Take It Further
Posted by James T. Alfred on 10/09/2008Week two and we have plunged into the abyss. It’s Tom and Amanda Day, Mom and Son. We spend six hours digging into one another, toiling to make each moment ring with beautiful, heartbreaking truth. Yasen, our director, is very precise. I can tell he loves actors and encourages exploration. It’s liberating. I haven’t worked in Chicago since 2004, and this is quite the homecoming: Great play, great theatre, and a great company of artists.
Shanésia Davis is playing Amanda. I love watching her. We are so different, yet so much alike. I’ve never made anything with her, but I look forward to the time ahead. She is “in the room.” We spent an entire rehearsal building the Amanda/Tom piece of the pie. Tom and Amanda shouted at each other, spoke kindly, then insulted and badgered one another. All of those wonderful juicy things we explored for six hours.
Tom has a scene that takes him to another planet. This is where trust comes in. Tom gets so outrageous in the scene, I mean really loses it. We did it today, full out, to see what it was like, and it hurt! It hurt all the way through me. Yasen walks over, and gently says “That’s it, but you can take it further.” “Further?!” I asked. “Yes,” he gently replied and smiled. It’s going to be beautiful.