This was the second week for the Youth Apprenticeship Program. They had workshop/classes with Acting Teacher Lib Spy on Commedia Dell’Arte and working in mask and presented a performance to the company last Friday.
Jim Gilbert – Stage Management
Wow the second week is done already. It has flown by so quick I don’t know where the time went. This week we continued with our workshops: 5 hours a day in the morning with the amazing Lib Spry. We got to work with some beautiful masks, trying out every character to see which one fit best. By mid week we had chosen characters and we had started to write out a simple scene. It was supposed to be five minutes but we stretched the limit to ten. I worked with Alexa and we were the two loves of our scene. It was really fun to create all scenes and the little piece we ended up with could have been a full play had we expanded each section. After the workshops we would return to the group and be astounded by the number of changes made in a short 5 hours. Whole scenes were being rewritten; well I guess that’s what happens when you work with the playwright. Finally on Saturday we started to work with props and man do some of the scenes have props. We were able to do a stumble through of the whole play, start to finish minus the last scene. You could really see how far we had come in two weeks. We are by no means close to finished but with just a few more days we should start to see a piece on stage and then after some adjustments we will have one great show ready for Ottawa.
Chloe Lemay – Stage Management
I cannot believe that the second week is already finished. It actually seems like yesterday that we just started. It’s amazing how far you can get with a show in just twelve days.
Saturday we did our first full run-through. Or, did what we could. With this script it’s difficult to run the play because it’s always changing. There are little things that need to be tweaked and changed. So, Janet Irwin, the writer, will come to the occasional rehearsal and have the actors read through the script that they have and point out any problems or confusion they may have on the subject.
It’s really interesting to not only see a production come together, but a production that has never been done before… well, a version of the show that has never been done before. To see all the little bits and pieces slowly coming together to form an amazing piece of work is incredible and I’m so happy that I get to be a part of it, even if it’s a small part.
This week the apprentices also had a workshop with Lib Spry on Commedia dell’arte. It was very interesting. We learnt how to move in a mask and just in general. And on Friday we performed a little piece of work that we put together in three days time. It was around 15 minutes long.
Week one: finished, and super fun. Week two: completed and unbelievably entertaining. Week three? We’ll wait and see how this week turns out. But, I’m sure it will be as awesome as these passed two weeks have been.
Alexa Polenz – Directing
Our second week ended with Odyssey, and so did our workshop with Lib Spry. It’s really sad to see her go; she was such a great mentor and great to work with. With her grilling us on technique (a good thing) I feel like I’ve really improved. A lot of it felt like just playing, not much like work. We got to explore the character masks (which was amazing!) and then create characters. Working with masks is great, it’s so liberating. We also wrote a scenario and practiced it for only two days before performing for the other actors and staff at Odyssey.
That’s not to say we didn’t have problems! Of course the one day it rains is the day of our performance. So we had to adapt our entrances (once again) to fit the space. It’s ok though, everyone seemed to really enjoy it! We had so much fun doing the workshop that we didn’t want to leave at times to go back to rehearsal!
Speaking of the show, it’s coming along! They have the whole show blocked and ran through it for the design team. Next week I believe they’re doing some costume fittings and finishing the set. It’s looking great! The actors are also trying to transfer their blocking onto the new script (yes, it has been reworked that much!) so there’s a bit of confusion, but I’m pretty sure that’s been fixed now. That’s it for this week!
Sophie Crump
This past week has been truly amazing. We YAPs as the Youth Apprentices are called continued our work with Lib Spry throughout the week, developing the basic skills for a Commedia Dell’Arte performance. How quickly the time flew by! Early in the week we worked on our neutral mask skills, which would help us when we did move into Commedia masks. Dripping in the Ottawa heat-wave, we had to wipe them out after using them!
By Wednesday, we had chosen our Commedia characters. The two lovers, Flavia and Leandro as they were named (too often called Flavio and Leandra); Pantalone, the old miser; his chum, the ever-chattering Dottore; Brighella, the nasty zanni; Columbina, the clever and oh-so-attractive servant to Flavia; Harlequino, the slightly dumb, but good-natured zanni, Leandro’s manservant; and Il Capitano, the braggart who never actually fought anyone.
We created a scenario, and developed it, finally performing on Friday. It rained, for the first time all week (we had been waiting for it all week, and it finally came when we didn’t want it to!) so we had to quickly find a rain location, but in the end, our performance went well, and it was a great deal of fun.
The amount of work we put into just this one fifteen minute performance seems incomprehensible looking back; I don’t know how we managed to squeeze in so much work into only 7 days! This is possibly the hardest I have ever worked on any theatre performance, including productions spanning over merely 3 weeks, and I think it paid off. Without having a face to express our feelings, we had to learn how to express love, pride, hate, lust, fear, and so many other emotions with only our bodies.
I learned so much from Lib, but also from the rest of the YAPs. Everyone really blossomed into the character they selected, and I was so impressed. I am so glad I got to be a part of the workshop, even with having to miss half-days almost every day. I think this work was so different than anything any of us had ever done, that it made us (or me at least) so comfortable in trying anything and everything, and going to the extremes, because after all, we were all learning this at the same pace, and we were all making fools of ourselves.
Lib says that there is no realism in Commedia. We’re not taught to think in caricature in school drama courses. I’m so glad Odyssey gives us the chance to learn this through the Youth Apprenticeship Program!
Francesca Esguerra – Front of House
We’ve only been here for an hour and already we’re sweating. Though this could be due to the 36° weather, we’re also working really hard – by not moving at all. The workshop with Lib had us work a lot on hovering, posing and keeping still in order to capture the audience’s attention. As easy as it sounds, it’s not. It took us a while to get used to the idea that staying perfectly still is one of the strongest connections from stage to audience. The absolute highlight of this week was working with the beautiful Commedia masks by Karen Rodd. The masks were so colourful and unique and it was an honor to be sweating in them for five hours a day. Everyone brought such great character to the masks and some of the things that came out of the mask work were hilarious. I find it impossible to describe the experience in working in mask. It’s incredibly fun and interesting to see what different people bring to the same character. The exhaustion kicks in when the mask comes off, but as soon as the mask goes back on, everything disappears. When the workshop ended and we were all sitting together, it sank in just how much we had learnt in the past week.
In the office, I’ve been learning things from the other side of the curtain. It’s amazing to watch Sarah and Dana do all the things they do. I’ve been making calls to spread word about the show and I get a great feeling when people are genuinely excited about the show. So many people have fallen in love with Odyssey over the years. And by that, I don’t only mean the audience. I’ve been learning about everyone it takes in order to bring the script to the stage.
Less than three weeks left to opening night and I can tell I’m going to be learning so much more. Cheers!
Sarah Laham – Front of House
We have had two days with Lib Spry, and a day off, and it’s week two. With muscles sore, we take week two with the hottest summer week EVER. I mean, my ear lobes were sweating. We practiced in the hot, hot, heat on Tuesday. I that night didn’t feel well, and sure enough on Wednesday, got sick. This week we learned a full batch of commedia, we tried on all the masks, (that were priced at $500.oo a piece) from Pantalone, to Lovers, and even Colombina. I myself was real good at being Brighella (ruthless, thinks he’s powerful, sly, but can be a semi-good person… with the right price) and found myself walking with my pelvis for the remaining time of the week, even at home. We made a mini play & finished it in two days. Come Friday, in this tremendous heat, with no rain… we get rain on show day… OF COURSE, right? We still presented our little play called “The Surprise” in front of the cast and production team, at Ottawa U theatre dep. It was a success. We all “blossomed” in the words of Lib. I learned that you really need to be big in commedia. I’m a method actor, so this was a real challenge for me. I learned a bunch about how to act and about my own body’s capability in this genre. I had sooo much fun. As much as the heat was real bad, Lib’s teaching was amazing. I wish we had another week workshop. Although, it is nice to be in the office with cool air. On to the next week in the Office, and a Poster Day…
To Be Continued…
