The Lines Get Memorized
Posted by Randall Newsome on 4/08/2009I was minding my own business.. in fact, life was very calm, considering I was standing at the corner of 46th and Broadway, Times Square….then my cell phone rang.
And so after a couple days of re-organizing, 4 rehearsals, and 1 technical run-through - I was onstage, playing Serge in Art.
That kind of experience teaches you a couple things about how to get errands finished tout de suite in your personal life, and how to look for the meat and bones of your character in a play, pronto. And believe me, there was no time for my usual self-conscious rehearsal ruminations like:
“…Hmm. Wouldn’t it be interesting if I tried this or that…”
or
“…What’s the guy’s educational background?…”
or
“…I wonder if my characters likes cheese.”… or whatever.
No. None of that. I had to learn the lines - while I was eating, walking, riding the subway, lying in bed - falling asleep with the script in my hands. And I had to remind myself daily that even though the play is entitled Art, it’s not about art as far as I’m concerned.
For Serge, it’s about defending your bruised ego and trying to love your friends even though you want to punch their lights out. Actually, Art is funnier and far more nuanced than that, but again, any other kind of introspective thinking would mean another hour lost with thirty-some pages still to learn.
The lines get memorized, I put on the costume, and I go out on stage with two terrifically talented and smart actors and something amazing happens: an entire new world of art and friendship and violence and thought crystallizes for me right there, and for the audience in that room.
A million miles away from that quiet moment in Times Square.