Grinder's Grumblings

Charles Dickens said it best - "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." We're now well into rehearsals for our summer season, with several shows on the go right now, and many more just on the verge of getting started. As the world's greatest wife has been reminding me, we're doing much better at this point this year than we were last year, and she's right - I'm very pleased to see how well a show like Chaucer Uncensored is coming along, and how we're already mostly cast for shows later in the season like Wild Angels and The 18 Carat Boob. But of course it can't all be roses - we have our challenges, just like every other year. It seems the Grinder "casting curse" is still alive and well - getting and retaining actors remains our largest stumbling block this season, and it's been the cause of more hair-pulling and sleepless nights on my part than anything else. Particularly frustrating to me is losing someone for a role o...

We still have some roles available for this summer for interested actors. Now that shows are getting into rehearsals the opportunities are diminishing, but there are still some spots left. In the Belwood season there are still some very juicy roles up for grabs in William Shakespeare's Cymbeline, some of the best roles of the season in George Bernard Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession, and even a couple of roles left in The 18 Carat Boob. In Ennotville things are moving too fast to give you an accurate break-down, but there are both main stage, lunch and after-hours roles still open. Our greatest need is for people to appear in the After Hours series. I hope this whets a few appetites. If you've been thinking of joining us this summer I encourage you to come on out. All it takes is a few hours of your time every week, and you get to be a part of something incredible. And feel free to spread the word - Grinder is not an exclusive club, and anyone who has the desire to perfo...

Last night was our first rehearsal for Godiva's Children, the second Main Stage Show at the Ennotville Library. While I'm always happy to get a show into rehearsals, I'm also always a bit nervous about hearing a new script read aloud for the first time. Godiva is an original - it has never been done before, and it's never been given a workshop or reading. As for the story of Godiva's Children, well, that might just be this production's little secret. After all, everyone knows the story of the original Lady Godiva, right? Godiva's Children opens Thursday, July 8th at the Ennotville Library and runs to July 17th. For tickets and information please call 519-780-7593 or visit the website at www.grinderproductions.org.

... and I'll talk to you all again on Tuesday. Please raise a glass with me this weekend for our summer 2010 season!

We've got a lot of new faces this season at Grinder, so I thought today I'd point some of our newbies (as well as some of our veterans) to the resources we've assembled for you in The Actor's Toolbox. Just head on over to www.grinderproductions.org and click on the "Toolboxes" link. There you'll find a number of pages devoted to actors, directors and production personnel. Many of these pages are still under development, but the actors pages are largely complete. There's info on learning lines, creating characters, proper theatre etiquette for rehearsals and performances and so much more. You can also suggest favourite resources of your own for inclusion in a future update. Knowledge is power! And this information isn't just specific to Grinder. Theatre is theatre no matter where you go and this collection of tips will help you prepare for almost any play. Enjoy!

Our 1st main stage show at the Ennotville Library is now into rehearsals. It's called Chaucer Uncensored. Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales were completed in the final few years of the 14th century. They are a collection of stories being told by a group of pilgrims on their way to the Thomas Becket shrine in Canterbury, England. What makes the stories unique is that they are told largely by and about the common people of the time, not just the usual kings and queens. We've taken three of the most-loved and funniest tales and rewritten them for the stage, in thoroughly modern English - this play is just as easy to understand as a typical bedroom farce (and we even have beds). The play is directed by Alan Quinn, who has also co-written the show, adding the British colloquialism that give it an even more farcical flavour. Chaucer Uncensored open June 24th and runs to July 3rd at the Ennotville Library. Call 519-780-7593 or visit www.grinderproductions.org for tickets and inf...

This show is the first in our "Mostly Music" lunchtime series at the Ennotville Library. You may remember it from a couple of stage readings we gave last summer - this is the first full-blown production (and I hope it won't be the last). It's a feel-good romantic comedy about two young strangers who meet by accident in the park one sunny day. It's also a musical, filled with funny, feel-good tunes. The Heart of Eden stars Andrew Simmons as Mike, a more hapless than hopeless romantic and Danielle Cranston as Eden, a girl who's irrepressible spirit is the sole driving force in her life. The show runs for one performance only, Saturday, June 24th at noon at the Library. Bring your lunch and stick around for our 2pm matinee of the hilarious farce, Chaucer Uncensored. Call 519-780-7593 or visit www.grinderproductions.org to book your seats or for more information!

The Grinder 2010 season is officially underway. Last night I attended the first rehearsal at the farm of Chaucer Uncensored, and today I'll be holding the first rehearsal of Heart of Eden. With these two shows now into rehearsals the pre-production period of our season has come to an end. Now it's a race to opening night, June 24th at the Library. I can't help but feel excited, be it very professional of my to say so or not. Theatre is what I do, it's what I love, it's who I am, and having the chance to make theatre once again is a wonderful feeling. After not having rehearsed a show all winter I've sorely missed the give and take of a good rehearsal, and while I was just an observer last night it still got me revved up for what's to come. And there's a lot of shows coming down the pipe. By this time next week no fewer than five shows will be into rehearsals, so expect the reports to come fast and furious about our progress. The box office should be up a...

If you're interested. The title is "Lots of Theatre." Lots of theatre Enjoy your weekend.

Our motto is Theatre that Dares to be Different - much maligned, much over-interpreted, for better or worse that is our calling. Today, I'm asking you to be different, and instead of just reading this, I would like you to leave a comment, or at the very least get connected as a follower of the blog. Some days it feels like I'm working in a vaccuum, that there's no one out there who's actually hearing me. On the blog it's not really so bad, as I don't require a response, but to all the people out there to whom I have sent casting offers and you have not responded back to me, yes, that is a bit hard to take. So, purely in the interests of my own sanity, I'm soliciting your feedback, on anything and everything Grinder. Maybe it's a show you saw, an event we participated in, or something you've seen here on the blog. I want to know what, if anything, has struck you about what we do. Some ideas: What do you think of Grinder? What do you like, what do you ...

Day two of rehearsals was much like the afternoon of day 1 – long and boring. The monotony of running the same parts of the play over and over and over again made it hard to stay awake, and Mackenzie found herself caught asleep on her feet a couple of times, forgetting to reset the props, having the scene start, and then the actors having to mime their actions, with Frank glaring her down. Bret had been right about the costumes. At lunch Mackenzie raided the costume shop for a cloth tape measure and a couple of old measurement sheets that some costumer had left long ago, and she was managed to fake her way through some of the rudimentary measurements required. Bret’s props were bang on as well, and Mackenzie wasn’t sure how she felt about taking credit for something that she’d only partially done, but Frank and the actors barely seemed to give the props a second look. Instead they just picked them up and started working with them like they’d always been there. Now sound? How was Macken...

We are all like icebergs, aren't we? The part of us that rises above the surface, the part of us that everyone else can easily see is but a small tip of what lies beneath. Some of us think of the hidden part of ourselves as the private, others as the keeper of our true selves. For some it is a refuge of secrets, delusions and lies, while for others its a well of inspiration, strength and, when necessary, refuge. Few people try to understand the hidden parts of others, and most of us don't really and completely understand our own hidden parts, if we're really honest with ourselves. So what the heck does this have to do with the never-ending roller-coaster of Grinder? Well, for the sake of extending hackney-ed metaphors consider the hidden parts of me, you and everyone who has a stake in this company or has ever been invited to have a stake in this company as the rails of the roller-coaster, constantly being laid a split second before they are rushed over in a constantly chan...

E-mail me or call 519-780-7593 if you're interested! Have a great weekend!

Summer Job Posting: Director of Children’s Programming Grinder Productions is Centre Wellington’s most diverse live theatre company. We are seeking an energetic, positive, out-going person to assist us with our Children and Youth programs this summer. Most of the work involved in this position will be conducted at our signature summer venue, the Ennotville Historical Library, a 19th century community hall located in the tiny Hamlet of Ennotville, Ontario, between the town of Fergus and the city of Guelph. This position will have two areas of responsibility. 1. Cast, direct, design, produce and assist with the promotion of our Children’s Series, 10 one-act Children’s plays, one each Saturday from June 26th – August 28th. 2. Conduct two drama camps for kids ages 8-12, one in July and one in August. Each camp will be four weeks long, and cover the basics of theatre/performance. May conclude with a small show. The Ideal candidate for this position will have: • An exceptionally positiv...

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Where Corn Don’t Grow A drama in 1 act By Eric Goudie 2nd Draft © April 2010 Time: The present. An afternoon in winter. Place: The kitchen of a farmhouse in rural Ontario. The Smyth family’s kitchen is old, poorly cleaned and heavily used. A door at right leads out to the barn, and an opening left leads to the rest of the house. There is a table and chairs pushed up against a wall, with seating for three. The floor is peeling linoleum, and a large window offers a view of the barnyard beyond. At rise, Samuel is sitting at the kitchen table drinking a beer and reading the newspaper, while in the background the Travis Tritt song “Where Corn Don’t Grow” is playing. Samuel is about 50, unshaven, and wears dirty, faded overalls, a ball cap, and work boots. After a moment we hear the sound of a car pulling up, and then a moment later Cedric and Michaela enter. Both are high school students, with Cedric in Grade 12 and Michaela in Grade 11. They drop their school bags and remove their coats a...

It's going to be a busy week here at Grinder. I've compiled a to-do list of everything that I'd like to get done before Friday: write a bunch of stuff, work on Helium for several hours, finalize a couple of scripts, get a whole whack of people committed to being in shows this summer and oh yeah, start working on actually selling the season with the marketing kick-off. That, a children's series and don't forget the baby goats (actually that made me stop and add a whole bunch more things to the list). You would think that with a list this long I'd be depressed about my prospects of getting it all done this week. I'm oddly confident, though. Perhaps it's my foolishness to even attempt to get so much done (I've been called foolish by a good many people a good many times), and of course no one can say what unforeseen events might crop up and throw a wrench into this week's plans (see the aforementioned goats, for example). But I can't help but hav...