A Quick Change Averts a Change
Posted by Edward Sobel on 6/27/2006
This weekend we began technical rehearsals for The Unmentionables. This is the painstaking but satisfying process during which all of the design elements (lights, sound, set, costumes) are brought together with the actors, as the production begins to take on the full life it will have in front of an audience.
For a new play, it is a particularly unpredictable process. Imagine trying to drive a car that has been designed but no one has ever driven before. Will the ignition actually fire the engine? Will the brakes work?
In Act II of The Unmentionables, a character leaves the stage wearing pajamas, and has to re-enter a few moments later in shorts and a shirt. With an extant play, this would be only a minor concern, but with a new play, no one actually knows if the change of clothing can be made in time. Is the dialogue in the script that continues to happen on-stage sufficiently long to allow for the costume change to happen off-stage? We don’t know until we try it. In this case, our playwright Bruce Norris seems to have quite an accurate internal clock. The first time, the actor misses the entrance by just a few seconds. But after a couple of practice runs, the actor and wardrobe crew are able to shave a few seconds off the change, and make the character re-enter just in the nick of time. Had they not, it is likely Bruce would have to find a way to add dialogue to give them more time.
It’s a relatively small moment, that few people will notice. But it occurs at point in the play when it is crucial that the pace of action and dialogue be as rapid as humanly possible. The skills of the collaborators – crew, playwright, costume designer – work to create a smooth and exhilarating ride.
June 27th, 2006 at 2:01 pm
so true so true, ed. i am always amazed at how little time you feel you have for costume changes, scene changes, etc. when tech first starts and how much time you feel you have by about week 2 or 3.
tech is always such a fun and grueling process all at once. especially in tech for site-specific plays, when you find yourself having entire conversations about how long it will take an actress to take off one pair of pants in order to replace them with another, and on which corner of the lincoln park street would be best to do it conspicuously! oh the magic of tech!