Like Family
Posted by Rebecca Rugg on 8/26/2009
While I’ve always known the acting at Steppenwolf was marvelous, I’ve never worked on a project with any of the ensemble members. As I wrote in my last blog entry, I’m working as production dramaturg on Eric Simonson’s play, Fake, and it’s been such a pleasure. Today I want to write about one aspect of it that has surprised me, which is what it’s like to be in the rehearsal room with people who’ve logged a lot of hours there together over the years.
I’ve worked with ensemble companies who devise work together, but that’s a little bit of a different process from actors taking on characters who are already written when rehearsal begins. In working on a new play, the actor’s challenge is to discover and embody these people who previously have existed only on the page, in the author’s imagination. It’s so great to watch these people begin to move in space and become embodied.
This is a room with veteran Steppenwolf ensemble actors. There is a lot of experience here, and a level of trust and ease that isn’t always to be found on every project! Eric is really setting the tone with his willingness to consider the actors’ feedback and comments about the script: things they like, things that are confusing. And also I think the atmosphere in the room is set in particular by Fran Guinan and Alan Wilder, both of whose careers with Steppenwolf are long and legendary.
I’m not saying we’re spending time in rehearsal doing trust falls or other things of that nature. What I’m calling “trust” actually shows up in people feeling free to make fun of each other as they try new ideas out, as they work to manage props and accents. This is not always the case in every rehearsal, believe me! Another way to put it might be that this room feels a lot like family - when family is at its best, that is - built on a shared history and appreciation of each other’s talents and strengths.