http://www.buildingstage.com/blog on making theater Mon, 19 Apr 2010 23:10:10 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en NOTE: Lab 7 is delayed, for the moment... Challenge: Create a short, theatrical performance which attempts to hold the audience in suspense. While the last challenge, (Shared Imagination,) began by considering what theater did better than film or TV, I've recently been thinking that live performance is perhaps less equipped to hold ... http://www.buildingstage.com/blog/?p=676 David created this challenge for this upcoming lab at a really opportune moment for me, as this idea of shared imagination is at the forefront of my mind. I’m currently reading a book by British director Mike Alfreds, entitled Different Every Night: Freeing the Actor. Alfreds is best known for ... http://www.buildingstage.com/blog/?p=674 Challenge: Make the audience see something, not with their eyes, but in their imagination. Step One: Choose a specific visual image (the seashore, a camel, a bloodstain, etc.) Step two: Create a short performance with the goal of injecting this image into the imagination of the audience. Notes: I think one of the things ... http://www.buildingstage.com/blog/?p=645 We actors often tend toward thinking of ourselves first – especially as time ticks away and we get closer to opening a play. We worry about how the audience will receive our work. The basest insecurities creep into our minds… Will they like me? Will I forget ... http://www.buildingstage.com/blog/?p=644 David Amaral made up a little video from footage shot during the first weekend of previews. Take a look at what we've been working on for the last six months...and what no doubt will continue to undergo changes and improvements in the next few weeks. Counting down to opening! [youtube NdwVpt0kCFU ... http://www.buildingstage.com/blog/?p=639 This is the first time The Building Stage has had official previews for one of our shows, and we're doing two whole weekends of them!  Why previews now?  And what are previews for? Well, a preview is a hybrid between rehearsal and performance, in that the production team (director, deisgners) are ... http://www.buildingstage.com/blog/?p=636 For those of you who missed it, and those of you who want to relive the magic of the first ever Building Stage lab, below are videos of four of the pieces created for the evening.  Enjoy! 1: Created by Max Wirt [youtube 9jppk8C9HMU] 2: Created by Fannie Hungerford [youtube mSHJxTNC-KE] 3: Created by David ... http://www.buildingstage.com/blog/?p=527 With just several hours before our fifth Lab, I find myself juggling a chaotic handful of emotions about the event, the project, and its future.  I'm eagerly anticipating what we will see tonight, but also dismayed at how many artists, though excited and interested in the project, and specifically the ... http://www.buildingstage.com/blog/?p=625 After sixteen hours of technical rehearsals this weekend, we’ve built about a third of the show’s technical cues.  One can’t help but laugh and recall codirector Joanie Schultz’s half-joke question early in the rehearsal process, “Why are we doing the Ring Cycle!!?” Tech week, affectionately referred to by the theater world ... http://www.buildingstage.com/blog/?p=621 I came across this today and just couldn't help passing it along. http://www.buildingstage.com/blog/?p=618