Chalk One Up for the Good Guys
Posted on | October 28, 2007 | No Comments
I’ve just returned from our from Chalk’s final performance of opening weekend. Rumor has it there were quite a few critics in the audience on Saturday night (and I saw you out there, Mr. Piatt), so though I am very tired, I wanted to get a few words out before the professionals wade in.
I’ve had an enormously fun time working on this show. The cast and production crew are smart, talented, and funny people – the kind of team everyone should get to work with at least once a year, just to remind you that you can do good work and still enjoy the process. (Check out the rehearsal photos I’ve added to my Flickr page. I’ll post some production photos as soon as I get them.)
This isn’t to say it’s been a cake walk. RBP is itinerant, and I point you to Tony for further elaboration on the conflicts of finding cheap and suitable space. Far be it from me to bite the hand that feeds me – producing companies get Cultural Center space for free in addition to the marketing and front of house services the DCA provides – but let’s be honest: the Studio space is a multi-purpose activity room. It’s carpeted. We perform on risers. We have one pipe for lighting instruments. We have to take down the set every night and store it. We have to be out no later than 10pm. Our tech team wasn’t allowed access to the space before 5pm all through tech week, which meant performance and tech needs competed for attention every minute of rehearsal. We had to compete with a full brass band scheduled somewhere else in the building on our press opening.
The production team tells me the DCA folks have been very understanding and as accommodating as possible, and I take them at their word. I mention all this to give you a sense of how proud I am of this show, and how impressed I’ve been with the creativity and commitment on the part of our designers, our director, and our stage manager for taking this show to a whole new level. The sound, lights, and costumes are absolutely integral to the experience. Those of you who get a chance to see it will see what I mean.
In some cases, I think the limitations with which we’ve been confronted have been incentive to strip down to essentials and get creative. An early draft of the script called for projections to be used throughout the play. In performance a lot of the scenic work is done via shadows – puppets and silhouettes. It’s a no-brainer economic move, but it also brings home the noir themes. Our director Nathan made the point that, “It’s a mistake to try and out-movie the movies.” By bringing it back to light and shadow, and by keeping the story in the room and in the present tense at all times, we’ve managed some moments that are singularly theatrical.
Since Chalk is a tech-heavy show, I’m only just now comfortable enough with everything I’m doing on and off stage during the show that I can take the time to appreciate the amazing work going on around me. More than a few times I’ve been simultaneously humbled and excited by the great work my castmates are doing. This show lives or dies by its pacing, so we’re all under pressure to keep the momentum going. It’s forced the cast to be efficient with creating the characters and the world of the play.
When working in this genre it’s easy, I think, to get wrapped up in one-liners and Bogart badassery. The story and the style are larger than life, so it’s important that there’s a human heart. From the first draft I read, I was struck by how well Brad’s kept the balance. There’s not a lot of navel gazing in this play – not a lot of opportunity or incentive for the characters to reveal their inner lives – but these other levels come through in little touches, little moments between the lines. I can only hope I’m doing my bit.
Chalk runs for four weeks at the Cultural Center.
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