Hello there ...

Today's rehearsal went quite well and on the p.i.a scale ranked a lowly 3/10. The fairies went through the rehearsing of the original song and exceeded expectations. The lover's were being put through their paces in the theatre and coped with their vague director quite well. One of the difficulties I find is trying to keep the imaginative picture of the set in my mind as I move people around a blank stage - in an entirely different venue from the performance. It's not something I have a lot of experience with especially with this sized cast ... wait! I haven't counted them yet ... Okay, at this stage I've counted 21 but it might be 22! It may indeed be 22 by virtue of the fact I need to find a fill in for my Theseus for one performance ... thus the minor register on the p.i.a scale.

The learned gentleman playing Theseus is a valued cast member so I'm reluctant to recast, so ... as Clint Eastwood's character in Heartbreak Ridge would say, "improvise, adapt, overcome." I used to annoy my son with this sage wisdom so it seems silly not to take my own advice. I was always full of stories ... I like stories. Anyways, rehearsals are chugging away, the teething problems are being sorted and there isn't an open bottle of Chivas Regal in sight ... yet ;-)

I thought I'd take this opportunity to fill in the director's back story especially in relation to working with people with disabilities. From my birth till the day I left home for the last time I lived with people with mental health issues. That's all I want to say about that here; besides that could fill up a whole other blog on its own.

In 1982 I started volunteering with St Vincent de Paul staffing and running children's holiday camps for disadvantaged kids. And yes, some of the kids we had on camps had disabilities - not serious ones, obviously, but let me tell you giving a piggy-back to a 10 year old with calipers on her legs up a steep hill is damn hard work! Couldn't do that now-a-days because I'm old and grumpy. In the summer of 82/83 I worked at a Summer school run by the ACT Schools Department for kids with severe disabilities. There was lots of activities and helping out with physio sessions and time in the physio pool. The pool was my favourite thing and the kids I worked with seemed to really enjoy that too but it was always quite devastating when someone had an 'accident' in the pool and we couldn't use it for 3 days while it was disinfected.

After a not very successful attempt to start my nurses training in 1984 I returned to my home town of Canberra to work as a Wardsman in Royal Canberra Hospital. Before that I had a 3 - 4 month stint working in a group home for young people with physical disabilities. That was an amazing experience as most of the residents in the house were my peers in age and I discovered that there wasn't a lot of difference between myself and the young people I was working with except for the physical limitations. They had the same concerns as I did. Same desires and the same sense of humour! 

After my time as a Wardsman and some other bizarre job choices (Bank Clerk, Suit Hire Assistant are top of that list) I started working with an orginisation called Koomari in 1986. They ran group houses and as they were called then, sheltered workshops, for people with multiple disabilities. I worked in 3 group homes for Koomari over a period of 2 years. There were some fun times and some days when it was just hard work. Probably my favourite story of that time is when they moved all of the staff from the first house I worked in because of problems with a resident who had been violent with the staff. Some of staff moved on to other jobs and some to other houses. I, however, was moved to another group home where one of the residents had just chopped through the staff room door with a Tomahawk shouting, "I'm coming to save you from the evil spirits!" Was this a message from my employers? Was it just because I was big and brave and young and stupid? Who can say? I was 21/22 years old, I was married, had just become a Dad and was a little sleep deprived. I'm not even sure that I didn't just dream the whole thing!

In 1988 I was offered and accepted a paid job working for St Vincent de Paul in a curious place called the Thomas Cahill Cottage. Nicknamed 'Bogey St', by virtue of the fact it was located on Bougainville St, it was set up as a combined youth and psychiatric out-patient drop-in centre. If my life in the service of the disabled community wasn't bizarre enough things were to take a most amazing turn. I couldn't, in description, do justice to the quality and eccentricity of our clientele. To say there was a need in the community for this service is an understatement of Godzilla sized proportions; but that St Vinnies couldn't see their way to continuing to support it is about as baffling a moment in life as I've ever had.

Since that time I did some public service time as any Canberran is almost compelled to do and in 1992 I moved to Wollongong. For a 13 month period, as I was preparing to get myself into Uni, I worked at Wollongong Hospital. Initially as a member of the domestic staff but I soon moved over to work as a Wardsman. For my final 6 months at the hospital I worked as the morning shift Wardsman in the Operating Theatres. Then it was time for Uni ...

In 2006 WWT donated some money to Altogether Drama and it was after attending their performance that year that a conversation began towards this production. 

And so the story continues ...

Friday 29 August ... early morning after rehearsal

Okay ... Summary of the last couple of days:

Set diorama was delivered last night and it should fit the bill exceedingly well - it's simple, uncluttered yet still spectacular in its vein. The Australian allusion I am looking for is carried as a visually consistent theme through set and publicity poster by the use of the Boab tree. This is a spectacular tree that occurs in the 'outback' and, as Indigenous folk tales allude to, they are trees who were so vain that they were shoved in the ground upside down as their punishment ... Try Google Images and have a look!

Also, the Boab on the set will be able to be used as an entrance/exit and it is hoped we can make its trunk transparent with lighting so that Puck and Oberon can be hidden yet still remain seen by the audience. Although it wont do justice to the set I'll post a photo of the diorama in the next few days (once I figure out how to do it!).

The thing I like about the vision of the set is its simplicity ... not a small consideration when your moving a herd of actors on and of the stage (including one wheelchair). As a director I'm a fan of simple yet metaphorical sets - I can't afford not to be. I'm also an anti blackout guy as much as possible which is a shameless opportunity to use music as much as possible to cover set/scene change overs.

Today we had to deal with some communication issues between the various groups of organisers ... now I'm going to try to be philosophical about this and say that this is new ground we are breaking all round. WWT haven't done anything like this before and the same is true for Altogether Drama. But the net result of the communication breakdown was that two of the actors required for tonight's rehearsals didn't show up because they had been told they weren't required without consulting me about what I had planned to do for tonight's rehearsal. So we're going to have to make sure the strings are tied to the tin cans a little better than they are at the moment.

Another issue to come out of today was how best to manage the energy limitations of our AD actors. The intensity and necessity for the many rehearsals can be taxing on the AD guys and we're trying to find a balance ... and I'm not sure how successful that's going to be. I'm a bit stuck in the mud about this; wanting this to be a quality production means not settling in the hope that an audience's sympathy will forgive us for things that we didn't have time to cover. As with all theatre shows there's no substitution for time and repetition - especially in this production. The AD actors have a range of capabilities but they can all contribute to making it an excellent production and I believe we can produce a quality show given the time and the commitment. 

On a personal level (in the midst of spending some quality time with my PA ... errr, I mean my lovely wife on our wedding anniversary) today was a little difficult ... 6/10 on the p.i.a* scale. So all in all not too bad. How about some adapted Shakey to tell our story?

Two households, both alike in dignity,

In the fair 'Gong, where we lay our scenes,

From best of intentions stumble on rocky paths,

Maintain and endure to avoid falling upon thy arse.

Our misadventures courageous shall stand

To stir from the audience its gift of hands.

I was also reminded by the the journey of the day to reflect on serenity:

Deus, dona mihi serinitatem accepere res quae non possum mutare, fortitudinem mutare res quae possum, atque sapientiam differentiam cognoscere.

Or, in English:

God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed and the wisdom to distinguish one from the other.

A philosophy with modern rhythms and as old as the Roman philosopher Seneca.

Well that's it for tonight ... I'm sure there's always more to tell.

* Pain in the arse.

Act One: Organization and preparation ...

Firstly, I suck at admin work. I have no love for it and it gives me a headache ... but it has to be attended to. When you're dealing with a organizing committee of a local theatre group and those responsible for the charity organization that auspices the other theatre group there's a lot of stuff to think about. There's a lot of stuff to do. And, there's a lot of time to spend rubbing your head wondering when the fun stuff will start. I am also the President of WWT as well as the director of this play ... Yikes! What the hell was I thinking! Did I also mention that I'm trying (not very successfully) to juggle working on my PhD as well ... seriously - get me a doctor!

Anyways, it has been a challenging couple of weeks as the WWT committee has waken from its slumber and is starting to gain interest in the project. Don't get me wrong everyone has been supportive but it is coming to the time when all hands want/need to be on deck. That's all I'm gonna say about that - anyone who has been on a committee might know how the rest of the story goes, BUT, I don't want to dwell on the difficulties because problems need to be solved and work needs to get done!

So here's what we have so far ... a mixed ability cast doing a Shakespeare play in a 220 seat theatre (WWT is 65 seats!). We have in kind sponsorships in place and a grant from the local Council and more being sought and promised. We have a script adapted to reflect a certain Australian feel and a set design that will reflect that - actually I'm meeting the set designer tomorrow night! We have original music to accompany the fairies as they sing their signature tune. There's costumes to still sort out and many many more bits and pieces to come.

My wife Susie is helping as a kind of personal assistant which is grand as I can do naughty things when we're not on the clock and not get into trouble ;-) ... we've been together for 9 years and married for 4! We are right in the midst of our anniversary as I type so it's a nice time.

I don't plan to be coherent in every post but I hope it will give you a sense of the journey.

 

It starts tonight ...

I am the director. The director of a Shakespeare play. The director of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It is a special production. It's the first time Wollongong Workshop Theatre (est 1952) has done a production like it. We have combined with another local theatre group called Altogether Drama - a theatre group that provides mainstream opportunities for actors with a disability.

We are located in Wollongong, in the State of New South Wales, in Australia and if you are still wondering, try Google Maps. Wollongong Workshop Theatre (WWT) is located in a suburb of Wollongong called Gwynneville. This project was first mooted 2 years ago and now we are finally underway with rehearsals. The Altogether Drama (AD) actors have had their scripts since March and we started rehearsals proper on August 9th 2008.

The AD actors are cast in a full range of roles, 3 as fairies, 2 as part of the 'rude mechanicals', one as the lover Hermia and another as Puck. WWT actors make up the remaining roles. I am the Director and my name is Lajos and I adapted the script to reflect a more Australian feel. I will also be creating a soundtrack for the play with local musicians.

As of this moment there is an administrative production team of six people from Altogether Drama and its auspicing organization Recreation Illawarra and WWT. There is a performance production team of six people (3 of us are in the other team!) which includes my fabulous Stage Manager Tessa. We have engaged a set designer (Simon Greer), a composer (Houston Dunleavy) for the fairy's song, there are sponsors and grants and, well, it's a kind of huge production!

Over the rest of the production period I will be blogging and video recording rehearsals and a video diary and I will try and add some juicy bits of the highs and lows (hopefully too few to mention) of this amazing project ... so ... here we go!