We closed Ion on a high note. It was an amazing experience to work with the Classical Greek Theatre Festival that has been doing this for over 40 years. Being with this group of people at this particular time was everything.
From the cast, crew, design team...it was a dream and easily one of my favorite roles I have ever done. Creusa was all that a woman should be. Flaws and all. And these photos! Yummy, right? Taken by the talented Gavan Nelson.
This cast and crew led by Andra Harbold (director), Harrison Corthell (Stage Manager), Melanie Nelson (Producer) and Jim Svendsen (dramaturg and one of the founders of the Classical Greek Theatre Festival), was hard working, creative, brave, and in short, very likable people.
The latter was important when it came to the hours spent together onstage and off. You see, after our initial run at Westminster college we took it on tour to a few different venues around the valley.
We traveled in a van with our set in a trailer to the different locations. We put the set up and at the end of the night we took the set down.
Andra creates a safe environment as we rehearse and she instills in us a sense of "ensemble" through different exercises and rehearsal techniques. The end result is having this heightened awareness of each others movement, reactions and even breath.
This was a wonderful foundation as we moved to other spaces to perform the show. Some theaters were large, some more intimate and some weren't even theaters, but more of the lecture hall variety.
We found out quickly that we needed to be adaptable to each venue. Before each performance we worked out logistics of certain blocking that had to change because of the different space. Our vocal technique had to adapt to the space. I was going from speech to song in many of the scenes and it took a lot of focus to make sure I was filling the space and connecting with the audience.
At first it stressed me out. All the changes. But, soon I learned to appreciate each venue as a time to be in the moment and rely on my technique and the work I had put in initially to just fine tune things for that particular space.
Then it became exciting. To be in the moment and go with whatever that moment brought. I felt rehearsed enough that I could just be in that world and trust it no matter what.
I also knew I could trust my fellow actors. If something threw us we were right there for each other to cover or bring someone back into the scene.
After this experience and my experience with Riot Act's "Poor Bastard" I have gained a new sense of confidence to be "in the moment". Being present as an actor, and allowing things to be set, but much more free. To react with honesty and if something is thrown at me or something changes I have learned to be less rigid...more adaptable. It has been so freeing. I can't wait to apply it and continue to hone it in future projects.
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