Grinder's Grumblings

Welcome to the 18 Carat Blog series. Over the next six weeks between now and opening night we’ll be featuring weekly guest posts here on the blog from some of the people who make Grinder the great theatre company that it is. You’ll hear from actors in our current production, as well as a few alums from shows gone by. I’ve also asked a few special guests to give us their thoughts as well. I’ve asked each blogger to answer a fairly simple question – what it feels like to work on a show, and how has theatre improved their lives. I haven’t been looking for deep, dreary philosophical musings on the nature of art – this is community theatre, and it’s supposed to be a fun experience, first and foremost. I want to know how people are “getting their kicks” when it comes to theatre. Tune in next week for our first post, by someone involved in our current production. In the meantime, don’t forget to purchase your tickets now for The 18 Carat Bumpkin, going up October 14 th and 15 th at the...

It's now the Monday morning after the Saturday night before, and Life and Death is in the books. Thank-you to everyone who came out and made this show a success. While this wasn't the largest or most complex show I've ever done it was a very rewarding project to work on. Sadly, I never did quite reach that "buzz" that I was hoping to attain at the outset of the process - too many things just didn't go our way for that to happen. Despite this, I don't feel embittered or wanting this Monday morning - it was a good show, and we did a good job with it. I proved to myself that you can survive a heart attack and go on to direct a decent play. I'd say that alone is accomplishment enough. Now the hard work begins. Now we begin preparations in earnest (though they've been going on quietly for some time already) for The 18 Carat Bumpkin. I'm really looking forward to this project, but for different reasons than I was for Life and Death. That show was...

It seems that Life and Death is finally having its coming-of-age. We had our first really difficult rehearsal last night, when for the first time we encountered some real challenges when it came to making the material palatable to everyone. While we were only concerned with a small, eight-minute chunk of the production I'm struck by how large and difficult the obstacles this one little segment presented to us. In the past this would have been the sort of thing that would have devastated me - how can I make this material work for everyone involved? I would have spent days wracking my brain for some sort of rationalization, and probably would have come up short. In all likelihood I would have made the problem worse. Instead I simply asked the cast to take a leap of faith, and trust that between the strengths inherent in the script, my directorial eye, and their abilities as actors that we would prevail. I wouldn't have done that even a few years ago. I wouldn't have taken...

Another day, another month, another summer slipping by all too quickly - for all the things that have changed in my life some things, like the passage of time, seem to stay the same. We got a lot accomplished this past weekend on the organizational front - moved some materials, made some improvements to the livestock feeding arrangements, and put a major dent in the ongoing efforts to simplify life around the house. So much for sitting down and taking it easy. Now that I'm back into the weekly grind (even if it's only a short week) I've got to see if I can translate at least some of that productivity and creative empowerment into substantive improvements on the professional front. Over the past few weeks I've found myself coasting a little in rehearsals, working from rote instead from inspiration, and while the creative writing seems to be doing okay the non-creative aspect of my writing is in a certifiable rut - even this blog has seen better days. Patience is a ...

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...