Theater Blog Camino

What did you think about the Camino Real Rehearsal? The Camino Real rehearsal was really interesting to watch, especially since the show is in its initial stages of development. As a technician, I usually don’t start attending rehearsals until the show is all put together. I tend to see the runs of the show and even though it is still subject to change, there is less stopping to change or look at blocking as there are in these stages of rehearsal. During the rehearsal, I felt like Maize was really letting the actors take part in the blocking. He said in class that he lets the actors sort of improv their blocking to some extent based on what they think their characters would do. In the rehearsal I saw a lot of debate and conversation between the director and actors which was really refreshing.

first picture i took. shows jermy asking jimmi about his blocking while the rest of the cast stands by.

jimmi demonstrating how he wants the female actor to be during the moment that they just worked.

Jimmi is watching the choreographed lights in the set. Jeremy is watching Jimmi. Eli is twirling his cane.

Maize is talking to the cast about they light show. Jeremy is listening and so is Eli. other Jeremy is looking at the pensively pondering his role in the show.

Theater Blog lights

What do you think about stage lighting? ---------------- I have always loved stage lighting. The talks and work we did in class only affirmed that love. In my high school, I was the chief tech person. For my junior and senior year I was the sound designer, the light designer, and the master electrician (of sorts). As you can probably tell, that department was painfully small and there was never really anyone above me who I could receive training from. So it is very refreshing to be able to listen to an actual professional light designer talk about his work. Working with Seth was an absolutely amazing experience, mostly because I got to hear him talk about why he did certain things. It was also interesting to talk to him during the runs of Shooting Simone. He was on headset and I was able to ask him questions about what he thought about lighting stuff; specifically, I asked him about his thoughts on projector use. I rarely actually like the use of a projector in shows (Shooting Simone is an exception), this did not really change throughout the conversation with Seth, but it was still really cool to hear what he thought about all the new technology and its place in technical theater.------------- Stage lighting is, in my opinion, one of the most important parts of theater. I mean, without lights, you have a lot of actors stumbling around in the dark. But even still, I think that lights do far more than just light the actors. The lights convey the scene, mood, everything subliminal. What I always told the designer I trained to replace me at my high school was that “It’s the light’s job to be the most predominant force on stage steering the audience, but the lights are noticed by the audience (other than black outs) then you’ve done it wrong. It’s the light’s job to immerse the audience in the show and make them truly feel the emotions conveyed by the actors; however, the lights can in no way take any attention from the actors (because they are still telling the story). You use lights to create and mold the world that is on stage. To me, when the lights are good I don’t always notice them, but if they’re sloppy I always do.------------- My dad was a light designer, my sister is a light designer, and I’m looking to be one. I’ve always loved being able to create the world on stage with light.

Thoughts on Directing

I have never directed. I have the utmost respect for directors though. In my high school theater, I was responsible for the lighting and sound design, and it was a hefty responsibility; however, I know that the work that a director puts into a show utterly dwarfs what I have to do. The only aspects I have ever been really familiar with is the blocking, casting and the coordination with designers about if he wants anything specific. With the interviews with Nancy Simon and Jimmy Maze, I now see that I again have grossly underestimated the amount of work that directors do for a show. It was really interesting to see exactly what the directors put into their shows and how they get through it all. ---- I found it especially interesting to listen to Mr. Maize’s process, simply because of how it contrasted with my original view of the directors job. He said that he tries to funnel all the creative energies of each person involved in the show, including the actors. While I always saw that the characters in a show become more and more authentic with each performance and in a way, the characters themselves grow and adapt to the show. But according to Maze, the actors have initial input on their own blocking. He said that he tells the actors the situation and then asks them to do what they think their character would do. He said that his directing is built through a series of improvisational sequences. This could be just his method and Maize could be completely unique in this fashion, but it was still incredibly interesting to listen too. ----- Another thing that I found surprising was how much influence the directors actually have over the material of the show that they’re directing. The first example of this influence that Maize gave was of differing renditions of Shakespeare. Even though I have seen mush Shakespeare and they are never the same, and hardly ever set in the same time-frame, I never gave much thought to deciding who was responsible for these decisions. I am sure that I would have come to this conclusion on my own, but hearing from Maize that this decision is part of the vision of the director, still managed to come as a surprise. (Not an actual surprise, just one that was more: short surprise quickly followed by “oh, that makes sense).--- My final thoughts about directing haven’t changed much. I still have the utmost respect for directors and the many sleepless nights they put into show… I would even say I have significantly more respect for them now.