Grinder's Grumblings

We had a good rehearsal last night, I think - the play was run, worked through bit-by-bit, and then run again. Good questions were asked, good choices were made, and by the end of the evening there was a noticeable improvement in both the look and the sound of the entire piece. A small step, perhaps, but an important one for me, as I soldier on in my quest for creative renewal. To be honest I was exhausted last night - between the early morning wake-up (plus the light sleep the night before), a day of heavy farm work, four hours of production work, and the oppressive heat, I had to hold onto the side of the barn just to stay upright. Despite this I think we had one of our better rehearsals. Such is the lifeblood of theatre. But I can't rest on my laurels, or congratulate myself on a job well done - at least not yet. A good base like this must be built upon, improved upon, and the opportunity must not be missed. Seize the moment. Suck less. But how? Certainly my preparations

You take it all so casual, second nature to you now, You drive away assuming that you'll make it back somehow Life and death, life and death a whisper in the air...                                            - John Gray, from the musical 18 Wheels It seems that I've finally figured out where I'd heard the phrase "Life and Death" before. I was the ASM on this irrverernt masterpiece of Canadian musical theatre back in the 90's. It's a production that features an actual semi truck on stage (or at least we made it look like it was a real truck) and while it's not the deepest show I've ever done (it's written entirely in rhyming couplets) it is one of my fonder memories of my time in the rat race. It was a show that brought out some of the better skills in me (and it was around this time that I earned my "Grinder" moniker, if I'm not mistaken), and while I certainly must have made many, many mistakes and disappointed a lot of peo

I'm listening to tracks that I might want to use in Life and Death right now, and I have to admit that it's having quite the experience on me. I've been adamant for some time now that one of the ways I was going to suck less when it came to theatre was to pay more attention to the sound design - less utilitarian filler, more compelling narrative and counter-narrative. The effect is, in this case, faith. No, I haven't found God (or organized religion - many people confuse the two). I haven't found anything new per se, but I do get the feeling that I'm beginning to rediscover a part of myself that has been lost for some time, a part of myself that comes from making great theatre. I'm psyched for rehearsal this evening, despite being considerably tired. Maybe because we'll have everyone we need there tonight (someone better knock some wood). Maybe it's because we're moving into the second half of the play tonight, towards the plays that are perh