LITTLE THING, BIG THING - Setting the Stage, Part III: Bringing it to life, PTE-style

Now Blogging: Sharon Bajer, director of Little Thing, Big Thing

One of the discoveries we made in the first week of rehearsal was that we couldn’t speak as quickly as the Irish actors because of the dialect, and we were using real props and had to move over a larger stage with much physical business. As a result, our version was going to be longer. I decided to put an intermission in the play, where none was written to give both the audience and the actors a breather. I had also decided that we would make everything out of oil barrels, including all of the scenes that take place in a CAR! I knew there would be an element of exploration and we played around in rehearsal with the movement of the barrels for all of the car scenes. One great discovery was that we could turn the barrels from side to side, creating the illusion of driving down those narrow, twisty roads in Ireland. Not only did this look adorable, but it opened up the action in the car to both sides of the theatre. One of my favorite bits is when they drive the barrel around the roundabouts, so common in Ireland.

Now that we’re on the other end of rehearsals, I am very pleased with how the added production elements supported the play. Chris Coyne’s sound and video work is not too much and it just enhances the play without drawing too much attention to itself. The 100 oil barrels that set designer Jamie Plummer and the PTE dream team constructed the set out of work a treat.  I wanted all of the props to be able to appear and disappear within them, which has been delightful to watch. Larry Isacoff’s beautiful lighting was the biggest surprise to me. He was able to create the different worlds of the play and maintain the fabulous look of our imposing wall of oil barrels throughout, highlighting the subtle mood changes and inner thoughts of the characters. And of course our actors Gord Gammie and Jennifer Lyon are excellent (as I knew they would be!) Having Donal at our opening was a treat for me – to show him his play done in our Canadian way. Directing this play has been one of the highlights of my career so far – a great challenge and so incredibly rewarding. PTE has been so supportive to me and I can’t thank them enough for trusting me with this show.

 

Gordon Gammie (Larry), Sharon Bajer (Director), Donal O'Kelly (Playwright),
Jennifer Lyon (Sister Martha)

LITTLE THING, BIG THING - Setting the Stage, Part II: The Irish Experience

 Now blogging: Sharon Bajer, director of Little Thing, Big Thing


Sometimes seeing a production of a play you are about to direct is a bad idea, but in this case I already had a vision of how I was going to do it, which was very important. I knew that they did it with a minimal set and created everything out of two chairs with no props or costume changes. This is always excellent, as it requires the audience to use their imaginations. Prairie Theatre Exchange however is a thrust stage with audiences on three sides and it is a very large stage to fill. I wanted to give our PTE audience and my production of LTBT the feel of using only two chairs to keep the focus on the story and the actors and balance that with set, sound, lights, props, video and costumes that would only support the play and not clutter it up too much. AND I didn't have to worry about making the production able to tour. 


Going to Ireland to see Fishamble’s production of Little Thing Big Thing was a great experience. I was able to meet with Donal the playwright who performs in the play with actress Socha Fox. The two were wonderful in the show and afterwards as we shared in the traditional Irish post show chats over lots of pints that no one would let me pay for! The director Jim Culleton from Fishamble made me a little map of all of the locations in Dublin that are referred to and I followed the story trail – which was fantastic. I took photos of all of the places in order to help the production team and the actors visualize the setting. Seeing their production did not influence how I was going to do mine, but it made it clear to me just how powerful that show can be and seeing it with an Irish audience was very illuminating I had a slight worry that a Canadian audience might get lost in the dialect, the Dublin centric references and the complex storyline, so clarity in the story would be my ultimate goal.

Next: Part III - Bringing it to life, PTE-style

LITTLE THING, BIG THING - Setting the Stage, PART I: Looking across the "pond"

Now blogging: Sharon Bajer, Director of Little Thing, Big Thing

As I write this, Little Thing Big Thing has opened and is enjoying a great run with good reviews and word of mouth. I now can breathe a sigh of relief. A little backstory here: when I first read the play I was hooked by the story but I really had to study the play in order to visualize how it could be staged. Not only do two actors have to play multiple roles, but they speak their inner thoughts, jump from location to location and interact with people and objects that aren’t physically there. It’s funny, dark, unpredictable, part thriller, part mystery and part love story with a political edge. And if all of that weren’t enough, it takes place in Ireland with dialects from all over the country, Irish slang and many references to specific places in Dublin and across the Irish countryside. A challenge for any director, but this was my PTE Main Stage directorial debut. I didn’t want to screw it up!

Donal O'Kelly, playwright

I did some research into past productions of Little Thing, Big Thing and I discovered that the only other production of the play was the original from Fishamble Theatre that was about to make their Dublin premiere. More back story: in Ireland they follow a more European model of presenting. Rather than many different companies producing their own versions of plays, rehearsing for 3 weeks and presenting a 3-week run for a subscription audience, they keep their plays touring, sometimes for years. As a result many of these plays have small casts and very little in the way of set or fancy production elements. The plays tour all over, can be set up in any space and are relatively inexpensive to move around.

So I looked at the tour schedule for Little Thing Big Thing and I realized that I could see it when it played in Dublin. I immediately contacted the playwright Donal O’Kelly and he put aside a ticket for me! I was very excited to go and meet him and see his show, but I needed a way to get there! Thanks to support from The Manitoba Arts Council and The Winnipeg Arts Council, I was able to travel to Dublin and spend 10 days researching contemporary Irish theatre, meet with Donal and the creative team of Fishamble’s production and go to all of the places that he references in the play.  

Next: Part II: The Irish Experience

Donal O'Kelly & Sorcha Fox in the Fishamble production of Little Thing, Big Thing.

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES - Post #4: Adding the audience

Now blogging: Ann Hodges, PTE Artistic Associate and director of The Hound of the Baskervilles

No account of a rehearsal process would be complete without discussing the role of the audience - who are the final, important ingredient in the creation of live theatre. At PTE, where the audience sits on three sides of the stage, the audience not only watches a play, they watch everyone else watching a play. And when something unique happens (and there always is something), you are the only ones who witness it exactly that way.

The first audience is the production staff, who come to a tech dress rehearsal. They are extremely busy noting things like hems that need shortening or paint that needs touching up. So, this first audience is often very busy and quiet. Fortunately, the belly laugh of Production Manager Wayne Buss booms through the almost-empty theatre, reassuring us that some of the comedy does indeed work.

Next, we have an ushers’ preview for the 100 or so generous people who volunteer their time to take tickets and hand out programs during the run. Then, an official Preview Performance. Both these audiences are excited to see a show before it opens, and they always give us a really good sense of how the show will play.

The actors and I listen keenly to the audience’s every sound during previews - we can hear when a comic bit works because of a laugh, but we can also hear when something doesn’t “land” or the audience becomes bored. (Many actors have also done school tours, and we refer to the “Velcro factor”:  when 300 children sitting on the gym floor become bored, they begin to fiddle with the Velcro on their shoes!  Fortunately in Hound the Velcro factor is limited to Gord’s quick costume changes.)  After each of these pre-opening audiences, we gather to note things that still need working on - because we are, after all, still in rehearsal despite performing for an audience.

Finally, we are ready to open. Opening night is very exciting and we mark it by offering little gifts or cards wishing “Break a leg”. PTE has a tradition of ordering custom-made cookies for the cast from High Tea Bakery. Opening night for Hound of the Baskervilles  was a great success, with howls of laughter and a standing ovation. It feels great to celebrate our hard work, and after the show, the party moves into the carpentry shop for a more casual celebration.

Unlike what you see in the movies, where the director hovers backstage during every performance, in reality the director’s job is complete on opening night. It’s kind of like parenting - we work together until all are ready to forge ahead on their own, then the apron strings are cut. Stage Manager Chris Pearce maintains the show and writes a Show Report listing everything from the weather (“Roads bad, lots of latecomers”), technical elements that need repair (“Garrett cleaned the fogger nozzle - best sauna fog ever”), and of course, audience reactions to certain moments (“applause for the tango”, “a raring-to-go audience”, “a cell phone went off so Toby used his flashlight gun to locate the owner”.) 

I love reading the Show Reports. They remind me that the wonderful thing about theatre is that it is a live event, and although we have built the show to be very consistent, every audience sees a unique performance. The Show Reports record these unique events, like the audience who hooted when Watson ate the styrofoam toast that shouldn’t have fallen off the plate, or the teen audience who screamed at Stapleton’s arm in the Grimpen Mire, or the audience that was quiet and attentive then burst into a Standing O at the end.

If you haven’t yet joined an audience for The Hound of the Baskervilles, I hope you will do so this weekend. So far audiences have been having a howling good time. And you never know, your reaction might even make it into the Show Report, recording forever your unique experience watching three actors playing three fellows searching for a mysterious hound out on the moor at Prairie Theatre Exchange.

The Hound of the Baskervilles run until April 26, 2015. For tickets: www.pte.mb.ca

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES - Blog Post #3

Now blogging: Ann Hodges, Director of The Hound of the Baskervilles

My sides hurt from laughing:  In the rehearsal hall with Gord, Toby and Aaron

Audiences are often amazed to discover that most professional plays are rehearsed in three and a half weeks. We work 6 days a week, which gives us 21 days. It still strikes terror into my heart when I buy a carton of milk in the first week of rehearsal and notice it expires on opening night. Yikes, really? We have to finish this show before the milk goes off?

But then again, we are all...ahem...trained professionals, and take our task very seriously. And when you are as much fun as Gord, Toby and Aaron, serious can be very funny.

Rehearsals at PTE usually start with “Meet the Donut” - an informal meet and greet (with snacks) of the entire PTE staff, production team and actors - all facing the same challenge together - that is, to create theatrical magic for the audience who will be arriving in 3.5 weeks whether we are ready or not. 

The designer (Brian Perchaluk) then does a design presentation, using a scale model of the set, and gorgeous full-colour renderings of the actors’ costumes. Most of the production staff are already building many of the items, but for the actors, it’s kind of like Christmas morning - they finally get to see what they’re going to be playing with over the next few weeks. Frankly I was surprised Gord Tanner didn’t quit on the spot when he saw how many costume changes were in store...

Next, we read the play aloud. With a play like The Hound of the Baskervilles, you can already tell then how funny it’s going to be. It’s a relief for a director to find that the actors work together as well as you hoped they would when you cast them almost a year ago. Next, the remaining PTE staff depart to go play their own parts in preparing the production, which leaves me, the actors, and two stage managers (Chris Pearce and Leslie Sidley) alone...in a room...for days....

Fortunately the staff heard very little but shrieks of laughter wafting up to the PTE offices (many of which have windows which look down into the rehearsal hall.)  In the rehearsal hall there was a constant good-willed collaboration and lots of hard work to ensure the comedy was precise, fresh and repeatable without being heavy-handed. These three actors have such an amazing chemistry together, and even the breaks found us all hysterically laughing about the most mundane things. It was exhausting, and yes, my sides often hurt.

Hound involves a lot of physical comedy, and quick costume changes, so timing is everything. A slightly late entrance may kill a laugh, so everything is plotted and planned to the milli-second backstage. During rehearsal, Chris and Leslie track all the elements the actors and I are developing so that things happen smoothly onstage and off. To help us, the production staff give us rehearsal versions of most props and costumes, such as a muslin mock-up of Cecile’s dress for Gord, or towels for the sauna scene. Having those items helped us discover some of the play’s funniest bits of physical comedy.

 

While we are working in the rehearsal hall, the production staff have been busy building Brian’s set, and constructing the costumes, hanging lights and building sound cues. Finally, all these elements converge about 1 week before opening, when the actors and I move from the rehearsal hall onto the stage.

The final week of rehearsals involves many 12-hour days as we incorporate the lighting, sound, quick changes, fog, revolve, projections -- all the elements that make the ‘magic’ onstage. Believe me, at times the magic seems quite elusive -- like when the fog seems to have a mind of its own and completely obscures the actors, or we have to do a quick change for the 15th time, or when the wrong sound cue happens, resulting in a lamb’s bleat instead of a frightening musical sting. But fortunately, this dream team of actors and production staff always chooses to chuckle and bear down, until ultimately their efforts result in a smooth integration of the work from the rehearsal hall and the technical elements onstage.

As for the director, my job is to guide and inspire and lead when it feels like we are all going to drown in a bog-like quagmire of missed cues, challenging costume changes, and headstrong fog. So, often in tech week, I will make myself a cup of tea. With milk. Which hasn’t yet reached its expiry date, meaning we still have a few more days to bring this Hound home.