The Calm Before...???

Here's what I've been up to for the last week or two. Will, from my previous post, and I have held two rehearsal sessions for whatever it is that we're doing. We were right about the instincts. We do connect and play well together. Our first rehearsal was a little rough around the edges. I felt a little out of practice in the two-person form, and found that I wasn't listening properly or engaging my environment...and I was having a hard time not bursting into peals of laughter at Will. Funny man. Anyway, rehearsal two was a dramatic leap forward. Whereas in the first rehearsal we kept the same two main characters and spun flashback or "elsewhere" scenes off them before returning to them again, the second was more free. We allowed for different characters in totally different scenes. By the end, they all connected somehow as the best shows tend to do. The listening was ratcheted way up and we didn't miss or drop information. Whatever the show ends up being, it'll be good. I'm excited about the way we communicate and our ease with recognizing transitions, offers and games. In that way, it's a similar feeling to what Jim and I caught onto in the early rehearsals for JaCKPie. I haven't attempted a two-person show with anyone else, and it's fun to experience differences in the way we complement each other. Jim and Will have different styles and personalities, but we look to be heading toward a similar result - high quality, truthful, fun shows.

The audition world has been slow since the two near misses. I've been in a couple of casting director workshops and received fantastic feedback in both. I've been dropping off submissions for various tv or film opportunities as they pop up, and I'm very specific in what I submit for, which is sensible and efficient. Corrin and I have been volunteering at an elementary school, working individually with kids to help them write a 5-6 page "screenplay". The culmination of the 6-week process is a show Monday night when the kids get to see actors perform staged readings of their scripts. My writer has been a lot of fun. She's had a knack for finding the story, creating interesting characters and she came up with a smart ending. It has been a cool challenge helping her clarify and organize those ideas.