Serving the Audience

One of the Barter Player's mottos is to "Serve the Audience," meaning, because we are now professional actors, the work we do is to serve the paying customers.  It is no longer for our benefit as it was in college.  We cater to the folks shelling out money for a night of entertainment.  A way us Players do it is through run crew.

For those of you who don't know what run crew is (Grandma), they are the invisible performers who make all of the scene shift magic happen.  It's intense.  We had our first scene shift rehearsal tonight, 4 hours long and we didn't get to Act II.  Despite the amount of time it took, it actually went really well.

It's not as if I didn't have respect for the people involved with technical theatre, I just never had a chance to experience it.  When we were getting oriented with the space, I was terrified.  So many integral parts that so many people would get mad at me for screwing up.  I remember running sound for our school play my sophomore year in high school; it was a lot of responsibility to take on and a lot of pressure.  Now, while pushing on Belle's room or setting props for Gaston's tavern, I feel the same pressing weight of responsibility.

Despite being anxious about it, I'm excited to take all of this on.  It's another way we can serve the audience, another way I'm learning about the theatre.

As far as rehearsals for "Pigs", we have no more until tech next Tuesday.  We had our final run through today.  I'm trying to not "act," but it's hard.  There are these blocks getting in my way of totally giving myself up to the world of the play.  In the week I have before tech, my goal is to practice facing the unknown and using my imagination to keep Cami out of the character.

One of the members of the company watched our run through today.  On our way home, the company member said they had learned a lot.  We asked what it was and they said "No matter how absurd the circumstances of the play, you can still make it believable."  That was encouraging; we've done our job.   Yes, it's ridiculous to play a role in which you are eating whole pigs and you have the ability to blow down houses, but if you wholeheartedly commit in the world of the play, anything is possible.

I better get to bed, we have full on Beauty and the Beast 10 of 12 (more for us on crew) for the next 3 days.  And then we open with 2 shows on Saturday.  It's going to be the longest week of my life.

For Grandma: Tech is when you run the show from scene change to scene change, run light cues, focus lights, work spacing etc.  Usually grueling work where you are at the theater all day and everyone gets really frustrated with each other.  Hope that helps!