Cut to the Quick

I'm in my second season of doing publicity shots for The Side Project. And the work that they do is an excellent example of the reasons that so many people do theatre in Chicago. There's no money in it. The personal sacrifices are enormous. Still, every now and then there is the opportunity to be part of something very special.

Cut to the Quick is a series of three collections of short plays. I haven't seen even one of them yet, only been invited to sit in some preliminary rehearsals and take pictures. This is unusual for my process because I'm very thorough in my preparation, usually reading the play and attending a run before doing the shoot. But this time around, Adam wanted something a little rougher, so we agreed that I was to capture moments and images that any actor might recognize as a rehearsal.

And what any actor will tell you is that the performances are great, especially when a production is working, but that the really transcendent moments happen in a bare room during a rehearsal. It's the moment when the text seems to melt away and the actor becomes the character for the first time that the real theater artists live for. The story comes to life, not in a figurative way, but literally, and there is nothing else in the world but that moment. People become actors for many reasons, but all of the acclaim, all of the money, everything else that comes with monumental success for an actor pales by comparison to the simple moment when the story comes to life.

As dollars become more scarce, everyone is becoming more selective with their entertainment budgets. Put live theater at the top of your lists. And not just the big-bang theatres. The real magic, the stuff that will stir your soul, is happening in the small theatres.