Leanna's IB Theatre Arts Journal
August 17th, 2007
We have begun to read Lysistrata. At first it is really surprising, but as you go along you get a bit more accustomed to it. The odd thing is though that it almost seems to sneak up on you. For instance, it will have a long passage of poetry or a speech by the chorus or a song or some such and then the author throws in another odd awkward portion that catches you off guard a bit.
August 28th, 2007
Our rehearsal on Saturday wasn’t a total loss. I think it would be quite helpful if we could have a more suitable rehearsal area rather than Jeff’s farm/front yard. We all get distracted too easily, although it is helpful that it’s out away from civilization so no one can just "run out and be right back." A more suitable director would also help, as Gale is a lovely woman but simply has no qualifications other than being especially demanding.
What we lack in directorial experience and rehearsal space, however, we make up for in enthusiasm, dedication, and scenery. Our town setting is looking quite fresh and nice lately (in spite of poor storage), and we have currently been working on new signs for the hotel, restaurant, bank, and potentially the mercantile. Jeff is building a new prop as well for the next few shows featuring "Male Order Bride", a peddler’s cart that makes things fly off like they’ve been shot through some complicated electronical process I don’t understand. It’s going well, but we’ve all agreed that there is too much smoke and too little force, so he is modifying that (although I do think they could have been a bit more diplomatic about telling him). If it works, however, it will be a huge asset to the group,as before our methods have consisted of either things being pulled by strings or someone hiding in a box pulling mousetraps or sticks on bungee cords.
I suppose to better explain the purpose of our troupe, I should enclose this link: acesandsixguns.mysite.com .
August 23rd, 2007
Here's a bit of a sketch of a possible layout for a production of Lysistrata. I drew in earlier in pencil, then redid it in paint to make it a bit more readable.
August 25th, 2007
I feel our presentation on Lysistrata might have gone off better than it did. We really hadn’t considered a solid intro to our presentation, and I suppose since we had it all in our heads sensibly we figured that we would be able to express it better than we did. I really think the minimalist idea would have been great to produce, but it was not exactly the easiest thing to explain. That's an area I could use some improvement in, explaining my thought processes and getting less flustered.
Searching the internet I found a website/article I thought was interesting, http://www.rudeguerrilla.org/2003Season/lysistrata/masterlysistrata.html . What's funny is that they kind of had the same idea we bid (although I guess it's a pretty obvious one), but on a much larger scale, with other works incorporated with it.
August 30th, 2007
I'm not sure if it's an important part of theatre, but it must be or no one would do it. But I really want to improve my improvisation skills. I love watching it, but I just don't think as quickly as I could. I need to work on getting my brain to work faster.
Our group is having a dilemma now because one of our members just got in and out of hospital and we seriously doubt he will be able to make the show in Pittsburg on Saturday, so we will have to figure out some way of filling in around his parts, as it is entirely too late to cancel. This doesn't look as if it's going to go well. I wish we had some extra people that we could throw into parts like this, but we're scraping for the six we have.We held auditions and pretty much ended up with the same core group, and lost a few others in the bargain. People simply aren't as willing to commit to being part of a group with a historical focus...they don't want long term tiedowns I suppose, but really I think there must be someone else out there as dedicated to this as myself. I'd like to hold another round of auditions, but right now we are simply too busy...oh, the irony; not enough people to do the shows but too many shows to do to be able to fix that.
