What We Talk About When We Talk About Elephant's Graveyard by George Brant When we produced the play The Laramie Project years ago, we decided to have “talkbacks” following the performances. It was a challenging play in terms of subject matter and theme, and we wanted to offer an opportunity for audience members to work through what they had just experienced. The playwright Moises Kauffman stressed that he and his creative team had purposed to simply “further the national dialogue” and we embraced that concept. We've offered talk backs for a number of plays that we felt warranted such an opportunity. Recently those plays have included Grand Horizons and Every Brilliant Thing. Based on the participation in those talks, we've found them to be very helpful and welcomed. Typically, following the close of the play, we offer a few minutes for audience members to either leave the space and/or to get some refreshments in the lobby and then return to the theatre. I usually offer a few background comments about the play and then ask a few questions. We're not so interested in comments about the acting or the production itself, but more about the script and the response to the whole experience. From that point, a lively conversation occurs. Many times people have told me they talk about a play on the ride home or the next morning at breakfast or throughout the ensuing days. Sometimes a play is so impactful that a person simply needs to let it sink in; they just haven't had time to formulate a response to what they have just experienced. We all bring to the theatre a wide variety of life experiences and plays hit us all differently. These talkbacks are simply an opportunity for those who'd like some time to process the experience. Many times people stay but say nothing, and just allow comments from other audience members to help them navigate the response time. No doubt about it, this play hits hard, and we hope in a very meaningful way. Our rehearsal times include a great deal of time talking about the various themes and the way the playwright presents those themes. The style of writing is often beautifully poetic and helps to us to be able to handle the difficult subject matter. We talk about each of the characters and their relation to the event. I love this kind of rehearsal process with a script that welcomes and almost demands hearty and honest dialogue. We encourage folks to stay for the talk back. Nothing is expected of those who stay except respect for other's ideas and responses. They can leave whenever they wish. The talkbacks generally last 15 minutes, though some have lasted longer, but, again, people can leave whenever they wish. We look forward to sharing this remarkable play with you…and to talk about it.
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THE WOMEN'S PROJECT AND THE READ-AROUND by Barbara Biddison The most recent happening for HGWP took place in the Warehouse Gallery with 10 women and one man seated at tables placed in a sorta-square circle. We read three short plays to each other. We call that kind of exercise a read-around. It is a non-threatening way to get a group of people familiar with or entertained by short plays and/or funny or serious dramatic bits. This time we were reading three short plays that will be produced by Women's Project under the broad title of Holiday Shorts & Sweets. It's one thing to read a play (whatever its length or mood)) to yourself and it's quite another to hear it read aloud. For one thing, it may not seem very funny when read silently, but when read aloud with listeners' laughter we may be hee-hawing right along with everyone. And if the writers are amongst the audience non-writers, there's another whole benefit. Expectations may change. Changes may happen. Things that weren't intended to be funny may be tweaked. Characters may come across "wrong." Drama may be more emotionally involving than intended. And so forth. So on to specific observations (in two of the to-be-produced short plays) that came to me as I listened. "The I-Hate-the-Holodays Support Group'' (Judith Sornberger) reads well to one's self and even better when read aloud. There are 6 characters (two of them are male) and the four females have different characteristics as well as ages from 20-30 to 60-70. As I listened I realized how important it is for actors to help the audience keep track of who's who during a really short play. The lines for each reveal "who they are" but the read-around helped the listeners add to characters identity. Therein lies the drama and the Humor!!!! We have to remember who's who. "The Christmas Tamalada" (Yolie Canales) turns out to be one very very traditional Christmas preparation with lots of laughs. The three older sisters in their 60s gather at one home to make tamales. A daughter (30s) and a son (20s) show up and the preparation of this once-a-year event begins. There are a lot of memories and laughs and general family talk throughout. This play really comes to life as it gets off the page and onto the stage. It is funny and loud, and it's clear that the dialogue needs to be overlapping lines with really happy good humor.. All this comes about for me just by sitting there in a read-around. Nobody got up out of a chair while reading. Readers simply brought the plays to life for us. A fine two hours for read-arounds. THE ELEPHANT'S GRAVEYARD meets THE LARAMIE PROJECT by Barbara Biddison The Hamilton-Gibson journey from 2009 to 2023 has been rich and varied, and for me full of everything. And here I am watching a few Elephant's Graveyard rehearsals and thinking about 2009 when we produced, on alternating dates, Our Town and The Laramie Project. Most of us were in both shows about 14 years ago, which was as close to anything like repertory theatre as any of us would ever get.. And Laramie is a true most powerful, heart-wrenching play in which the gay Matt Shepherd is found bleeding on a wire fence. I played the bartender mother of the police woman who found him there and rescued his bleeding body. And this mother waited with her daughter to learn the results of the lab tests which would reveal whether this police woman had contracted AIDS from the bleeding Matt Shepherd. It still brings tears to my eyes, and I value that emotional experience. Just a note on audience reaction to Laramie Project. We had theatre friends from out-of-town visiting, and they saw the play. Toward the end of the play there is a candle-lit procession on stage. All the actors get and carry real candles lit with real flame. When we and our guests got home and talked about the show, they, as audience members, said with honesty and passion, "We thought we were going to get candles too." It was that real. Audience reaction to the play was very rewarding for those of us who played those parts, and many audience members stayed for talk-backs after the shows. I remember the gay couple who explained why they couldn't stay for the talk-back after the matinee--they needed to go home and feed their children supper. So, back to The Elephant's Graveyard. It is sometimes funny, and it is, for most people, powerfully moving. And I, for one, sometimes cry. Hamilton-Gibson doesn't do much of this sort of thing, but when we do it is rich and thoughtful. And I sometimes smile too. In the last rehearsal that I attended I appreciated the scripted addition of the drums. Haven't heard the expected guitar yet, but I no doubt will the next time around. There are references that our audiences will relate to, such as, in discussion about the elephant "Right on Main Street. Our Main Street," because we actually have a Main Street here in Wellsboro and can imagine what that would be like. You will hear the crowd chant "MARY...MARY MARY" and feel a part of that crowd.. As I sit there I literally go between wanting to chant with the crowd on stage to just sitting and taking it all in. The crowd shouts "Kill it! Kill it!!! and I no longer want to shout with them. I still have not seen this play from beginning to end in one sitting. As the play opens the townspeople are milling about in their ordinary clothes. That's the first day. As the second day begins we realize that townspeople have changed clothes, "dressed up" to go to the circus. The telling of this story includes the worlds of the circus and the town and the railroad. It is a powerful story that I will remember as long and as well as I have Laramie Project. Except that I was part of the Laramie Project cast, and I'm not in this one, this Elephant's Graveyard. It's called a vicarious experience. Elephant's Graveyard in Rehearsal by Barbara Biddison I was encouraged to sit in on an early rehearsal of this extraordinary play. I had read it a couple times, so I knew what was coming. I was also very familiar with George Brant the playwright, who wrote Into the Breeches which HG produced last year. It's really soon to catch a rehearsal, but I was very interested in how it sounded and looked at this point.. It's a large cast, almost all male. Two females last night, and they held their own quite well. thank you. Some cast members were still holding a script, but most had lines pretty well memorized. All had a handle on their characters.. It was amazingly well done "to page 41 tonight," as Thomas Putnam the director announced when they began. Ten individuals on stage at first, And they "come-and-go, "come-and-go" as the town gathers. As the rehearsal progressed I was struck by the very strong "feeling" that "something" was going to happen. Well, you might say, don't you always expect "something" to happen in a play. Yes, you do, but this was different. And I don't know how the cast did it. How they conveyed that "something is going to happen" feeling. For an instant I might think it's because the circus is coming to town. But then I realized that it was more than that, and that I would just wait, and watch, and listen. And that is what the audience will do as they hear lines like, "an elephant is an elephant " and much later "an elephant is an investment." Another observation, and I think this has to do with casting. With so many male voices, it might be hard for the audience to keep track of who is speaking when many are on stage at the same time and they're not wearing name tags! "Now is that the tour manager or the marshall or the engineer?" Well, fortunately the Tour Manager (Gerard Doran) and the Marshall (Sean Bartlett) and the Engineer (Herb Johnson) have very different-sounding voices, which helps a whole lot.. And they, like other cast members, have a very solid presence on stage. I hope to see another rehearsal or two before this play opens on September 22, about five weeks from now. Stay tuned...... WHAT A WEEKEND THAT WAS! by Barbara Biddison Whole bunches of us had this plan to go see BROADWAY UNDER THE STARS on Saturday evening at the Stony Fork Creek Campground. Hamilton- Gibson had done this last year about this time. Everybody loved it out there with great individual and group performances and good food and a very pleasant evening. Children welcome to run around. But by early Friday evening this year, about 24 hours before the scheduled performance, it was pretty clear that the weather was not going to cooperate.with our plan, and that no one would want to sit in a lawn chair in pouring rain with probably some lightning thrown in! And then the notifications about the change kicked in. Change all the Stony Fork information that had gone out!!! The facebooks and the websites and the signs in yards and word-of-mouth plans to share rides and telephone calls to those HG knew had planned to go. The Wellsboro High School was generously made available. and all the performers and the food sellers and the ticket sellers got notified too and figured out how to adjust to the new location. Well, these are theatre people after all, and they are used to adapting to all sorts of things, and a stranger who entered the high school auditorium would never have known that this show should have been outdoors at a campground!! And what a wonderful show it was. Kacy Hagan was director for this event that involved putting it all together--songs and dance and rehearsals and all the performers and volunteers and sponsors. And the program lists about 20 "special thanks" to individuals who helped in specific ways. We heard/saw selections from over a dozen favorite musicals, some as solos and others as group numbers. During intermission as well as before and after the show there was FOOD in the school hall right outside the auditorium. Last year and this year, we all were treated to the most wonderful assortment of talent!! Performers came from right here in Wellsboro as well as from surrounding communities. And I know I was grateful when a storm DID hit close enough to showtime --- we would have had to cancel at the last minute---and we changed the date because THE SHOW MUST GO ON !.......as they say. But that was not the end of the treats for the weekend, The Gmeiner hosted a tribute to Alice Mickey on Sunday afternoon. The place was full of her art --we were amazed at the number of pieces hanging--they filled the walls of the Gallery. Both of Alice's daughters were there for the full time of the reception, and Ann gave the artist's talk that usually opens a show. I had no idea how prolific Alice Mickey was!! But I have some personal knowledge of the kind of influence she had on art students. When she taught in the Don Gill school, my older son was in her class Today, decades later, he says she's the reason he's an artist now. I remember going into that school in the days when a parent could walk in the main entrance and go down the hall to Alice's room. (I'd bring her things like scraps of fabric and other "artsy bits and pieces" because she liked that.) She would greet me, and if a student tugged at her sleeve, she'd say something like."Not now, Johnny, I'm talking to Mrs. Biddison." She taught manners, too And. Sunday's reception shows how highly regarded and fondly remembered she still is.. . During the "Downtime" About Singing by Barbara Biddison What do HG people do when they're not in a play, or not reading new plays, or not painting the stage floor? When they have so-called "spare time." One option is to spend a few hours helping to prepare the HG newsletter for mailing, which I just did during the past two days. And now I have read the opening article in that newsletter about the Treble Choir, and I am so moved to be reminded of my own first choir experience beginning when I was about 15. The HG Treble Choir offers the same kind of experience as I found in my McAllen High School A Cappella Choir directed by an extraordinary man, Bev Henson.. I always mention that we met and sang before classes in the morning because so many football players wanted to sing and football practice was after school. You have to love it to be willing to warm up and start singing at 7:30 in the morning! So, this Bev Henson put together an a cappella choir, singing without accompaniment, in a mixed up fashion on the risers. He said that if you could hear the other parts you would stay on pitch . I might be singing my 2nd soprano part with an alto to my right, a tenor to my left and a 1st soprano next to a baritone behind me. We memorized--did not hold music in concert. There was nothing temperamental about this man. We all loved singing under his direction (just hands, no baton), and we all worked diligently to learn the music. And, by the way, when we walked into the high school music room, he was always at the piano playing whatever struck his fancy that day. We had regular school concerts, and we traveled. I especially remember a trip into Mexico where we stayed with families (Mc Allen is on the border) and sang for their local audiences. Again all music was memorized. When we were on a bus on the road he insisted that we dress well, claiming that the group's behavior was affected by our clothing choices of dresses for girls and dress shirts with slacks for boys. No one complained---it was just "expected" for all. He also expected that we would welcome a challenge, and he produced Menotti's AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS just a few years after its 1951 first performance anywhere,, casting all of it with high school kids. I played Amahl and the girl who lived across the street from me played the mother. (I kept the rough cane/walking stick for this crippled shepherd boy for years after.) Though I never studied to be a professional musician, and, in fact, do not really "read music," I often learn a part before others because I can tell if notes go up or down, and I can count for rhythm, and I listen carefully and pay close attention. I think I learned long ago the "concepts about music" such as melody, harmony, rhythm, dynamics, and performance practice that Thomas mentions in his newsletter choir piece. And, as I think back on my initial exposure to music, I realize that my appreciation for the joy and beauty of choral performance lasts for me at least until now. I began singing with Wellsboro Womens Chorus in 1982, and so far, at 80-something, I'm still singing with WWC today.. For me it has been truly "a lifelong relationship with music." Thank you, Bev Henson. Thank you, Thomas, for reminding me of the gift of music throughout our lives. The Community of Community Theatre by Thomas Putnam Our production of Mary Poppins closed a few weeks ago. It was a wonderful way to conclude weeks of rehearsal and set building and costume/prop gathering. Suddenly—after four great audiences—it's done. Everything is getting put away and washed and stored. But it ain't over. Yes, the great joy of offering the weeks of efforts to appreciative audiences is a huge thrill, but there's much more to community theatre. There were about 30 people involved with the production. I would guess that well over 50 percent of them did not know most of the others in the cast or crew. They came from Corning and Westfield and Blossburg and Liberty and all points in between. They spent weeks together dancing and singing and sweating and laughing and encouraging and waiting and acting and painting. The unique community that is formed in a community theatre production is like nothing else. There are similarities to a sport team or a workplace or a church or Scout troup, but working together for 8 weeks on a creative endeavor and then offering it to audiences is enriching and empowering. I heard so many comments from cast and crew how they have formed new friendships and have great appreciation for the others in this creative endeavor. Some will keep in contact; others will never be seen again. (One is moving to Iowa next week.) Phone calls and social media avenues will be made with some. Some will audition for other HG shows. Some will get together in non-theatrical opportunities. Live theatre is just that: it lives. This production will never happen again with these people in this place at this time in history. A production cannot be repeated. It is here (gloriously, wondrously, thankfully) and then it is not. But the community for these weeks has indeed been enriching and empowering...and transforming. We're better persons for it. Being Daddy By Thomas Putnam My father died twenty years ago. He lived to see nearly ten years of his son's involvement with Hamilton-Gibson Productions. (My mother died before HG even began; it's difficult for me to wrap my head around the idea that she never knew about something that has been so much a part of my life for over 30 years.) My dad died the day after we closed our production of South Pacific. I don't think there's any significance in that, only that it provides context in the timeline of things. I am a softie for plays that include fathers and sons. HG's very first musical was a The Yearling. More people have read the novel than have even heard of the musical, let alone seen it. I was drawn to it—way back in 1991—I'm sure because I love the relationship of Penny and his son, plus the music was charming. I played the dad. There's something moving and heartbreaking and real about a son who struggles with a relationship with his dad, and about fathers who just can't figure out how to affirm and grow a healthy boy. I played Atticus Finch in our production of To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus has always held a fascination for me, not only for his defense of the falsely accused, but perhaps more his working his way through parenthood—and the even more challenging single parenthood. His relationship with Scout is one thing; but his relationship with his son Jem has always pulled me in. There are other father/son relationships that HG has explored. We're exploring another one this weekend. Mr. Banks: banker, stiff-upper-lip Edwardian, and father of two. The challenges of a son trying desperately to know how to please his father and yearning to spend time with him. The challenges of a father who struggles to provide materially for his family and his seeming inability to discover how to connect with his son. There are very few lines in Mary Poppins between father and son, but those few are packed full of revelation of this struggling relationship...and it hurts...and it's beautiful. I am incredibly grateful that Matt Huels (of Tioga) and Collin Hoke (of Westfield) auditioned for this production. They climb into the skin of their characters and walk around in it. As Lauren Gunderson says, empathy is the superpower of theatre. The opportunity to climb into another's skin; it's priceless. My dad's first name was George. Mr. Banks first name is George. There's no real significance in that coincidence, but I sat in the last row of Straughn Auditorium last night grateful for the wonderful performance of all those on stage and the efforts of all those off stage and the warm response of a fairly large audience. Every time Collin talked to or about “Daddy”, I thought of my own sons. I thought about my dad. Thanks for the kite-flying. Being Mrs. Banks...by Thomas Putnam I think I saw the film MARY POPPINS three times when it first came out (at the Arcadia!) and I don't think I've seen it since. I did have the record of the soundtrack and heard the songs a lot in those years after it came out. I could sing all the songs. I knew all the characters. Not sure just what it was about it that captured my child's heart. One of the characters that stood out was the mother, Mrs. Banks. Mother to two children; husband to “stiff upper lip” British banker, a proper gentleman. In the film, Mrs. Banks is part of the British suffragette movement. It was almost comical. Perhaps because of the actress who played the role, or perhaps because of the almost silly song they sang as the women marched out. Mr. Banks wasn't too pleased with the goings on of his proper wife. The stage musical takes a different slant at the relationship of Mr. and Mrs. Banks. Mrs. Banks was an actress and gave it up when she married. She tries very hard to fulfill the then definition of a “good wife” and is eager to do what is expected. Unfortunately, and quite unsurprisingly, this does not serve anyone: her husband, her children, and especially not herself. In her first song in the first few moments of the play, she confides to her housekeeper, “Do you really think I made another blunder? What on earth am I to say to Mr. Banks?” This just after yet another nanny has been driven off by her unhappy children. “Being Mrs. Banks should be an easy role, and yet it's one which I don't seem too good at on the whole,” she sings early on in the story. As the mysterious new nanny arrives and begins to work her magic on each of the four members of the family, Mrs. Banks begins to see her “role” and the possibilities for her family. She begins to see that the family can work as a whole and that as herself—rather than in a role—she can help to make her family healthy. This song, “Being Mrs. Banks,” was not in the original film and at first, I sort of rebelled at anything new to that childhood memory. I'm finding, however, that the new songs are the ones I wake up singing, or humming in the shower, or finding certain phrases stuck in my ear. At a moment in Act II when Julie Martin of Liberty has center stage and heartbreakingly sings this song, the plight of this family comes into focus in a new way. It's a lovely, meaningful, hopeful song, and Julie (who is new to HG, but not to the stage) delivers it with just the right amount of pathos. I hope you can join us at Straughn this week. Something Before SUPERCAL By Barbara Biddison What a happy time I had sitting in on the last rehearsal of MARY POPPINS in the Grand Community Room of the Deane Center! The next day they would move rehearsals to Mansfield where the show would open on Straughn stage a week later. But for this Thursday night these 30 or 40-some actors were in high spirits, running some parts once and others several times, over and over. Natalie Holsey, the music director, kept the attention of this large group and Taylor Nickerson the dance director drilled the actors, ranging in age from pre-teen to way-older adults, in their routines. And Thomas, the producer/ director, sat in the front in his wheelchair nodding approval and offering the occasional word of clarification. It was a beautiful picture of cooperative work in rehearsal. Joyful rehearsal. Beginning with the question, "What do you think we need to work on most?" Answers were something like "Vocal stuff" and "Dance," which as far as I could tell would be just about everything, or at least certain parts of just about everything. And then I realized that two leads, Sarah Duterte as Mary Poppins herself, and Alex Dell as Bert, had been in Grand Horizons just about a year ago playing quite different roles. It was really quite fine to see the range of their talents. And they aren't the only ones that audience members will remember from other HG shows (Cody Losinger comes to mind especially because he's doing cartwheels in this show). Some of the comments I could overhear because I sat close to the performance space. Dance coach prefaces one of the dance routines as "Easy peasy" but it didn't look easy anything to me. "I'm joining the Russian Ballet after this," says one slightly awkward dancer. "Movements too superficial" about drill with vocal coach and dance movement all together. About a new dance routine: "Now you did it slow! Now you can do it fast!" And all this is said and received in good spirit and attempts to do what is requested. No divas here. I'm going Opening Night, Thursday, July 13. It runs only 1 long weekend with Sunday matinee. Don't miss this show!! |
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