I love the smell of theatre in the morning

by Westport Country Playhouse intern Laura Roux

What I think about Tech week:

Tech can be tedious. It can even be boring. As an actor I usually dread tech – because it’s usually a lot of standing around, which is hard on the body, or just getting into a line or a feeling or a moment when things are stopped. As run crew it can just plain be boring: a lot of waiting around and not being allowed to goof off. As a stage manager, well, I’ve never really had to deal with the kind of tech we’re talking about. My one and only real stage management gig was right before I came here and I had to call the show blind. It was an environmental piece, where the actors and audience were moving around. I only had one camera for my monitor, so I could only see the first scene. The rest of it was called off of the sound of curtains opening and closing. There were very few fine adjustments I had control over.

But this. Oh god, this. This is amazing. We get here and start setting things up, and then they start working. And it’s the work people, the work. Watching the work, by people who really know what they’re doing and have been given the opportunity to do it right.

The apprentices are back stage moving things around. Originally I was going to be back stage “shadowing” them, just in case, you know. But there are so many people back stage that one person not really doing anything would just get in the way. So I got to sit out in the house and watch. I just thought it was fascinating. I just sat there, arms folded on top of the seat in front of me as I leaned forward to drink it all in – mouth ajar like a kid in a candy store. Every choice, every discussion, every breath was fascinating. How the director would ask for one subtle change to be made and that one thing would make all the difference. A whole new world opened up. I wasn’t too sure about the script when I read it, but the collaboration that these two actors (who are just soooo incredible) and this director and these designers came up with have made this show singularly remarkable. They have made me hold my breath, they have made me cry, they have made me laugh, and they have made me think. Even more than that, they have made me grateful: Grateful to witness . . . something remarkable. Grateful to witness theatre. And we forget- we forget that this thing we do is a gift. We forget to be grateful.

And that’s the thing. Well, one of the things that makes this show so different from the other two shows that have been done since I’ve been here. It’s the pure theatricality of it. Not just the type of play, not just the type of actors, not even the type of designers. All of them put together, and the thing itself has become an EVENT. And that’s what theatre should be. If nothing else theatre should be an event. A happening. An unstoppable force of nature held in one moment of time. This show opens with those lights, and one incredible sound effect, a sound so big it literally blows you away (I mean, I could feel my pant legs waving)- and it sends one very clear, very important message – hold onto your seats, ladies and gentleman, this is an EVENT. SOMETHING is about to go down. Suddenly instead of just watching theatre we are EXPERIENCING it.

Julia, one of the apprentices, wrote in her blog an Anne Bogart quote, which was something along the lines of “I go to a movie to sit back. I go to the theatre to lean forward.” That’s what this show makes me do. It not just invites me to lean forward, it compels me to, it demands me to, it accepts nothing less – and I oblige willingly.

I told Sam, one of the apprentices, that if I were back stage with them I would probably spend the copious down town they have sitting back there, listening, watching as much as I could, with my jaw open. He didn’t believe me. He said maybe for the first couple of shows but eventually – and I said no. I’ve been doing this for a while. On almost every show I’ve worked back stage on I’m afraid to leave for fear that I will miss something. Some new discovery, some new moment, some part of that glorious, living, breathing action I am thirsting for. Sure there have been shows where I have grown more cynical – but this one . . . I would rather spend the rest of my time here doing nothing but watching these people rehearse and then perform than anything else (sorry apprentices). Okay, I would miss out on a lot of stuff that I would regret later, important things that I really don’t want to miss, but . . . what a way to get to spend my time. I learn from every breath Mark and Andrea (the actors) take. I learn from every syllable that Joe (the director) and the designers utter. I had a good time watching Scramble tech, and I learned a lot from that as well, but this – there’s just something about this show, man. If you don’t come to witness this, you’re a fool. Come experience this event, this happening with us. I will be sneaking into the balcony and holding on to every second right along with you.

~ Laura (Roux)

Four Years of Change

by Director of Marketing, Eric Smith

It is hard to believe that the Playhouse is now in its 4th season since we completed our capital renovations. And through those four years, the Playhouse has gone through many different changes, from shifts in artistic directors to expanding the season, and probably a slew more that comes quickly to the mind of our audience. Through it all, I think we have learned what we want the Playhouse to become, and we are grateful that our audience and patrons have supported us during this process. We know that, at times, it may not been easy for our audience to understand the reasoning behind some of the institutional decisions, but I hope this will be one of many steps on the road to a better understanding and a richer appreciation of Westport Country Playhouse.

In a recent networking meeting one of our current corporate sponsors remarked that “a lot of people are waiting to see what the Playhouse is going to be.” Since I have been living with it every day since I came to the Playhouse a year ago, I realized that we need to be more diligent in educating our audience about our intentions for this landmark cultural treasure. Our audience is the heartbeat that keeps this theatre vibrant and alive, and it is crucial that you believe in our choices as much as we do.

First and foremost, we want Westport Country Playhouse to regain its stature as a nationally recognized professional theatre. We want artists, designers, directors, producers and agents across the country to view this wonderful campus as a viable destination for their work. In addition to the mainstage season, we are will continue to create programming that keeps the building busy all year-round. That programming will take many different forms including our current Selected Shorts series, increased collaboration with the Westport Arts Center, Westport Library, Fairfield University and others. It may include film series, concerts, theatre classes, and more.

Second, Westport Country Playhouse built one of the preeminent internship programs in the nation, so for us, not only the cultivation of future theatre artists, but the use of the arts to supplement the education the next generation, is a cornerstone of the future Westport Country Playhouse. We will continue to grow our educational offerings including our newest summer camp and fall classes, develop new programs that promote life-long learning in the arts, and strengthen our school outreach programs as we work to become a vital arts resource within the community.

Finally, we will want to be a community gathering place where our audience can sit on the porch and enjoy a glass of wine before seeing a world-class theatrical production, or where corporations can host conferences, or where children first learn the art of storytelling. We want our audience think of us as a source of pride for their community, to feel comfortable taking advantage of all the Playhouse has to offer, and to relax knowing that the service they receive, the performance they attend, or class in which they participate will always be world-class.

Your comments are welcome. Whether it is about the state of the arts, or commentary on the latest show, the WCP Blog is a forum for your thoughts and ideas as much as a window into Westport Country Playhouse’s backstage.