Casting and further thoughts

    So we move forward; into the world of character, motivation, psychology, line memorization, and lots and lots of notes. 

    In the past week, we have: cast the actors, had a company read-through, and begun working towards the date of filming. I think casting went well, smoothly. The perfect fit, as it were. It felt good, seeing the people I would be working with, seeing how well they took to the lines and the characters. They had already been making choices, some bold choices, and hitting it out of the park. It's a motivation and challenge to myself at this point, what do I have to add? At this point I am hoping something, and something good. There are a great many thoughts in my head about the coming weeks and what they will mean and what they will contain. There is worry and anxiety, as any person may feel at such a task. Luckily, theater does not balance on a single point but rather on the whole. The actors we have on A Helping Hand are talented, as is the writer, and so they will undoubtedly know what they need and want from me. From my experience in film, I know I deal with character not by issuing a ready-made template, but by asking questions of the text and of the actors, more discovering by inquisitiveness rather than by force of will. Hopefully I can bring new ideas, a fresh insight, and some fun thoughts to the mix.

    At a time such as these, it's easy to be overwhelmed by the smallest things, let alone a theater production, however, I heard a great phrase during a little breakout group after the company reading. We had met over zoom and spoke about initial impressions and more of the scheduling and boring aspects of organizing a project. One of the actors had said "I can't wait to play!" or something like it. I had heard that before. I practice marital arts (or did) where a similar mantra would be echoed: "Keep it playful." It was striking to me that this big huge thing would be shrunk down to the idea of having fun, interacting with others and "playing." For me, it put the whole thing into perspective. I'm excited and hungry to work more on these projects in the coming weeks.

Nich Svoboda.