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| Saturday, February 24, 2007 |
| Ata goes Up, Ata goes Down |
Ata still does not have a job, despite a couple of promising interviews and one recruitment agent who hounded her for a week and then stopped returning calls after Ata actually gave in and went to an interview. How encouraging.
But anyway. Before I tell this story, can I please reassure everyone that I really am not a bitch, snob, or diva? Truly not. Really. I am forgiving of shortcomings. I am nice to annoying people. In fact, one of the people who will be referred to in this tale as "the writer" recently thanked me for my patience. She obviously misinterpreted my glazed what-have-I-gotten-into expression for simple calm.
A few weeks back (ummm... four, I think), Ata received an email from a friend. She had sent it to several people, not just Ata. It said, "I am in a play for the Fringe and someone has dropped out. Would you like to audition?" Or words to that effect, anyway.
Ata thought, well, I have not done any theatre for a very long time... let's see, the last time I did a full play was almost ten years ago. That is too long. I shall audition.
Ata contacted the director, and auditioned. The previous actor had, apparently, dropped out because she did not feel comfortable swearing on stage (?!). Ata was offered the part. Ata took the part.
Now, when Ata took the part, there were some things she knew. She knew that it was a re-telling of the working ministry part of Jesus' life. She knew that it was an all-female cast. She knew that it was set between the two World Wars. In short, she knew that it was to be... well, a little... interpretive, but she felt that the intent and purpose of the writer & director were solid.
As it turns out, there were some things Ata did not know, but found out at the first rehearsal. The script was not finished. Parts were not yet set in stone (mostly because the script was not finished). And - horror of horrors - they wanted performance in an accent. A French accent. Provencal, to be precise. For those who have not investigated the workings of learning an accent, it can take months to learn well. With a coach. Ata knows this, despite never having had to perform in an accent before - she is, after all, a lapsed Speech Pathologist.
Ata discovered the accent issue when one of the other actors began reading from the script in a voice that resembled a drunken fairground fortune-teller. Ata was glad that no-one was looking at her at that point. She was even more glad that no-one was looking at her when the actor finished her reading and everyone else praised her accent. The script issue also became apparent at that rehearsal. At the following rehearsal, however, we were informed that the whole script had been tossed and was being re-written. Ata feels partly responsible for this, as when she was asked for her opinion, she politely but honestly responded that she found it... well, a little confusing.
In all honesty, the new script seems to be much better. It is easier to follow, much brighter, and a little amusing. Yvette - Jesus' sister - has been written out, and Ata needs only play four characters. Two of them are practically the same character, even. Of course, it is still not finished - we are assured that, as the writer & director have finished two other plays they have recently been working on, we will have a complete script by Monday. After a little work, Ata even feels better about the accent. It is terrible, but she figures it does not need to be perfect - only better than the other actors. Today's rehearsal went reasonably well, with most actors putting scripts down. In fact, if this were the point we were at a month ago, Ata would feel quite good about the whole chaotic disaster. We do not yet have costumes, have not tried on makeup, and have yet to lay eyes on our performance space - but hey, there's bookings for the first night, so things can't be all bad - right?
Oh, of course. I have not told you that. Opening night - would you like to know when opening night is? March. March 21st. Yes, you read correctly. No costumes, no makeup, only half a script, accents to be learned - and we open in three weeks. Okay, three and a half.
Ata sighed to her brother in law, "I think I have realised what I don't like about theatre."
"What," he quipped. "The people?" |
posted by Ata @ 9:47 pm  |
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| 3 Comments: |
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Brave Ata. I hope it goes extremely well despite the chaos thus far. May figurative legs be broken!
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Well, I was considering that in a more literal sense last week, figuring that the only way out without burning too many bridges would be sudden injury... but in the end, stepping into moving traffic was too much commitment for me.
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I'm sure one could possibly break a lot of things by falling over a cat.
Anyway, yeah. Just continue to be better than everyone else and it won't matter. ;)
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Brave Ata. I hope it goes extremely well despite the chaos thus far. May figurative legs be broken!