Thursday, July 2, 2015

Tech Rehearsal


It's opening day for Malphas + Langwidere! Yesterday's tech rehearsal went very well. Sound and lights went smoothly and allowed for us to have a couple times to go fully through the show. Makeup and costumes brought an added sense of excitement to the stage. With all of the components of a great theatrical production together we are ready for tonight and excited to put on a great world premiere of this fantastic show. 

Monday, June 8, 2015

Rehearsal: Day... ?

A Script, A New Character, and Masks

Time flies... always. The last few weeks have been full of new developments and exciting progress. The first draft of our complete script was finished thanks to Kacey and some serious overtime work. Once we had that first draft in our hands we all felt the room expand slightly making for a bit of extra breathing room. The full cast was able to meet and our first read through was a success. Suggestions were made, creative input was given, and a new character was born.

Kacey felt an empty space in the script and decided it would best be filled by a character he's titled The Troubadour. The character takes the role of a story teller and gives life to the atmosphere of an Appalachian setting. We are excited to see how the Troubadour's role may or may not engage with the other character's in the story - mainly The Mortal, Malphas, and Langwidere.

Speaking of character's, we've secured the masks for the different "Heads" that are part of Langwidere and her personalities. They are neutral masks with slight differences in shape and minimal expression. Below is a photo. It has been exciting to see the way these masked characters involve themselves with Langwidere and others. The masks certainly add an eerie or supernatural dimension to the space which also take us deep into the forest swamps of the Appalachians.


Friday, May 15, 2015

Rehearsal: Day 6

Yesterday's rehearsal was a display of the actual power Malphas has over the elements as well as over all the fowls. While working through some improvisation The Mortal was trying to get information from Malphas regarding the missing Beloved. The dialogue went like this:


The Mortal:
Tell me what you know.

Malphas:
I don't think I want to.

The Mortal:
You must.

Malphas:
Oh, that's where you're wrong!
                         (ACTUAL THUNDER)
I don't have to do anything.


The thunder introduced a storm that continued for almost an hour. About a half our following the thunder that was called Malphas was arguing with Langwidere... politics. We were all surprised when a pigeon flew straight into the window. We all jumped out of our seats. Malphas was apparently calling out for back up. The pigeon was too willing to help to notice the window between it and Malphas.

The improvisation has helped quite a bit with character development, certain plot points, and character voice/dialogue. A script is currently under way and we are excited to see the first draft and have time to give it some luster.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Rehearsal: Day 4

We really dove into the characters today through improvisation and discussion. Some plot points were added while scenes one and two were expatiated. Here are some images of the director and various performers:



Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Rehearsals: Day One

We met today for our first rehearsal and discussed in depth the characters of Malphas, Langwidere, and The Mortal. The discussion led us to discover a lot about the three main characters and their motivations. Discoveries were also made about the relationships between each of them, their histories, and where they might each end up.

We also worked on the story line specific to these characters and the music at which we had been looking. A lot of unanswered questions regarding the inciting incident, climactic moment, and rising action found answers.

Over all, it was a very productive meeting. My favorite moment was the connection we made with the Greek tale of the Origin of Love, The Mortal and her Beloved, and the song "The Origin of Love" from Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Tales of soul-mates and the human emotions that binds them adds a perspective to the story that wasn't as clear before today. It gives an unexpected power to The Mortal that will hopefully propel her as a clear and defined protagonist.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

      I recently made a trip to the Utah Valley University Library in order to borrow the books I'd mentioned in a previous post. What I discovered is that there are a great deal of books which contain countless pages of Folkloric tales and others with analyses of Folktales and their cultures of origin. Following, I have created a list of the books I borrowed and the tales or chapters I intend to centralize in my research at this stage:


·         One Thousand and One Nights. ISBN 9780307958860
o   The Demon’s Wife
o   The Woman and Her Five Lovers
o   The Mistress of the House’s Tale
·         Chinese Folktales. ISBN 0844259276
o   Red String
o   A Sad Love Story
o   Shepherd Girl
o   Can Dreams Save Lives?
o   The Magic Kettle
o   White Snake and Xuxian
o   Moon’s Shadow on the Water
o   Madame Qin
o   Sun and Moon
o   The Bird with Two Heads
o   A Lucky Girl
o   People Die of Gold, Whereas Birds, of Food
o   The Young Man and the Ice
·         Folktales of the World, Greece. ISBN 0226517853
o   Owl and Partridge
o   Chance and the Poor Man
o   The Ill-fated Princess
o   Truth and Falsehood
o   All of section VI “Legends” (pgs. 195-203)
·         Folktales of the Jews. ISBN 9780827608290
o   Chapters 28, 32, 34, 35, 41, 42, 46, 60, 66, 71
·         Appalachian Folkways. ISBN 0801878799
o   Chapters 8-9
·         Fair is Fair, World Folktales of Justice. ISBN0874834007
o   Pg. 53 “The Quality of Mercy”
o   Pg. 98 “A Bargain is a Bargain”
o   Pg. 178 “The Stoning”
·         Indonesian Folktales. ISBN 1563089092

o   Pgs. 26-50

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Characters and Their Moods Through Music

To give you a bit of a taste of the sounds Kacey's been finding here are links to music we hope to use to inspire each character:

MALPHAS:
Brown Bird performs on WRNI

LANGWIDERE:
Karen Elson - Stolen Roses

THE MORTAL:
Nothing But The Water (I) - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals