The Director Sector

SCENE 1 - A street corner again

ROLF

(As he speaks the following monologue, characters walk by and perform the actions he describes)

Every day, I sit out here and wait. I wait for people to walk by, so I can tell my story. Every day I wait for someone to feel pity for me and drop a quarter into my cup. People might drop a nickel or a few pennies in the cup. More often, they’ll avoid making eye contact with me and just throw the coins in my general direction. I scramble to pick em up, ’cause every last bit helps, mister. Every last bit fuckin’ helps. Every once in awhile, these bastards will do things that bastards always do. They’ll spit on me. They’ll kick me. They’ll stomp on my foot as they pass and then pretend they didn’t do a thing.

Once, I even got pissed on by some bastard. Cut his dick off with me trusty knife, I did. Took his change too. Had to move to a different corner after that. Nobody wants to feel sorry for ya if ya cut some bastard’s dick off. Don’t make sense to me, but I don’t make the rules.

Some days I can get up to ten or twelve dollars. Most days I get three or four.

(DEVIL walks by in a suit. He has a wooden cane. He looks very sharp, cultured.)

Hey, you. Yeah, you! Gimme a quarter. C’mon, just a quarter. I’d sell my soul for a lousy quarter..

(DEVIL perks up and takes notice.)

DEVIL

Just a quarter?

ROLF

Huh?

DEVIL

That’s all you want? Just a quarter?

ROLF

Uh, yeah, just.. just a quarter, mister! Just a lousy, stinkin’ quarter.

DEVIL

You don’t want a bottle or…

ROLF

I don’t drink, mister! I don’t, I swear.

DEVIL

or food…

ROLF

Food?

DEVIL

Or a warm place to sleep?

ROLF

What are you talking about, mister?

DEVIL

Why settle for a quarter?

ROLF

Why settle…

DEVIL

Yes, why settle?

(beat)

ROLF

‘Cause, mister, nobody gives nothin, and most people barely give a quarter! So just gimme a damn quarter and quit with your riddlin’ and fancy speakin’.

DEVIL

My wish is your command.

(DEVIL tosses ROLF a quarter)

Have a nice day.

ROLF

Thanks, mister.

(DEVIL exits. ROLF examines the quarter in his hands.)

What in tarnation was he talkin’ about? Why settle..

(A lightbulb goes off in his head.)

Food! Sleep!

(ROLF jumps up.)

Hey mister! Come back!

(ROLF runs off stage. A moment later ROLF re-enters, arm wrapped around DEVIL’s shoulder)

Mister, mister. We was gettin’ off on the wrong foot!

DEVIL

Were we? (He brushes ROLF’s hands off of his shoulder)

ROLF

Yes, yes, we were. You was askin’ me if I wanted more than a quarter.

DEVIL (disinterested, possibly picking at his fingernails)

Yes, I recall.

ROLF

Well you mentioned food.

DEVIL

I did.

ROLF

What kinds of food was you talkin’ about?

DEVIL

Why, what kind of food would you like?

ROLF

What would I… Anything at all?

DEVIL

Anything at all.

ROLF

Well, golly. I’ll have to think about that.

(ROLF sits. DEVIL listens intently while affecting a disinterested manner.)

DEVIL

Take your time.

(beat)

ROLF

Well, I ain’t had a double-decker cheeseburger with bacon on top in a long, long time. Probably my favorite meal in the whole wide world, mister, come to think of it. Last time I had one of them was way back.. well, it was before.. You see, mister, my wife, she.. she’s dead.

DEVIL (disinterested)

I heard. My condolences.

ROLF

Well that was the last time I ever had one of them sandwiches.

DEVIL

I see.

ROLF

I remember it clear as daylight, mister. I can still taste it on my tongue. That cheese was melted so fine, I could smell it a mile away. I ain’t never had a burger that good in my life, ever. Oh, mister, it had a pickle slice on it, too. And ketchup and mustard. And that bun was like taking a bite out of heaven. I’d do anything for another one.

DEVIL

Oh really? How would you like it right now?

ROLF

I’d love it right now, but it ain’t gonna–

(DEVIL snaps his fingers. GIRL in stylish tennis outfit walks out carrying platter with burger on it.)

DEVIL

My wish is your command.

ROLF

What are you, some kind of genie or somethin’?

DEVIL

Something like that.

ROLF

Thanks, mister!

DEVIL

Think nothing of it, Rolf. It is my pleasure.

(blackout)

I’ve been terribly negligent of this blog for quite some time now.  Hopefully this will change soon.

Tomorrow night is the opening performance of The Mammals’ DEVILS DON’T FORGET.  It’s something that I’ve been working on with Bob and our cast for quite some time now, and I’m very proud of the end result.  I’ve blogged a little bit about the challenges of being an assistant director to the writer/director, but again, I’m incredibly proud of this show — both the cast and the crew.

I’ll blog more about the process and my interactions with the cast and crew over the next few weeks, but for now I just want you to take a few minutes, call 866-593-4614 and reserve tickets for DEVILS DON’T FORGET.  There is a suggested donation of $15 and it’s BYOB.  And it’s short at only 75 minutes.

Come on out.  Support me, support Bob, support the cast, support The Mammals, and support Chicago theatre.

You won’t regret it.

I believe that respect is crucial for any project to succeed, whether it’s a web development project, a theatre production, a baseball game or even running a country.  There has to be a respect by the participants for each other, for the chain of command, and for the project itself.

When respect goes out the window, so does quality, trust and, well.. fun.  This is not to say that one must be polite and suck up to the boss at all times, but there has to be a line that will not be crossed no matter what.

For example, when my boss comes to me with a web development project, he gives me guidelines.  “I want this logo here,” he says.  “And I want an image to pop-up in a lightbox.  It’s a really cool image.  I made it myself.  Oh, and lets put an animation over here and can we make the background image change depending on what day of the week it is?”

As a web developer, it’s my job to make it the best website possible.  So when my boss gives me these guidelines, I have essentially two options as to how to respond:

Option A:  I can agree to what he asks for and get right on it, or

Option B: I can disagree

The first option is pretty self-explanatory.  It’s good advice and I’m going to follow his instructions.  The second option is a little tougher.

You can’t just disagree.  You can’t just say “That’s a stupid idea; I won’t do it.”  You just can’t do that.  Why not? Well, quite simply, your boss has the power to fire you.

So what do you do when you disagree?  You have to sell your version to the guy in charge.  You have to explain why it’s a bad idea and what a better solution would be.  If you think your idea is better, fight for it.

“Well, sir, I can definitely do the background change, but you might want to avoid the lightbox pop-up image.  You see, users don’t like things that pop-up when they didn’t click on something.  It sends warning sirens off in their mind and they think it’s an ad.  They’ll close it immediately without bothering to look, and it will make them want to go somewhere else.  The Flash animation that you asked for would look really cool, but not everyone has Flash and it’s not very accessible for our disabled users.  I think the Flash animation would be okay to do, as long as you understand that not everyone would see it.  I would recommend against the splash image.  Instead, make it the background or the header image.”

Now I’ve laid out my case, and my boss now has two options.  In fact, they’re the same options I had when he gave me the assignment.  He can agree or disagree.

Unfortunately for me, my boss doesn’t have to explain himself.  If he agrees, I win.  If he disagrees, I don’t have much recourse other than to do what he asked me to do.  To do anything else risks his ire and may wind up costing me my job.

The same thing applies in theatre.  When you’re acting on stage, the director will give you notes.  If you feel that the director’s choice isn’t the strongest choice, then you have an obligation as an actor to say so.  Offer an alternative, lay out your case, and await the director’s decision.  And then abide by whatever the director says.  Don’t pout, don’t sulk, don’t argue back — it might cost you your role, whether in this show or future shows.

A good director will respect your thoughts and your ideas.  He might not agree with them, but he’ll respect them.

Bob, the writer/director of Devils Don’t Forget, respects my ideas and my input.  He doesn’t always take them (in fact, I’d venture to say that he incorporates a little less than half of my suggestions), but he at least listens to me, takes the notes under consideration, and then decides.  And when he makes his decision, I don’t make a scene arguing for it.

There are two or three points in the show during which I have brought up the same point multiple times, because I felt strongly that there was something that could be improved.  Some of them got better, some of them didn’t.  But ultimately, the decision rests with Bob and I, as assistant director, have to respect that.

Our actors have to respect that.

Having said this, your input as a subordinate is nearly always helpful.  It helps your superior, whether it’s your boss or your director, make a better informed decision.  It gives him insight into other perspectives and helps make the show better.

Prolonged battles over motivation and intention don’t.  They slow down the process and cause tension that doesn’t need to exist.

Since Bob wrote the show, he has had a very clear vision of what he wants this show to look like.  I see my job as my responsibility to give choices, options.  The more options Bob has to choose from, the more choices that he hasn’t thought of yet, the better the show’s going to be.  I don’t mind that he doesn’t take my suggestions — I’m just throwing them out there — but I would mind if I felt he was disrespecting me.

I look forward to working with Bob in the future, because I respect him as a director and writer, and he respects me as a colleague.

Don’t be stupid.  Don’t argue and push and shove and be difficult for the sake of your choices — it’s not your job to make all the decisions — it’s your job to offer options and accept the final decision from the director.

Trust me.  It’s the difference between being cast again and never getting another chance.

I know a lot of you theatre bloggers have this intense dislike of Broadway for a variety of reasons, most of which are perfectly valid.  But today I saw my favorite musical at a Broadway in Chicago venue.  And it rocked.

I saw RENT last year — a year ago this weekend, I think — in Atlanta.  I thought the show sucked.  I was so very disappointed, because the lighting seemed off, the vocals were sub-standard, and the sound system seemed to be broken.  Most of the performers weren’t properly actors — they were mostly American Idol rejects.  In fact, at that performance, the guy who played Roger was a South African Idol runner-up.  The best performance was by the girl who played Maureen, and if I remember correctly, the tour of RENT that year was her first professional gig.  Kind of says a lot about the quality of that cast.

This performance, though, blew last years’ out of the water.  The staging was mostly the same, but every one of those little things that bugged me about last years performance were fixed in this one.  There was never a moment where I thought “Well damn, that didn’t work.”

Of course, the highlight of this production is the return of the two original leads, Anthony Rapp (as Mark Cohen) and Adam Pascal (as Roger Davis).  The chemistry between these two actors is undeniable, their stage presence stupendous, and their vocal quality dazzling.

I’ve always loved RENT, ever since the first time I heard the soundtrack in its entirety.  It encapsulated everything I felt about life, death, relationships.  The music was catchy, the lyrics told the whole story, and the characters were vibrant and real.  I felt a connection to each and every character, even the homeless guys and the drug dealers.

A few years ago I had a life-altering experience, and essentially I’m living on borrowed time.  One of the themes of the show is “no day but today”, the idea that there is no future and no past, but only today.  Don’t worry about the future, don’t dwell on the past — focus on the now.

For someone like me, that’s imperative.  Last week, a kid I went to college with died of a heart attack.  He’s my age, 27, and otherwise seemingly healthy.  That really sent the message home for me, and I’ve spent the last week barely getting a wink of sleep, pondering over death.  When will it come for me?

Will I lose my dignity?
Will someone care?
Will I wake tomorrow from this nightmare?

I began to cry during this song.  Will this happen?  The “no day but today” idealism is strong, but how can you accept this in the face of logic?

If I find some of what you teach suspect,
It’s because I’m used to relying on intellect.
But I try to open up to what I don’t know,
Because reason says I should’ve died
Three years ago…

The answer, of course, is in the chorus that follows:

No other road,
No other way.
No day but today….

Despite these thoughts, despite my fear of death and my fear of the future, I’ve survived.  Not only have a survived, but I’ve found a certain amount of contentment in my life.  I’ve got friends and family who care for me, and even should something happen, I can rest assured that I’ve made a difference in the lives of those around me.

Mark is the character that I empathize with the most.  I’m not blonde or strikingly good looking like Anthony Rapp, but Mark and I share some personality traits that I find intriguing.

I’m a watcher.  I like to sit back and observe my friends having a great time.  I like to document what’s happening, to offer my advice when I see a problem, but otherwise to stay back and watch.  I want my experiences, my observations, and my work to have an impact on people, even if it means sacrificing close personal relationships.  When I come across something I feel strongly about, I’m perfectly able and willing to take centerstage to get my point across.

It’s easy, however, to feel so utterly alone and rejected when I’m in this position.  It’s easy to focus on others so much that when they’re gone, the emptiness hits like a wrecking ball to the nads.

A part of me screams Rogers’ accusations at myself:

Mark hides in his work
…
From facing your failure
Facing your loneliness
Facing the fact you live a lie

Yes, you live a lie, tell you why
You’re always preaching not to be numb
When that’s how you thrive

You pretend to create and observe
When you really detach from feeling alive

And part of me screams Mark’s answer back:

Perhaps it’s because I’m the one of us to survive…

RENT has had an incredible impact on my life.  Jonathan Larson has given each of these characters insights into the human psyche that mirror my own so closely that I can’t help but be touched by these characters.  This show has put into words thoughts that most of us, I think, have had at one time or another.  And despite all of these thoughts, despite death and love and hate and separation and drugs and corporate evil and government obstruction.. despite all of this, there is hope that we can continue on to another day, that our lives can change things for the better.

There’s no day but today.

DEVILS DON’T FORGET opens May 1st!  I can’t be more excited.  I’ve had a wonderful time working with such professional actors and have learned a lot from Bob about directing and producing and putting together a show.  Once the show closes, I’ll be writing a post-mortem of my experience with this show.

For now, check out these rehearsal photos:

Stay tuned for more updates and information about this show!

One of the problems that frequently comes up in conversations is the lack of money. Specifically, the lack of money in the hands of artists. In this economy it’s no wonder that this is a concern! There are many of you out there who pursue theatre professionally and would love to do nothing more than work theatre full-time and make enough money to live in comfort and security.

Alas, that’s not the reality we live in today. Most of us need to have a way of paying that rent, buying that food, paying for the doctors visits. @JessHutchinson Tweeted recently that she felt sick but had to go into work because she needed the money. “Why must I choose between health care and money?” she asked the Twitterverse. It’s a dilemma that we all face at some time or another.

I know that many of you have day jobs that you suffer through in order to pay those bills. Some of you work as number crunchers for the health industry, others as hosts and hostesses at restaurants. Some are receptionists and some are floating by the grace of their parents’ money. Nothing wrong with that.

But let’s face it. Very few of us, with the exception of the latter group, are happy with that situation. We want to do theatre, dammit, and by God we’re going to sacrifice everything else to pursue that dream. We’ll even wash dishes in some seedy restaurant if need be.

The good news, folks, is that you don’t need to stoop quite that low. The solution is simple: become an expert in something else. Find something else that you’re passionate about and become an expert in that field. Once you’re confident that you can walk into a room full of people and be the most knowledgeable person in that room about that topic, you’re set!

Let’s look at myself, for instance. I’m a web designer by day, director by night. When I go into a room, there’s a 99% chance that I know more about web development and web design than anyone else in that room.

How does that help me, you ask? Well, let’s say a theatre needs a new website. I’m their guy. Let’s say a company needs emails fixed to look good on all web browsers and email clients. I’m their guy. And I get paid to do this. And not to brag, but I get paid quite a lot to do this.

Let’s look at another example. Dan Granata, whom many of you know and love in the theatre community, is an accomplished actor. He’d love to become a full-time actor, but that pesky bill thing gets in the way. So what did he do? Did he take some crappy day job and suffer through it for the sake of his art? Well, yes, he did. But recently, he attacked the problem from a new way.

Dan has spent the last few months researching and studying and training himself. Now, Dan knows more about social media and how to use them in marketing and business than most people I know. He’s currently doing seminars for a variety of companies, teaching their employees how to use Facebook to their advantage, to bring in revenue and increase the customer-base.

Let’s be frank, people, we all love Facebook. We love it, we love to hate it, and we’re always on it. And Dan has taken something that’s an enjoyable activity to him, something that he’s passionate about, and taken his passion and skill in theatre and entertainment, and combined the two into something that is marketable: social media consulting.

You, too, can do this. Find something (besides theatre) that you’re passionate about or that you’re good at doing and figure out a way to turn it into a business advantage. Can you teach people how to use your area of expertise to increase revenue for their business? Can you provide a service for them that they need? If they don’t think they need it, can you convince them that they do need it?

Most of you are actors of some caliber, and one thing that actors do very well is speak in front of people. Not only that, but you make it entertaining. So find another topic that you enjoy, research it, and pitch it to companies for seminars or consulting work.

Are you more of the technical type and less of the public speaker type?  Find an area that is related to your field and become an expert and get a day job doing it!  I’ve always been good with computer programming, and I think it’s incredibly fun and challenging.  I made a decision one day to learn as much as I could, so I spent three weeks doing nothing but writing web sites and making sure that I knew what I was doing.  Now I make a decent living making web pages.

If Dan can do it, if I can do it, then you can do it.

Trust me, it’s way better than waiting tables.

I love Twitter.  There, I said it.  I won’t bring up my love for this amazing service again.  But I do want to clear up some misconceptions about Twitter and tell you why it’s useful and why it’s not useful.

The other night I was discussing to a friend about theatre-related topics, specifically his callbacks in St. Louis and how I’ve been able to network in Chicago via Twitter and the blogosphere.

My friend is an actor.  A damned good one, at that.  But he’s hit some financial woes that have forced him to move back home near his parents, so they can help him out.  He wants to pursue acting as a career, but he’s having a hard time even getting his foot in the door with auditions in St. Louis.  Why?  Because he doesn’t know anyone.

I started telling him how I met most of the Chicago theatre people that I know: my blog.  I started blogging a year and a half ago (has it been that long already?) and through building up a presence here (one that has been sorely lacking of late) and reading and commenting on other blogs, I’ve made a series of connections that allowed me to get involved with a few theatres here and meet many many more people.

Blogging is fine and dandy, but not every thought or question or what-have-you is blog-worthy.  That’s when Twitter comes in.

The common misconception about Twitter is that it’s just “a series of blurbs like Facebook statuses about what people ate for breakfast.”  That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Okay, sometimes, I’ve been known to describe what I ate for breakfast.

But that’s not why I use Twitter, and it’s certainly not why Twitter is such an amazing service.

Twitter is best at networking, announcing, jump-starting discussions, spreading information, and crowd-sourcing.  What is crowd-sourcing?  It’s getting a whole bunch of people from a variety of places and disciplines to come together to solve a problem or answer a question.

Case in point, @feliciaday (whom I follow on Twitter) is in Austin, TX for the SXSW conference.  When she arrived, she tweeted something along the lines of “Hey Twitterverse, where’s a good place to eat in Austin?”  Fifteen minutes later, she tweeted “Thanks, guys!”.  The next day, @travisbedard (who lives in Austin) tweeted “I swear I just saw Felicia Day at Magnolia’s.”

See what I did there?  Felicia asked her followers (of which she has thousands) a question.  Within minutes, she’d had enough responses to solve her dilemma.  She found a good place to eat.  Cool, huh?

Here are some more examples of using Twitter to accomplish various goals:

@nickkeenan often buys and sells and acquires theatre items, props, sound equipment — you name it! — by asking for it on Twitter.  How many followers does Nick have?  184 as of right now (wow, I’m slacking..).

@dangranata re-tweeted a message from @aboutfacechi (About Face Theatre).  It read:  “Help me help @aboutfacechi - the first 5 people who reply or DM me after having made a $10 contribution will be profiled in a blog post.”  Dan will write a blog post profiling the donors to About Face Theatre on his blog.

@wilw (Wil Wheaton, of Star Trek Wesley Crusher fame) writes books.  He had a “Crazy Idea” and Tweeted “Hey Twitterverse, would you be interested in a PDF version of my latest book for $5?”  Within 15 minutes he had his answer.  An hour later, he says “Get my book in PDF format for $5 here” and shared the link via a TinyURL service.  The next day, Wheaton announced that he had sold more PDF copies of his book in the previous 12 hours than he had sold hard-copies in the previous three months.  Amazing, huh? (BTW, if you want the book, you can get it here)

Finally, @rebeccacoleman in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada tweeted a few weeks ago about “World Theatre Day” celebrations in Vancouver.  The Theatre Twitterverse’s ears’ collectively perked up.  “What’s this?” asked some Chicago Tweeps.  So fascinated by the idea, @newleaftheatre approached the League in Chicago and asked if they would like to do something.  Just a few weeks later, Mayor Daley pronounces March 27th to be World Theatre Day in Chicago.  You can check out the WTD09 blog here.  This went from a simple Tweet from Vancouver, to a full fledged celebration in Chicago in a matter of weeks.  Without Twitter, we might never have heard of it.
As you can see (if you’re still with me), Twitter is above and beyond just another “status” update site or service.  It’s a mechanism for getting things done, for solving problems, for sharing information, and for networking.

So give it a shot.  Add me (@directorsector) and a few of the others mentioned and start tweeting.  You’ll find that it’s a lot more interesting than you thought.  My friend has rethought his approach to Twitter.  Maybe you will, too.

Last night I had the honor of seeing The House Theatre’s “The Rose and the Rime”.  When I walked into the theatre, I saw these men and women dressed from head to toe in white and, quite frankly, it made me think “Oh geez, this is gonna be lame.”

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

The show opens with Rose (Carolyn Defrin) chasing bunny rabbits in the snow and then returning home on her birthday.  The opening sequence of Rose walking through town and being cheerily greeted by the townspeople reminded me of the opening sequences of those classic Christmas films that we’ve all watched when we were kids (and sometimes still watch today).  Like those sequences, everything in The Rose and the Rime’s first few minutes is portrayed as hunky-dory, happy-go-lucky, everything’s-perfect life in a small town in winter.

Also like those movies, when the opening sequence is over, we find that Radio Falls isn’t quite as cheerful and perfect as we thought.

Rose’s uncle tells her the same story he tells Rose every year, but this year, Rose wants to know more.  As her uncle expands the story she’s always heard, Rose begins to suspect that this isn’t just a fairy tale — it’s a true story.

The rest of the show deals with her adventures in finding the secrets within the story and the aftermath of her discoveries.

I’ve read other reviews and talked to at least one other person about the show, and the consensus seems to be that it’s too cute.  The first few minutes are too cute.  The beach scenes are too cute.  Everything’s too cute.

I couldn’t disagree more.

This is a fairy tale — it lends itself to cuteness.  It’s darkness is only dark compared to its light-hearted beginnings.   From the moment Rose began chasing the bunny at the beginning, until the (adjective redacted) ending, I was pulled along for the ride, the cutesy moments tickled my inner child and the more serious moments brought back thoughts of consequences and lessons learned.  With the exception of the summer scene in the middle (which I felt was about 5-10 minutes too long), I was entranced from start to finish and gripped by the story of Rose and her people.

The choreography was inspired, the music used creatively and excellently performed by the cast, the costumes were spot-on.  In short, it was one of the best put-together productions I’ve seen since I arrived in Chicago.  More than once I found myself thinking “Wow! That’s a great idea!” as Rose threw her bag across a gaping chasm, climbed a mountainside, survived a blizzard and tossed around the magic coin.

The magic coin, by the way, was awesome.

The ensemble did their jobs perfectly, flowing from “snow fairies” to townspeople and back with ease.  Their characterizations were memorable and creative, their dancing was great, and they set the mood in each scene perfectly.  I was really impressed with their musical abilities, especially the bottle scene.  Great stuff.

Don’t let the term “fairy tale” fool you.  This story is a little dark for little kids, but if you walk into this show with an open mind and expecting a compelling story, superlative acting, and artistic vision worthy of… well… me, then you won’t be disappointed.  Let your inner child enjoy the experience.

It’s worth it.

Last night was our first blocking rehearsal for Devilvet’s Devils Don’t Forget.  As assistant director, I just waited and watched and kept my own counsel while I watched Devilvet block the first few scenes.  

And let me just say this, folks.  This show is going to be good.  

The actors came in ready to work and acted professionally from the moment they entered the room until the moment they left.  And even before and after, I’d imagine.

I’ve mostly been on the receiving end of directors’ instructions, but during the times I’ve been behind the wheel, so to speak, it’s been difficult to get actors to remember staging directions, to get them off-book and to develop that chemistry that performers need to bring that extra jazz and energy to the stage. 

Scene after scene, Devilvet gave instructions and didn’t have to repeat himself.   The chemistry between the lead guy and the girl was palpable, even as the pair held scripts in their hands!  By the time we’d blocked the scene, they’d mostly put down the scripts or, if they held them, didn’t look at them often.  They remembered the blocking without mistakes and adapted to Devilvet’s direction instantly.  Let’s just say I’m very impressed.

Don’t let me mislead you.  There were plenty of things that came up that need to be worked on — it was the first blocking rehearsal, after all!  The actors still had scripts in their hands, they were still working out the kinks and quirks in their characters, and they still had to conform to Devilvet’s vision.  However, the potential is staggering.

Since I’ve never worked with Devilvet before, I decided to keep my trap shut, watch, and shared my observations after the rehearsal.  Good choice, I think.

Regardless, I’m looking forward to helping Devilvet shape this show into something you guys would be excited about and that will leave a… memorable… impression upon you.

Until next time.

I sat down on the third row, house-right next to Devilvet.  The set was dimly lit in the house lights.  Empty bottles were everywhere — on tables, on desks, on the refrigerator and even on the floor.  A picture of Jesus Christ was on the wall near the stairwell, with its light out.   The room portrayed on stage had all the elements of a lived-in home of alcoholics.

Fortunately, that’s exactly what the play contained.

The lights went out and slowly rose up and the show began.

The Seafarer by Conor McPherson addresses a group of old, alcoholic friends, one of whom is the object of the devil’s obsession.  Sharky’s soul is in the balance during a card game with his inebriated, oblivious friends and the devil himself.

Despite an initial acclimation period where I had to take time to adjust to their Irish accents, the show was phenomenal.  The Steppenwolf lived up to its reputation for quality theatre, putting on an excellent production of McPherson’s tale.

I thought that the weakest character was Nicky, whose purpose seemed to be only to introduce the antagonist and frustrate the protagonist.  However, once Sharky faced off against his nemesis halfway through Act 1, I was hooked.  The tension was overwhelming.

I didn’t leave my seat at intermission, as I was pondering the implications of the first act and turning over possibilities in my mind as to how Sharky would avoid losing his soul.

The second act lived up to my expectations.  While I didn’t shed a tear at the end, I sympathized strongly with Sharky’s plight and was rooting for his success the entire while.

I’ll leave the details of the second act to you, my dear reader, as an exercise of buying a damn ticket to the Steppenwolf production of The Seafarer.  Do it.

Do it now.

Or I’ll eat your soul.