Opening Night!

Hello All!

If you haven't heard (and, really, how could you not?), THE OVERWHELMING opened this past weekend! It's now up and running, and is it ever a pleasure to see. From my perspective, having seen this through from the very beginning of the rehearsal process, it is thrilling to watch it now. It's also odd to watch it now not making notes or looking for things to work on. To watch it for the first time simply watching it is a strange, yet unbelievably satisfying feeling.

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, and he said something to the effect of, "Now that the show is opening, the actor's job is pretty much done." Upon my queries, he further elaborated, "Well, through all the work they did in rehearsals, they pretty much have everything they need down, so they're good to go." I think what my friend was getting at was that in rehearsals, the actors and director spent their time exploring and creating the piece, and now that the "creating" is done, performances are now a matter of replicating what has already been created and set in place. This is a huge misconception that I would like to address now.

Even through a long, productive process that includes rehearsing, teching, and dress rehearsing, a production is never entirely "set." This is what is awesome about theatre, and what really separates it from every single other kind of art. Theatre is a living, breathing artform that changes night to night depending on so many variables. It is not a portrait that once the paint dries it is complete and set in stone forever. It is not a film that, once the final edits are in place, from there exists unfixed on a film reel. Theatre yields no resulting artifacts that can be examined and appreciated years later. Theatre can only be experienced and appreciated in the moment it is presented and never again. Furthermore, to the same effect, the experience of a specific piece of theatre is unique unto itself; that is, even the following night's performance of the same piece of theatre will not produce the same experience. A piece is theatre, no matter how long it runs, changes night to night, moment to moment. In fact, for it to be successful, it has to remain fresh and spontaneous to avoid the dull product that would result from simple replication. THE OVERWHLEMING will indeed continue to grow and develop, especially in that it is now interacting with an audience, one that will never be the exact same night to night. Actors can continue to find things and discover new aspects of their characters and arcs. This is why I love seeing shows more than once, because it's always new, even if it's the same play.

Although the actor's job is not done, and certainly not for the stage management either, my duties on the show, for the most part, are pretty much wrapped up. It's an odd thing. The show is only opening now and will continue to run for the next few weeks, and yet, my job is done. From working on this side of the table, from being able to assist a director, I've seen that directing is kind of like raising a child. You guide your child and try to point it in all the right directions, but, eventually, you have to let the child go off on his/her own. The child will continue to grow, develop, and learn new things, but he/she can do those things all on their own, because you've given them the means and skills to do so. With our child, it is certainly all grown up and more than ready to tackle the world.

Over and Out,
Max