First Impressions, part one.

After the draw, I started lurking around the various rehearsal spaces seeing what I could glean from the various plays.

Every director seems to have their own unique approach to tackling this monster. Some got the actors up on their feet right away. Others started hammering away at intentions, while others attacked the comic beats with surgeon-like precision. It all depends on the type of play...is its center rooted in the dialogue? Does it have intricate verbal wordplay?

In the studio downstairs, Tyrone Brown was directing Erin Stewart's Calvin's Not Here. Being a 2 M, 2 F piece, they read the play twice, switching actors around each time. Smart idea! I got a sort of Soylent Greenish vibe listening to the first read, but I might be an idiot, so who knows.

(Random sight: Stan Shields just dragged a keg by me...a delightful sight at 11:41 in the morning, I don't mind telling ya.)

(And yet another parenthetical...WiFi is kinda spotty in the home base downstairs...so had to move upstairs into the theatre, where Donation is rehearsing side by side with the band)

Speaking of the band, Wow! They've been setting up since the early morning and are working on original themes and motives. No cover songs here, by Christ.

Over in the Skinner rehearsal room, Mik Kuhlman is directing MJ Sieber's The Galactic Journeys of the Virgo 12. It's a 4 man play filled with manly men actors. So naturally, the first thing they were tackling was the costume design. They are in space, after all. You gotta atch in space. My money is this one being the most expensive show on the night. RANDOMLY OVERHEARD QUOTE TAKEN COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTEXT: "You never actually came inside me." -- Mik Kuhlman. Nice.

Upstairs Makela Polluck is directing Chis Haddad's Donation. It's a dialogue heavy show, with an interesting moral concept. Here's a quote from the show. "It might be worth it, to fuck a lesbian." I won't spoil anything more. Chris says he's very confident now after hearing the actors read through for the first time. "It's pretty fucking cool. Now I'm gonna go home and sleep." PS, Shane Regan is off book before noon. No one likes a show-off, Shane.

Also upstairs is Aimee Bruneau directing Becky Bruhn's 2 man show Single's Night. The door was closed, and I didnt feel it right to interrupt. I will guess that the show contains a pony, a vat of mayonaisse, a washing machine and the Olsen twins. I may or may not be wrong.

And downstairs in the lobby, Elizabeth Eller is directing Rachel Atkins' Ascension. The actors were already up on their feet and fiddling around with blocking and intentions...letting the actors sort of feel their way around first, then layering on the direction as the day progresses...very smart way to go bout it, I should think.

Gonna head over to the Rep to get some impressions on the other two shows before break. More pics from Matt will be up soon, too, we just gotta resize them!!