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NYTimes.com: Theater economics being what they are, actors have grown accustomed to doubling and even tripling up on roles when performing in large-cast plays.
A fascinating concept for a theatre company. Of course, a lot of the time people wear multiple hats for more reasons than just wanting to (can't afford to hire more people, etc), but it sounds like the small team approach is working jest fine for the Bedlam troupe. I especially liked the part of the article where an audience member who was interviewed said that she approached the play the same way that she approached hearing a play on the radio; that is, she had to invent the characters' personalities herself, with no visual reference. And in this case too, or in shows like PigPen, it is up to the actors to guid you along the right path, and sometimes character stops mattering as much as the words being said. And I find that notion really cool.
Quick shout out the the Olney Theatre in MD! I love that place! The way that they work their shows seems to be a bit different so it'd be almost weird if they had a full cast. It is expected when starting your own theatre company that you will take on as many roles as necessary to get the show to hit the stage, and all of their hard work has actually paid off. It is nice to see small companies burst up out of friendships and passion for theatre because then you know that they aren't just doing it for the money but for the love of theatre and performing. When having a too small cast, you have to be good at pulling out the important bits and throwing away the other bits. There are plenty of actions that are most likely skipped over because that actor is then currently playing another character and cannot do both. I have not seen any of their shows, but I can assume from the reviews that they are brilliant. Having a smaller cast without all the extra people on stage really does allow the audience to imagine more of it, just like that lady said about the radio.
2 comments:
A fascinating concept for a theatre company. Of course, a lot of the time people wear multiple hats for more reasons than just wanting to (can't afford to hire more people, etc), but it sounds like the small team approach is working jest fine for the Bedlam troupe. I especially liked the part of the article where an audience member who was interviewed said that she approached the play the same way that she approached hearing a play on the radio; that is, she had to invent the characters' personalities herself, with no visual reference. And in this case too, or in shows like PigPen, it is up to the actors to guid you along the right path, and sometimes character stops mattering as much as the words being said. And I find that notion really cool.
Quick shout out the the Olney Theatre in MD! I love that place! The way that they work their shows seems to be a bit different so it'd be almost weird if they had a full cast. It is expected when starting your own theatre company that you will take on as many roles as necessary to get the show to hit the stage, and all of their hard work has actually paid off. It is nice to see small companies burst up out of friendships and passion for theatre because then you know that they aren't just doing it for the money but for the love of theatre and performing.
When having a too small cast, you have to be good at pulling out the important bits and throwing away the other bits. There are plenty of actions that are most likely skipped over because that actor is then currently playing another character and cannot do both. I have not seen any of their shows, but I can assume from the reviews that they are brilliant. Having a smaller cast without all the extra people on stage really does allow the audience to imagine more of it, just like that lady said about the radio.
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