Corporate America: Play Time

Today's rehearsal goes down in my books as the best rehearsal thus far. I went into it with the goal of getting energy and spirits as high as possible. To do so, I started with a warmup from class earlier in the day; the "dolphin clapping game". The game is played by sending someone out of the room, creating actions for them to perform, bringing them back into the room, and having them guess what to do. It's then up to the rest of the group to guide that person by clapping when they do something right. It's a fun game, but it's very useful for two reasons: 1. It gets the actor to listen to the audience and 2. It makes the actor try EVERYTHING until they get it right.

At this point in the process I want my actors to have fun and make choices, and that's exactly what they did. They took their roles seriously, but at the same time they made plenty of choices and had fun within the context of the work. I have never seen the actors so committed to the craziness that is this show. Before I could tell they were hesitant about how they were supposed to play their parts, but by getting them to raise the energy bar and play around, they indirectly found the essence of the show.

For example, Conrad made a choice on how to do the subliminal message part of the show where he tries to show his boss how to work the fax machine. Before he would basically just scream DIE at the top of his lungs, which was ok, but not that great in terms of him keeping his voice intact. Instead, today he made a choice to make the subliminal DIE's a lot more subtle vocally while emphasizing them physically instead. This worked way better in terms of comedy and practicality. Another great example was when Sheighla, as Mr. Sessle decided to get up from the ground in the least conventional way possible. We played around with this idea for a little, and I think the choice she made in the end works the best. Lastly, Sabina made great choices even when she wasn't a part of the scene. She stayed committed and connected to each moment and reacted to whatever Conrad was experiencing.

It's this kind of receptiveness and creativity the cast bring that makes me love my job. When I give a direction they instantly know what I want them to do and they do it. More than that, they end up doing the things that I would never have anticipated, and they're absolutely brilliant. My hope is that they continue to bring this kind of creativity and energy to the rehearsals, and that they continue to have fun with the work.