Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Acting amidst Snowmageddon and the 4' of the Snowpocalypse


Clip from a rehearsal for my next show, "The Amazing Interactive Adventure!", video by Allison Lepelletier


Well, seeing as how I'm one of the lucky ones with power and a lot of time on my hands, I thought it'd be worthwhile to write an update!

On January 24th, I performed in a staged reading of "The South Overlook Oaks," a play based on a children's book by John Reardon and adapted for the stage by Young Playwright's Theater teaching artist, Miriam Gonzales and directed by Imagination Stage teacher Matt Ripa. It was held at the Sidwell Friends Middle School Drama Studio thanks to the gracious Tim Reagan. We performed for a full house of adults, children, and even the author, his family, and his neighbors! It was such a great experience and there was much contribution made by the audience (young and old alike) during the talkback.

Afterwards, I had the pleasure of meeting the author and his children-- all of which were characters in the play! I haven't been involved in a performance where I play characters that actually exist in real life or are based on real people since I performed as a Chinese peasant in David Hare's "Fanshen" at UMBC in 2004. I know there's always the need for an actor to create a character that is real for themselves and truthful in every respect, but somehow it rings a much deeper chord within me to be told these characters are actually real people-- let alone MEET these people face to face. It's just different and gives me so much respect and perspective on playing a part than anything else ever could. The fact that you are truly representing someone else and delving into their personality, hopes, fears, strengths, and insecurities. You can only hope that you're doing them justice.



Right now I'm inside staying warm, but really this week I was supposed to be in tech for my next show, "The Amazing Interactive Adventure" at the Maryland Ensemble Theatre. We were scheduled to open this weekend, but opening has been pushed back to next Saturday, Feb. 20th. It's... absolutely for the best, considering we've only had 2 evenings of running the show fully thanks to the snow keeping us from gathering to rehearse. You can catch a clip from one of our pre-snow rehearsals at the top of this entry. We're coaxing the audience to blow some wind into our sails! :)

I've got a few auditions coming up this month and I'm hoping I won't have to do much crazy rescheduling because of the weather, but I've had some time with staying indoors to prep myself, so that's a plus!

Take care everyone,

-Vaness.
http://www.vanessastrickland.net

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