Fringe Video Journal – June 23 2009
June 24th 2009
Photo-ninja
June 24th 2009
I was looking through the photos I took at rehearsal last night, when I came upon this:
I know who took this picture. I didn’t know about the picture at the time, there was a significantly less flattering one that I deleted immediately after she took it. But I was unaware of this picture. She took it with ninja-like stealth, which is ironic considering her pirate tendencies (Pi-ninja? Nin-rate? Or maybe….just a really stealthy pirate?)
For the record, I am not bored here. I am just tired.
Character thoughts
June 26th 2009
Last night, there was no rehearsal.
There was, however a reading. As I may have mentioned a couple of times, Out of Character is the second play in a series that started with the play Shadow Court. Last night, we presented a reading of that play. I read the role of Randy, a character that also appears in the new play. Since I’m playing Randy in this most recent play, this was a great experience. Seeing what Randy was like in the 5 years before this play, and under some trying circumstances. I think I learned a lot about who Randy was at that time.
In Shadow Court, the characters (a tight-knit group of Live Action Roleplayers) are trying to come to terms with the murder of a friend. The fallout from this terrible event is that the group is fracturing, drifting apart. Spurred by his girlfriend, Randy brings the group together once more, determined to find a way to make every finally deal with the death of Gwynn. Although he is successful, and issues are dealt with, it certainly doesn’t happen in the way he thought it would.
As Out of Character opens, five years have passed since Shadow Court. Randy is now married to Heather, who was his girlfriend in the first play. He had a brief period away from Live Action Roleplaying, and though he returned to it, Heather never did. This, combined with lessons learned from the events of five years ago have changed a few things. Randy has gained a bit of perspective on gaming; he doesn’t spend as much time gaming as he used to. As well, he’s worked harder to keep in touch with his friends. In Shadow Court, many of those in the group haven’t seen or spoken to each other in almost a year. It seems to me that Randy since the events of that night, he has worked harder to prevent that from happening.
I like Randy.
Here’s a shot of the script from somewhere near the beginning of the reading last night.
Out of Character – Show Dates
June 29th 2009
I have realized that I haven’t really posted the dates for Out of Character at the Toronto Fringe Festival. Oh, sure I’ve posted them on the handy calendar on the site here, but I haven’t really made much of the dates. Sure, the dates are available on Facebook, but I think its important to put them out there, outside of the Facebook firewall where Google can see them.
Out of Character runs nightly from Wednesday-Sunday July 1st to July 12th (dark on Tuesday, July 7th) at 8 pm in The Cats Eye, 150 Charles Street West (basement of the Wymilwood building).
Written by Stephen Near and Directed by Ericka Skirpan. Featuring: Adrianna Prosser and Leeman Kessler, with Kat Leonard, Nick May, Jessica Moss, Phil Rickaby, Kevin Robinson, and Scott Sykes.
Wednesday July 1 @ 8PM
Thursday July 2 @ 8PM
Friday July 3 @ 8PM
Saturday July 4 @ 8PM
Sunday July 5 @ 8PM
Monday July 6 @ 8PM
wednesday July 8 @ 8PM
Thursday July 9 @ 8PM
Friday July 10 @ 8PM
Saturday July 11 @ 8PM
Sunday July 12 @ 8PM
Cat’s Eye
June 30th 2009
Last night we moved into the Cat’s Eye [map], and had our tech rehearsal.
I’ve been in that space before, and have some fond memories of it (from a production of As You Like It a few years ago). This is going to be a challenging setup. There’s a lot of space in there, more than we’ve worked with before, so there’s a bit of a transition there.
No video last night. I was way too rushed before rehearsal and far to tired after.
I did, however, take a pano shot of the Cat’s Eye while we were setting up.
A Video Instrucational: getting to the Cat’s Eye
July 1st 2009
Since the Cat’s Eye is a little out of the way, I thought’ I’d provide a little video tutorial on how to get there.
We opened! And nobody died!
July 2nd 2009
Last night, we opened Out of Character at the Fringe.
I will admit to some nervousness (ok, a lot). I wasn’t sure how the show would play for an audience. I wasn’t sure if an audience would get it. And I wasn’t sure if I would remember the lines for a certain scene (yes, that scene).
In the end, we had a small but engaged audience, who seemed to really enjoy the show. I remembered my lines. The audience got it, and all was well with the world.
At the end of the night, I was informed that a reviewer from Eye Weekly had been in attendance. Here’s hoping that they are kind. The review official Eye review, plus audience reviews will appear here.
Tonight, we’ll do it again.
Backstage, Kat Leonard watches the onstage action:
5 Down, and Jerk
July 6th 2009
Tonight is our sixth performance of Out of Character. After that, we have just five more performances.
I have really been enjoying the run of this show. The cast is a lot of fun to play with, and we’ve been having some very receptive and appreciative audiences.
Last night, I learned a valuable lesson: even though they serve jerk chicken at the Fringe tent, and even though it is delicious…do not eat jerk chicken before the show. I did this yesterday, and it was definitely a mistake. Just remember, jerk chicken is an after show treat.
Dark tomorrow, and then we head into our final five performances. Hope to see you there.
