Opening Night!

Hello All!

If you haven't heard (and, really, how could you not?), THE OVERWHELMING opened this past weekend! It's now up and running, and is it ever a pleasure to see. From my perspective, having seen this through from the very beginning of the rehearsal process, it is thrilling to watch it now. It's also odd to watch it now not making notes or looking for things to work on. To watch it for the first time simply watching it is a strange, yet unbelievably satisfying feeling.

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, and he said something to the effect of, "Now that the show is opening, the actor's job is pretty much done." Upon my queries, he further elaborated, "Well, through all the work they did in rehearsals, they pretty much have everything they need down, so they're good to go." I think what my friend was getting at was that in rehearsals, the actors and director spent their time exploring and creating the piece, and now that the "creating" is done, performances are now a matter of replicating what has already been created and set in place. This is a huge misconception that I would like to address now.

Even through a long, productive process that includes rehearsing, teching, and dress rehearsing, a production is never entirely "set." This is what is awesome about theatre, and what really separates it from every single other kind of art. Theatre is a living, breathing artform that changes night to night depending on so many variables. It is not a portrait that once the paint dries it is complete and set in stone forever. It is not a film that, once the final edits are in place, from there exists unfixed on a film reel. Theatre yields no resulting artifacts that can be examined and appreciated years later. Theatre can only be experienced and appreciated in the moment it is presented and never again. Furthermore, to the same effect, the experience of a specific piece of theatre is unique unto itself; that is, even the following night's performance of the same piece of theatre will not produce the same experience. A piece is theatre, no matter how long it runs, changes night to night, moment to moment. In fact, for it to be successful, it has to remain fresh and spontaneous to avoid the dull product that would result from simple replication. THE OVERWHLEMING will indeed continue to grow and develop, especially in that it is now interacting with an audience, one that will never be the exact same night to night. Actors can continue to find things and discover new aspects of their characters and arcs. This is why I love seeing shows more than once, because it's always new, even if it's the same play.

Although the actor's job is not done, and certainly not for the stage management either, my duties on the show, for the most part, are pretty much wrapped up. It's an odd thing. The show is only opening now and will continue to run for the next few weeks, and yet, my job is done. From working on this side of the table, from being able to assist a director, I've seen that directing is kind of like raising a child. You guide your child and try to point it in all the right directions, but, eventually, you have to let the child go off on his/her own. The child will continue to grow, develop, and learn new things, but he/she can do those things all on their own, because you've given them the means and skills to do so. With our child, it is certainly all grown up and more than ready to tackle the world.

Over and Out,
Max

Max Mondi, Artistic Associate

Greetings!

Max here - I'm assisting the director, the fantastic Mr. Shawn LaCount, on "The Overwhelming". I'm going to give you the inside dish on what I'm up to, as we're now in the thick of the rehearsal process.

Already, this has proven be a new and exciting experience for me. This show is not only my first time working with Company One, but it's also my first foray into the entire Boston theatre scene. With this comes the chance to meet and work with a whole host of new (at least for me) artists and dramatists. Also, the show is a unique endeavor unto itself. I have not worked on many shows that not only have such large casts, but also demand the actors to speak such various and numerous dialects and languages, and demand the director and design team to tackle over forty scenes that take place in a vast catalogue of locations and times. From the first time I read the script, I was thrilled by the prospect of collaborating with a group eager to tackle these challenges head-on.

As I said, my role in this production will be assisting the director throughout the rehearsals. This also is a new hat for me to be wearing. In addition to getting to know the cast and production team, another main focus has been figuring out exactly how I should function in my role and how I can best support the production. What has been very rewarding is how I get to act as a second set of eyes for the director. Each rehearsal, after watching the actors work through the text, I get together with the director and dramaturg to talk about the scenes, discussing what's working, what isn't, and what needs to be done next.

So far, we've been able to take a first look into every scene in the play. It's been fascinating to see what everyone's initial impressions of the play are, and it's exciting to see what's going to happen to those impressions as we go. We've just begun working through the play for a second time, so we'll have to wait and see . . .

That's about all for now, but I'll be keeping you updated on all the happenings!

Over and Out,
Max

The arch takes flight!

Hello again!

Sorry for the absence, I know you all have been sitting on the edge of your seats to hear back from me and your waiting hasn’t been for nothing. In my absence we survived through tech week and opened the show to great success! Tech week was as stressful as it normally is but the good thing about a week long load-in was that it gave us time to really iron out all the little bugs on the set.

My project with the arch went…well. Differently than I originally planned, but with some creative problem solving and brain storming with Mark we managed to get it flying. Instead of using the rigging system I originally planned to use, we found out that safety cables worked much better and allowed us to adjust the height and placement a lot easier than rigging it with airline cable.

This was a fun production to work on, and I think we all did the best we possibly could and created something special and unique. When I watched the final dress I was taken aback by how far we came from the first production meeting. There were many ideas tossed around, some made it to the final product, some didn’t. But everything that did, came together beautifully and I don’t think the show would have been as powerful if it did not have all its pieces. I don’t want to give too much away about the story, set, or music, but I will say that every one of you should go see the show. I want you to see the world that we have created and to immerse your self into the story that is being told. I’m very proud of what we have produced here and I would like to thank Company One for giving me this opportunity as well as Mark for everything he has taught me as his assistant.

-Nick

Grace Geller: Opening Night Here We Come

“What you see with your eyes is not necessarily real.”

This line epitomizes “After the Quake.” Watching the many technical and dress rehearsals this week, I keep being reminded that this play is a world of fantasy and storytelling. In my past blogs I’ve talked about the many transformations and transitions in the play. Now though, with everything together – lights, set, and sound – I’ve come to see that the transitions between worlds are not as important as the merger of those worlds. “After the Quake” is about a man, Junpei, creating a superhero story for Sala, a little girl tormented by nightmares. As the play progresses, the line between Junpei’s reality and story blurs. His characters are as real as himself. When Frog, Junpei’s superhero, reaches down to grab Junpei’s hand and lift him out of the shock and depression of the earthquake, the audience is shown how Junpei’s story is not just for Sala. By the end of the play, Junpei is changed from his story. He learns his own moral: that everyone is important and no one should be controlled by fear.

I can’t stress how beautiful the play is. The set and lights were designed beautifully. There are so many breathtaking moments created by great poses and use of color. I’ve also recently been struck by the humor in the play. When I first read the play, I thought that it was a fun story; however, probably because I did so much research on earthquakes, the element of fear had really come to the forefront in my mind. Fortunately, for the last two weeks, the humor in the play has reemerged. Although the story is about fear, there is in no way a dark element to the play. The fear happens before the play starts, and the humor is, in a way, how Junpei deals with it. There are so many lines and movements where the audience can’t help but crack up. Watch for Frog’s disappointment when he learns Katagiri has never read “Anna Karenina!” This week, even though I know the actions (and most of the lines), I found myself laughing throughout our dress rehearsals.

As for what I’m doing now, I’ve been helping out during the day – painting and sweeping and taking notes on the rehearsals at night. One of my favorite jobs has been acting as a stand in for the actors. I’ve pretended to play all the different roles in the cast to help the director and designers light the show. I get to jump on the platforms as Frog, hide in the boxes, and lie in the beds. I run around, say the lines, and then am told to move a step to my left.

This will be my last post as Assistant to the Director and Dramaturg. I have loved working with Shawn and Liana and am very sad that this part of my experience is over. Opening night I begin my next post – Assistant House Manager. I’ll be the one helping you in the lobby if you have any questions. I can’t wait to see you all at the show! I’m so excited for the run to start!

See you soon!

Grace

Tech...Dress...Costumes...

So I just got home from rehearsal tonight and today's was the closest it's been to the final production. We've been doing tech all week but the second run today was with all the lights in the house out and everyone watched it as if they were just an audience. It was great!

Parts that were pretty funny in rehearsal were hilarious this time around and there were little bits here and there that the actors changed, like intonations and expressions, that were great! It really felt like it was coming together. Backstage, it definitely is. We added green to Frog yesterday and after the additions of some snaps, velcro, patches, and other little things, there's not too much left to do. The Big Bear hat might change before opening but really, everything is coming together. Even the bra trick is usually fast enough! Searching for the right top for Giselle was pretty tough and overall, I think most of the shopping time went to that but the top she has now is perfect and I'm glad the color works well for Sayoko, even if it wasn't what was originally planned.

The musicians have their costumes now too and they look great! The style is great on them and the color ties in well with the set without hiding them. Commuting to and from rehearsal every night this week has been a little tougher than I would have hoped but I've learned my way around Boston and the Mass Pike pretty well, which is an unexpected perk. I think my favorite part of this whole experience has been Sydney's comment about her pajamas. It's always nice to hear that a costume you worked on is an actor's "most favorite costume ever" (and she looks adorable in it). I'm really looking forward to hearing what my friends and family think of the show after it opens.

*Paige*