Even if I weren’t already a sporadic blogger, this is the point where things would get dicey. Less than two weeks till opening night, and lots of production elements are coming together quickly, sometimes interlocking comfortably, and sometimes crashing together like drunken waterfowl.
The costumes are nearing completion, although I’ve decided that Sunday’s dress rehearsal should be postponed till Monday, mostly because I double-booked our costume designer by scheduling a design workshop at the same time. (The workshop is one of a number of peripheral Hamlet-related events that, while very exciting, are eating up just a bit too much of my time right now). Props are all but finished; sound design is in place, with levels set for Act 1; and lights are hung and focused, although the long slog of level set/cue-to-cue/tech run still lies ahead.
Video segments are still iffy. Having reined back my ambitious technical set-up (from three projectors to one), I’m now wrestling with Isadora, a sprawling performance-management application, to get all my flickering images tucked into their proper nooks and crannies.
Somewhere in the midst of all this, my actors are trying their darnedest to make Shakespeare happen. I sympathize, and I want to help, but I also know that, until all our production elements come into full focus, there’s not a lot of progress to be made. By next weekend, or hopefully even as early as Monday or Tuesday, it will be a whole new show. Right now, it’s kind of a mess.
Like drunken waterfowl…what a great simile.