Time for a fond farewell ... Maybe.

Well now time has been flying by at a rate of knots and low and behold the vortex 'Theatre' has sucked me up again and there have been some insane hours being spent painting sets and various other odd jobs for Workshop Theatre's last production of the year. It has been difficult to find the energy for the necessities of this week as I'm still recovering from the sleepless nights and long days of Midsummers. 

In the last fortnight I have been getting the most amazing feedback from people who saw the show and my favourite of these, the ones that have made my soul sing, are the compliments on the integration of the actors in the show. Some people have said that the issue of disability wasn't even a consideration to the enjoyment and connection with the show! It is difficult to adequately describe the joy that inspires in me but wow ... just wow!

I also forgot to mention in the last written post how big an effort some people had to put in considering the germs, bacteria and viruses flying around the cast! We survived a heavy conjunctivitis outbreak, laryngitis, various viruses, colds, sniffles, premonitions of doom & insomnia and we still got the show under the lights ... we are the team of steel or as we were forlornly titled after the show had finished we were the Dream Team! Which isn't too bad ... I guess it's better than the Fairy Crew ;-)

But now, as my thoughts move into the future (and possible planning for another Altogether/Workshop project) I want to thank the people intimate to the production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Firstly, I want to thank Michael, Ryan and Skye from Recreation Illawarra (part of The Disability Trust). I don't have photos of them downloaded but they're all as cute as a bug's ear. Even given the teething problems early on in the piece, it didn't stop these guys giving over and above to the project and providing the strongest of foundations to me as director to help realise the project. Michael is a funny guy and not a bad party dude and as soon as he builds up some credit points with the missus it would be great to have another beer. Ryan likes AFL so that's immediately a big plus and he also enjoys a good party! Skye also lent her choreography skills to the production and was a pretty good partier too ... These guys seem to really enjoy partying - It's a good thing I don't mind a good party from time to time either ;-)

Juliet (Egea and the Fairy Wattle) and Ian (Starveling aka 'What's his name') who were in the cast are long time theatre compadres and friends but they are also the Altogether Drama drama teachers and started the rehearsal process way back in March 2008. I trust them and their help was invaluable. They gave great advice to the guys early on and 'had my back' in rehearsals, they quelled riots, administered first aid to divas and gave sage advice at every step of the way and also gave wonderful performances ... Thank you!

Gemma (Flute), as well as being fantastic in the play, helped design costumes with her Mum Tessa (who has a thank you below) and I now get the privilege to be working with 'G' on another project my thanks and respect is as big as da cosmos. 

Houston Dunleavy graciously composed the music for the Fairy's Song, gratis. Nathan Green provided Didgeridoo sounds and my long time music collaborator and friend Bertie McMahon composed the Rude Mechanicals theme music ... I cheer for them for they are jolly good fellows!

This is Emma. She took photos, prompted at rehearsals and also created the fantastic artwork that was my director's gift. She is a talented lady and a wonderful friend. I regard Emma as a 'Sister from another mother' and look forward to working more with her and hanging out with her to watch Twin Peaks now that we are getting some free time up our sleeves. I give her a standing ovation.

There should be a photo here of Julie ... but she hates having photos of herself taken and that probably explains her amazing skill and willingness to be behind the lens. Jules took our profile shots and some rehearsal pics but also was assistant stage manager ... she is a generous friend and I'm glad she counts me as part of her posse. She too is also as cute as a bug's ear and takes a good photo! There I said it ... now I wait ;-)  

This is Tessa. Tessa helped design the costumes. Tessa made the costumes. Tessa gathered props, made donkey ears to the director's specs, was a firm defender of the director and also stage managed our amazing show. If she were the president and I was a security guy I would take a bullet for her. Seeing as though that's unlikely to happen to us I'll tilt my glass in her direction, cheer for the Wallabies and the Waratahs and hope to the big Iguana that she will work with me again ... Thanks Tessa, always and everywhere. 

This is Susie. Susie is my Wifey. Susie played Titania and is a staunch member and number one card holder of the Lajos fan club. I keep telling her there must be better things to do with her time but - Ouch! She just threw something at me! Oh, right ... Seriously though, she is my rock and my sanctuary. She is a willing and wonderful Sancho Panza to my Don Quixote. She rubs my 'Bottom' ears (not my bum hairs!) when I am stressed and I make her Lemon tea to soothe her throat. Her background support through this whole journey makes me feel about as special as a guy can feel ... Thanks, Darl.

And so I think we're just about done. If I have inadvertently forgotten anyone - look again in a couple of days, Susie's got my back here and I'll make good. We're still waiting for the books to be finalised but we're all pretty sure that the production hasn't lost any money. The more important stuff has been paid in carriage loads and that's the most important part for me. 

Having gotten the blogging bug I have started another blog about the musical/theatrical/artistic influences on my life called the Art/Life Matrix ... If you want to read on please join me in the new blog, if not thanks for joining me on this journey and I'll sign off with the Irish cheer: "May the roof above you never cave in and may the friends below it never fall out!"

Cheers and lots of love,

Lajos.

Some more production photos ...

A couple of extra production stills from the show.

Firstly I'd like to introduce the fabulous Altogether Drama actors:

Malcolm (Puck) & Rachel H (Main Fairy/Peaseblosom)

Belinda (Moth), Sandra (Mustardseed) & Phil (Snug)

Rachel M (Hermia) & Tony (Snout)

More random photos ...

I'll say this one is the penultimate post ... maybe.

It's all over ...

It was a successful season! As good as a sell out on the last night, good ticket sales generally and most importantly an artistically satisfying and happy ending to an amazing journey. I am quite emotional about the whole thing at the moment which is why I would like the opportunity to add to the blog in about a week or so to round off the story of A Midsummer Night's Dream 2008.

I am grateful and privileged to have had the opportunity to direct this play, work with the production crew, and have the actors honour their dedications with such passion (more to say about that as I go) ... And I did allow myself to bask a little in the audience glow after a couple of the shows ;-)

The cast also got me a present of an original art work commissioned from Emma. Emma was our script prompter and rehearsal photographer (not the ones in the other post but will put them up as they come) and she is also a talented artist. Susie, who played Titania and is me wifey, organised it ages ago and Emma did a spectacular job. It was presented to me between the matinee and closing night performances and I blubbered like ... well, like me ;-)

Susie mentioned in the presentation that I don't like the word 'proud' but she and the cast felt that I should be proud of the result of the rehearsal journey. I am wary of pride because of the easily evoked negative qualities of pride and its close relative arrogance ... It's one of my 'things' I suppose, some people have difficulty accepting compliments, some people worry needlessly about looks, a kilogram of misplaced weight or how good they are at the expense of others - but I worry about getting too carried away in pride. It could well be a Catholic thing ... you know seven deadly sins and all. But if I were to use pride/proud as part of my vernacular I would use it to describe the deep pleasure, joy and satisfaction of a job well done and the awe of watching those involved with this production enjoy their work (and frustration) alongside myself. None of this stuff works unless the people with you are willing to jump off the same cliff and I am humbled by the willingness everybody close to the production showed - and yes, I am shedding a tear or two of joy and appreciation as I type this. 

Thank you to my cast: Belinda, Malcolm, Philip, Rachel H, Rachel M, Sandra & Tony, Ben, Bill, Darcy, Gabi, Gemma, Ian, Jacque, Juliet, Katie, Luke, McKenzie, Peter, Rowan, Sam, Susie & Troy ... They worked their arses off, sacrificed a whole chunk of time and gave honour to their dedications and each other. As Barry White would say, "My unlimited love unto you all!"

I will make my production thank-yous in a couple of days ... but I am feeling particularly meditative right now so I might go and bask in the quiet solitude.

Not quite the last one ...

Before I wrap up this blog I wanted to share some show photos. Cast are listed left to right as best as possible:

Part of the great set designed by Simon.

Puck (Malcolm), Lysander (Ben), Helena (Rowan), Demetrius (Luke) & Titania (Susie)

Snout (Tony) & Bottom (Sam) / Flute (Gemma) & Snout

Bottom (Sam) / Oberon (Guru) & Titania

Hippolyta (Katie) & Theseus (Bill) / Quince (Gabi), 'What's his name' (Ian), Bottom, Flute, Snout & Snug (Philip)

Rosebud (Darcy), Titania, Bottom, Moth (Belinda), Peaseblossom (Rachel H), Cobweb (Jacque), Wattle (Juliet), Mustardseed (Sandra) & Grevillea (McKenzie) / Hermia (Rachel M) Puck & Lysander 

Cobweb, Moth, Mustardseed, Grevillea, Wattle (eyes) & Peaseblossom / Puck & Peaseblossom

Egea (Juliet) & Hermia

I slept in my bed last night ;-)

It's one of the amazing things when I get tired - I can sleep anywhere and I do! 

My recliner becomes my surrogate bed and has a nice ass groove. I had plummeted into sleep in my recliner on Tuesday and Wednesday night but last night I managed to get myself into bed and fall into a comfortable satisfied sleep ... Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!

We got some lovely praise from local ABC radio presenter Nick Rheinberger today, who came to see the show yesterday morning. He said it was the best thing he'd seen and played some interviews he did with one of the Altogether and one of the Workshop actors. 

The show itself just gets better and better ... it's a real joy to watch and I am such a sook that every night my emotions rise and I have a joyous tear. There's three more times to enjoy the fruits of our labours and I look forward to each second ....

More to come tomorrow :-)

First show all wrapped ...

Well the first show was a triumph of tired and ill bodies but the audience enjoyed the spectacle and I swear some people released a couple of drops of wee they were laughing so hard!

I've decided that some of the residual problems to solve will or won't get solved depending on the magnanimity of others and there's not much I can do about that except to say poo to them and enjoy the show!

It's been an intense 72 hours really ... amidst all the time spent in the theatre I had an interview for my PhD at Uni of Wollongong which was organised at the 11th hour because of a paper work snafu. I think it went okay but I was way too pre-occupied with self affairs to give it too much nervous attention ... hmmm, maybe that was a good thing. I also only got 3 hours sleep last night so, needless to say, but I am a vague wreck this evening. 

I'm full of ... shit!? maybe ... no! That's not what I meant to say, there are many emotions whirring around the ole brain box at the moment so I'll sign off tonight and leave you with a quote from one of my favourite TV shows: Twin Peaks ...

Achievement is its own reward, pride only confuses the issue.

Oh my goodness where did my night go!?

Okay, it's insanely late and I need to get to bed before we get up for opening performance!

Set the scene ... It's 2.53am! I need to be awake at 8am!

I'll go backwards from here ... Last night was our last dress rehearsal which went smoothly on stage whilst we ironed out some technical issues. I'm glad to say we're at the stage where what is needed now is an audience to inject that necessary vibe to take the show to the next level.

We've had videographers and photographers everywhere the last couple of nights so we are being well documented.

The night before was clunky as most technical rehearsals are: juggling lighting states that don't quite fit, and cd players that are funky in their use, and actors needing to get used to new lights and new surrounds. I was at the theatre from 9am till 10.30pm ... cocooned in a bizarre womb of creativity and frustration. I'm a little disappointed that some of the techie stuff from the venue seems to have been left till the last minute and there's a feeling that we haven't had the fullest of support from the venue ... but, being late at night, I'm tempted to say plplplplplplplplpl! :-P

We've done some very interesting publicity for the show over the last week or so and we've impressed everywhere we went ... I hope a few 'beautiful' people come to the show because I reckon they'll be blown away by the quality of it and the cast and crew deserve as much kudos and applause as an appreciative audience and director can heap on them because they deserve it. 

So ... to opening show! The tradition in the theatre is to say 'break a leg' or 'chookas' as there's a superstition about good luck. I don't say either of these, one because I broke my leg during the run of a show I was doing (not on stage) and when I got back it became the joke of the theatre to say ... you guessed it - 'break a leg' ad infinitum till I could burst! The other reason is that my Mum gave me the funnniest interpretation of 'chookas' when she misheard it and wished me 'chookies'! I love chooks and I can't go past this humourous take on the theatre tradition. 

So, till next eve I wish everyone a hale and hearty Chookies!!!

Signing off at 3.15am .... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

T minus 3 days and counting ...

My heart actually sang a little today!

Which is in stark contrast to the way I felt after Thursday night's rehearsal!

I didn't, nay, couldn't post after Thursday night as I was in a state of animated frustration and dismay as the 300lb Gorilla in my anxiety closet began dismantling the closet and flinging faeces around, helicopter fashion, as I hid myself under the bed!

Twas a storm in a tea-cup (errr - tea barrel?) but getting any kind of disruptive news at this stage of the production is, well, unsettling. So, in an effort to be a 'glass-half-full' guy today I will focus on some positives ... The rehearsal itself went well on Thursday night but by the end of the evening I wasn't in any mood to appreciate it.

Today went even better with only the most minor of stumbles. And I can say today that we have a show! A full uninterrupted run through was a relief and a pleasure to watch - I think I spontaneously smiled several times (actually, I was hiding tears of joy several times as well). 

I honestly feel, as I have always felt deep down, that this is a show that will impress people and impress them in a way that will not require them to engage their pity meters ... you know what it sounds like, "oh well, at least their trying". 

It was also a wonderful honour to the personal dedications I asked the cast to make last week. To explain ...

One of the things I like to do when I direct a show - have I mentioned this? I don't think so - is I get the cast to meditate for a moment and make a dedication of their efforts to a person/people in their lives who have been supportive/inspirational to them. The theory being that it takes the effort of rehearsals and performance out of the narcissistic and into the realm of an offer outside of oneself (to the family, community, world, cosmos) for the work being done. I don't ask the actors who the dedications have gone to but I always mention mine ... My acting mentor Les Shaw and my sister Samantha who passed away within a fortnight of each other in 1996.

Les was a part, in fact the main force behind, The Blue Cow Childrens Theatre that I mentioned in a previous post. As artistic director he prodded, enquired, cajoled, poked, annoyed and inspired performances I could only of dreamed of developing previous to my meeting him. My sister Sam died two weeks before Les due to complications brought on by her alcoholism - she was 28.

One of the nicest stories shared with me about a personal dedication was in a production of Blood Wedding that I directed last year (2007) ... The actor told me that she had dedicated her show to her late husband who had worked as a lighting designer and she knew that he would have loved to have designed a show like Blood Wedding. She had decided that she wanted to share that with me because of the way she felt about the show ... I was touched and teary.

And now I'm tired and vague ... it will most likely be a daily blog from here on in so keep your eyes and ears peeled!

Goodnight.

Supplemental post ...

Two insights that came today as I twitch with nervous tension and anticipation ...

Kim Beazley was always a blithering wreck leading up to and on election day because he always felt he was sure that no one would vote for him ... he was a politician for 27 years! And he retired and wasn't voted out! Guess he just didn't take things for granted. If you've been reading the blog closely you might hear a little of that story in the way I feel leading into production week ... it's one of the reasons I'm not a good sideline spectator and I like to do tech stuff for the shows I direct. I get great satisfaction watching actors do their thing once the show is underway.

I do this theatre stuff because I love it, it's always from the heart and not to put too finer point on it, it sustains me. I have no status anxiety about the work I do, I don't believe I'll be an important man or that doing these things will lead to wider recognition and kudos. The achievements of a successful show are there to be enjoyed by all, everyone who has put in and facilitating that process (despite the nervous tension) is of the greatest joy to me. It is sometimes difficult in the ebb and flow of a production to notice the great things going on when you're sweating the small details and, instead of wondering if anyone will vote for you, wondering if anyone will come and see the show.

My second insight came when I thought about how in the midst of a thunder storm, the lashing rain, the lightning strikes, the general darkness, over cloud top the sun is still shining. It's a bit Oprah I know, and it's as far as I'll push that particular metaphor, but I know that the storm will clear and I will love every hilarious moment, every dropped line, every corpsing moment during the play as I give the music it's volume.

Just wanted to share ... me, the Gorilla and the Big Blue Iguana are still taking high tea - anyone want to join us?

Sat/Sun 11/12 October

It's getting better!

But I am still worried. No surprise there ... but, I don't suppose anyone wants to embarrass themselves out there so I'll just hang on to that flimsy piece of balsa wood hope for the moment. 

On Saturday we got to rehearse in a nice big space in the building next door to our theatre. It's still not as big as the stage space we'll be performing on but it gave us more room to range. Lines are still a problem here and there ... what else can I say about this one?

Sunday back in Workshop Theatre working on the problematic second act and it started coming together a little more - there's hope in them thar hills! I explained to the cast that I wanted them to be pretty much performance ready so that when we hit the stage at the Bruce Gordon Theatre, in the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, we wont be wasting our time tripping over lines whilst adjusting to the performance space.

I am reminded about something, Annie, an actor friend said to me once ... the rehearsals are the most creative period of a production, character creation, costumes, music, lights, all get played with and set into place during rehearsals. There is a certain creativity in performance to be sure but I think Annie is right. When I'm performing I certainly try hard not to lose that creative opportunity in boredom and such undermining stuff - but as a director, I'm never bored!

I like stories.

I was asked on facebook earlier this evening if I am getting excited and I replied that I felt like there were 1000 butterflies in my stomach all throwing up at once! I am excited and nervous and tense and scared and a whole host of other emotions colliding in and out of my brain like Higgs boson particles (you'll have to google that one). It's getting pretty exciting out there ...

A funny story I forgot to tell from after last Thursday's rehearsal: Our stage manager Tessa was leaving the theatre after rehearsals and she forgot to take her script off the bonnet of her car. As she left the driveway of the theatre the script slid off the bonnet and straight into the drain on the road! Is this a portent of doom or a comment on how I was feeling after Thursday? I can't be sure but I'm hoping it was the latter. ;-)

We managed to get the lid of the drain open and retrieve the folder and no rats were sited nor sewage disturbed - Phew! 

So it all ended well ... and as Bill Collins would say, "There's something in that for all of us."

Lorks-a-lordy!!!

Somebody fetch me some oil before the rusty gate falls off the hinges!!!

Oh boy, tonight was a mixture of frustration, delight, despair, derailment, trumpet envy and a little stick throwing.

I am personally astounded I need to beg people to be at rehearsals, or at least beg them to give me timely warning of their viral absences, at this stage of rehearsals, only four more rehearsals you know, sure she'll be all right on the night, I'm sure that's what the band on the deck of the Titanic where thinking as the cold water lapped their ankles and caused their Violins to shudder just a little ... Yikes, kinda wandered off there. I also wish I wasn't so exacting and maybe a little more laissez faire ... but that ain't me. I come from nervous Hungarian and just plain crazy Dutch stock; so me and the 300lb Gorilla that lives in my anxiety closet get on just fine.

I was more frustrated than angry tonight, as were a few of the cast members, I know everyone is trying hard and it has been a big ask to this point and it only gets more fraught as we move on into the production week proper. But, it is the eternal frustration of the director ... yaddah yaddah yaddah: lines, lines, lines, fine tuning, are we having fun yet?

This week I did go and record some Didgeridoo for the soundtrack to the play and I'll get to work on that on Monday (touch wood) ... apart from some Hungarian inspired music for the rude mechanicals, and beautiful madrigal style music for the fairies, there will be some Ukulele and Trombone action to brighten up the action.

Costumes are also coming along nicely.

We'll give the PIA score a miss tonight because I just don't know how to rate it - tomorrow will be better, tomorrow will be better, Krusty is coming, Krusty is coming.

This has been one huge week and I'm one weary director right now ... at least a couple of hours sleep for me ... I'm outta here to throw some bananas at the Gorilla, see ya on the weekend.

A few random thoughts as we round into the home stretch!

I once wrote this line in a poem about the light at the end of the tunnel and wondered if it might be the devil holding a torch ... you know - a kind of karmic snickering at the folly of things!

So, here we stand, a long weekend in front of us, no rehearsal for a week, plenty to do, and not much to say that hasn't been said already. At the rehearsal tonight the first half to interval went smoothly and the second half swung like a rusty gate. In sporting parlance we're heading into the finals and it's mostly up to the players to do what they need to do - learn their lines and turn up on time! 

I thought it would be an opportune time to mention some of my favourite parts of the script. The challenge when adapting the script was to keep some semblance of the rhythm in the more poetic parts of the script. I didn't manage to keep strictly to the famous Iambic Pentameter of Shakespeare but I got close - it's hard to fit Billabong and Eucalyptus into that particular rhythmic structure! 'Spartan dogs' have been changed to the local 'Dapto dogs' and 'palace' has been changed to 'The Castle' or 'homestead'. Other references to Australian popular culture have also been put in such as, a reference to Scott and Charlene from Neighbours, a reference to the colloquial saying - 'he could speak under water with his mouth full of marbles' as well as other colloquialisms like 'bugger' and 'oi!' 

It was fun working on the script to make it more user friendly but there's just some stuff that just doesn't need touching like this amazing piece of alliteration from Peter Quince: 

"Then, with a blade, with a bloody blameful blade,

He bravely broached his boiling bloody breast."

Say that three times quickly!

Well it's quite late now and I think I will digest and post again after the weekend ... Goodnight sweet people.   

AFL Grand Final Weekend ... I band-wagoned with the wrong team!!

A quote from my last Blog:

"... scripts down next weekend - always an interesting time in the rehearsal process."

Never a truer word has been spoken.

It was scripts down this weekend and to quote a great soccer commentator whose name eludes me for the moment, "it was a game played in two halves." 

Saturday went quite well with everybody stumbling through the first half of the play with the most minimal of script-as-life-preserver behaviour. It was a great testament to the fact that fine tuning is so much easier with scripts out of hands. And, being an actor, I understand the blind fear that can approach in that rehearsal when you finally have to put the script down. I am glad that we've done it this early so we can hold everyone's hands through it.

Sunday, however, was a bit of a contrast to Saturday. Understatement!? Hmmm - no! The lines for the second half were not as well known and we managed to do what should take about an hour in 2 hours and 15 minutes! So ... I don't think I need to draw you a map, there's some work to do. 

I am still concerned that some cast members are being too easily absent ... I may be being unfairly harsh here but when 2 or 3 cast members show up under the weather, it's hard to be magnanimous in the face of the dedication of the majority. It's one of those things of which I must constantly remind myself - that others don't necessarily carry the same passion and commitment for a project that you do. But, I do feel that the majority of the cast and crew are with me ... so cheer up you old bugger!

Also, on the up side, I can see that the play is coming together and my assessment is as follows - Theseus and Hippolyta are coming along but can be amplified even more; Egea fits in here and has stepped up a level with the amplification of her character. Hermia, Helena, Demetrius and Lysander have strong foundations and will benefit from the future rehearsals as they cement their characters and start to get the comic juices flowing. Oberon, Titania and Puck are a strong team who I trust to get the job done and are the least of my worries. The Fairies are coming along but I'm looking for a little something to take them up to the next level ... I haven't found it yet, maybe it's behind the couch! And the Rude Mechanicals ... they are, well, stealing the show at this stage. They are very funny and if I need to reign them in - the big iguana help me!

So I can declare the PIA scale unnecessary this week and hope the momentum continues ... Now, where are the posters, postcards and media releases?

No photo tonight.

Twas a dark and stormy night ... actually no, it was mild and clear ... I was just struggling to come up with sentence one.

The early part of tonight was dedicated to making sure my acting safety net officers knew where the problems they might encounter will arise. Also, to talk through some conceptual problems that had been obvious to me with regard to how people were relating to each other as actors ... Hmmm, I'm being a bit obtuse ... basically I was talking acting stuff with some of the Workshop actors who might have to deal with problems, should they arise (and I'm hoping to Big Iguana they wont), so that we give the Altogether actors a safety net so that their hard work wont unravel in a moment of panic over a forgotten line or two. The conceptual issue surrounded that inevitable divide between actors of differing abilities who have to act love, lust, desire in a circumstance where 'method' has no place. In cases such as these its an act of approximation; I may bore those who have already heard the story but it may be useful to others ...

Augusto Boal, formulator of the theories and skills of Forum Theatre, relates a story of his where he is directing a production of Hamlet and he was trying to get a deep sexual tension between Hamlet and Ophelia. Unfortunately the woman who was acting the role of Ophelia just wasn't getting it. Boal questioned his actress further and discovered that she was a virgin and was having difficulty getting much further with the sexual tension thing. Boal didn't stop there; he accepted the difficulty that she was having and set to work finding an emotion memory that she could use to approximate the feelings that Boal wanted to see acted between Hamlet and Ophelia. The feeling that ended up working best came from her passion for ice-cream! He worked with her to marry those two disparate things together - her sensual joy at anticipating and eating an ice-cream on a hot day and the sexual tension building between Hamlet and Ophelia. And, to his satisfaction, the scene finally came to life.

It's understandable the difficulties that have been encountered with this stuff so far and I hope you will excuse any continuing obtuseness in sensitivity toward the people involved.

The next part of rehearsal was dedicated to building up our list of costumes needed for the production. This also includes figuring out who can supply what, where we can buy stuff, what we can make, borrow or nick - errr, borrow - yes. That sounds better.  There are unfortunately no fishnets for this production and I know there was some disappointment expressed about this but the costumes are going to be great none-the-less. The fairies, in particular, are going to be quite iconically reflective of the Australian bush with flower themes set aside for many of them and the colours!! Fantastic!!

I'm feeling a lot more settled now and although I know there will be some major challenges ahead ... that's okay. It's scripts down this weekend - always an interesting time in the rehearsal process ... stay tuned.

I wasn't ready to stop!

Hello, my name is Lajos (it's Hungarian for Louis). I'm an Aries born in the year of the Horse (I'm a fire horse indeed!) and I'll let you get your abacus out to try and figure out when I was born. I was born in Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory at the Royal Canberra Hospital ... a building that was meant to be imploded but actually ended up killing some poor girl standing on the other side of the lake when it all went boom!

I haven't always done the creative thing. In fact I would describe it more as a slow dawning ... And I thought it might be interesting to give you that potted history.

The main activity of my schooling years, apart from learning, was sport. I played Australian Rules football mostly. I started in the Under 6s and 7s playing for my primary school - Sts Peter & Paul. I didn't play footy for a couple of years after that until I gave Rugby League a go in the under 10s or 11s for a team called the Woden Valley Rams. This would later turn out to be interesting in that the team did a trip down to Wollongong that year (1975?) to play a local team called the Corrimal Cougars which was my first trip to Wollongong - the place I now call home.

I played Soccer for my new school, Marist Primary, and then spent quite a few years dabbling in Hockey, Rugby League and Aussie Rules. I eventually settled into a steady diet of Aussie Rules on Saturdays, Rugby League on Sundays and Cricket over the Summer - with other sports peppered in as time and fitness allowed (mostly Hockey). I played one year of Rugby Union when I didn't want to make the leap from Under 15s to Under 17s in the Aussie Rules and got to try out for the ACT team that year. In fact that year I played Union on Saturdays, League on Sundays and I also worked on a milk run 3 nights a week ... I was a pretty fit dude for a big guy! I ran the 10km Canberra Times fun run in 42 minutes that year. In 1983, as captain of Marist College's 2nd XVIII, I won a scholarship for playing Aussie Rules! In a Rugby school!!

I went on to play senior Australian Rules for 2 more years after school and some Rugby Union along the way before spending my last 3 years of competitive sport playing Field Hockey and Cricket.

The only artistic passion I can own during most of that time was music. There were two sources for that. One was my Mum who loved appreciating music. I remember seeing her singing her heart out along with Donna Summer's I Feel Love. My Mum couldn't sing very well but she didn't leave an ounce of passion in the shed when she did sing and I got that! The second inspiration were my neighbours - Pianist, Flamenco Guitarist, Drummer, Rhythm Guitarist there weren't many days in my childhood when I couldn't here one member of the family practicing or just playing. But I only appreciated for the longest time.

My Mum had suggested that I might like to try some Jazz Ballet when I was younger but I'm sure sport was probably considered the right thing to do and I had been on my school team for the Eisteddfod to do a miming performance piece but I never made it.

I had had some unofficial music (drum & guitar) lessons with my neighbours but we couldn't afford to pay and other things always seemed to get in the way - footy! Rah rah rah! But in 1984 I had my first guitar lessons and learnt how to play Home on the Range. In 1985 I joined my first legit band, Sons of Lovers, I played the Bass guitar and I eventually bought my own Guitars - a Washburn Accoustic and a Yamaha Bass guitar which I still have and love playing.

In 1988/89 I got my first taste of musical theatre when I was in the orchestra, as Bass guitarist, for two locally written rock musicals - Spaceship and Tommy's Angel which I did with friend George Huitker and his group called Ghosts Youth Theatre (google him - he's an interesting guy). And then I became a Busker!! It's an amazing thing with way too many crazy stories but it's raw performance, honest, and the way I chose to do it very solitary.

Before I left Canberra in 1992, I had been playing with my then band In Tibet (after the Tintin comic) for about two years. I was the guitarist and singer; we had a drummer who used to travel with kit in his Mini , but it was our amazingly talented and constantly disappearing Bass player Tim that made things very difficult. And so I left Canberra to chase my creative muse as I planned to get into the Creative Writing and Acting courses at Wollongong Uni.

That didn't eventuate, but whilst doing my Arts degree I managed to work with most of the local community theatre groups - Stanwell Park Arts Theatre, Arcadians, Workshop Theatre, Roo Theatre and even did some stuff at the Uni as I was doing the writing courses as part of my Arts degree. During that time I was also performing with the Folk-Rock group A Far Cry as a guitarist/bassist/drummer/singer.

But, the major turning point for me was when I joined a group of disaffected writers from the University as we pursued our own theatrical outlet in the Blue Cow Children's Theatre. For 2 years we wrote, rehearsed and performed a new piece of children's theatre every 2 - 3 months. We even managed to do an adult night of plays and were in rehearsal for more when the group disbanded. It was not long after this that the driving force behind the Blue Cow Children's Theatre and my acting mentor Les Shaw passed away (a fortnight after my sister).

From the ashes of the Blue Cow came Gobsmacked. Bertie McMahon and I had been in the Blue Cow together and were also members of A Far Cry. We decided to write some songs and see what we could do in the children's theatre vein. Bertie and I have been doing Gobsmacked for just over 10 years now. We've toured from Byron Bay to Geelong and many stops in between. We're regulars at The National Folk Festival in Canberra and the Illawarra Folk Festival in Bulli. And to our credit we were rejected for accreditation by the NSW Education Department for being too entertaining! It's true!!

I have also toured a one man theatre piece, A Stretch of The Imagination, by Australian playwright Jack Hibberd and of recent years have been doing much work in Community Development Theatre with the Illawarra Legal Centre, Illawarra Migrant Services and Wollongong College of TAFE.

Wow ... looking back on this is some list and it's by no means a complete list. I might have to indulge in some life writing to flesh out some of the juicier details. I have directed many shows and acted in many more, I still play music regularly and have branched into filmmaking and podcasting. I have taught film theory at Uni. Each step of the journey seems to open up an opportunity here and there and most importantly allows me to keep learning. I don't believe you can ever perfect creative skills - they must always be in a state of kaizen - constant slow change, step by step, with each performance and life experience adding colour and depth to the canvas of life.

Woah! That was a deep ending ... On that note I'll say goodnight.

The better they go the less there is to say about the actual rehearsal ...

Now here's a photo from a jaunty angle! 

We had rehearsal photos done on Saturday so I should be able to put up one or two of those ...

Eventually.

This blog covers the rehearsals of Saturday and Sunday the 20th and 21st of September. 

Twas a big day on Saturday. We managed to step through the whole play, with only a few people missing, and I felt as though we have some pretty strong foundations to work with. 

Today's rehearsal (Sunday) was another step through of most of the play but stymied by a larger contingent of missing actors. 

The delicate balance now is how much repetition? I suspect more than we're used to in community theatre. To allow for the necessary cementing of lines and action from the Altogether Drama actors we'll need to allow for that repetition that can sometimes make other actors stale and bored. But, I think it's one of the things that the Altogether Drama actors bring to the table that we could plug in to - their enormous energy and lack of boredom with the process. Everyday is new day for them ... they're excited to be at rehearsals and they enjoy the comic asides and social interaction. Sometimes a little too much but that is the gig with these actors. I would love an ounce of that energy whenever I feel like it's all getting on top of me!

I mentioned to our awesome Stage Manager Tessa that things were feeling a lot more positive after the weekend; even though my thighs were screaming in lactic acid and 4 of me little toesies were encumbered by blisters after walking for 2 1/2 hours for the Relay for Life ( a 24 hour walking fundraiser for Cancer research done by families, supporters and survivors) - the things we do!

I think we're getting to the point of the process, he says warily looking over his shoulder for the run-away cart, that the teething problems are starting to fade or are able to be attended to in a timely fashion and we've got the communication processes working well in the organisational arena. Also, the production itself is beginning to have an internal momentum which also means the bohemouth juggernaut is moving along nicely ... touch wood! 

This week Thursday is all about safety nets and fish nets ... will tell you more then.

Phew!

It was some kind of day today! But before I go on just have a look at the set diorama! It's probably a little out of scale, but, it serves its purpose. There'll be a lovely sense of space and with the earthy tones and a spacious sky ... Cooooeeee!!!

Also, before I talk about the rehearsal tonight I want to share a story of blind luck which kind of set the tone for my day/evening.

On Monday evening I went for a walk on my regular beach near the Sandon Point Surf Club. It was around sun down and it was a relaxing time of day to be walking. I had my iPod and some great tunes to set pace to. As I was approaching my car, after dusting the sand from my feet, I noticed that I didn't have my car keys! Having one of those 'clicker' things I knew I didn't lock them in the car and the only possible thing that could have happened was that they had worked their way out of my pocket into the sand - or worse still, into the water! I wandered back to retrace my steps but it was already getting dark and I could see no sign of them anywhere.

What to do? I was half an hour walk away from home - which wouldn't have been a problem but I was bare footed after my beach walk. Fortunately one of the MSND people lives close by the beach where I was walking so I lobbed over to their place and fortunately again they were home! They gave me a lift back home to pick up my wife's car keys and then back to the car to save it from a lonely night by the sea.

The next day I wandered back to the beach to look for the keys, but alas, no keys. I spent over an hour walking slowly along the same path I walked the evening before and then enquired at the take-away just in case some one had handed them in, but alas, no keys. I figured that I probably lost them in the water while I was walking and that they were half way to New Zealand on the tide.

Then came this afternoon's walk and the dumbest piece of luck - even dumber than accidently winning $800 on last year's Melbourne Cup - I found my car keys!!! I was casting a cursory glance around, just  in case; I had walked past the spot where they were lying and then I looked over my shoulder and something caught my eye!!! Un-freakin-believable!

I have to say my soul sang a little this afternoon. It was a lovely piece of luck and isn't an unwelcome karmic nod given the year that's been so far. As a small aside I will say that this has been an incredibly tough year on an extreme personal level: a difficult time in my relationship with my son, some lingering health issues, flow on effects in my ability to keep up with a demanding PhD work schedule - which was also in rough waters anyway and the initial difficulties and teething problems with the production are just a few of the issues I've been juggling this year. In the last few weeks there has been some hard decisions that are leading to a considerable re-arrangement in respect to some of these things and some of the weight has been lifting. Finding my car keys was a small thing it's true but the blind luck of it has made me appreciate that there is a big blue iguana winking in my direction occasionally ;-)

So, onto rehearsal tonight and my good vibes from the lucky afternoon kept flowing tonight. It was fun, it was productive and some ideas that I had to help rehearse some of the scenes we did tonight made a real difference ... Phew!

The first part of rehearsal I had with the Rude Mechanicals as we set most of the choreography for their entrances and exits. It was fantastic stuff with lots of giggling and laughing and the added movement certainly added a whole new level to their scenes. I have to mention Skye here who is one of the production team and who also choreographed the movements for those scenes whilst dealing with a little bit of Tonsillitis! A round of applause please!

The second part of rehearsal was spent with the young lovers choreographing their big scene. I've always seen this scene as being acted in a very tight space which would help to reflect the struggle each of the characters are having with each other - kind of like 3 or 4 people in a phone box all trying to get to the door at once. I sketched out a finite space on the floor with chalk and added some guide marks and then told the actors what I was looking for, and low-and-behold, success! Another amusing scene well choreographed and one that did a lot to establish the characters at that point in the play. 

And that was that, I thanked everyone for their hard work and then we went home.

It was a really satisfying night's work tonight and I have to say, once again, my soul is singing a little ... which is certainly more welcome than the belching flatus that's been there most of the year!

PIA scale for tonight - 0/10!!

P.S. The lady, who was one of the main instigators behind the idea of this production a few years back, Wendy D, her hubby won a Paralympics gold medal as part of Australia's wheelchair basketball team the other night - Yippee! And - Oi! Oi! Oi!  

A little from column a and a little from column b ...

On Thursday evening there was no rehearsal but a production meeting for the costumes and such. And they are looking very fancy indeed ... there's plenty of reference points between the set and the 'Aussie bush' theme that I've tried to set up. It's hard to think of much more to say about the meeting other than it was productive, mirthful and brief. Excellent all round really.

Onto Saturday rehearsal ... 

some angst had been sorted out between rehearsals and I was loving everyone very much again ;-)

The same concerns are there but there is genuine movement towards the end goal and this gladdens my heart. I'm not sure if I that's obvious in the way that I carry myself but, I did feel things moving with, as I said, some of the same concerns about the production & cast as I have mentioned previously.

It's a curious thing in this production how isolated I can feel from time to time ... I desire friendship with people, I suppose most people do; I like talking to people and engage in the same camaraderie that the actors get amongst themselves whilst working on big cast shows like this. I've been in the cast of a couple of productions where I've felt this. Early 90s productions of Barnum and Les Miserables come to mind and had close casts. Recently I was the lead in a production of Allo Allo where it was as much fun backstage as it was onstage. 

However, I think when you direct there's a distance that needs to be kept from that to get things done but with this production, more than any other, there seems to be little time to enjoy peoples company. And I can gets a bit lonely ... sniff sniff ;-)

Another issue that seems to be taking up some brain power is the differing levels of commitment ... It's more an observation than a criticism. In the usual run of a community theatre show there's some accommodation for people missing the odd rehearsal. Many actors are in multiple productions or are juggling work commitments etc ... But this is causing some real issues in this production because, although each rehearsal schedule needs a certain amount of flexibility, the lack of consistent cast attendance is stymying the smooth progress of rehearsals and upsetting the need for clarity that the Altogether Drama (AD) cast need. They can be quite unsettled if things don't go to plan and it takes some time to get back into the swing if they're uptight. I'm not sure that everyone has an awareness of the needs of our AD cast in that regard and consequently I get frustrated.

By and large Workshop puts on quite a high level of production given its limitations, punching above its weight in the sporting parlance, and we do this on shoestring budgets and with limited people hours to make the place run efficiently. That being said, it has been one of the learning curves that we've experienced in seeing, acknowledging and understanding the exact nature of the commitment to be undertaken. I see this as potentially a good thing as future productions of this type will benefit from the experience and knowledge gained here.

So here we are: learning things, working hard, energy, passion, laughter, frustration, a bottle of Chivas for those not so cold nights, questions, answers and a dash of angst. Everything in the theatre seems, well, normal. 

Good Days/Bad Days

It's quite difficult to leave the blogging for more than a day ... it seems to lose it's sting, it's punch, it's verve. Still we'll give it the good old college try.

The first half of Saturday was a good session as we managed to walk through the complete second act and feel pretty good about where that's going. The fairies (those that were at rehearsal - see below) are going to be great. I have been concerned, as they are the least mobile of my groups, that they might be too static and energy sapping from the production. However, I was gladdened to see the biggest smiles and hear some pretty sweet voices coming from their scenes and that assuaged my fears, they will be grand! I have to mention my fairy in the wheelchair (shall we call it her forest chariot?) as having one of the most expressive faces I have seen and her smile could light up the whole theatre! Go fairies go!! Sitting, standing or just swaying from side to side! The lovers (Hermia, Helena, Lysander & Demetirius), Oberon, Puck and Titania also strutted their stuff with great aplomb with some cast members rehearsing their scenes without scripts! How excited does that make a director? Modesty forbids me from commenting ;-)*

P.I.A meter at 3/10 after first part of rehearsal ... this minor elevation was due to the external factor of being up since 4.30am (a infrequent moment of insomnia) and finding that as soon as I stopped my brain was ready to ooze out my ears and roll up in the corner and proceed to snore at an exceedingly loud level.

The second half was not so successful, we had a significant number of cast members missing and it was difficult to get any momentum into our run for that part of rehearsal. It is a frustrating fact that from time to time in a rehearsal process - especially in community theatre (work, family, life, unexplained cast evaporations) and extra especially in a cast as big as ours - that people will go missing and this will usually bring rehearsals to a grinding halt or, prove very difficult to gain any of the aforementioned momentum to plot scenes and for creation & rehearsal of character. That being said we got through what we could and called it a day. Then ... oh dear, I find out that one of the actors who had come in just for the second part of rehearsal had cut short a visit from a family member (who had driven from out of town) for Father's Day to be at rehearsal - now to be fair, I had no idea this had happened, but when rehearsal wrapped up early he ended up being quite annoyed that he'd lost that time. Frustrated and getting a little tired and emotional myself I managed to get away from the theatre and into my recliner to catch up on some zzzzz's.

PIA at this point was somewhere around 7.5/10.

Now all these frustrations will pass and as they often say in the theatre, 'it'll be alright on the night.' Most the time I'm inclined to this position. In this production though, I am concerned that we don't rest on our laurels OR the audience's aw-factor at the disabled actors when I can see the potential for a much more polished celebration and exhibition of ability. *Now to temper this moment of unrestrained idealism for the project, and the good first half of rehearsal, I have realised that we need a strategy to encourage one of the AD actors, who has a main role, as they seem to have been overshadowed by their well performing stable mates. It was of great interest to me when I met these actors some years ago how they had the usual mix of acting types that you'd find in any theatre group: the plodders, the competent, the good, the lazy genius and the diva to name the obvious few. Altogether Drama have these types too and it's our diva who seems to be a little behind the 8 ball. 

So, I have some homework to do over the next week or so.