What Fun I Had

Here I am, back at my day job, thinking of nothing but the last week of play and exploration. Thanks, everyone, for your enthusiasm and time. David, Heather, Andrea and I all agreed that part of what was so energizing about this project was the way in which it seemed to draw so many talented people together, and I am full of gratitude in the afterglow.

How to summarize our week? Well, it can't be done, frankly. The sketchbook of my mind is full-up, y'all. Interestingly enough, at the same time I feel we have a clearer focus on what kind of show this wants to be. I write what it wants to be because after a week it has also become very clear to me that this story and the traditions we're inspired by have just as much to say about what they do as we might, and say it with the force of hundreds of years' practice behind them. That's not to say we can't be free with our materials. It is to say, however, that as usual the key will be in listening.

I'm going to summarize some ideas below. They are entirely subject to change, and it's entirely possible that I have interpreted some of them beyond what we agree on as a group, but we need to start the discussion somewhere. Agree, disagree, have at thee:

• We want to incorporate the original language and Italian translations, as well as plenty of silent action. No talk yet of interpreting the poetry into contemporary vernacular, though we did just that in our improvisations on the text. Some discussion of possibly a narrator character (Friar Lawrence) and/or linguistic interpreter.


• We've workshopped in clown style with Mark, commedia dell'arte with Andrea, and in free-style improvisation based on readings of the text. At the end of last week we were feeling inclined toward the characters of Romeo and Juliet being clowns in a world populated otherwise by commedia dell'arte mask characters, but we have also discussed: Mercutio being mercurial between clown/commedia; Lawrence having no mask or nose; all the younger characters being red-nose clowns; one family being clown, the other commedia; and all characters being clowns. There's much more to be explored about this.


• The only set discussion thus far has been Andrea's suggestion that it be simple. (Personally, I'd like to include the bench that was in Noble Aspirations and Legal Snarls somehow.)


• Dave G. discussed the show taking place in a kind of meta-reality, in which we're watching players (or pure clowns) trying to tell the story of Romeo & Juliet. David Z. returned often to the idea of the characters, be they self-aware or no, trying to keep their lives in the world of comedy and ultimately incapable of resisting the tragedy. Either way, there seems to be agreement about the show beginning with great humor and light, excited energy, and hanging on to that as long as possible before the tragedy takes over.


• There's a strong theme of metamorphosis in our playing, particularly with regards to growing up or a loss of innocence.

We have not just ambiguities, but many questions:

• How many people will we be working with? Who? How many of those will need to be trained?


• Can commedia and clown characters coexist? If so, how?


• When is this set? Where?


• Will we change the story at all? If so, how?


• How do we proceed from here?

These questions may resist answering until we come to the final rehearsal period, but it's good to consider and compile them as early as possible. We don't know what will come next, exactly, in terms of getting people working together in the same room again. That work continues some days this week with Andrea, Heather and David, and possibly Connor, Rich and whomever else can make it. There's some discussion of running commedia workshops for the community in May/June, which may include time to reconvene, and a reunion to work on a special production of the classic commedia scenario, The Husband, is just as sure as can be happening in August.

In the meantime, ponder and dream and share it here.