A scene from The Importance of Being Earnest performed in 2003 at the Utah Shakesperean Festival in Cedar City (Photo by Karl Hugh)

If you can jump on a plane and land tickets before July 3, you can see Tony Award® winner Brian Bedford (“Tartuffe”) perform the role of “Lady Bracknell” in the Broadway revival of Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest.” Bricknell also directs this production.

If not, never fear — because a performance of Wilde’s comedic work is being “captured live in high-definition at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway and simulcast” to the Phoenix Art Museum Sun, June 12, from 2-5pm.

The 2011 Tony Awards® ceremony will be broadcast on CBS that very evening, so you can run right home from the Phoenix Art Museum to continue your celebration of all things Tony Awards®.

“The Importance of Being Earnest” in nominated for three Tony Awards® — Best Revival of a Play, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play (Brian Bedford) and Best Costume Design of a Play (Desmond Heeley).

The simulcast of “The Importance of Being Earnest” is being presented by Roundabout Theatre Company, L.A. Theatre Works and BY Experience. Your only other opportunity to see this production in Arizona is a Sun, June 5, presentation at The Loft Cinema in Tucson. Those more earnest than most can do both.

Maybe you’d like to get a little more “Wilde” this summer. If so, you can hit the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix Jun 3-11 for a live performance of “The Importance of Being Earnest” by the Southwest Shakespeare Company.

The Stratford Shakespeare Festival calls this work “one of the funniest comedies in the English language — and a critique of the conventions and hypocrises of so-called polite society that remains stingingly pertinent even today.”

The festival adds that the work has “no overt sexuality and no hint of violence” — saying its “suitable for all ages” but might not be of interest to young children.

If you know and love Wilde’s work, no further explanation is necessary. If you’ve experienced his work without being wowed, keep trying. And if you just want to learn more, click here to land on the Roundabout Theatre website — where you’ll find more scoop on the Broadway production as well as a “Playgoers’ Guide.”

– Lynn

Note: As always, please contact venues/companies before attending to confirm dates/times, locations, ticket pricing and availability, etc.

Coming up: A new musical with a social justice theme, Women of Broadway head to Arizona, A conversation with Arizona’s only Tony Award® voter

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Thanks!

UPDATE: Basement Jockey’s is no longer in existence.  Below is the reproduction of my original review of Garth Ennis’ The Pro.

Garth Ennis’ “The Pro” is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read.  Not just the funniest comic, or the funniest superhero spoof, but one of the funniest things; “The Pro” is right up there with Catch-22, “The Literary Crimes of James Fennimore Cooper,” and freaking Tartuffe.

For those of you who’ve never heard of this, here’s a brief synopsis: “Pro” refers to the main character, a young prostitute and single mother, who holds a day job at Denny’s.  Her life is shit, until one day, an alien with cosmic powers and questionable hobbies known as “The Viewer” gives her super-powers, in order to prove that any human is capable of becoming a hero.  Soon after Pro’s discovery of her new powers, she is greeted by The League of Honor; whose members include The Saint (Superman), The Knight (Batman) and his sidekick the squire (Robin), Speedo (the Flash), The Lady (Wonder Woman, or any other busty, solo female character on a super-team), and—best of all—The Lime (a token-black Green Lantern).  After assuring her that she’ll receive a considerable amount of money for her trouble, our protagonist agrees to join the League.  From there, she engages in a number of hysterical taboos; such as raising her streetwalking profit by giving super speed blow jobs, publicly humiliating the Saint, and—to quote the Knight—“urinat[ing] over a vanquished foe on the floor of the United Nations!  In full view of the assembled ambassadors!”  Still, the Pro does manage to become a true hero by the end of this short graphic novel; in an unexpected way, considering the joviality before this climax.

There’s been talk of a “The Pro” movie; Jimmy Palmiotti (who inked the comic and did most of its marketing) said he wanted Sarah Silverman to play the lead.  Whispers could be heard about Natalie Portman possibly producing it; if nothing else, there’s an animated short . . . to be found on YouTube.  Nothing has borne “The Pro” any real fruit in terms of film, though it would be a fairly easy movie to make.  Yet Ennis’ ongoing series The Boys (a sort of post-cursor to “The Pro”) is currently in pre-production.  There are several reasons why a studio might choose to make The Boys into a movie over “The Pro”: The Boys is an ongoing series, which could mean more movies and more money; The Boys is a popular series, which means more people would want to see the movie; The Boys, by proxy of being a series, has a more developed plot and more developed characters than “The Pro,” which has some intentionally two-dimensional characters; The Boys might be considered less . . . actually, no, both comics are really offensive.  But a definite reason could also be that The Boys handles the subject matter and critique of superheroes and their genre in a more serious light than does “The Pro.”  While The Boys certainly has funny parts, this series delves into some serious, human issues that “The Pro,” as a comedy, only grazes on.  (Though, again, The Boys has far more space to work with.)  It comes down to this, then: “The Pro” is a comedy and The Boys is not.  And the general consensus seems to be that non-comedy is better than comedy.

This is going to sound stupidly oxymoronic, but people don’t take comedy seriously.  This isn’t to say that by laughing or finding comedy amusing (as you should), people aren’t taking it seriously.  I mean to say that people don’t take comedy as an art form seriously; they think comedy has no greater purpose other than to amuse.  Think about it: how many comedic movies have ever been up for Oscars?  How many comedic books were you asked to read in high school?  We have this belief that comedy, by way of being comedy, can’t be or isn’t as good as something “serious” like drama.  Like art with a humorous tone can’t be as smart, or meaningful, or discerning, as something with a serious tone.  As if The Things They Carry somehow better portrays and expresses the horror and insanity of war than Catch-22, simply because the former is less silly and less amusing.  As if “The Literary Crimes of James Fennimore Cooper” will give less insight on how to write well than an essay on grammar because Twain’s review isn’t dry.  Or as if The Crucible somehow shows the dangers of fanaticism and piety better than Tartuffe because The Crucible has innocent people being hanged and tortured while Tartuffe has people speaking in rhyme and trying to get laid.  Comedy literally was just a story with a happy ending—not insignificant, just happy.  According to Dryden, humor and wit are tools to “delightfully instruct” people on what they or their society is doing wrong, in a way that won’t hurt feelings too much, so the critique can be better received.  So why do we act like comedy can’t teach us anything, like the rest of art can?

Let’s return to “The Pro,” which was left holding the bag one very long paragraph ago.  It might sound silly to suggest that this comic—which is about a prostitute teaming up with a bunch of goody-two-shoe superheroes—could have something more to offer than humor.  But I think it does.  Like all comedy (or all good comedy), “The Pro” can point to dangers in society without offending its audience too much, because it’s funny.  With “The Pro” Ennis points to the dangers of hero worship, idealism, and the escapism offered by entertainment (in particular that of superhero comics) by showing us how ridiculous these ideas actually are when they’re exposed.

That could be enough, but Ennis goes a step further.  At one point our Pro begins to butt heads with the rest of the superheroes.  Taken out of the humorous context, her arguments are not just good but fairly serious:

“You goofs, whatever it is you think you’re doing, you are no use to this world at all.  You are a lousy example to people, you are not the kind of heroes they need, and you have nothing to do with the reality they have to live in.

Because this is a harsh fucking place, and it is fucked to give people the idea that someone’s coming riding to the rescue.”

Ennis gives us a harsh but valid argument here.  Should we be taking solace in fake superheroes?  Why do we look up to these fictional heroes, whose impossibility stems not from their powers but the ability of a human being to live up to their moral code?  Ennis uses his title character as the mouthpiece to ask these questions and make these points—which might get overlooked simply because “The Pro” is a comedy.

Ennis develops these arguments and further explores the dangers of super-heroism in The Boys, which is thus far an amazing series worth your time to read.  But I kind of feel like Ennis just as effectively made his argument in less than sixty pages of “The Pro,” and now he’s just expanding it.

Whether you’re reading it for a laugh (which are plentiful to find) or you’re looking for a sarcastic critique on superhero comics, “The Pro” is worth a read, and definitely deserves more attention and credibility than it has so far received.

Jon Kellam

In 1981, years before his roles in Top Gun, Bull Durham and The Shawshank Redemption, actor Tim Robbins and fellow actors from UCLA founded an experimental theater group in LA, the Actors’ Gang. The company launches its 30^th anniversary celebration this year with a 17^th century classic, but not surprisingly, absolute fidelity to the original is hardly the goal.

Director Jon Kellam, who studied theater and political science at Lawrence University, helms Tartuffe. He points out that the Actors’ Gang is known for its reconstructive adaptations as it pursues the classics. Read more.

While in D.C. we were in the subway waiting on a train to pick us up. There was a guy like most every other beggar in D.C., but he was different. He looked worse than any other beggar and didn’t walk around asking for money or anything, but people would give him money without him asking. This was sort of like Tartuffe in that he would give more than receive. Upon returning, we noticed the guy who had been there all day was leaving. Thinking that this poor soul would have nowhere to go and have only enough money to survive a couple days or so proved to be totally different than we had perceived.

Following this guy out of the subway, we noticed he walked out of the subway and started removing the old drudgy clothing he had on. He then proceeded to place them into a trash-bag and furthermore climbed into a newer model BMW before driving away. In disbelief, we were furious that this so called beggar would spend all day doing what he did, but in the end would laugh all the way home in his $50K ride. This guy was driving a car that most would not be able to afford in a part of the country like ours without a well-paying job. This particular guy would be described as middle-class in D.C., but in Mississippi he would be considered high-class. What a society we live in and a change of though. In the end, who really comes out? I have always been told, “What goes around, comes around.” We see that proves true in the final act of Tartuffe as it does in reality alike.

Johnathan Hayes

Click images to see larger views.

Front Binding – A very enticing binding, with a striking relief of Moliere’s profile towards the center of the front board (the back lacks this). Here’s what Django2694 had to say about this book:

Tartuffe, designed as well as illustrated by Herr Steiner-Prag, lithos pulled by Meissner & Buch: Leipzig. The binding is half natural linen, with mould-made Japanese paper sides. No Heritage Press edition exists of this (again, of the first 10 years of the LEC, maybe only half ever had reincarnations as Heritage press books (using the same illustrator, designer, etc.), although many years later the LEC, and then the Heritage Press did a 2 play Moliere volume containing Tartuffe and The Would-Be Gentleman, in translations by H Baker and J Miller, and illustrations in color by Serge Ivanoff. I can’t offer any comment on the merits of this translation as opposed to the one by Page, but I have to say I think Steiner-Prag’s black and white lithos far superior to Ivanov’s beautiful, but somewhat characterless illustrations for Tartuffe–although Ivanoff’s work seems better suited to The Would-Be Gentleman.

In the Quarto-Millenary, Macy has this to say about the Steiner-Prag edition: “This is one of the ten finest books we have ever issued to our members, yet it is one of the ten least popular. O tempora, o mores!”

Below is a larger view of the relief.

Relief

Spine – The text is upside down. Moliere’s name is actually at the bottom of the spine when the book is correctly flipped to be read.

Slipcase

Title Page – The first Tartuffe the club put out was translated by Curtis Hidden Page (a man born for books, let me tell you), who also provides a small preface before the play begins. Before that, Brander Matthews gives the introduction. Hugo Steiner-Prag gives the comedy some most excellent illustrations in his first work for the Club. He did not return to the LEC until his Shakespeare commission in 1939, resulting in his rendering Measure for Measure for Macy. Next was The Tales of Hoffman (which he also provided the Introduction for) and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, both in 1943. He passed away shortly after completing the work for Poe. Lord Byron’s Don Juan was also illustrated by Steiner-Prag for the Heritage Press, also in 1943. A short but brilliant collaboration, if you ask me. This particular book was printed by Poeschel & Trepte in Leipzig, Germany, which also happened to be where Steiner-Prag resided.

Signature Page – Here’s my limitation number: 1005 out of 1500. Steiner-Prag’s signature is in pencil (sorry for its faintness).

Introduction – A moody piece of the play’s lead, Tartuffe, a man with “many faces”. This page is right after the Introduction and Preface, preceding the play’s beginning.

Page 41 – Steiner-Prag was brilliant with lighting, as is evident here.

Page 57 – My favorite piece in this book.

Personal Notes – Purchased at Moe’s in Berkeley for $25, but it was not my first exposure to the book.  My favorite shop of all in Monterey (sorry, I want to keep this secret!) had a copy that a dog had unfortunately sunk its teeth into the top right corner, but I had to argue with myself not to buy damaged goods. The binding was just that captivating. This copy has no dog nomming (sorry, but I do love I Can Has Cheezburger), and was wrapped in a sufficient piece of butcher paper with some tissue protecting the relief from harm. The slipcase is a little battered, but the book is relatively unscathed.  Lucky me!

I’ve read some of Tartuffe, as well as watching the Gerard Depardieu film, so I have some familiarity with this play, but not as much as, say, Macbeth or Cyrano de Bergerac. I’ll have to reread it soon!

LEC Newsletter

Page 3 is omitted due to it being a preview of a later book.

Updated 7/6/2012 – JF

Now, to speak of the marriage of Tartuffe to Mariane. This brings me to looking at Chinese culture where the father chooses his children’s careers and life altogether. In Chinese culture, most father’s are businessman or have been in the same career all their lives. Most careers and businesses have been passed down for generations and it is bestowed upon them to continue the legacy per-se. A couple of years ago, I met a young Chinese woman aspiring to be in business for herself. At the time, I did not understand much about Chinese culture but learned a little very quickly. She wanted to start her own business, move to the United States, and marry a man who she could love and would love her the same. Her father had other plans for her as she explained. He was a successful businessman in China and wanted her to take over his operation eventually. She, as I have said, had other desires for her life but could not bring herself to tell her father or to even discredit his motives for her as it would he would resent her wishes. She also spoke of how she was once in love, but her father forbid her from seeing the man she was in love with because of his stature. He was not a successful businessman and would not be able to support her or be of the same motive as her father. This led to a very confined young woman who at the time of my speaking to her was lost and no clue as to what to do or how to express herself to her father without him resenting her. I tried to help, but it is hard to make decisions for others especially with such a cultural difference.

In the end, we all make our decisions regardless of input and sometimes those decisions are hard to make. Sometimes, they lead to lose of friends and family. If there is no support from friends or family or discredit upon the desires of our motives, we tend to make one of two decisions. That is to obey the wishes of others for ourselves or to obey our own wishes and make the decision to further progress in life. No success has ever come without change! Looking at Mariane, her wishes were to marry the love of her life Valere. If she were to go against her father’s wishes, she would be cast of her family because of disobeying her father. For Tartuffe, his motives seem to have been all along to pursue Orgon’s wife and to force her into an affair without her husband’s knowledge. Perception is Reality as I always say. Perception is an association with our reality which causes us to evaluate and make a decision upon our perceptions. Orgon’s perception was deceived by Tartuffe from the beginning and therefore caused him to make his decisions based upon his association with reality through his eyes. In life, if we wish to change our reality, we must first change our perception and change the association we have.

Johnathan Hayes

When I visited Simon’s Rock in May 2010 for graduation, the graduation that would have been my own, I ran into Karen Beaumont and Aimee Michel, two of the theater professors, who asked if I was returning the following (this) semester, and implored me to be a part of the production because they needed someone who was good at comedy. I said okay. I think they told me what the play was, but I forgot immediately and set it out of my mind for the next few months. I returned to campus in late August 2010. I attended the first class with no idea of what I was doing and without having picked any other classes to fill in my potential credit load even though you advised us to because I was confident enough in my abilities to risk an unsustainably low credit load in the event of failure.

I have never had a major role in a scripted production before, having had one scene in Moonchildren in 2009 and mainly film work or improvisational work before. I am probably too arrogant. I read the script for Tartuffe and my first reaction was “I don’t want to be Orgon.”. I proceeded to tell this to a few people before the audition process in idle, self-jinxing fear. I auditioned and got the part of Orgon and said “shit” and laughed. My main reason for fearing the part of Orgon was that he stood in counterpoint to everything I felt, and everything I wanted to feel, about myself as a character. Being an intensely non-religious, skeptical, young person, I was wary of making myself into a character who was defined by emotions that had never occurred to me before in my life. There are a lot of emotions that I have felt that I feel capable of reproducing through sense memory, but religious fervor is confusing and alien to me. So to be defined by it, as a character, was a daunting task. I even felt more receptive to playing Tartuffe for how he simulated it, and for how I knew I could play simulated false piety, having grown up in Texas surrounded by a large Mexican Catholic family filled with various grandmothers and aunts who would ask about my (nonexistent) church whenever I saw them on various holidays and get-togethers.

I am bad at memorizing lines. My first acting training was in improvisation. This occurred when I was still very young and generally antisocial, having been raised by two engineers with an older brother with Asperger’s Syndrome, which made me pretty much incapable of effectively communicating with people surrounding me in Texas. For years I used improvisational acting techniques in lieu of naturally developed social skills which cultivated a public persona that was at odds with how I actually felt most of the time for the fact that it was comprised almost entirely of artifice and overcompensation. Even after I learned to really interact with people,, after coming to Simon’s Rock, I still had the weakness as an actor that I was focused entirely on improvisation. The biggest acting roles that I’d done up until this point were on film in a context that supported improvisation. Even on films taken from scripts that I wrote, I’d frequently throw out pages of dialogue, even if I’d labored over it, and riff on-set until I achieved something that felt more natural.

As a result, metered rhyming verse was a bit foreign to me.  I appreciated the artifice of it for how the strict meter and rhyme actually helped me to memorize it more easily, given that the strict parameters served as a kind of error correction that allowed me to tell when my memory was failing, but I did not appreciate having to force strict meter and rhyme into the cadences of natural dialogue. So I carried my script around for far too long into the process. I memorized the emotions and beats of the character long before the lines themselves, and this resulted in a few moments in rehearsal where I would be so caught up in the moment of freaking out over my eviction or wanting to scream at whatever member of my family that I was currently in the process of alienating that I would forget the words I was supposed to use to do it.

I am extremely exhausted as I write this. Playing Orgon, I found myself cultivating an air of paranoid anxiety for hours a day, which is the opposite of what I usually do, or try to do, just to survive at Simon’s Rock. I believe in a somewhat stoic philosophy based on the idea that our thoughts cause our feelings and behaviors, and so if I can have the proper thoughts, the feelings and behaviors required of the character will naturally follow. This bled over into my daily life an unpleasantly large amount. I remember at one point someone said to me that the important thing on stage was to go out there and have fun, and I responded “No, I am not going to have fun. I am going to go out there and have a controlled panic attack that makes the audience worry about my health because that is what the character requires of me.” This is probably a bad method that I wouldn’t recommend for anyone who intends on doing a play that they don’t know the close date to ahead of time. Were the play to run indefinitely or until box-office sales forced it to close, there is no way I could have sustained myself on what I was doing. I found myself using, instead of the focus on religious fervor that terrified me, the memories of my time immediately before leaving Simon’s Rock when I was racked with a sense of paranoia, anxiety, and loss of control. These feelings, I figured, were the closest I had experienced to the midlife crisis that drives Orgon to turn to religious fervor. The closest I have ever come to a religious experience was in mid-October of 2009 when I was lying on a broken combination futon/couch/bed, not having eaten solid food or bathed in days, drifting in and out of consciousness/bouts of uncontrollable crying. I was listening to The Mountain Goats’ album “The Life of the World to Come”, in which every song is named after a bible verse.

One specific song, “Isaiah 45:23″, is told from the perspective of an old man dying of some terminal disease in a hospital bed. The part of Orgon that had confounded and horrified me the most was his earnest proclamations that his spirituality made it so that he could have seen his mother, children, brother and wife die without feeling a single moment’s pain. In Isaiah 45:23, the man in the bed thinks to himself of heaven’s glory as he waits to die:

“If my prayer be not humble,
make it so.
In these last hours,
if the spirit waits in check,
help me let it go.
And should my suffering double,
let me never love You less.
Let every knee be bent,
and every tongue confess.

And I won’t get better,
but someday I’ll be free,
because I am not this body
that imprisons me.

I read the magazines somebody brought.
Hold them to my failing eyes
until my hands get hot.
And when the nurse comes in
to change my sheets and clothes,
the pain begins to travel,
dancing as it goes.”

As bleak as it sounds, I remember thinking as I lie there on that couch, listening to that song, that if there were something better on the other side, death wouldn’t be so bad. But paradoxically I fear death precisely because I think there is nothing on the other side to fear. I took this understanding and found my fuel for Orgon. The sense of loss of control, of decay, of paranoia and mortality, brought me closer to God than anything had before. A position of animosity is extremely intimate in some ways, and a good enemy requires an understanding. Hence the relationship between Orgon and Tartuffe. In my weakness, in my unwillingness to go gently into that goodnight, I have turned to denial, to thinking that there is no goodnight to go into at all but instead golden gates to everlasting love, and to facilitate this denial I have found someone who embodies it, both in terms of me lying to myself and him lying to me.

Unfortunately the intensity of this sense memory was almost uncontrollable. Nobody taught me any method and my own attempts to do this were uninfluenced by any formal acting training. I don’t know why I did this to myself. I had it timed so I was struggling to keep it together throughout most of the play, even though the only reason I needed to keep it together at all was because of how much I’d screwed it up in the first place from denial and overcompensation, and then allowing myself the two consecutive breaking points of bursting out from under the table and of being disbelieved by my mother. I got away from myself. I was working on the rote memorization of the lines, the translation of metered verse into speakable dialogue, the overcompensating ex-soldier’s body language, and the incorporation of my own past into all of these elements. Frequently I would lose control of one of these aspects during the rehearsal process. Eventually I reached a point where every aspect came together, where the blocking of each scene seemed to naturally turn a crank within me that spouted out the proper words, and where I’d ascribed the proper emotional thoughts to each cue and movement so that I had a near-pavlovian response at each part of the play.

Don’t do this. It hurts. I’m so tired right now. I’m glad I did it though.

The language is one of the stars of Molière’s comedy. The Richard Wilbur translation not only preserves the wit and elegance of the French but adds humor available only in English with its greater flexibility, especially in the realm of rhyme. And rhymed couplets, so difficult to maneuver in English without sounding like something from the nursery, in Wilbur’s translation, have all the skill of a Pope or Byron.

The true joy of watching this production, however, lies in the direction and delivery of the actors. Timing is all in this sort of comedy, and if the delivery lags so does the laughter. As they say, farce is tragedy played at 100 RPM, and this production clips right along at 101 RPM. The highly caloric language of Molière comes out crisp, precise; for the most part we take it all in, although we who are used to the fast food of contemporary literature (and TV) may have difficulty at times digesting the dish upon dish of rich humor we are served. Clearly, the voice coaching the students received was excellent, and so was the script analysis.

The set design and costumes serve the play well, and the director makes full use of the entire stage (a sort of spare baroque effect), side to side, upstairs and downstairs, and even the furniture. (It was good to know that when Madame Pernelle’s well-mannered lapdog was tossed in a bench seat and left there for what seemed like too long, that, as the program tells us, “No animals were harmed or detained in closed dark spaces.”) As one character reminds us, we should not rely on appearances in our judgments, since we know that the austere black-and-white Puritan costume of the unctuous Tartuffe makes a stark visual contrast to the lace cuffs, plunging bodices, and velvet of the other characters’ dress, but this is only his hypocritical show.

Zoe Saba’s direction is to be applauded. All the actors are perfectly cast, with a kind of commedia dell’ arte aptness. Missy Lonsinger as Madame Pernelle is part pretentious Polonius and part oblivious Lady Bracknell, courageously managing not to be upstaged by her panting and precious, onyx-eyed pup. Orgon, played by Justin Thompson, is the blind but endearing fool who does his best to be cuckolded by Tartuffe. There are two stars of the show. The first is Dorine the impertinent maid, played by Jessica Boles, who provides a withering commentary on the action, both chorus and comedienne. The second is the oily Tartuffe himself, played by Miguel Torres with a kind of light-switch agility, turning quickly from his pious, hair-stroking obsequiousness to his true character as leering, sneering, nearly victorious villain.

Go see it. This is the way Molière should be played.

— Richard Collins, Dean of Arts and Humanities, CSUB

Moliere’s french play, “Tartuffe” is about is  an imposter, Tartuffe, (Zach McCann) who claims to be a zealous, pious man while boarding at the wealthy Orgon’s (Daniel Hackman) home. Instead, he’s a deceiver who tries to swindle Orgon out of the deed of his house by charming Orgon into making him the sole heir of all of his possessions along with the marriage of his only daughter, Marlene (Lindsey Phillpott). Tartuffe is eventually caught and thrown into prison. It’s a comedic, raunchy play about religious hypocrisy.

My absolute favorites were Christiana White, Daniel Hackman, Luke Hatmaker, Miles Gatrell and Zach McCann. Christiana White had the audience roaring with laughter as she came off as very sarcastic. She fit the role of Dorine, the outspoken maid, beautifully! More from her will have to be seen as the theater season progresses. Brava!

Daniel Hackman, as we all know, can act. However, I don’t truly know how he’s doing post-Belmont if he has time to be in a college play. I’m sure his acting career is fine. However, it doesn’t send a good message to the theater department’s males. They couldn’t get a current male Belmont student to play Orgon? Are they really all that horrible? One can only wonder.

Luke Hatmaker was ridiculous and I mean that in all the good cheer I possess. He played the hot-headed Damis. Wielding his sword left and right, trying in vain to kill Tartuffe, he usually screamed/shrieked his lines which made them difficult to understand. His physical humor made up for it as he leaped and bounded, fell and crashed into things. I really hope he doesn’t walk away with bruises after this one.

Words cannot express how badly my sides were splitting at the spectacle Miles Gatrell made as Valere. Valere is madly in love with Mariane and picks a fight with her when she reveals she’s marrying Tartuffe. Obviously, the two love birds make up as they stare dramatically into each other’s eyes. Gatrell strutted around the stage, making Valere look like the most feminine male. He shrieked and squawked. Gatrell burst on the stage with such vibrance, it took me back. He gave the stage so much energy that when he left, I couldn’t wait until he paraded onto the stage once again.

Zach McCann plays a beautiful villain. This time around it was the sneaky, conniving Tartuffe. He excelled in this role. His evil laugh is very convincing and his thin body and hunched stature contributed much to the character. McCann was very convincing and I immediately forgot McCann the actor and regarded him as Tartuffe. Put another feather in McCann’s cap for this one.

The very unpleasant time of the evening came when Lindsay Phillpott, Mariane, opened her mouth. It took all my strength not to cover my ears. She had a brilliant British accent but her wrong-doing came with her whining voice and a pathetic excuse for her facial expressions. I understand it’s a comedy but there must be some believability. Phillpott, your father wants to marry you off to some creepy, twisted liar and all you can do is feign a sad face and protrude your lip? Come on! Wake up and smell the coffee. Get some emotion in your face and for God’s sake, take your pitchy voice down a notch. You’re giving everyone a headache.

Kristin McCalley acts the same in every play: she puts on airs and struts around the stage. In this round she played Madame Pernelle. McCalley gave a better performance only because she was involved in the opening and closing acts. In the closing act, her “horror” was so fake you could cut it with a knife. McCalley truly needs to work more on her believability.

Joanna Hackman as Elmire was good but a little stiff. I loved how she played Orgon’s husband and in reality she is married to Hackman. It was such a cute touch! I would like to see Joanna act some more, however, before writing her off.

Belmont’s rendition of “Tartuffe” is a fine play. There are some very inappropriate parts which I was surprised to find Belmont was okay with producing. The play is French but this is Belmont. The art department is refused nude models for drawing classes, but the theater department can produce plays where sexual acts are insinuated? Smells like a double standard to me. The play is raunchy so small children need not attend. If you like 17th century costumes, rhyming couplets and physical humor then “Tartuffe” is the right play for you.

“Tartuffe” continues through October 10. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for faculty and staff. Belmont students are free and culture and arts convo will be given.

Essa semana estou de humor muito crítico, eu confesso, mas vai, eu tenho certeza que vários estão se divertindo com isso, principalmente os que sofrem de baixa auto-estima.
Todo mundo sabe agora: eu moro no Brasil, onde as modelos são o orgulho nacional depois do futebol e do samba, e além disso eu trabalho no mundo da moda. Então, é inevitável ver uma ou mais imagens destas moças encantadoras aparecer na tela do meu PC (sim, eu não uso [ainda] Mac).
Bem, saibam que essas “deusas” não são perfeitas, elas são um pouco como eu e você, so que numa versão muito mais linda: têm falhas que podem se manifestar na forma de lacunas culturais, de mau gosto ou de detalhes físicos que sabem geralmente esconder.
Dois exemplos:

Alessandra Ambrosio, a Angel da Victoria Secret para quem 2010 foi o ano da consagração, que passou do estatuto de “body” ao de quase supermodelo adequada para todos os tipos de trabalho, de desfiles até os editoriais mais conceituais…

（ ^_^）o<[_][_]>o（^_^ ）

Cette semaine je suis d’humeur très critique, je vous l’accorde, mais bon, je suis sûr que ça fait du bien à plus d’un(e), principalement eux qui souffrent d’une basse estime de soi.
Tout le monde le sait à présent : j’habite au Brésil, pays où les mannequins sont la fierté nationale après le football et la samba, et en plus de cela je travaille dans le milieu de la mode. Du coup, il est inévitable de voir une ou plusieurs photos de ces jolies demoiselles apparaître sur mon écran de PC (oui, je n’utilise pas [encore] de Mac).
Et bien figurez-vous que ces “déesses” ne sont pas parfaites, elles sont un peu comme une version très belle de vous et moi : elles ont des défauts qui peuvent se manifester sous forme de lacunes culturelles, de mauvais goût ou de détails physiques qu’elles savent généralement cacher.
Deux exemples à suivre :

Alessandra Ambrosio, l’Angel de Victoria Secret pour qui 2010 a été l’année de la consécration qui l’a fait passé du status de “body“ à celui de presque top model apte à tous types de travaux, des défilés aux éditoriaux les plus conceptuels…

… AKA “Cubra este ouvido que eu não poderia ver”. Será que ela vai filmar uma nova adaptação cinematográfica de uma obra do Tolkien pelo Peter Jackson? Ah não, está apenas no backstage do desfile da Loewe na Paris Fashion Week S/S11.

（ ^_^）o<[_][_]>o（^_^ ）

… AKA “Cachez cette oreille que je ne saurais voir”. Va-t-elle tourner une nouvelle adaptation de Tolkien pour Peter Jackson? Ah non, c’est juste le backstage du défilé Loewe à la Paris Fashion Week S/S11.

&

Isabeli Fontana, a polivalente, muito procurada fora, mas que ama tanto o Brasil que não se incomoda em criticar os países onde ela passa no seu twitter … que ela usa para fazer asneiras como a que lhe valeu a ira do Karl Lagerfeld este ano…

（ ^_^）o<[_][_]>o（^_^ ）

Isabeli Fontana, la polyvalente, très sollicitée mondialement mais qui ne jure que par le Brésil et ne se gène pas pour critiquer les pays où elle va sur son twitter…qu’elle utilise pour faire des bourdes dont une lui a valu les foudres de Karl Lagerfeld cette année…

…AKA “Cubra estas marcas de bikini que eu não poderia ver”. Alguém já lhe disse que as marcas de bikini são uma coisa muito feia, vulgar, nada fashion e muito menos elegante … e então a evitar em uma festa chique como o aniversário dos 90 anos da Vogue França.

（ ^_^）o<[_][_]>o（^_^ ）

… AKA “Cachez ce bronzage que je ne saurais voir”. Quelqu’un lui a-t-il déjà dit que les marques de maillots c’est très laid, vulgaire, en rien fashion et encore moins élégant… et donc à éviter lors d’une soirée chique comme l’anniversaire des 90 ans de Vogue France.

Antes de seus fãs me cobrarem, prefiro lhes avisar agora: são mulheres cujas carreiras admiro, o objetivo deste post é apenas desmistificá-las um pouco Pois sim, mesmo mulheres perfeitas têm defeitos!

PS: para aqueles que não entenderam a referência ao Molière, eu me inspirei na frase famosa do Tartufo: “Cubra estes seios que eu não poderia ver”.

（ ^_^）o<[_][_]>o（^_^ ）

Avant que leurs fans me tombent dessus, je préfère vous avertir de suite : j’admire leur carrière, le but de ce post est juste de les démystifier un peu ;)  Et oui, même les femmes parfaites ont des défauts !

P.S : pour ceux qui n’ont pas compris la référence à Molière, je me suis basé sur la réplique de Tartuffe: “cachez ce sein que je ne saurais voir“.

Go ahead — give a twirl. You know you want to. Because today marks the grand re-opening ceremony of the Herberger Theater Center in downtown Phoenix. It’s newly renovated and I’m doing my happy dance.

Tomorrow I can dance during the Herberger Theater Center’s Festival for the Arts, though I may let others do it for me. Get ready for a collective community arts party of sorts as longime lovers of the Herberger join newer fans for a day of play.

The festival features food, performances, art, live music, film festival shorts and a children’s activity area. Tickets are just $5 for the 13 & up set (ages 12 & under are free).

At some point, I’ll need to hang up my dancing shoes and slide into my running shoes so I can also get to some of the other arts events around the Valley this weekend. Here’s a rundown…

Dance

CONDER/dance presents “Dance Downtown” on Fri, Oct 1. It features “dance, film and art on the grounds of the majestic Trinity Cathedral in Phoenix.

Film

Century Arts Foundation presents the 10th annual “Scottsdale International Film Festival” for five days starting Fri, Oct 1. Features films that “foster a meaningful understanding of the world’s cultures, lifestyles, religions, and ethnicities.” Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts (opening ceremony) and Harkins Camelview 5 Theatre in Scottsdale.

Museums

The Deer Valley Rock Art Center presents a free lecture by Reba Wells Grandrud titled “Historical Graffiti: Arizona’s Own ‘Independence Rock.’” Features information on an Arizona bluff where several people well-known in the history of the Southwest carved their names or initials. DVRAC in Glendale.

The Heard Museum presents their 7th annual “Spirit of the Heard” award ceremony on Fri, Oct 1. The 2010 ceremony will honor revered Taos Pueblo elder, Tony Ryena — and kick off their “2010 Native American Recognition Days.” Heard Museum in Phoenix.

Music

The Heard Museum presents members of the Arizona Opera performing “Little Warrior Comes Home” on Sun, Oct 3. Features work written by Navajo scholar Evangeline Parsons-Yazzie of Northern Arizona University. Heard Museum in Phoenix.

The Phoenix Symphony presents “Pops Adventures Around the World” Fri/Sat/Sun, Oct 1-3. The two-hour concert, conducted by Jack Everly, features music of Australia, the UK, the USA and Italy. Symphony Hall in Phoenix.

Theater

ASU Lyric Opera Theatre presents “Tartuffe” on Fri/Sat, Oct 1-2 (and Fri/Sat, Oct 8-9). Features the contemporary comedic opera (opera is only rumored to be old and stuffy) based on Molere’s 17th century French comedy. Evelyn Smith Music Theatre at ASU in Tempe.

Great Arizona Puppet Theater presents “For Adults: Puppet Slam” (for the 18+ set) on Fri/Sat, Oct 1-2. Features “quirky edgy puppet shows by Arizona’s leading quirky edgy puppeteers.” GAPT in Phoenix.

Storytelling

Changing Hands Bookstore presents “Costume Storytime: Wild Thing” on Sat, Oct 2. Family event features a storyteller reading Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are” while a “Wild Thing” visits and poses for photos (bring your camera). CHB in Tempe.

South Mountain Community College presents “Stories for Hispanic Heritage Month” on Fri, Oct 1. Features stories from the SMCC Storytelling Institute. SMCC in Phoenix.

Visual Arts

Arizona Sonora Desert Museum presents “Art Institute Student Show” Sat., Oct 2 through Sun., Dec 5. Features “a variety of media and a multitude of Sonoran Desert subject matter.” ASDM in Tucson.

Artlink Phoenix presents “First Friday” on Fri, Oct 1. The “nation’s largest, self-guided art walk” features access to “more than 70 galleries, venues and art-related spaces” in Phoenix. Trollies leave from the Phoenix Art Museum starting at 6pm. (Museums open during the walk include the Children’s Museum of Phoenix and others.)

Check the online calendar for Raising Arizona Kids magazine for daily listing of family-friendly events including performing arts, exhibits and much more. It’s a great place to find storytimes, arts and crafts, outdoor/nature experiences and more. (Always call ahead to confirm event details, ticket prices and such.)

If, like me, you get all your family’s dancing shoes at Barry’s Capezio in Scottsdale, give my regards to Barry and family — and warn them that I may be the one doing the happy dance this weekend. Those who don’t dart out the door with dread will give a good giggle.

–Lynn

Note: The Herberger Theater Center is home to three resident companies — Actors Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company and Center Dance Ensemble. Other companies who use the Herberger Theater Center include Valley Youth Theater and iTheatre Collaborative. The center also features a youth outreach program and the Steele Pavilion Art Gallery.

Coming up: Theater musings from Diamond Head, Dance performance to benefit domestic violence prevention, Theater by and for youth, Fall break arts camps

Tartuffe, a comedy, is about a man who takes advantage of his landlord, Orgon. Tartuffe portrays himself as a pious man when he simply wants to swindle Orgon out of the deed to his house by marrying his daughter. It is a play about religious hypocrisy and extremism, topics Brent Maddox, the director of Tartuffe, says are very relevant to today’s world.

“If you look at what’s going on in our culture, in our society, globally speaking, this play was written hundreds of years ago yet the message of religious hypocrisy or religious extremism is still prevalent today,” Maddox said.

Tartuffe was originally written in French, but Maddox is using Richard Wilbur’s, an American literary translator and poet, version because his translation preserved the rhyming couplets and iambic pentameter.  This two-hour play is big, Maddox said. From the costumes to the set, everything is over the top.

“There is nothing simple about this show,” Maddox said.

Tartuffe will be played by Zach McCann. Daniel Hackman, a Belmont alum and his wife Joann Hackman will play the married couple as Orgon and Elmire. Doreen, the servant, will be played by Christy White. Franne Lee, who has worked as a costume designer on Broadway, designed the costumes.  Liz Morison, a production design major, is the set designer while Patrick White, another production design major, designed the lighting.

“Working with the cast is the best part,” Maddox said. “They’re hard workers. They come in prepared and ready to go which is a delight for me as a director. Amongst the fun a lot of work has been getting done.”

While the play is a comedy, there have been some challenges Maddox and the actors had to face. While the play is set in Paris, the actors will speak a British dialect. Maddox decided to forgo the French accent because it’s a little more difficult to learn in a short period of time. The styling of the piece has also been a challenge. Maddox doesn’t want his actors to look like actors. He wants the play to be believable.

“You have to look like you belong in this world,” said Maddox. “You have to sound like your British. You have to sound like you speak in rhyming couplets. You have to look like you belong in 17^th century. We can’t make it look like it’s fake. [The audience isn’t] looking at actors. They’re looking at characters.”

The audience should be expected to laugh at the physical humor. Maddox wants the audience to go away with the sense that they experienced a moment of fun but have been educated.

“It’s going to be a good show,” said Maddox. “It’s going to be funny, but at the same time it will expose [the audience] to a different style of theatre and perhaps a different culture than the one they’re used to.”

Tartuffe runs through October 10. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for faculty and staff. Students are free and culture and arts convo will be given.

We did it, we did it, we diiiiid it, we done-didily-did it!

Oh no, you di-d-n’t?

Oh, but, yes. We did!

*dances/flails arms around whilst singing/chanting ‘we did it!’*

What did we do, you might ask?

WE DID OUR PERFORMANCE OF TARTUFFE AND WE WERE BRILLIANT!

I am so so so sooooo proud of my theatre class! They pulled it together and put on a faaaaanTASTIC show! So so proud. I’mma proud mamma, what can I say?

So, two months in the making, my theatre class performed on the 20th and 21st, our adaptation of Tartuffe by Moliere. And…WE WERE MIND-BLOWING! ..its also possible that I might be bragging just a tiiiiiiny bit, but PFFT. Who cares? BECAUSE THEY WERE BRILLIANT!

So, opening night. I don’t think I had ever been more nervous in my life. It was horrible! And exciting, at the same time! We had decided a week beforehand what was on the agenda for both nights. We were to go through the play, speed-run style (speed-run: a run through the entire play but ridiculously/hilariously fast). We also had to get the programs done (folded and stapled) and out in the “front house” aka out in the hall of the 40′s. Then we had a half hour dinner-break, then it was straight the hair and make-up. My most stressful time of the night. Since I AM hair and make-up “people”, I frantically ran around room 45 getting everyones face and hair done. Not a fun task, I can tell you that much. But Surbhi and Savannah were helping, which was a huge relief. Then, it was lights up. And, Boy George, was that nervy.

Only going to point out a few “errors” within the two nights. First night, first film scene = no go. We forgot to tech run the computer’s speakers. Savannah tried to save the moment by politely saying we had a few technical problems, then elegantly left the room, and ran the hell down the hall to find Taleah. Man, that was amusing. And then on the second night, there were a lot of script of errors. Not to mention the entire scene we MISSED. HOWEVER, we saved eachother’s butts like true musketeers! (‘:

I don’t like to be the parent with favourite children here, but I was very much proud of ours truly, Danial. He hit the ball right out of the ball park for both nights. This raw character just jumped out of him and took over. It was fantastic! But, but, as I said, I will not be the parent with favourites. I was so pleased with every single one of them. Most of us agreed, though, that the first night was better than the second night. There were more laughs, so we had more good vibes and adrenaline. It just kind of made it that much easier for all of us to do what we needed to do. Its so weird that, as actors, we feed off that kind of reaction/energy from the audience. As if that laughter fueled us throughout the entire play. Wild.

BUT, until then,

Oh, and also,

WE DID IT!

At lunchtime on Tuesday we got together as a class to hold our production meeting to allow for more rehearsal time in class. This was short however because everyone is in the final stages of their production roles, so we spent the rest of the period running through lines together which is always helpful. In the first half of our actual lesson we spent some time focusing on our characters again; walking, talking and moving like them. Considering the style of the play we were allowed to have exaggerated movements and stances. Tuesday’s class was also when I experienced my very first speed run! I was really confused as to what this actually would consist of before we started, but once we did it was so much fun. A speed run is basically going through the whole play, including all your lines and movements, however you do it all at about 10x the normal speed! It means that you really have no option but to have lots and lots of energy! This was most useful to find the comic timing within our play. It also allowed for each character to find more hilarious ways for their character to move and react. After school on Tuesday we had another rehearsal where we finished the speed run. This time we were somewhat lacking energy and the lines weren’t running as smoothly as they did in the first half. We also tried to do a full dress rehearsal but did not have enough time to go through the whole play / we just took too long. The costumes, I think, were pretty successful and effective in the way that they amplified each character’s rank and personality, however I need to make sure that next time I remind everyone of what they need to bring several mores times because there were still modern belts being worn etc on the night.

Thursday was the big day! We had a double period (and recess and lunch) to go through whatever we felt needed the most attention. After school we prepared for our performance and I think we were all pretty nervous! Makeup took such a long time, applying the face paint (like mine in the picture on the right) was the most time-consuming part as only a few people could do it properly. Before the performance we did vocal warm-ups as a class which really helped me to get into a performance mode as it reminded me of all my dance/singing concerts. The actual performance went so well! There were many more people there than I had expected and this was really encouraging, and we got way more laughs than I’d expected too! We did have a few stuff-ups with the sound and some people dropping their lines but I was so proud of how everyone went!

The routine on friday was pretty similar to Thursday but the performance was much different, in my opinion. I thought the first night went much better, and we had larger mistakes like accidentally skipping an entire filmed scene. but I don’t think the audience noticed. There was also a smaller crowd which doesn’t give off much of a positive vibe, but there were also some good things! When/if someone dropped lines the other people in the scene were always on the ball to help save them which was really wonderful. As a whole, I think we did really well as a team to pull the two performances off, and I’m really excited for the next time we have to perform something together! I think it will be even better because we all know the kinds of things we need to do to create a successful performances and we have had time to work out what works and what doesn’t.

I’m kind of sad that that’s all over though.

Monday’s class was very odd, everyone seemed to be on some kind of high and because of this we were so dysfunctional! It was so fun/good though, we all laughed so much at our mistakes which I guess is the best way to go about things. We were going through a few of the scenes with Madame Pernelle for the benefit of Savannah. There are still way too many scripts being held and lines being forgotten however, and this is really worrying. We were also rewarded with candy for our lack of scripts (if this applied) which helped with that!

Tuesday was a production meeting. Almost everyone is either in the final stages of their production role or finished, which is good news. I’m also starting to think about the kinds of roles that other people are doing that might interest me next time we do a performance. Stage manager or programme design would be fun, or maybe something like lighting because that’s a production role that I don’t know much about at all. We talked a little about the narration by certain characters. These come in every so often as a way for the characters to connect with the audience and emphasise their individual feelings. We’re hoping this will help the audience understand the play just a little more. We also assigned people to press play each time we have a filmed scene on or to direct the audience to the area where it will be showing.

Thursday we spent rehearsing the basic outline of what is going to go on with the little snippets of narration in the performance. Over the weekend I’ve been thinking a lot about my character and how I can do more to show my emotions in my actions and facial expression. Although Tartuffe is a tragedy with the events that take place, it is also supposed to be a comedy so our actions can be as big as possible! Mariane is the daughter and because of this (and certain lines I have like “If I have to endure this martyrdom, I shall certainly die”) I imagine her to be a little drama queen. This means big, sulky flailing when things aren’t going her way and then in the end when she is to finally marry Valere and she is over the moon with joy, cheesy smiles and happy sighing are needed!

After we’d discussed all we had to we went on to rehearse selected scenes that we hadn’t taken the time to focus on yet. The highlight of this class was definitely watching Jesse and Miss Flood (who was filling in for Taleah) do their scene when Elmire is trying to prove Tartuffe to be indecent. I can’t wait to see Taleah’s reaction when she is doing this herself! I don’t think I was actually onstage at all this lesson, unless my useless memory is failing me, so I spent it running lines with people in the same situation.

In Tuesday’s production meeting my main aim was to get Savannah to try on Liannes costume, if it didn’t fit that would mean a lot of hurried dress searching for something as similar to it as possible. It did fit however so that’s not a problem, but we may have to explain to the audience why this character suddenly changes from Caucasian to Asian for the filmed scenes. Another beauty of Savannah now being Madame P. is that I no longer need to organise a costume for the character that she was initially going to play, the Officer. Instead we are having Miss Flood with a megaphone at the back of the room, as if she is calling out from outside the house.

We also got a preview of our filmed scenes that Taleah had rendered together, which were hilarious! I’m not a fan of watching myself in any kind of way, but these didn’t end up too shabby. She had done such a good job of fitting together snippets from all the different camera angles, including the ones that we did after the scene was finished, of Dorine eavesdropping. I’m pretty excited to see the next ones!

Thursday’s class was again running through scenes for Savannah so that she can get into her character of Madame Pernelle. We did the very first scene of the play and I’ve realised that I still really, really need to look deeper into my characters emotions and react to what is going on around me without the guidance of Miss Flood. Also learning all my lines is a must, no scripts next week! I’m almost there, there is only one long rant that I have and I haven’t quite remembered it all yet.

Meow.

I, once again, am coming down with a cold. Which I can’t possibly afford to have. Too much things have to be done! Play in 12 days! D:

But I shall power on.

As I said in the previous short post, we had changed the dates of the play. BUT, we also lost a member of our class. Lianne decided to leave us because of communication issues. We have pressed on otherwise. We are still using Lianne’s design for the poster and she also offered to help with makeup on the performance nights, which was really quite nice/convenient of her. So, in Lianne’s place, we introduce Savannah! Savannah had recently joined us (at the start of term 2) and was taking the role of the officer who arrests Tartuffe at the end of the play. But because of the departure of Lianne, we have resulted in having the officer as an offstage “voice”, aka Miss Flood on a megaphone, which was our initial idea.

Also, on Thursday, Miss Flood briefly went through the lighting system with Daniel and I. A very simple progress, actually.

Lighting Panel

Touch-pad lighting buttons

Light switches

Until then,

Tartuffe is now on the 20th and 21st.

PHEW.

That is all.

Last week, we finished our filming scenes, which leaves Taleah to her editing and such. Since the filming is finished, we get this whole week to workshop and perfect the entire play. *panicked eyes*

But before I go into that, I need to refresh your/my mind about the progress of this production. We started with set design (Daniel) and props. We asked Daniel to draw us up a stage map of sorts to see where everything (couches, chairs, tables etc) would be set up. Once we had the stage marked up (masking tape in places to indicate where the furniture will be situated), we had Daniel add “homey” objects, such as cloths for the furniture, books (old encyclopedias), candle stick holder thingos.. etc.

Lighting: Geoffrey is the leader for lighting. Geoffrey told the group of an idea of having a silhouette for the scene where Organ is hiding under the table to witness Tartuffe basically hit on Elmire. He has yet to workshop that. Still. I also told Geoff to write up a list of changing lighting in each scene or whenever they change for Miss Flood, since she will be operating the beacons of light and such. Geoff also came to us with the idea of having a spot light for the narrators in between some of the scenes, to basically idealise the character who is narrating at the time.

Sound/filming: Taleahface. Filming of certain scenes was just to make less costume-changes when performing live. Just for convenience, really. Taleah went through the play and picked five we were to film. In the filming, Taleah chose to use two cameras on either side of the stage, to give the scenes more depth.

Costume: Cat took care of our “outfits”. We got Cat to go through the school’s wardrobe collection, picking various things she thought would be relative to the characters, and more importantly, the century. We then got Cathy to write down each clothing and a name next to them. They are now currently stored on the clothing rack in the wings of our stage.

Make-up: I had the honour of prepping everyones make up. I’ve already mentioned my ideas in a previous blog so I won’t bore you in exact details, just that the more make up, the more you are “in love” with the infamous Tartuffe. Although, I had previously said to use talcum powder, Miss Flood brought in some white face paint for filming which worked wonderfully. So much more easier than the powder going everywhere and not really showing on stage. But, we had the problem of some actors faces being uneven with the white paint, so I experimented on myself and figured to paint the white on in a east to west motion, and moving down slowing. I just have to show the group the technique.

Poster: Lianne was in charge of the poster. She had the idea of masks, symbolising how Tartuffe has two “identities” to him. He is seen as the innocent priest to Organ and his mother, Madam Pernelle, but everyone else in the household sees right through Tartuffe. So, incorporating that mask idea, she made us a mock design which I have yet to receive via email (otherwise I could post it on here), and we can then finalize everything once tweaking few things.

Program: Jesse/Bob has used his computer skills to design us a play program including bios (which he wrote up a form for everyone to fill in) of the cast/crew and photos from workshops and filming. He has shown us a mock design which included colour schemes and the placing of everything. Bob also wants to put Lianne’s poster as his front cover, which will help uniting them.

Dramaturge: dra-dra-dra-DRAMATURGE. Never gets old. Our wonderful, multitask-able Taleah took up the offer of being our dramaturge. She went through the play in depth with Miss Flood and came up with the idea of having narrations in between a few scenes. Miss Flood approved and Taleah went on to conducting “cue cards” or rather, for the actor who will be narrators, who I believe are Dorine (myself), Organ (Geoff) and Tartuffe (Bob).

HOWEVER for now, its all about the lines. Lines just EVERYWHERE. Oh, and our emotional connection with our lines. Then our muscle memory (if I remembered correctly?) that connects with the emotions WITHIN our lines.

BUT Masterchef awaits,

Until then,

We missed our double lesson which was really unfortunate because of how little time we already have, but it was a public holiday so nothing could be done! Tuesday’s production meeting was spent ensuring everything was set for filming that evening. I’ve almost got my production roll of costumes done and dusted, I only need to create one more costume for our new comer and make sure that all the costumes are good before everyone goes on stage!

I’m so nervous thinking about the play being only next monday, but I know that it’s the first play that we’ve done as a class so I really should be focusing on learning from all the steps that it’s taking to reach that final night (I’m really excited too! I just hope there’s enough audience there for us to feel confident performing…).

Filming was very, very rushed because we only had two hours to put on our makeup (this time we used face paint instead of powder which was much more effective and possibly less time-consuming, though it required more assistance), fix costumes and film three scenes. It’s okay though because now all the filming is completed and we are all able to focus on our actual stage performance now.

Thursday’s double lesson was also cut short due to a year eleven meeting, so we only had one period instead of two. We used this period to rehearse the final scene of the play, as we hadn’t ever done this before! I only have one line in this scene so I mainly spend my time reacting as much as I can physically to what is going on around me. I don’t want my character to seem too extreme, as I believe that she is quite low ranking amongst everyone else in the play, as she is the youngest, and would not feel comfortable expressing herself freely. However I still need to give the audience something so I’m working on that!

AU REVIOUR!

ALRIGHT. Tartuffe performance in a little over two weeks. Nerves. :S

Last time I talked about production was with my ideas with makeup (more absorbed with Tartuffe, the more makeup) and stage managing with the lists. SO what’s happened since then is filming, trail runs and improvements. We had our first filming day a week ago, which didn’t go quite as planned, timing wise. Someone’s father *cough Geoffrey cough* brought us hot chips AFTER I had make-uped the actors faces. Yeah. We didn’t think that through. Because the talcum powder is applied very carefully and its quite delicate in that it is easily rubbed off etc etc. So, no. The chips did nothing but make our cholesterol health-risk worthy. And enlightenment of this all, I’ve decided to right up a table time kind of thing. Telling people where they should be at what time. So obviously, they’ll go to makeup first, then hair and then, finally, to wardrobe. Time was our enemy, basically. But as they say, we learn from our mistakes. So now, we’ll take time into consideration in our upcoming filming day on Tuesday (27th).

Now, for character development. Lately, I’ve been getting a bit confused with my two characters for my two different productions, Tartuffe and the school play, Sherlock Holmes. I’ve been practicing frequently to separate the two, and so far, I think I’ve got it. With Dorine, my character in Tartuffe, I’m trying to adapt that direct, swiftness she possesses. Oh, and that, somewhat, arrogance. Man, she rules… With this in mind, I try to make my dialogue fast and crisp.

But, until then,

I think for our next filmed scenes there should be some kind of schedule to stick to (and possibly a lack of chip-eating even though that was fantastic) as we took a lot longer to prepare than we should have. Never the less, our first two filmed scenes are completed which is ace! Though I do sympathise with Taleah because she has to fit all of the takes together to make it look as good as possible, as we made a fair few mistakes. I have no more lines in the filmed scenes so I can dedicate my time to helping Mel with makeup as well as ensuring everyone’s costumes are as perfect as they can be.

Tuesday’s class was a production meeting as usual however it was also interrupted and I had to leave halfway through. From what I was there for, however, everyone is pretty confident with what they need to do and we are (ever slowly) progressing. I’m really excited for the Programme, Jesse showed us a little mock-up and it looked really lovely and suiting.

I missed all but the first ten or so minutes of Thursday’s double lesson though I know that the remaining class members rehearsed the next scenes that we will be filming.