Volunteers, Redskins and Kurosawa

A great deal of work was done to both the design elements of the show and on the performance this weekend. Saturday and Sunday were particularly productive and I will have photos for you all on Wednesday of the set and some early shots of the costumes being designed by the very busy Ms. Deb Sivigny. Special thanks to all of the people who stopped by over the weekend to help with set construction. For those of you who have not been around a small theater company before a great deal of this work is done by volunteers. Either skilled professionals or enthusiastic amatuers who want the thrill of swinging a hammer, painting a set or contructing the hell out of something. To be honest we couldn't dream of creating the kinds of sets that we do without the hard work of these people who just want to help. If anyone reading this feels like coming down in helping just let me know and we will see what we can do.

The cast rehearsed Act I this weekend, making the kind of adjustments that will take this from being a good show to a great one. Characters became deeper and more fleshed out. Fights were embellished with the cool ass stuff that makes you sit on the edge of your seat and go holy moley that was close. And lines began to be more than just words on a page and instead have the depth of emotion that are needed to convery not just beuatiful poetry but also the people behind those lines. Well done everybody.

Saturday was also Football and Culture Day for the cast. We were visted by Kyoko Pendleton, director Randy Baker's step-grandmother, who shared with us pronunciation lessons as well as cultural information about Japan. She also brought in the brand new set of poem cards for the show and instructed the ladies in how to play the game. These are exciting days my friends.

After that many cast member adjourned to Patrick's house to watch the Redskins beat Tampa Bay and then watched The Seven Samurai for inspiration on issues like movement and swordsmanship. Patrick said numerous members of the cast were in and out all day and the movie, which is a long one, did not wrap up until around 1 a.m.

Personally I was at home studying my lines. Because my head is too small too hold words in and I have a lot to say in this show. More from me later. We have off tonight.