Setting Up for a Happy Face

Hello again everyone! It has been a minute since I actively posted on this!

My cast and I have started working through our show. We had a read through two weeks ago and had our first rough blocking rehearsal this past Sunday. It went pretty well, in my honest opinion. We got some rough spacing, entrances, exits, and vague stage pictures. I have also had a rehearsal of just myself and my two principle role, who are on stage the most. We worked through all of their scenes together and made so much progress with their chemistry, physicality, and sharpening their blocking all in two hours. I was so proud of them so the work we were able to accomplish and I'm excited for our next rehearsal, which will be this Sunday. We will be mostly doing table work, going through objective and backgrounds for the characters as well as flushing out movement ideas. I'm so stoked to keep working through this process with the people I have!

Throughout this entire process, I've really been wanting it to be a complete conversation with everyone involved. I don't want it to be a "I said you go here now so go here on this exact line and say it this way and do this this way". Instead, I've been looking at it more like a conversation we're all able to have together to work towards and create the best possible product. I really want my actors to feel the need to move or have certain inflections so the show looks as natural as possible.

The vibe that I'm taking this show in with Cole, the actors, and designers is this idea that this show is a reality we refuse to recognize. We are all wearing some kind of mask in order to hide, cover, and push away the things we don't want to deal with (like our problems, our issues, our shortcomings) and refuse to acknowledge them until it is too late. I want this show to feel something like a dentist office (I know it sounds weird but bear with me). The idea of this sterile and slightly uncomfortable but not entirely unknown or unapproachable feeling is what we will really be trying to get ahold of for this show. The entire aesthetic will be set in this futuristic 50's vibe also adding to the uncomfortable feeling that this is something that could be in our not too distant future but still relating it to our pasts. My main influences for this feeling came from a) old 1950's ads and b) Grace, the mom character in the Netflix show Umbrella Academy. Both have that feeling of unsettling happiness. I think the aesthetic of the character and the attitude are everything that I want to bring to life in this show.

Well thank you so much for reading my post. I hope it gave you a little insight into the mind of a new college director! I can't wait to see this process further, get it on stage, and get it in front of you all! Have a wonderful weekend!

-Sam