There comes a point in every rehearsal process when everyone involved knows they're ready for an audience. This weekend I went into the Side Project to do the publicity shots for their world premiere production of Robert Fieldsteel's Smart, and I knew immediately that this show is ready to open.
When a play is ready, there's a friendly tension in the air. Actors pace in the lobby, running lines in their head. They quietly joke with each other as light levels are checked and refined. The director is down to details, telling the stage manager that a prop box needs to be covered. When the publicity photographer comes in, it's just another part of the process and the actors quietly take their spots on the stage and start at random points in the script so the photographer can get the shots he needs. They effortlessly stop and start, freeze, then tilt their heads to catch the light. The play becomes a living organism, a thoroughbred capable of anything.
The above picture is of Steve Ratcliff and J. Kingsford Goode, who each play two characters in Smart. In the first act, they play a loving couple who are murdered by a pair of teen-aged thugs, and in the second they play the investigators of the murders. As an actor, I played my share of lead roles, but it was when I had the opportunity to play more than one supporting role in a production that I really felt like I could test my mettle. In a truly fine production, the quality really shows in the preparation of the supporting players.
When a play is ready, there's a friendly tension in the air. Actors pace in the lobby, running lines in their head. They quietly joke with each other as light levels are checked and refined. The director is down to details, telling the stage manager that a prop box needs to be covered. When the publicity photographer comes in, it's just another part of the process and the actors quietly take their spots on the stage and start at random points in the script so the photographer can get the shots he needs. They effortlessly stop and start, freeze, then tilt their heads to catch the light. The play becomes a living organism, a thoroughbred capable of anything.
The above picture is of Steve Ratcliff and J. Kingsford Goode, who each play two characters in Smart. In the first act, they play a loving couple who are murdered by a pair of teen-aged thugs, and in the second they play the investigators of the murders. As an actor, I played my share of lead roles, but it was when I had the opportunity to play more than one supporting role in a production that I really felt like I could test my mettle. In a truly fine production, the quality really shows in the preparation of the supporting players.
It's a different skill set to play a supporting role. Leading characters have the luxury of time that supporting players don't have. The best scripts can give an actor enough to build a character with only four words. Supporting players need agility, to know when the story is theirs and why. The good playwright has them there for a reason, and it's not just to ask questions of the hero. A good supporting character conveys context and generates conflict, creating a fully drawn person who helps to people the world of the play.
Smart is an actor's play and this production is rich with fine performances. The critical notices will single out each performer with his or her stand-out moment and will praise the writing and direction. As I watched, I felt like in the not-too-distant future I would be able to say of each of these actors, "You know, I saw a little production where you just knew X would be a star." But when there is a feast of praise for a production, its the actors who don't directly address the audience, the actors who play more than one role who are often left unmentioned. To me, these actors are the unsung heroes of the theatre and I wanted to give these two their own special moment to shine.
Smart is an actor's play and this production is rich with fine performances. The critical notices will single out each performer with his or her stand-out moment and will praise the writing and direction. As I watched, I felt like in the not-too-distant future I would be able to say of each of these actors, "You know, I saw a little production where you just knew X would be a star." But when there is a feast of praise for a production, its the actors who don't directly address the audience, the actors who play more than one role who are often left unmentioned. To me, these actors are the unsung heroes of the theatre and I wanted to give these two their own special moment to shine.
Opening on November 8, the cast of Smart also includes Ricardo Gamboa and Joel Vining as the murders and Evan Linder and Kristen Secrist as students whose lives are affected by researching the murders. Smart runs in rep with another world premiere, Laura Jacqmin's Butt Nekkid.
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