My favorite big theatre
I saw The Singing Forest at the Intiman yesterday. I have had the incredible opportunity to meet both Craig Lucas and Bartlett Sher. Craig through a writing workshop class he spoke to, and Bart through a director's/actor's lab he taught. I believe they are both wildly talented, as well as being warm human beings. Celebrity status doesn't do much for me. When I meet someone who has achieved notoriety and remains personable and professional my respect for them is increased. It is a pleasure for me to see a piece Craig has written, or one Bart has directed. This had the best of both worlds.
It was long, three and a half hours. I would do very little to tighten it, the different subplots and twists it kept moving. I do think the very end of the first and third acts need some cleaning up. I felt like this wonderful energy was dissipated in the last five or ten seconds before the first intermission and the conclusion of the play. I also thought there was some redundant exposition, and in a workshop situation I'd suggest cutting them. I don't think they detracted, so it is really academic.
My niece Anna, my friend Beth, and my Dad and his good friend Bob were there too. Dad and Bob had trouble following the story. A lot of the scene changes were fuzzy, especially when the actors were changing from 2000 to 1930 roles. The scene changes themselves were nice, but there wasn't really anything the audience could really latch on to readily to tell them if it was 2000 or the 1930's. A few props were cues, but not enough as props moved when the location shifted too. Some more distinct props or lighting might have helped. I followed without much problem, so I suspect it took an educated audience to track the changes. Someone with some training or a lot of time watching fringe productions. Is that a constant, or is theatre changing? I suspect the latter, though theatre is constantly evolving. For what it is worth, my Dad has been attending theatre regularly for most of his life.
Anna is only twenty, but she has seen some theatre. I gave her a gift certificate for the Intiman, and I was very gratified at her excitement. She and her family are very, very conservative christians. I was concerned she would feel very put off by the show. Of the several hundred shows I have seen, there have only been three I recall with nudity. Equus at the Seattle Rep in 1976, The Master and Margerita by Theater Simple at the Sand Point Brig, and this show. I apologize to any other actors I've seen au natural and didn't have the grace to remember. She liked the show, though "could have done without all the sex." It was good for me she liked the show, as it reigns in my bias regarding fundamentalists.
Laurence Ballard who is very active, getting lots and lots of major roles in the region's equity houses, generally playing rather pompous characters did some really nice work. It seems he always plays the same character. Rarely is he changed by another character. In this show he played Freud and a throat cancer victim named Bill. Freud was just a little different from his typical persona, and Bill was quite different. To be fair I've seen many actors play multiple characters with more distinct lives. In this case I was gratified on a couple levels. On the surface I was happy to see him play something a bit different, I didn't feel like it was the same character plucked from the last twenty shows he worked. On a deeper level it was good to see him break out of an apparent, deeply dug rut. I get to feeling I am in a rut quite often. Part of the "I'm okay, no I suck" cycle most artists ride. A healthy ride if you use it to spur yourself rather than wallow in despair. He could have allowed himself to be changed or affected a bit more; I found myself really caring for his character when he was malleable. It makes me wonder what happened. Did the director push him, or did he like the script so much he rediscovered his enthusiasm and love of acting?
Last year Bart and Craig collaborated on The Light In The Piazza, one of my favorite shows of the year. I would love to see it again since it was further developed at the Goodman in Chicago. The Singing Forest will be one of my favorite shows this year. Thus far my favorite was the work the other students did in our Meisner class performance, followed by The Singing Forest. I must be biased, as they happen to be two of the shows to which I had the closest connection.
It was long, three and a half hours. I would do very little to tighten it, the different subplots and twists it kept moving. I do think the very end of the first and third acts need some cleaning up. I felt like this wonderful energy was dissipated in the last five or ten seconds before the first intermission and the conclusion of the play. I also thought there was some redundant exposition, and in a workshop situation I'd suggest cutting them. I don't think they detracted, so it is really academic.
My niece Anna, my friend Beth, and my Dad and his good friend Bob were there too. Dad and Bob had trouble following the story. A lot of the scene changes were fuzzy, especially when the actors were changing from 2000 to 1930 roles. The scene changes themselves were nice, but there wasn't really anything the audience could really latch on to readily to tell them if it was 2000 or the 1930's. A few props were cues, but not enough as props moved when the location shifted too. Some more distinct props or lighting might have helped. I followed without much problem, so I suspect it took an educated audience to track the changes. Someone with some training or a lot of time watching fringe productions. Is that a constant, or is theatre changing? I suspect the latter, though theatre is constantly evolving. For what it is worth, my Dad has been attending theatre regularly for most of his life.
Anna is only twenty, but she has seen some theatre. I gave her a gift certificate for the Intiman, and I was very gratified at her excitement. She and her family are very, very conservative christians. I was concerned she would feel very put off by the show. Of the several hundred shows I have seen, there have only been three I recall with nudity. Equus at the Seattle Rep in 1976, The Master and Margerita by Theater Simple at the Sand Point Brig, and this show. I apologize to any other actors I've seen au natural and didn't have the grace to remember. She liked the show, though "could have done without all the sex." It was good for me she liked the show, as it reigns in my bias regarding fundamentalists.
Laurence Ballard who is very active, getting lots and lots of major roles in the region's equity houses, generally playing rather pompous characters did some really nice work. It seems he always plays the same character. Rarely is he changed by another character. In this show he played Freud and a throat cancer victim named Bill. Freud was just a little different from his typical persona, and Bill was quite different. To be fair I've seen many actors play multiple characters with more distinct lives. In this case I was gratified on a couple levels. On the surface I was happy to see him play something a bit different, I didn't feel like it was the same character plucked from the last twenty shows he worked. On a deeper level it was good to see him break out of an apparent, deeply dug rut. I get to feeling I am in a rut quite often. Part of the "I'm okay, no I suck" cycle most artists ride. A healthy ride if you use it to spur yourself rather than wallow in despair. He could have allowed himself to be changed or affected a bit more; I found myself really caring for his character when he was malleable. It makes me wonder what happened. Did the director push him, or did he like the script so much he rediscovered his enthusiasm and love of acting?
Last year Bart and Craig collaborated on The Light In The Piazza, one of my favorite shows of the year. I would love to see it again since it was further developed at the Goodman in Chicago. The Singing Forest will be one of my favorite shows this year. Thus far my favorite was the work the other students did in our Meisner class performance, followed by The Singing Forest. I must be biased, as they happen to be two of the shows to which I had the closest connection.
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