Fresh Air
Posted by Chike Johnson on 2/28/2007
Well, this is our first week of the run of Huck Finn and it has been quite fun. It has been an ongoing process of changing lines to make the script clearer or changing blocking in order to tighten up the length of the play. I have luckily been a part of new plays before, so having to constantly change a line or a movement is not foreign to me; still, it presents its challenges. For actors, I think the most challenging part of creating new plays is having to stay on your toes and constantly be open to change. For example, you have a scene that you have been working on for two or three weeks and all of a sudden, a small change in the script or in blocking deems that your scene is totally cut out of the play. You have to deal or come up with a really good reason to keep the scene. On the other hand, you might have something added, which most people might think an actor would want (”More lines! Hell yeah!”) but it is not always like that. Eventually things come together and whether the public likes it or not, you mold a unique story that is ready to be told. What I love about working on new plays is, of course, originating a role. We all know that Huck Finn is not a new story and that Jim has been played by many other actors in many different versions of the story of Huckleberry Finn. But this Jim is reborn in the eyes of Laura Eason and so in my mind, I get to breathe that fresh, new breath of air into his lungs.