Sarah Burnham shares some thoughts with us on the unique challenges of designing props for Mimesophobia.
When most people go to the theatre, they remember the actors, the script, or perhaps how cool the set or costumes were. Very often they don’t realize that a lot of thought, time and effort has gone into everything the actors are handling or sitting on, from the label on the cigarette box, to the chair that you only see for 30 seconds. Those small details (or big ones, as far as furniture goes) are what I was charged with handling as props designer for Mimesophobia. With a show like this one, you don’t really know just what you need until you get into the rehearsal process -- you have an idea, but so many things are discovered organically, that you’ve got to be flexible. And you've got to be resourceful -- you know exactly what you want, you can see it in your mind's eye, but you definitely don't have the $400 it would take to buy it brand new. This is when the hunt begins; resale shops, other theatres, friends, family, the guy that you met in a bar who just mentioned once that he had this thing. You go, you find, you take pictures -— it's not quite what the others were thinking (remember, your mind's eye has to mesh with everybody else, especially the director and scenic designer) and so then you start the process again.
In an ideal world, you have weeks to do this. In the real world, you're balancing part-time and temp work, everywhere you need to go is only open during the time you're supposed to be working, and the bed you thought you were going to get to borrow falls through. You get creative. You find what you want -- the front room of your apartment turns into a storage facility. The neighbors wonder if perhaps you're moving (whether that's still moving in, or moving out, they're not sure). The storage facility moves from the front room of your apartment to the theatre, and the world of the play begins to really exist as more than just an illustration. The actors, the lights, the set, they all come into play -- the audience arrives. Once again, the props fade into the background. And you sit, and smile, because you've accomplished what you set out to do.
menu
Theatre Seven of Chicago
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Margot Bordelon On Directing Mimesophobia
Company member Margot Bordelon talks to us about the experience of directing Mimesophobia.
What attracted you to Mimesophobia? What do you feel like is unique about the play?
There were a number of things that attracted me to Mimesophobia. Like many Chicago directors, I believe that theater is an event. I'm drawn to plays that embrace an awareness of their own performance, a category Mimesophobia most certainly falls into. There is no fourth wall, the actors speak directly to the audience, and Man and Woman (the two narrators), repeatedly remind us that the story we are watching is a "reenactment." This story can only function as a piece of theater.
Mimesophobia contains seven stage directions. Which, if you aren't a frequent reader of plays, you need to know isn’t very many. This openness to interpretation attracted me, along with the play’s rich, articulate language. Carlos writes theatrical poetry for the contemporary American tongue. Each of his characters has a distinct rhythm and vocabulary. Every "uhhh" and "ummm" is specifically written in, each pause and beat specifically marked. During auditions, the actors who soared were often the ones with significant classical experience. Mimesophobia demands that actors act on the lines, as opposed to in between them.
Most importantly, I was attracted to the themes this script explores. The play follows various people trying to make sense of a mysterious murder/suicide. I'm intrigued by that very human desire (that I think we all possess) to explain the inexplicable. But at what point does that desire overwhelm us, causing us to behave in ways that are morally questionable?
What has the experience of directing the show been like? How have things changed or evolved?
Directing Mimesophobia has been a wonderful challenge. Over the course of the process I came to realize that the "openness to interpretation" that first attracted me, was actually making it more challenging for me to determine whether or not I was making the most dramatic and textually supported choices. Luckily, Carlos was involved in the process and was very open to discussing specifics about the play.
The element of the production that changed the most was the set design concept. When I first began visualizing the world of the play, I imagined it would be made up of a labyrinth of curtains that Man and Woman would manipulate throughout the show. Everything would stay hidden from the audience’s view. Man and Woman would control when a scene would begin and end by pulling a curtain open or shut. Ultimately, John and I created something almost completely opposite: a space where nothing is hidden from the audience. They can see the costume rack, the actors sitting back stage etc. and despite the visual evidence that they are witnessing make-believe, they suspend their disbelief regardless.
What attracted you to Mimesophobia? What do you feel like is unique about the play?
There were a number of things that attracted me to Mimesophobia. Like many Chicago directors, I believe that theater is an event. I'm drawn to plays that embrace an awareness of their own performance, a category Mimesophobia most certainly falls into. There is no fourth wall, the actors speak directly to the audience, and Man and Woman (the two narrators), repeatedly remind us that the story we are watching is a "reenactment." This story can only function as a piece of theater.
Mimesophobia contains seven stage directions. Which, if you aren't a frequent reader of plays, you need to know isn’t very many. This openness to interpretation attracted me, along with the play’s rich, articulate language. Carlos writes theatrical poetry for the contemporary American tongue. Each of his characters has a distinct rhythm and vocabulary. Every "uhhh" and "ummm" is specifically written in, each pause and beat specifically marked. During auditions, the actors who soared were often the ones with significant classical experience. Mimesophobia demands that actors act on the lines, as opposed to in between them.
Most importantly, I was attracted to the themes this script explores. The play follows various people trying to make sense of a mysterious murder/suicide. I'm intrigued by that very human desire (that I think we all possess) to explain the inexplicable. But at what point does that desire overwhelm us, causing us to behave in ways that are morally questionable?
What has the experience of directing the show been like? How have things changed or evolved?
Directing Mimesophobia has been a wonderful challenge. Over the course of the process I came to realize that the "openness to interpretation" that first attracted me, was actually making it more challenging for me to determine whether or not I was making the most dramatic and textually supported choices. Luckily, Carlos was involved in the process and was very open to discussing specifics about the play.
The element of the production that changed the most was the set design concept. When I first began visualizing the world of the play, I imagined it would be made up of a labyrinth of curtains that Man and Woman would manipulate throughout the show. Everything would stay hidden from the audience’s view. Man and Woman would control when a scene would begin and end by pulling a curtain open or shut. Ultimately, John and I created something almost completely opposite: a space where nothing is hidden from the audience. They can see the costume rack, the actors sitting back stage etc. and despite the visual evidence that they are witnessing make-believe, they suspend their disbelief regardless.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
A Small Frustration of my Job
Every job has its frustrations. Not enough pay. Not enough recognition. Our families don’t understand what we do. All in all, as an Artistic Director of a theatre company I love, I’m very lucky. But here’s one that’s bothering me this week.
One pretty well-read website and one extremely well-read daily newspaper both made the same error this week: listing the website at which folks could buy tickets for our current show, MIMESOPHOBIA, as www.chicagodramatists.org instead of www.theatreseven.org, the correct address. Anyone inspired to go online and buy a ticket after reading the newspaper review hit a dead end, and probably gave up.
Now, mistakes happen and we all make them. There’s no ill will or malice here toward either publication. But it is frustrating because we as arts makers work so incredibly hard to earn the presence of our colleagues in the press. We have to do so because they provide a very valuable service to us. In evaluating and critiquing the marketplace of currently running theatre, they provide theatre companies an outlet to advertise their work, through the mouthpiece of someone who may or may not like that work.
And the theatre press in Chicago, by and large, is really awesome. Our press colleagues see loads and loads of theatre in the face of declining arts coverage at most of their publications, and still mostly seem to love theatre. I love them. I don’t know even if these are their mistakes I’m talking about – they may very well be errors made in the copy department. But when this kind of thing happens, it just bums me out.
When we request the presence of a critic at our shows, we stagger our communications over a 6-week period. We send multiple emails, a couple hard mail reminders, and in the case of the major publications, drop in a couple phone calls as well. Every communication includes the same press release, which lists in multiple locations the single web address where tickets are available for this show: www.theatreseven.org. In fact, the incorrect address from Chicago Dramatists appears nowhere in any written materials about the show. That means someone, somewhere, is making a bad guess instead of simply reading what we’ve prepared for them. And that bums me out, plain and simple. It almost makes me happy that the newspaper review was a mixed bag instead of an all-out rave. If the piece had been a ‘don’t walk, run’ recommendation, the mistake could have literally cost us thousands of dollars in ticket revenue.
Again, no hard feelings – everybody makes mistakes. But this is the one getting my goat today.
What frustrates you about your job?
One pretty well-read website and one extremely well-read daily newspaper both made the same error this week: listing the website at which folks could buy tickets for our current show, MIMESOPHOBIA, as www.chicagodramatists.org instead of www.theatreseven.org, the correct address. Anyone inspired to go online and buy a ticket after reading the newspaper review hit a dead end, and probably gave up.
Now, mistakes happen and we all make them. There’s no ill will or malice here toward either publication. But it is frustrating because we as arts makers work so incredibly hard to earn the presence of our colleagues in the press. We have to do so because they provide a very valuable service to us. In evaluating and critiquing the marketplace of currently running theatre, they provide theatre companies an outlet to advertise their work, through the mouthpiece of someone who may or may not like that work.
And the theatre press in Chicago, by and large, is really awesome. Our press colleagues see loads and loads of theatre in the face of declining arts coverage at most of their publications, and still mostly seem to love theatre. I love them. I don’t know even if these are their mistakes I’m talking about – they may very well be errors made in the copy department. But when this kind of thing happens, it just bums me out.
When we request the presence of a critic at our shows, we stagger our communications over a 6-week period. We send multiple emails, a couple hard mail reminders, and in the case of the major publications, drop in a couple phone calls as well. Every communication includes the same press release, which lists in multiple locations the single web address where tickets are available for this show: www.theatreseven.org. In fact, the incorrect address from Chicago Dramatists appears nowhere in any written materials about the show. That means someone, somewhere, is making a bad guess instead of simply reading what we’ve prepared for them. And that bums me out, plain and simple. It almost makes me happy that the newspaper review was a mixed bag instead of an all-out rave. If the piece had been a ‘don’t walk, run’ recommendation, the mistake could have literally cost us thousands of dollars in ticket revenue.
Again, no hard feelings – everybody makes mistakes. But this is the one getting my goat today.
What frustrates you about your job?
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
ASL Interpreted Performance of Mimesophobia
I'm really psyched that on Sunday, Theatre Seven will be offering its first performance of any of our productions with American Sign Language interpreters for the hearing impaired.
This feels like a big moment for us. As the visibility and artistry of the company rises, I feel we have a growing responsibility to make our work accessible to as many Chicagoans as possible. That onus, in fact, is expressed in our mission statement: to produce new plays, Chicago Premieres and forgotten classics that speak directly to the diverse Chicago community with imagination and clarity. Not white Chicago, not north-side Chicago, not affluent Chicago, and not hearing Chicago. The diverse Chicago community.
Accessing the invaluable resource of two talented, quick thinking ASL interpreters doesn't come cheap. But there are theatre companies far more established with far higher budgets than Theatre Seven that don't offer these performances. And you know? I say shame on them. If your work is good enough that all of Chicago should appreciate it, then make it so.
We hope patrons of all hearing abilities will join us for this Sunday's ASL-interpreted performance of MIMESOPHOBIA. Information below:
Please join us!
Theatre Seven of Chicago would love your presence at an ASL-interpreted performance of our hit play, Mimesophobia. The show has been called “ambitious and engrossing” (Time Out Chicago), “zesty and ambitious” (Chicago Tribune) and “a kind of terror only an expert storyteller can achieve.” (Talkin’ Broadway)
Read below for a description of the play, our ASL-interpreted performance, and Theatre Seven of Chicago.
Mimesophobia
Carlos Murillo's Mimesophobia cuts between Hollywood and Hyde Park to weave a murder mystery for the reality-TV age. As a devastated woman reconstructs her murdered sister's diary, two screenwriters desperately try to spin tragedy into cinematic gold. Meanwhile, a deranged academic meditates on the American obsession with violence. In the middle of this dark and savagely funny collage lies the question: what compels us to open doors we know are better left unopened?
Thurs - Sat @ 8 pm & Sun @ 3 pm
@ Chicago Dramatists
1105 W Chicago Ave
Tickets: $15 - $24, 773.853.3158
Sunday, March 14th:
Performance for the Hearing Impaired
As part of our continued effort to produce theatre for the diverse Chicago audience, Theatre Seven offers a performance of Mimesophobia for the hearing impaired, translated by a pair of ASL interpreters from Deaf Communication by Innovation. We are proud to welcome audiences of all hearing abilities to this performance. Use the discount code ASLINTERP when purchasing online or via phone to get 50% off your Mimesophobia ticket!
Theatre Seven of Chicago produces new and original work that speaks directly to the diverse Chicago community with imagination and clarity. Since 2007, the company has produced ten offerings, including eight Chicago premieres. Theatre Seven's noted premieres include Diversey Harbor ("Hottest Ticket in Town" - Chicago Tribune), Yes, This Really Happened To Me (Critic's Choice - Chicago Reader), and Cooperstown, which earned the company its first Jeff Recommendation. The company's early 2009 remount of Marisa Wegrzyn's Diversey Harbor was seen by over 1,400 patrons and featured in NewCity's "Greatest Hits of the Decade." This year, Theatre Seven becomes a Resident Company at the historic Greenhouse Theatre in the heart of Lincoln Park.
This feels like a big moment for us. As the visibility and artistry of the company rises, I feel we have a growing responsibility to make our work accessible to as many Chicagoans as possible. That onus, in fact, is expressed in our mission statement: to produce new plays, Chicago Premieres and forgotten classics that speak directly to the diverse Chicago community with imagination and clarity. Not white Chicago, not north-side Chicago, not affluent Chicago, and not hearing Chicago. The diverse Chicago community.
Accessing the invaluable resource of two talented, quick thinking ASL interpreters doesn't come cheap. But there are theatre companies far more established with far higher budgets than Theatre Seven that don't offer these performances. And you know? I say shame on them. If your work is good enough that all of Chicago should appreciate it, then make it so.
We hope patrons of all hearing abilities will join us for this Sunday's ASL-interpreted performance of MIMESOPHOBIA. Information below:
Please join us!
Theatre Seven of Chicago would love your presence at an ASL-interpreted performance of our hit play, Mimesophobia. The show has been called “ambitious and engrossing” (Time Out Chicago), “zesty and ambitious” (Chicago Tribune) and “a kind of terror only an expert storyteller can achieve.” (Talkin’ Broadway)
Read below for a description of the play, our ASL-interpreted performance, and Theatre Seven of Chicago.
Mimesophobia
Carlos Murillo's Mimesophobia cuts between Hollywood and Hyde Park to weave a murder mystery for the reality-TV age. As a devastated woman reconstructs her murdered sister's diary, two screenwriters desperately try to spin tragedy into cinematic gold. Meanwhile, a deranged academic meditates on the American obsession with violence. In the middle of this dark and savagely funny collage lies the question: what compels us to open doors we know are better left unopened?
Thurs - Sat @ 8 pm & Sun @ 3 pm
@ Chicago Dramatists
1105 W Chicago Ave
Tickets: $15 - $24, 773.853.3158
Sunday, March 14th:
Performance for the Hearing Impaired
As part of our continued effort to produce theatre for the diverse Chicago audience, Theatre Seven offers a performance of Mimesophobia for the hearing impaired, translated by a pair of ASL interpreters from Deaf Communication by Innovation. We are proud to welcome audiences of all hearing abilities to this performance. Use the discount code ASLINTERP when purchasing online or via phone to get 50% off your Mimesophobia ticket!
Theatre Seven of Chicago produces new and original work that speaks directly to the diverse Chicago community with imagination and clarity. Since 2007, the company has produced ten offerings, including eight Chicago premieres. Theatre Seven's noted premieres include Diversey Harbor ("Hottest Ticket in Town" - Chicago Tribune), Yes, This Really Happened To Me (Critic's Choice - Chicago Reader), and Cooperstown, which earned the company its first Jeff Recommendation. The company's early 2009 remount of Marisa Wegrzyn's Diversey Harbor was seen by over 1,400 patrons and featured in NewCity's "Greatest Hits of the Decade." This year, Theatre Seven becomes a Resident Company at the historic Greenhouse Theatre in the heart of Lincoln Park.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Backstage from Intermission of Opening Night
Good first act. I repeated myself once during the scripted intro Carlos wrote for the show on Friday afternoon. The intro makes me more nervous than any of the lines in the play proper. It's very strange to read lines while playing yourself...
We turned out an audience of 60some for the show tonight. Very happy about that. We have 9 press folks and the Jeff Committee in the audience, and no one seems too nervous about that.
In the cast "moment" before the show, Salinas gave us the tongue-in-cheek "let's go out there and tell the truth" pep talk he promised he would on opening night. It was as funny as planned.
Everyone is doing great. I so wish that I could share this night with my lovely, Tracey, who is on a plane right now headed for Rome to visit her kid sis who is studying abroad. Hole in my heart. But it's good to have the show to take my mind off things...
...ok, time to go back on stage...
We turned out an audience of 60some for the show tonight. Very happy about that. We have 9 press folks and the Jeff Committee in the audience, and no one seems too nervous about that.
In the cast "moment" before the show, Salinas gave us the tongue-in-cheek "let's go out there and tell the truth" pep talk he promised he would on opening night. It was as funny as planned.
Everyone is doing great. I so wish that I could share this night with my lovely, Tracey, who is on a plane right now headed for Rome to visit her kid sis who is studying abroad. Hole in my heart. But it's good to have the show to take my mind off things...
...ok, time to go back on stage...
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Chance Bone On Scoring Mimesophobia (Part 2)
Actor/musician Chance Bone talked to us a couple of days ago about creating the score for Mimesophobia. Chance's thoughts were too big for just one post, so here's part 2, where he tells us about discoveries, frustrations, and a pretty sweet analogy about exploding pigeons.
--
What's the most exciting part of the experience?
Well, Margot and I decided the piano was a great instrument that reflected the play well. There is something about it that can sound very haunting and cold all in a single note. The most challenging thing about this process was: I don't consider myself a piano player at all! So, trying to find what to say using a new instrument is really exciting. Especially if you are take what musical knowledge you have in other areas and try to apply it to something completely new, I think you can sometimes get a unique sound.
Mimes, to me, contains a lot of frustrated characters looking for the best way to represent themselves through artistic means: writing books and scripts, even the frustration that comes with dealing with death. Hell, the play can be frustrating due to the nature of the storytelling (you almost have to disregard everything you've ever 'learned' about being told a story and be completely open and accept that this is different. It's a very refreshing play in that respect). So, for me, I went into this experience wanting to feel that too. To have a piece of music that seems to 'know what it's doing' seems like it would feel as though it would separate the audience from the experience of the play. So, I played and wrote from a place of frustrated thought, and I think the music reflects that very well. It sometimes sounds like pigeons picking wedding rice between the keys and then sometimes sounds like a pigeon exploding after eating wedding rice. Ha!
You had a collaborator, didn't you? Tell us about that.
My brother Lennon was good company to have during the writing of this music. I actually took a train to Kansas City, Kansas, where my older brother lives. He has been a huge musical influence on me. He played trumpet and flugelhorn for years and now plays drums for the group Ha Ha Tonka. Mimes gave me an excuse to play music with my brother, which we hardly get to do anymore. And since Lennon had never written for a play before, his mindset kept my mindset fresh too. We work really well together as musicians. I guess that's what happens when the person you're writing music with is the same person who used to chase you around the basement with a Freddy Krueger glove as a kid.
But we sat down together and tossed around our thoughts about the play, and then tried to immediately translate it to music. The music for the show has actually taken a lot of different shapes over the last few weeks.
I was trying to avoid that MIDI computerized keyboard sound you hear a lot of in theatrical settings. Its one of the few things that really angers me: why is there not more live music and sound in theatre? Yes, it's easier and cheaper to just use a computer but I hate it. So, I tried to avoid it like the plague.
Was there anything unusual about the process this time?
Lennon and I recorded live trombones, trumpets, guitars, drums, and piano all in the process of Mimes. We spent a couple of days writing different themes and then manipulating them in different fashions. For example, we recorded a guitar part at 30 beats per second, and then sped it up to 160 and recorded all the other instrumentation at 160. Using live instruments and recording them in this fashion was very new to us. To me, one way to describe some of the sounds is like, well, when you're in a moving car looking at the different plants on the side of the road going 70 mph... you know what you're looking at but its hard to find the details.
I started recording the music a couple of weeks before rehearsals even started! This is sometimes the case with a lot of different shows, but probably not too common with a show that relies so much on kind of 'organically' coming up with material in the rehearsal space. So, again, I think the style of the compositions really have a lot of respect for the actors on stage. I tried to work together to help set the tone of what Carlos, Margot, and the actors have created so well.
I'll probably think of something different a week after the show is open, thinking, "Damn! Why didn't I do this or that?" But that's what theatre is. Presenting in the moment. Though there is recorded music, it reflects a moment. An audible photograph. Just as theatre is one you can shake hands with afterwards.
--
What's the most exciting part of the experience?
Well, Margot and I decided the piano was a great instrument that reflected the play well. There is something about it that can sound very haunting and cold all in a single note. The most challenging thing about this process was: I don't consider myself a piano player at all! So, trying to find what to say using a new instrument is really exciting. Especially if you are take what musical knowledge you have in other areas and try to apply it to something completely new, I think you can sometimes get a unique sound.
Mimes, to me, contains a lot of frustrated characters looking for the best way to represent themselves through artistic means: writing books and scripts, even the frustration that comes with dealing with death. Hell, the play can be frustrating due to the nature of the storytelling (you almost have to disregard everything you've ever 'learned' about being told a story and be completely open and accept that this is different. It's a very refreshing play in that respect). So, for me, I went into this experience wanting to feel that too. To have a piece of music that seems to 'know what it's doing' seems like it would feel as though it would separate the audience from the experience of the play. So, I played and wrote from a place of frustrated thought, and I think the music reflects that very well. It sometimes sounds like pigeons picking wedding rice between the keys and then sometimes sounds like a pigeon exploding after eating wedding rice. Ha!
You had a collaborator, didn't you? Tell us about that.
My brother Lennon was good company to have during the writing of this music. I actually took a train to Kansas City, Kansas, where my older brother lives. He has been a huge musical influence on me. He played trumpet and flugelhorn for years and now plays drums for the group Ha Ha Tonka. Mimes gave me an excuse to play music with my brother, which we hardly get to do anymore. And since Lennon had never written for a play before, his mindset kept my mindset fresh too. We work really well together as musicians. I guess that's what happens when the person you're writing music with is the same person who used to chase you around the basement with a Freddy Krueger glove as a kid.
But we sat down together and tossed around our thoughts about the play, and then tried to immediately translate it to music. The music for the show has actually taken a lot of different shapes over the last few weeks.
I was trying to avoid that MIDI computerized keyboard sound you hear a lot of in theatrical settings. Its one of the few things that really angers me: why is there not more live music and sound in theatre? Yes, it's easier and cheaper to just use a computer but I hate it. So, I tried to avoid it like the plague.
Was there anything unusual about the process this time?
Lennon and I recorded live trombones, trumpets, guitars, drums, and piano all in the process of Mimes. We spent a couple of days writing different themes and then manipulating them in different fashions. For example, we recorded a guitar part at 30 beats per second, and then sped it up to 160 and recorded all the other instrumentation at 160. Using live instruments and recording them in this fashion was very new to us. To me, one way to describe some of the sounds is like, well, when you're in a moving car looking at the different plants on the side of the road going 70 mph... you know what you're looking at but its hard to find the details.
I started recording the music a couple of weeks before rehearsals even started! This is sometimes the case with a lot of different shows, but probably not too common with a show that relies so much on kind of 'organically' coming up with material in the rehearsal space. So, again, I think the style of the compositions really have a lot of respect for the actors on stage. I tried to work together to help set the tone of what Carlos, Margot, and the actors have created so well.
I'll probably think of something different a week after the show is open, thinking, "Damn! Why didn't I do this or that?" But that's what theatre is. Presenting in the moment. Though there is recorded music, it reflects a moment. An audible photograph. Just as theatre is one you can shake hands with afterwards.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
