Turning Point

We open There Goes the Bride on Friday. Thus far, I have done my best to prioritize courtesy over productivity when the others have been screwing around and wasting what little time we're allowed to prepare the show. But since we open on Friday, that has changed now. Last night during a line shoot, the girl who plays the Bride and probably has the fewest lines missed every single one of her cues. She was on facebook on her phone the whole time, so after about the 6th or 7th missed cue, I just said "why don't you put your phone away. You have missed every single one of your cues. not cool. We open this show in 4 days." There have been so many times I have bitten my tongue instead of speaking out about all the bullshit I've seen here, but I felt such a huge relief after finally calling one of them out on their bullshit. And it was completely called for. She was mad at me for a few minutes but I think it sunk in that she really needs to get her shit together. And everyone else who was there for the line shoot has buckled down since.

I don't want to be bossy. I never have, because I hate bossy people and know-it-alls. But I have come to realize that I'm sometimes going to have to risk people mistakenly labeling me as such if I honestly want to do all I can to make sure the work we do is the best it can be. I really just want to help. And until recently, it was more important to me that other people think I am a nice person than it was that I do all I can to ensure our success. Not just for my own sake - even though I have absolutely no desire to be associated with any form of shit show - but for the sake of the work and the art and the audience.

Everyday it becomes more apparent to me that ISU's staff has been equipping me incredibly well for what I want to do. I had to explain to a few of my cast mates last night that the reason I know most of their lines - or at least the ideas within them - and not just my own lines, is that I learn the whole story and not just my character, Bill Shorter's story. I also told them that I am more concerned with what I'm doing when I DON'T have lines than when I do. This might not be completely true, but it's close. I told them that reaction and listening are just as important as your mastery of the lines you deliver. Otherwise the audience would just stay home and listen to old radio programs instead of coming to the theater to WATCH real humans portray real life in a stylized way. And just to be clear, my point is that the reason they are having trouble remembering their lines is that they engaged with the story in relationship to all the other characters around them who are giving them a reason to say what they say!


Anyways, I feel really good about being able to help people who have goals like mine in the theatre, even though I'd rather just lead by example and not have to risk sounding bossy or condescending or like a know-it-all or be labeled pretentious. I really just want to help. And I think they can see that here. My work ethic has yet to falter so hopefully that helps to, because like I said, I would much rather just lead by example.


Also I have made a couple of closer friends now. One of them is an alum who is back working of our sets and the other is the protagonist in There Goes the Bride. He clearly wants to do the best work we can and we team up to kick people into gear when we need to. I am very grateful that they are here, because there are also people on the opposite side of the spectrum with deplorable work ethics here.


There are two others that have impressed me in the past week as well. The guy playing the granddad of the bride and the girl playing the flapper who shows up as Tim the protagonist's hallucination when he gets hit in the head. They are really on the ball with their parts and I can see that they have a similar apprehension toward calling their fellow actors out on their bullshit - even if it is completely screwing their own work up when that problem person is their acting partner in a particular scene. It was also for their sake that I made the decision to stop sitting idly by instead of calling bullshit. The script manager (stage manager) doesn't do diddly squat. It really pisses me off, but we open in 3 days now so I don't exactly have the time to call her out on it. I'd rather just pick up the slack myself so we can do what we need to get done.


I'm sure most of this makes me sound like I am a complete asshole here, but I promise you I am constantly aware of the fact that I am representing ISU theatre in a way, and I conduct myself accordingly. I show respect to everyone here, including those who might not even deserve it or who aren't decent enough to return the favor.


That's all for now

W