Well, the last week of rehearsals has certainly been dramatic.

I met up with Josh, Julie and our new addition, Samantha, last Thursday to rehearse Dumpster Dive, the scene I wrote.  We had decided to rent rehearsal space because we live far too far apart to rehearse in anyone’s apartment. Josh said he would make a same-day booking (which is a lot cheaper) at the Ripley Grier Studios but, unfortunately they ended up not having anything left by the time he called.  Maybe I let my initial frustration show more than I should have.

Luckily, there was space for us at William Esper, where Josh, Julie and I are taking classes.

We began the rehearsal with some Meisner repetition exercises to get the actors in the moment and working off of each other.  Then we did a read-through of the text without movement blocking so the actors could concentrate on acting.  Both seemed to go pretty well.  Next, we set up an approximation of the set and added props, which still left a lot to the imagination.  In my view, the incompleteness of the set was a virtue: it left room for experimentation.  I tried to just let this experimentation take it’s course as much as possible, but I interrupted whenever I noticed a physical cue or glitch that we hadn’t had a chance to notice, let alone iron out, during table readings.

In general, I was happy with how everything was going.  The scene felt a little flat, but there was a lot of new material for the actors to deal with and they were still a little unsure of the lines.  I thought once we talked about raising the stakes and considering their motivations more carefully, everything would be fine.  Then, I made a comment which seemed to offend Josh and he confessed that he wasn’t comfortable with the degree of openness and lack of structure in my direction style.  He told me he thought he might need to drop the project.  This made me really nervous, but there wasn’t much I could do.

Luckily, during a break in our class the next day, he told me that he did still want to be a part of the project, but he asked if he could rehearse with Julie and Samantha alone for awhile and just have me step in at a later stage to make sure everything was OK.  It actually sounded totally fine to me.  I was trying to give the actors the space to make their own creative discoveries anyway.  I just wanted to see the scene got performed.  They rehearsed this weekend, while I was in DC with my parents.  I’m excited to see what they come up with.

Well, as a new blogger, I’ve had trouble updating as often as things happen, so this is kind of a reader’s digest version as the latest events in this process for me.

I met with Josh a week ago to help him with his lines. He gave me a lot of advice about bartending and we spent a hefty chunk of time reminiscing about our acting teacher and classmates and getting excited about seeing them again on the 19th. I’m really glad he’s decided to take this on. He’s already giving a lot of himself to it – creating several versions of a song where the script calls for one, for example. It’s nice to see him investing so much in this thing that just came out of my head. We talked about character choices, which was a bit of a challenge. I tried to tell him where I was coming from as a writer without dictating what decisions he should make as an actor. It was a productive meeting, I think. I wanted him to blog about it, too. He liked the idea of having a platform to make fun of me, especially as I walked away with my helmet prematurely on and my bicycle sticking out of my bag like a not-so-well-concealed weapon.

A couple days later Josh and I met with Julie for our second Dumpster Dive rehearsal. The first was mostly just a read-through, so it was exciting to see them both getting more comfortable with the material. They were very natural and their existing dynamic suits their characters’ relationship quite well. This time around, we rented an actual rehearsal space ($$$) instead of meeting in a coffee shop, but it was totally worth it because we were able to put the scene on its feet. It was a thrill to start to get an idea of what it will be like visually, but also a reminder of how much work there is left to do. For example, what am I going to use as a dumpster for our set and how are we going to block the scene around it? Luckily, Josh and Julie are eager to offer their ideas, so I feel pretty confident we’ll be able to solve all the problems we’re discovering. I ‘m also realizing how much work there is left to do in terms of finding physical things for the two of them to do during the dialogue, which is essentially just a conversation. This is the joy of theater I guess, creative challenges. We’ll see what we come up with.

Saturday night, after a minor freak-out session with Alex over the phone about whether this performance is actually going to come together (until a day ago, two of the scene groups were missing actors for major parts due to a dropout), I went to go check out another potential venue. I believe Alex already blogged about our first scouting mission at Slip on the LES – lovely space, but too small for our purposes. Luckily, this venue – Glasslands – turned out to be perfect. They have a small stage, lighting, sound, a bar, a casual atmosphere and they’re giving us a performance night for free. We have Oct. 5th reserved with them, which is soon, but I think we’ll be able to pull it together. Having a definite date is really helpful. It was hard to know how much to prioritize rehearsing when the date was unclear. I took some pictures of the space – a lot actually, since it was kind of fun. I got one of the very helpful bartender, Jay, who will hopefully be working during the show. (It’ll be up soon). He’s a performer himself, so ask him about that when you come if you get the chance.

I met with Amy for our second rehearsal last night. We’re both getting more comfortable with the lines and our characters’ relationship, but I know that I personally still have a lot more work to do. I guess I thought some of it might carry over from the last time I worked on this scene, but I’ve realized it’s definitely worth re-evaluating my choices and perhaps making fresh ones. I felt really lucky to have almost accidentally gotten Amy talking about her approach to acting. I have tremendous respect for her as an actress and she had really insightful things to say about the script, the characters and how to bring them to life. For example, she made the point that the pacing needs to be snappy to bring out the humor of the scene and keep the audience engaged; that we need to keep them guessing about what’s going to happen next. I guess I hadn’t really taken the time to imagine what would happen after the end of the scene, but it could either continue to be comical or become quite dark. Amy made me realize how much more there is to think about and work with than I thought. Now I just need to do the thinking. I feel really lucky to have such a talented and well-trained partner. I think I’m learning more than I bargained for, which is awesome.

Later today, I’m meeting with Josh, Julie, and a new addition, my friend, Samantha, who’s going to play the second female role, the new girlfriend. I’m excited to finally get everyone together. Hopefully we can figure out solutions to some of those set and blocking issues that came up before, but more on that later. I’m going to try to do this blogging stuff in smaller increments from now on.