First Look, First Rehearsal
Posted by Whitney Dibo on 6/26/2008The first day of rehearsal for any play ignites the rehearsal room with a kind of hopeful energy. There are promises made of the great rehearsal process to come, sincere congratulations offered to the actors who snagged the roles, and of course the general wonderment of how many people will actually be involved with the project. First Look Repertory’s first day of rehearsal went something like that – except magnified, or rather – times three.
Yesterday marked the start of rehearsal for all three First Look Rep shows: Keith Huff’s Pursued by Happiness, Jason Wells‘ Perfect Mendacity and Sarah Gubbins‘ Fair Use. Each show comes equipped with its own stage manager, dramaturg and director – who will join forces with a team of First Look designers to give these three shows the best first production possible. And that’s another element that added energy to last night’s rehearsal – all three plays are brand new work by local Chicago playwrights. So whatever excitement-times-three was in the air, it was only magnified by the novelty of First Look.
The artists and First Look 101 observers arrived at 5pm to Yondorf rehearsal hall, all seemingly surprised at the number of people in attendance. First Look 101ers, who purchased a pass to attend open rehearsals throughout the summer, seemed particularly moved: they’ve been part of process since the first table reading in early May. One First Look 101er actually pulled me aside and said: “I can’t believe the casts are finally here!” – as if the chosen actors were a kind of expectant baby. Or in this case, triplets.
Artists who kinda-sorta know each other from around town introduced themselves to one another, trying to scope out the actors with whom they’ll be spending their summer. After all 70 guests shuttled into the room (we had over 25 artists present, and about 45 First Look 101ers), Ed Sobel gave a warm welcome to the crowd. He used a phrase which I really think captures the night: “On the first day of rehearsal, people usually bring with them a great generosity of spirit.” And that is really what the First Look first rehearsal was all about. From actors to directors, to stage managers and dramaturges – everyone had remembered to bring along their generosity of spirit.
In the name of horizontal integration (to borrow a phrase from Pursued by Happiness), each play did a short excerpt reading for the room, to give the artists associated with the other two productions a feel for each play. As the tenor of the room shifted with each reading, it became clear how very different each play is from its festival counterparts.
When Fair Use took the stage, males in the room must have felt like spies peeping into all-girl’s clubhouse. Director Meredith McDonough and Playwright Sarah Gubbins, two truly spunky chicks, will take charge of this show – and the feminine perspective is apparent in both the language and trajectory of the play (though two guys were allowed into the cast). Perfect Mendacity’s excerpt can best be described as a high-tension “to be continued…” drama - the hook being the lead character’s ability (or lack thereof) to pass a lie detector test. And lastly, Pursued by Happiness - the play that defies any and all categorization. It was clear the audience wasn’t sure whether to laugh or stay silent, as Keith Huff’s absurdist script tackled horrifying issues with light and airy humor. But one thing was clear from all three readings: this will be one dynamic rep.
The designers then presented their initial plans for set, lighting and costumes – a trickier procedure than usual, given each set must be compatible with the other two. Set Designer Kevin Depinet will be the mastermind behind this three-fold set design, which will somehow need to transform into three very different living rooms, a corporate law firm and a government agency.
After a quick pizza break, we broke up in into three rooms so each play could do a full table reading, which meant it was time for the First Look 101ers to choose their preferred script (there is an analogy here about having to choose a favorite child, but perhaps that’s far-fetched). I sat in on Pursued by Happiness – simply because they happened to take a break right as I was finishing up pizza-clean up. Given Barbara Robertson, who is playing the mother in Pursued by Happiness, is still performing in Wicked – dramaturge Kimberly Senior read the roles of Alice and Liz (and she was actually quite good, for the record!).
After a successful reading that ran about 95 minutes, director Tim Hopper and playwright Keith Huff lead a discussion about what they just heard. They mused over questions not answered in the script (i.e. when was the last time these two love-starved scientists went on date/how serious was their last relationship). It’s information that will never come up in the play, but will be helpful for the actors to round out their characters. But the major question of the discussion was tone: would Tim be directing the play as realism infused with absurdity, or vice versa? From my vantage point, it didn’t seem like he’d made up his mind. But that is perfectly ok – after all, it’s just the first rehearsal.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
I’m a big fan of the Steppenwolf Theatre, largely because of the variety of perspectives offered both onstage and in supplementary materials like Backstage Magazine and this Blog. So you can understand, I think, how deeply dissappointed and frankly offended I was upon reading things like “Director Meredith McDonough and Playwright Sarah Gubbins, two truly spunky chicks…” and “(though two guys were allowed into the cast).” I should think anyone writing for the Steppenwolf Blog would understand that female artists are not a rarity in the Chicago Theatre world (perhaps Mr. Dibo is unaware of this year’s Tony awards?) nor are plays that focus on women’s experiences any less universal than, say, the testorone-fest that is “Glen Gary Glen Ross.” I do not speak for all women, but as a woman, I would like an apology for the blatant and casual sexism of this post.
June 30th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
In response to the above comment, I’d like to first apologize for the misconception. While there is nothing unusual about female playwrights or directors, it is pretty rare to find a play that puts lesbian relationships at the center and heterosexual relationships at the periphery (as Fair Use does). My remark speaks more to the action of the play, which has an undeniably feminist spin, than to the playwright or director’s gender.
And while I didn’t feel it necessary in the blog post to mention my own gender, I am a woman. And in this day in age, I feel very comfortable owning the word “chick” - in addition to other previously taboo words like babe or fox. What was once patronizing is now empowering – many women have reclaimed these words and use them often, in both theatrical writing and everyday vernacular.
While it’s never necessary to brand a woman as a “female playwright” or “female director” (as you are absolutely right about those professions being populated by women as frequently as men) - I felt it was worth noting that this particularly estrogen-fueled play is being directed by two cool, spunky, talented chicks. While “women” or even “ladies” might have been more PC - the word, for me, implies a comfortably with ones own sexuality and self - which both Meredith and Sarah have in spades.