First Week of Rehearsals . . . done!

Yes I am still alive, yes I am still blogging, yes I kind of maybe disappeared for a little bit . . .

But I am back now!

As you all know, not only do I author on occasion, I also act. And last week was the start of rehearsals for a production of Twelfth Night (in which I play Antonia - who is technically Antonio but whom I am playing as a woman . . . because I am one) with Theatre By The Bay up here in Barrie, Ontario. Canada.

I thought you might want to know a bit of what the rehearsal process is like, especially one that is only two and a half weeks. And so . . . I'll tell you. Now.

It began on Monday officially, though the cast made their way to Barrie to the college residences, where we are all living for the month, on Sunday. It's actually quite funny, feels like I am in university all over again, the boys in one dorm, the girls in another.

Our first read through was Monday morning. The day began with the director telling us about his vision for the show, followed by the producer and then the set, costume, and lighting designers. We then began to read through the script, which we got through just after lunch, only to begin all over again, this time discussing each scene as we went along.

Then the day was done. The actors returned to their residence, and we got to hang out a little.

The rest of the week consisted of going through each scene and roughly blocking them out. This is quite lovely for yours truly as I am only in five scenes, and so after a few hours of rehearsal in the morning, I (and some of my fellow cast members) would head to the beach. Yes the life of an actor is just that distressing.

Saturday we finished blocking the show with enough time in the afternoon to do a "stumble though" - which is running the show beginning to end and hoping you make it to the finish line in one piece. We did. It was a bit of a struggle, but we did.

This week we start working on the scenes all over again, this time with much more attention to detail.

So there you go! Pretty straightforward really. We've had a bit of dance choreography, fight choreography, character discussion etc. And considering everyone involved is ridiculously lovely, all seems to be moving smoothly.

So far.

I shall report at the end of this week whether this remains the case . . .

And now . . . some pictures!

Andy Pogson (Sir Andrew Aguecheek), Tara-Dawn Winstone (Maria) and Kristian Bruun (Malvolio) pretend that they are having a meaningful conversation for the sake of the camera. Actors have no sense of the word "candid".


Alex Dault (Sebastian) and Ryan LaPlante (Fabian) look directly at the camera. Still these actors do not understand.


Finally, some candid shots. In rehearsal (director Brett Christopher on the left). See how much fun everyone is having! See how they smile!


Andy in his Sir Andrew wig.


A nice general rehearsal shot, once more utterly candid, with Jody Stevens (Viola) in the foreground.

More shots to come!