Knock Knock - Becalmed

In any long journey there is an inevitable period of doldrums.   That period when you’re just floating along and nothing really seems to be happening.  You may be able to see the end of your journey.  And yet…it is just out of your reach.  In the days of sailing ships, they called it becalmed. 

Wonderful, gentle word for a frustrating situation.  Becalmed.

Currently, I am becalming my butt off! 

The hard work has been done.  I’ve spent countless hours with the script. I know it inside and out.  I go to bed reciting the play in my head until I fall asleep.  Lately, however, I’m not making it much past page 3.  Not a good sign.

OK.  I’ve had a couple of crappy rehearsals and I’m down on myself.  Our Joan (Nancy) is on vacation this week and talking to an empty space is proving more challenging than I would have imagined.  There is the newness of the set decoration (I’m finding new things every time I look around.  It’s fantastic.), we’re adding lights and effects and to be quite frank -- I’m not dealing with it very well. 

This is not exactly my first rodeo so I should be able to shut out distractions and focus.  Where you get in trouble with acting, and anything else for that matter,  is when you think too much.  In acting, you want to get to the place where you don’t have to "remember" what the character would do or say,  you want to be character and you say what he/she would say in that moment.   It is such a joy when you reach that point.  That's why actors love to act.  That period of time when you can get out of yourself and be someone else.  Even if it's someone more neurotic than you are. 

I have moments when I’m there.  But I’m not completely there yet.  Trying too hard.  Must relax.

Congratulations to Lavin.  There is a little line late in the play (we’ve all had them) that he has never been able to remember.  It’s one of those “nothing lines” that impacts nothing and means even less.  Those are the ones that always get you.  I’ve always found the moment very amusing because when the time comes for it, his face becomes very red and his head begins to shake violently and his head takes on the properties of a pressure cooker that’s about to explode.  It’s a pretty intense Kodak moment.

The pressure cooker moment came again last night and was equally entertaining.  He then threatened to write the line on the set.  Unfortunately, he has similar eyesight to mine so to be able to read them without glasses would involve extremely large block letters which may be a bit of a distraction to the audience.

After we ran act 2/3, we decided to just sit and run lines with moving around and doing all the business.  Just work on the lines. 

Sequence of events:

1)      I say “No!”

2)      Joan has a long monologue

3)      I say “No!”

4)      Lavin says his illusive line

LAVIN SAID HIS LINE PERFECTLY!  Unfortunately, he said it after step 1.  Oh, well.  It’s a start.  Well done, neighbor.

Bless Francis, Donna and Becky for their patience.