Web Diary
Show: Shakespeare's "Hamlet"
Role: Polonius (Minister to the King, Father of Ophelia and Laertes.)
Producer: Shady Shakespeare
Week One: Shakespeare Day.
First, let me say that this diary is in no way intended to embarass anyone including myself. It is an experiment for me to put down in writing, in relatively real time, my thoughts as I progress through a project. Real names will not be used. I alerted the cast and staff I would be doing this and I will readily accept any comments or critiques. I also encourage comments from those outside the process. That is part of the experiment! Now onto the carnage.
Shakespeare Day is a relatively new concept at Shady Shakespeare (SHS). I have been involved in the last three SHS shows in both onstage and off stage capacities. Last year was my first "Shakespeare Day", however I was participating as part of the crew (Assistant Director and Evil Minion) and not as a member of the cast. This year I am Polonius.
The idea of Shakepeare day is fairly nebulous, owing to the fact that the director of the show sets the ground rules. In general, it is a series of excercises, acting games, and production presentations designed to bond cast and crew and begin the creative process.
I would be lying if I said that I enjoy such endeavors. I am not into acting games and exercises. It probably comes from my managment background. So much is put into the bells and whistles of management seminars, team building, breakthough managment and process improvement, that the real nuts and bolts of management is neglected. As a manager I prefer a straight forward managment syle. As an actor I prefer a straight forward rehearsal process.
On the other hand I realize that other actors can thrive under such conditions as a "Shakespeare Day" and while I despise team building exercises in my day to day work as a manager, I can see some relevance on a short term project such as a play where time is of the essence. Also, I am by nature a team player and while I may not enjoy the experience as much as the next guy I have no desire in lessening the experience for others. Soooooooooo, I play along like a good boy, because if it will help the cast in the long run I am willing to put up with it in the short term.
I wish I could say that all had this attitude, but looking at the large number of cast and crew who did not even attend the event, I would say that there will be some more team building to do! I know that our director was dissapointed in the turn out. However, most of the main players were there, so all went pretty well.
Anyway, The day started about 15 minutes late as we hoped more people would show up. It should also be noted that in theatre, late is usually the operative word. Punctuality is not a byword for many artists. I am usually on time, but then again I am a little obsessive/complusive about things like that!
The first exercise was the introductions. The first two steps of this process are fairly painless: Step one: State your name. "Ross Arden Harkness!" Step Two: State your role in the production. "I am playing Polonius!" Step Three!:.....now here is where it gets tricky. Usually, they will throw in some interesting question like "Tell us one thing no one knows about you", or " what is your least favorite thing to do?". This time they asked "What was the worst break up you ever had or the one that got away".
Well...those that know me know that they really don't know me. That is to say I do not talk about myself much and in the realm of the romantic, not at all. I have a girlfriend (Hi Honey!) but I am not one to blurt out parts of my life, especially the painful ones. I know this is supposed to help us bond and get on an emotional level but quite frankly, its nobodys fucking business.
So, I deftly side stepped the question by saying that I was currently in a relationship that I was very happy with (true), I was not the most experienced person in romantic situations (also true) so I had no stories of bad break ups or the one that got away (a blatant lie).
The next exercise was for us to create a hand puppet. Yes...I shit thee not....a hand puppet. Wait! There is more. The hand puppet we make must be a representation of what we think of the afterlife.........ok........
Now I am not the most artsy crafty person, but I dug in. When completed, my puppet looked like a crossdressing Don King. I do not know what this has to do with the afterlife. Quite frankly I was stumped on that one as I am not dead. But hey, at least I have got a puppet! We then all took turns explaining our puppets. Suffice to say the other members of the group had far more entertaining versions of the afterlife then I do.
Next up was lunch which I whole heartily supported as the best part of any meeting! I was asked to bring an entree and the good people at KFC were nice to provide me one for a small fee. The rest of the meal was actually quite good with home made pasta dishes and desserts.
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