Keystone Video and 2 weeks

by Phil RickabyFringe, Keystone Theatre, Out of Character, TheatrePosted on No Comments

Last night, I sat down and watched the video from the Keystone Theatre workshop presentation from last November. I hadn’t watched it before, and it was certainly an interesting experience. Watching the video, its easy to see the things that did work and the things that didn’t. Not surprisingly, the scenes that we had worked on the most were the ones that were the best (ie: got the most laughs, looked best, etc). It was also apparent when things were not working well. There was more positive than negative about watching the video, and I’m feeling very positive for when we return to work on this show again in the fall.

On the Fringe front, its suddenly hit me that we open in two weeks. Well to be exact, two weeks tomorrow. I need to buckle down on lines, and though I’m happy to have an evening to spend at home, I’ll be happy to get back to rehearsal tomorrow.

The last few rehearsals, Leeman Kessler, who plays the role of Nick in Out of Character, has been arriving looking pretty suave: like a 1040s jazz singer, or a little like Gene Kelly. Except for the shoes, that is, which I reveal for you below: sandals.

sandals

Out of Character [Toronto Fringe]

by Phil RickabyCalendar, Fringe, Out of Character, TheatrePosted on No Comments

Meet Nick and Dana. Two LARP gamers with a turbulent history. Together in the club where they first met, they stage a retelling of their past to learn the truth of their affair in-game and out-of-character. From the team that brought the hit Shadow Court to the 2005 Fringe, comes a romantic drama about the ins and outs of love.

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).

A song about Sibby

by Phil RickabyFringe, Out of Character, TheatrePosted on No Comments

Last night, another rehearsal, with a revised script.

I can’t say enough what fun the rehearsals have been.  The cast is still laughing a lot between scenes.  But there’s a lot that’s getting done.  The show is blocked almost completely.  Now we get into the repetition and exploration.  Its good that its blocked though: We open in 3 weeks from yesterday!

Last night, before rehearsal, I stopped by the Cat’s Eye (which is where we’ll be performing) to remind myself what the place looks like.  I couldn’t get in, but I did take a picture or two.  Here’s the outside (in Panoramic view, of course).

catseye

I like the location, because its a nice place to hang out before a show, and secluded enough that there isn’t a lot of extraneous noise when the show inside is going on.

If you’re curious where this little oasis is located, here’s a map.

View Larger Map

Also, I keep meaning to shoot some rehearsal video.  I haven’t gotten around to it.  I will soon.

LOL @ Rehearsal

by Phil RickabyFringe, TheatrePosted on No Comments

Last night at rehearsal, we learned something important: we’re gigglers.  In a moment, we can go from working the scene to non-stop, side hurting laughter.  This is important to know early, so that we have a better chance of actually getting it out of our system.

It was really an entertaining rehearsal. I wish I could share with you the things that made us laugh, but it would end up being a case of “you had to be there”, and you probably wouldn’t find it funny.  So I’ll just tell you that it was high-larious, and you’ll have to trust me.

Its going to be a fun rehearsal process, to say the least.

veryorange

Out of Character

by Phil RickabyFringe, TheatrePosted on One Comment

Last night, most of the cast of Out of Character sat down to do some text work on the first few scenes of the play.  The cast is kicking some serious ass, and it looks like the rehearsal process is going to be fun.

The play is about…well, that’s the thing.  It would be easy to say that the play is about LARP (Live Action Role Playing).  Or perhaps that its a play about people who LARP.  But I don’t think that’s really it.  The Live Action Roleplaying is a backdrop, the setting.  The play is actually about what happens if you meet your soulmate, but you are already with someone else.

There’s a particular challenge to the setting of the play, and that’s the fact that the average theatre-goer isn’t familiar with LARP, so in order to catch them up and immerse them in the setting, the play has to very quickly give them information about the world and what its about. I think the play does this rather well.  Of course, I’m more familiar with the setting than the average theatre-goer would be.  Fortunately there are some folks in the cast who have no familiarity, so they should be able to tell if its not clear.

Here is a panorama of us sitting around the table (click to embiggen).  And ignore the phantom coke bottle.

tablewerk1