like the project, the plays, or the writer and didn’t want to be associated with any of it—we can be such insecure animals in theatre, can’t we? Anyway, I resolved to only let positive thoughts fill the great empty void that sits on my shoulders as a poor excuse for a head. I was fortunate enough to have my son help out with the setting up and we soon had everything in order for the expectant ‘crowd’ of maybe 20 people who were going to turn up. Then an hour before proceedings, I received a text saying one of the actors was ill and won’t be available. As her partner was also one of our actors, this turn-of-events took away two for the price of one. Then about ten minutes before kick-off, a third actor texted and said he wasn’t going to be with us. After several attempts to discuss how they, the actors, saw the day unfolding, and what changes they would like to make in terms of who was going to read with parts, I gave up the unequal struggle and left it to them. For some had a male read a female role and a female read a male role to cover two of the lost actors. This meant that at times one actor was reading three parts, one of which did not belong to his or her gender. Then after the interval, for some inexplicable reason they changed the order of the plays to be read. At which point I made a mental note: “don’t let actors make decisions about your plays or your project”. Furthermore, there had been no direction from either myself or the professional director to the actors in terms of how they might interpret their characters. Even though I had offered to provide one-on-one advice/support/assistance if they so desired such directional help. It was hard enough just getting the same characters to turn up to the reading and workshop sessions, let alone have any continuity between actor and role to be able to develop character. Hence, with the exception of the youngest member of the cast, they read quite poorly and those who had had some continuity with their characters decided, on the spot, to read them completely differently to the way they had been developing them. It might not have mattered if they had actually studied the characters and were someway along in their development, but they seemed to have completely got everything arse about. Characters that were supposed to be light, camp and mischievous were dark, straight and sombre and characters that were supposed to show moments of gravity were light, or traits of stoic earthiness were zombified. While I’m putting the boot into the actors, not only did three not turn up, but those that did turn up didn’t bring anyone else (supporting my paranoia that they were embarrassed by the project and did not want to be associated with it). So were had an audience of 7, with two important no-shows who had accepted earlier in the week and one unexpected ‘dignitary’—the state parliamentary member for the local area. I have to take my hat off to the poor bugger. Man, what those pollies will do for a vote. He looked absolutely all in; red-eyed, gaunt, and just barely able to make it to his seat. It must have been pure hell for him. He stayed for the first half and then had some scouts to pat on the back or something and made his apologies and scurried away having done his duty, above and beyond, I’d say. Fortunately the audience was attentive and gave some extraordinarily keen insights into the three plays with some erudite and intensely critical thoughts. I am still going through the feedback sheets. And it was at this point that I realised it had all been worth it. The afternoon had exceed expectations because of the audience’s reaction to the plays. I expected more resistance but the feedback was positive and has given me a sense of justification and a feeling that it might be worth carrying on. Project Overview. Overall I’d say that actors have been the greatest problem. Time and time again they proved to be unreliable and fickle. Most are young and have stars in their eyes. So small projects like this which inhabit the fringes of the mainstream are seen as beneath their aspirations. The only way to overcome this problematic would be to pay for the actors; but the costs are far too prohibitive for this bank balance. I am considering some sort of co-op approach where the participating actors and crew will be entitled to a split of any door we might generate. Speaking of bank balance, it continues to be an expensive exercise, even with the grant, my original five-figure budget has been reduced by a third and the project is yet to swing into production mode. In terms of the project, as the director said, if you want your play to ever see the light of day, as a production, then this is the way to go; especially for a writer at such an early stage of his or her development. Where to now? I have one confirmed play entered in the upcoming SEQ Drama Festival. I am trying to get another two Little Theatre groups interested in mounting productions for the festival with other plays. If this doesn’t happen then I will call for auditions and direct and produce an entry myself. End Blog #7