Here on the safe side of opening weekend of “The Vigil or The Guided Cradle” I’m ensconced in my little cubicle world, reflecting on it all. It was quite a busy weekend, all in all and one of my better ones lately in a lot of ways. First off, the show has been rather well received, and the audiences are grasping Crystal Skillman’s message adroitly, a sure compliment to her work, as well as John Hurley’s, who throughout the all too brief rehearsal process was able to distill the already rich mixture of Crystal’s play into a tight 75-80 minute adventure through the best and worst of a slice of human psyche. No easy task, I’m sure.
After now working with these folks for a month I’m still pretty much of the opinion that I have blundered into the cast through a happy accident. I’m not saying I’m not any good at this acting thing, but rather the cast is eerily good. Not a show went by this weekend where the following thoughts didn’t blast through my skull…
1. The hair on my arms stands up every time Dion says that thing about “The one your father is holding down is my brother. He’s the red in the photograph.”
2. Christian as Ippolito is terrifying. I have no idea how I’m consistently staring into that guy’s face without wetting myself.
3. Vinnie pulls off arrogant clever torturer so well, you’d think he actually was an arrogant clever torturer. Ka-boom.
4. Travis York is funny. Also creepy. But mostly funny. That’s skills.
5. I didn’t know Pappas could be as scary as Christian. Try letting him hold a knife to your throat and give you that snarky smile sometime.
6. Susan’s ability to play casual fun and then minutes later be terrified for her life is uncanny.
7. 5 tense guys backstage right before a show goes up is a situation that inevitably lends itself to fart humor.
So the reviews we’ve gotten so far are positive, and I’m still chuckling over the fact that Martin Denton called my performance “heroic.” That’s not an adjective I ever expected to see aligned with my name unless there was a negative modifier in there somewhere, but I’ll take the compliment because hey – a good review is a good review, and I like Martin Denton’s thoughts. Even when they aren’t so favorable.
In the midst of all this torturing tomfoolery I went in and auditioned for “An Ideal Husband” on Saturday morning, and as luck would have it, I’ve managed to snake a plum role in an Oscar Wilde play… so this July I’ll be slick and debonair as Lord Goring, a role I’ve always wanted to tackle simply because it’s hilarious, and despite it’s overtly misogynistic outlook on the roles of women in society, as a period piece, it’s a damned funny one.
And lastly, I might have a line on a little fight choreography work this August – but as I don’t quite have the details just yet, I’m keeping mum.
And of course, we got the show dates for HACK! Coming to you tentatively June 10th, 12th, 13th, 16th and 19th… but that may be revised.
For now, I’m just hoping to keep myself in good health and rest up before I have to hang from the Vigil again on Thursday night. Come see this show. It’s a doozy.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
And we're heading into tech...
Hey you, dedicated reader of my little blargh. (Again, that's vomit speak for blog.) Tonight begins the all too brief period of TECH for Vigil, and I think we're in a great place as far as the show goes. I'll be able to issue more informed commentary tomorrow once we've done the thing in the space, and have gone for real with the effects and make up. I'll try to snag a few pics of the set and some of the effects, but don't count on it. This will likely prove to be a long night, and I don't know how much time I'll have for snapping pictures with the ol' camera phone.
But if you haven't already been bombarded by emails and various other marketing... meh, I'll skip it. Just go to www.impetuoustheater.org and check out the site. It has all the details on getting tickets and seeing the show.
Now I'm aware that you, reader of my rambling commentary, are probably already coming to see The Vigil or The Guided Cradle. But if you're on the fence, allow me to issue the following statement: It's a great show. It's not an easy show, it's not light or fluffy or something you go see for laugh riot. But I do really believe in it.
Come see the show, then come have a beer with me. I want to know people's honest thoughts on something like this - and if the conversation is good, I may buy that beer for you.
But if you haven't already been bombarded by emails and various other marketing... meh, I'll skip it. Just go to www.impetuoustheater.org and check out the site. It has all the details on getting tickets and seeing the show.
Now I'm aware that you, reader of my rambling commentary, are probably already coming to see The Vigil or The Guided Cradle. But if you're on the fence, allow me to issue the following statement: It's a great show. It's not an easy show, it's not light or fluffy or something you go see for laugh riot. But I do really believe in it.
Come see the show, then come have a beer with me. I want to know people's honest thoughts on something like this - and if the conversation is good, I may buy that beer for you.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
The first (successful) make up test
So I took some research time and dug around the interwebs for some trauma photos and came up with this as a make up effect for myself for "Vigil."
I'm particularly pleased with how I've managed to make my nose look out of place. Travis and Vinny (two of the cast members of Vigil) will be so happy with what they've done to me.
By the way, don't google image search various terms for injuries if you've got a weak stomach. Yech.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Umm, You've Got Some... Umm... Blood On Your...
I don't want to spoil anything from the upcoming production of "The Vigil or The Guided Cradle" so... spoiler alert.
OK. You were warned.
Ben Linus has the real Maltese Falcon, lives on Shutter Island, has been dead the whole time, and his real name is Kaiser Soze.
Anyway...
So, there are a couple of stabbings in this show, and I'm having a good time with them, even though I'm not the attacker or the victim. Though frankly, my character is plenty messed up without having to be stabbed. At least, he doesn't get stabbed onstage - he’s been beaten to mush offstage already. Onstage, he’s just strung up over a spike. It's not a pleasant or discomfort free stretch of time for me. But it will look cool.
Now - the stabbings - yay for realistic bladed violence - one is less than deadly, but is really painful looking - one of the characters gets a fork driven through his hand. At lunch, of all times. If that doesn't put you off your roast chicken, I don't know what will. I'm using the plastic baggie blood bomb method and it is proving to be effective. Palmed in the assailant's weapon hand, and ruptured at the moment of impact, apparently spiking the victim’s hand to a table. There's a real gory spurt though the attacker’s clenched fist and based on the water test we ran last night, it'll be a nasty looking moment. I’m reserving final judgment to see if we need anything more, but we should be OK.
The other one I’m working on requires substantially more finesse, though the two actors are game and easy to work with so far, which is a treat. I’m finding though, that some actors try to go fast when mapping out a bit – and I’m still not sure why. Perhaps it’s a desire to impose an emotional truth on the moment as soon as possible. Mostly I’m just encouraging/demanding of them to GO SLOWLY.
One of the characters, in a feigned moment of intimacy is able to stab another in the neck with a knife. We’ve been using one of the Lapu Lapu trainers in rehearsal, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the tool make it all the way to production – it just works, looks vicious and is safe. The strike to the neck is upstage of the audience, so we’re well clear of contact and the victim takes control of the dulled blade, holding it “in” his neck, because as we all don't know, puncture wounds become exponentially more dangerous when the foreign object is removed from the wound.
I wanted the initial contact to be bloodless at first, so the audience has a moment to absorb the shock of the impact. The next step is for the victim to bite down on a blood capsule or two in the mouth and begin coughing up some blood. We now know it’s serious. The victim then “removes” the prop weapon from the neck, at the same time bursting the blood bomb held in the hand (covering the wound site). Because the wounds comes to the carotid and jugular vessels in the neck (sure it’s a lucky hit, but that’s show biz) it bleeds profusely and loss of consciousness comes show biz quickly, due to shock. The victim then collapses across a bed, further bleeding out onto the floor. I’m trying to rig a system into the “bed” itself to allow blood flow to drip onto the floor, sparing the actor costume as much as I can, but I’ll keep working on how that will work exactly.
It’s coming along well. I’ll be posting some shots of the effects as I can get them, so don't be weirded out if suddenly there's a pic of me looking like hell up here.
OK. You were warned.
Ben Linus has the real Maltese Falcon, lives on Shutter Island, has been dead the whole time, and his real name is Kaiser Soze.
Anyway...
So, there are a couple of stabbings in this show, and I'm having a good time with them, even though I'm not the attacker or the victim. Though frankly, my character is plenty messed up without having to be stabbed. At least, he doesn't get stabbed onstage - he’s been beaten to mush offstage already. Onstage, he’s just strung up over a spike. It's not a pleasant or discomfort free stretch of time for me. But it will look cool.
Now - the stabbings - yay for realistic bladed violence - one is less than deadly, but is really painful looking - one of the characters gets a fork driven through his hand. At lunch, of all times. If that doesn't put you off your roast chicken, I don't know what will. I'm using the plastic baggie blood bomb method and it is proving to be effective. Palmed in the assailant's weapon hand, and ruptured at the moment of impact, apparently spiking the victim’s hand to a table. There's a real gory spurt though the attacker’s clenched fist and based on the water test we ran last night, it'll be a nasty looking moment. I’m reserving final judgment to see if we need anything more, but we should be OK.
The other one I’m working on requires substantially more finesse, though the two actors are game and easy to work with so far, which is a treat. I’m finding though, that some actors try to go fast when mapping out a bit – and I’m still not sure why. Perhaps it’s a desire to impose an emotional truth on the moment as soon as possible. Mostly I’m just encouraging/demanding of them to GO SLOWLY.
One of the characters, in a feigned moment of intimacy is able to stab another in the neck with a knife. We’ve been using one of the Lapu Lapu trainers in rehearsal, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the tool make it all the way to production – it just works, looks vicious and is safe. The strike to the neck is upstage of the audience, so we’re well clear of contact and the victim takes control of the dulled blade, holding it “in” his neck, because as we all don't know, puncture wounds become exponentially more dangerous when the foreign object is removed from the wound.
I wanted the initial contact to be bloodless at first, so the audience has a moment to absorb the shock of the impact. The next step is for the victim to bite down on a blood capsule or two in the mouth and begin coughing up some blood. We now know it’s serious. The victim then “removes” the prop weapon from the neck, at the same time bursting the blood bomb held in the hand (covering the wound site). Because the wounds comes to the carotid and jugular vessels in the neck (sure it’s a lucky hit, but that’s show biz) it bleeds profusely and loss of consciousness comes show biz quickly, due to shock. The victim then collapses across a bed, further bleeding out onto the floor. I’m trying to rig a system into the “bed” itself to allow blood flow to drip onto the floor, sparing the actor costume as much as I can, but I’ll keep working on how that will work exactly.
It’s coming along well. I’ll be posting some shots of the effects as I can get them, so don't be weirded out if suddenly there's a pic of me looking like hell up here.
Friday, April 2, 2010
A parenthetical moment...
I recently was hit up on the Facebook by someone I don't know, asking me about knife throwing lessons - particularly where she could take them. I was recommended to her by an old friend. Cool. But...
It may seem odd, but I really have no idea where toget knife throwing lessons. What knife throwing skills I have are purely self taught "game" skills. Why? Because throwing a knife is a showy thing, rather than a practical application in a combative moment. Even if I have several throwers on my person, chucking one at a moving target in a hostile situation is about as good as handing an opponent another weapon to use against me.
The chances of scoring a hit that would actually stop an attacker are virtually zero. We'd be talking about a throw that plants a knife into the attacker's chest, either penetrating the ribcage(which is hard enough when you're holding the knife) causing serious damage to the heart, or somehow delivering a powerhouse throw into the solar plexus to drop them. I don't know anyone with the strength to deliver a few ounces of metal with sufficient force to cause a target to drop from it.
Of course, I could throw the knife at the head or neck of the attacker, but again we're talking about years of practice to hit a moving target the size of the human eye. The skull is thick. Tough. The neck less so, but... extremely hard to hit.
Missing these tiny targets by an inch means I may have a wounded attacker, sure, but still an attacker capable of directing purposeful action against me. Except now they're angrier and now have my knife. If I totally missed, well that's one less weapon I have to use now.
In the pretend world of movies and comics, knife throwing is a showy, bad ass way to cooly take out your opponent. In the real world, it's a giant waste of time. Unless like darts, it's a game - wicked fun, but still tricky and dangerous since throwing knives that don't strike on point tend to bounce off the target in really unpredictable ways.
In the pretend world of stage combat, I just can't see a way to throw a "knife" at an actor that is reliably safe, unless both the thrower and "target" actors are both very experienced throwers and stunt people and the blade is little more than an unsharpened piece of lightweight material incapable of causing serious harm.
As far game or sport knife throwing for the casual learner (because, yes there are people who've practiced for years and years and could probably successfully go hunting with a set of throwers) the only advice I have is that throwing a knife is not in fact, "all in the wrist" but rather more in the shoulder. Flick your wrist and you could end up over rotating the point and strike the target with the unsharpened sides or grip. Practice, practice practice. Outside. From 20-25 feet away.
Me, I'll focus on dodging the slow moving projectile and then locking or cutting my opponent into submission.
It may seem odd, but I really have no idea where toget knife throwing lessons. What knife throwing skills I have are purely self taught "game" skills. Why? Because throwing a knife is a showy thing, rather than a practical application in a combative moment. Even if I have several throwers on my person, chucking one at a moving target in a hostile situation is about as good as handing an opponent another weapon to use against me.
The chances of scoring a hit that would actually stop an attacker are virtually zero. We'd be talking about a throw that plants a knife into the attacker's chest, either penetrating the ribcage(which is hard enough when you're holding the knife) causing serious damage to the heart, or somehow delivering a powerhouse throw into the solar plexus to drop them. I don't know anyone with the strength to deliver a few ounces of metal with sufficient force to cause a target to drop from it.
Of course, I could throw the knife at the head or neck of the attacker, but again we're talking about years of practice to hit a moving target the size of the human eye. The skull is thick. Tough. The neck less so, but... extremely hard to hit.
Missing these tiny targets by an inch means I may have a wounded attacker, sure, but still an attacker capable of directing purposeful action against me. Except now they're angrier and now have my knife. If I totally missed, well that's one less weapon I have to use now.
In the pretend world of movies and comics, knife throwing is a showy, bad ass way to cooly take out your opponent. In the real world, it's a giant waste of time. Unless like darts, it's a game - wicked fun, but still tricky and dangerous since throwing knives that don't strike on point tend to bounce off the target in really unpredictable ways.
In the pretend world of stage combat, I just can't see a way to throw a "knife" at an actor that is reliably safe, unless both the thrower and "target" actors are both very experienced throwers and stunt people and the blade is little more than an unsharpened piece of lightweight material incapable of causing serious harm.
As far game or sport knife throwing for the casual learner (because, yes there are people who've practiced for years and years and could probably successfully go hunting with a set of throwers) the only advice I have is that throwing a knife is not in fact, "all in the wrist" but rather more in the shoulder. Flick your wrist and you could end up over rotating the point and strike the target with the unsharpened sides or grip. Practice, practice practice. Outside. From 20-25 feet away.
Me, I'll focus on dodging the slow moving projectile and then locking or cutting my opponent into submission.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Seriously. I just got really booked.
Yes yes, it's April Fools Day, yes, yes, I'm a master of comedy. Now I'll tell you what's going on...
First off, rehearsals for "The Vigil or the Guided Cradle" are trucking along - it's a tough piece, and so far I'm having a blast with it. I haven't yet been able to climb into the aforementioned device, but I have a feeling by the time the run is over, I'll really be hating that thing. Which is I suppose, a normal attitude towards a 15th century mechanism for causing pain.
I'm also getting to learn a bit about Crystal Skillman's process as a writer - and how open she is to working with director John Hurley is really great. I've worked with writers who are convinced of their own genius and extremely resistant to change a scene. Actually, I may be describing myself when I write, but that's besides the point. It's really becoming an ensemble piece in the best sense of the word as a creepy moment has now gone into truly horrific, just by changing a few little things. I will not spoil it... but... the implied violence and feeling that we are seconds away from something that is straight up EVIL creates some very good theater.
And if that weren't enough - today I also received word that I'm going to be hanging around the Brick theater over in Brooklyn a lot in the next few months.
Why you ask?
Well I'll tell you. I blarhgged (which is my way of saying blogged - sounds more like hurking up something) a lot about "Hack." It was fun, silly, and regrettably over in January. Or so we thought...
The Brick's Too Soon Festival has selected Crystal's "Hack - The Live DVD Experience" to run for 5 shows, which means that we do the entire show in one night, 5 times over. A fully staged version also means I get to expand and rehearse the fights exponentially more - and we've got much higher production value than slapping this together at the Battle Ranch of the VC (who are unsurprisingly running a show called "Alice in Slasherland" at the moment. I haven't caught it yet, but I hear things).
Oh and lastly, anyone who's known me for at least two years can probably testify that I was mightily displeased with what went down at the "Mock the Classics" fundraiser in April of 2008. So displeased was I, that a formal challenge to one of the producers was issued. Dawn-ish in June of 2008 I shot the man and continued my undefeated streak of redressing wrongs on the field of honor with paintball pistols.
I vowed to never to do such an event again as well, it was so... distressing.
Except I am doing it again. I'm referee-ing the event, and this time... woe to any audience member who displeases me, or endangers a performer. Yes, this time I won't be the one getting screamed at, pelted and generally abused. This time, I get to bounce audience chumps.
And I've been needing a workout. I'm sadisitically looking forward to it.
First off, rehearsals for "The Vigil or the Guided Cradle" are trucking along - it's a tough piece, and so far I'm having a blast with it. I haven't yet been able to climb into the aforementioned device, but I have a feeling by the time the run is over, I'll really be hating that thing. Which is I suppose, a normal attitude towards a 15th century mechanism for causing pain.
I'm also getting to learn a bit about Crystal Skillman's process as a writer - and how open she is to working with director John Hurley is really great. I've worked with writers who are convinced of their own genius and extremely resistant to change a scene. Actually, I may be describing myself when I write, but that's besides the point. It's really becoming an ensemble piece in the best sense of the word as a creepy moment has now gone into truly horrific, just by changing a few little things. I will not spoil it... but... the implied violence and feeling that we are seconds away from something that is straight up EVIL creates some very good theater.
And if that weren't enough - today I also received word that I'm going to be hanging around the Brick theater over in Brooklyn a lot in the next few months.
Why you ask?
Well I'll tell you. I blarhgged (which is my way of saying blogged - sounds more like hurking up something) a lot about "Hack." It was fun, silly, and regrettably over in January. Or so we thought...
The Brick's Too Soon Festival has selected Crystal's "Hack - The Live DVD Experience" to run for 5 shows, which means that we do the entire show in one night, 5 times over. A fully staged version also means I get to expand and rehearse the fights exponentially more - and we've got much higher production value than slapping this together at the Battle Ranch of the VC (who are unsurprisingly running a show called "Alice in Slasherland" at the moment. I haven't caught it yet, but I hear things).
Oh and lastly, anyone who's known me for at least two years can probably testify that I was mightily displeased with what went down at the "Mock the Classics" fundraiser in April of 2008. So displeased was I, that a formal challenge to one of the producers was issued. Dawn-ish in June of 2008 I shot the man and continued my undefeated streak of redressing wrongs on the field of honor with paintball pistols.
I vowed to never to do such an event again as well, it was so... distressing.
Except I am doing it again. I'm referee-ing the event, and this time... woe to any audience member who displeases me, or endangers a performer. Yes, this time I won't be the one getting screamed at, pelted and generally abused. This time, I get to bounce audience chumps.
And I've been needing a workout. I'm sadisitically looking forward to it.
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