:::EDIT February 2017::: This post is about our first company-directed production, Macbeth, in October of 2015. Since then we've adjusted our process and produced five more company-directed shows. Check out information and tickets for our current season:::
When we created our Rocket Hub campaign, we decided to reward people who back the project for $10 or more with special backers-only tickets to a preview performance on 10/16. What most people don't realize, though, is that the preview for a company-directed show is more exciting than any other performance, because it's the first time the actors get to run through the whole play. That's because when Bare Bones Shakespeare does a company-directed production, the actors only get 4 rehearsals. We follow Shakespeare's rehearsal practices, so not only do the actors get a REALLY short rehearsal process, but there's no director, no designer, and the actors only receive their lines and their cues. There's good news for the actors, though. Shakespeare's company also had a prompter to help the actors if they lose their place during the performance. For our production of Macbeth, I'll be that prompter. Every performance, I'll sit to one side onstage and feed actors their lines if they lose their place. I can't fix everything though. That's why the preview is going to be an exciting show -- the actors will be dealing with entrances and exits, the order of the scenes, costume changes, live sound cues, all for the first time, and it will be in front of an audience.
We gleefully stole most of our ideas about the company-directed model from the American Shakespeare Center. When I lived in Virginia, I got to see many of their company-directed productions. One of my favorite things was to see the preview performance, and then come back after a week or two and see the production again. Inevitably there are some flaws at the preview that the actors fix during subsequent rehearsals. But since the actors have all of the agency in the production, they might also decide to take one of their characters in a different direction, or change a major prop or costume piece, or completely alter the character's physicality. It's amazing how little changes like these can change the way the whole play reads. In a lot of ways, it's like seeing two different productions. You get to be a part of the team at the preview since you're privy to the earliest decisions and the most interesting mistakes. And you also get to come back later, if you're so inclined, and see what changes and what doesn't. And if you really like what you see, maybe next time
you'll want to audition and join in on this terrifying, exciting, rewarding process.
When we created our Rocket Hub campaign, we decided to reward people who back the project for $10 or more with special backers-only tickets to a preview performance on 10/16. What most people don't realize, though, is that the preview for a company-directed show is more exciting than any other performance, because it's the first time the actors get to run through the whole play. That's because when Bare Bones Shakespeare does a company-directed production, the actors only get 4 rehearsals. We follow Shakespeare's rehearsal practices, so not only do the actors get a REALLY short rehearsal process, but there's no director, no designer, and the actors only receive their lines and their cues. There's good news for the actors, though. Shakespeare's company also had a prompter to help the actors if they lose their place during the performance. For our production of Macbeth, I'll be that prompter. Every performance, I'll sit to one side onstage and feed actors their lines if they lose their place. I can't fix everything though. That's why the preview is going to be an exciting show -- the actors will be dealing with entrances and exits, the order of the scenes, costume changes, live sound cues, all for the first time, and it will be in front of an audience.
We gleefully stole most of our ideas about the company-directed model from the American Shakespeare Center. When I lived in Virginia, I got to see many of their company-directed productions. One of my favorite things was to see the preview performance, and then come back after a week or two and see the production again. Inevitably there are some flaws at the preview that the actors fix during subsequent rehearsals. But since the actors have all of the agency in the production, they might also decide to take one of their characters in a different direction, or change a major prop or costume piece, or completely alter the character's physicality. It's amazing how little changes like these can change the way the whole play reads. In a lot of ways, it's like seeing two different productions. You get to be a part of the team at the preview since you're privy to the earliest decisions and the most interesting mistakes. And you also get to come back later, if you're so inclined, and see what changes and what doesn't. And if you really like what you see, maybe next time
you'll want to audition and join in on this terrifying, exciting, rewarding process.