Can't stop thinking about theatre today. My mother instigated this with her phone calls yesterday. Yes, calls - multiple. She was having a retrospective film fest of stuff I have done and felt compelled to call me to offer a review of each show. I haven't done any theatre in 8 years so I am sure the video is disintegrating.
Each 'review' took me back to the show itself - all the inside jokes and fun.
Got up this morning thinking of Newfoundland. A friend revealed she has an opportunity to purchase some land on Belle Island and was thinking of putting a theatre there. Maybe its changed, but when we were there it was not exactly a theatre going town.
Working on Shirley Valentine was the most fun I have ever had. From Toronto to St. John's to Belle Island the show was plagued with troubles - none insurmountable and none tragic...all a source of laughter!
In Toronto, we worked in a small theatre - I stage managed/ran the lights. Production staff was limited as it was a non-paid job. The lighting designer was determined to have the sun set slowly in act 2 and used a spotlight to do it. This meant that the spotlight had to travel slowly from one side of the set to the other. The lighting also had to change from daylight to dark at the same time. There was no booth in this theatre. The lights were run from the theatre balcony - an open space with hardwood floors and no seating. The lighting equipment was old - a manual 8-dimmer board (out of trim) and a huge old spotlight prone to overheating. The spotlight was set up on one side of the balcony and the lighting board was set up in the center. The entire act 2 was spent creeping from one side of the floor to the other inching the lights toward sunset and trying to avoid the squeaky sections of the floor. The actress playing Shirley was prone to losing pages of dialogue, so occasionally the sunset was quite sudden. I ended up putting squares of paper on the floor over the squeaky parts and playing a silent game of hopscotch from one piece of equipment to the other back and forth. The challenge was to get through the entire show without making the floor squeak once.
Small production, small budget, but the woman playing Shirley Valentine was very good. She was a fun loving and kind person - and very appreciative of everyones assistance with the show.
The producer was inspired to take the show to Newfoundland. Turned out the set was going to be too expensive to ship across the country, so we convinced ourselves we could build a set in 2 days on site. The entire crew consisted of 4 women. Only one of us had any building experience.
Challenges:
Set construction took place on the two days of the hurricane - in a detached garage - extention cords run from the house. Fear of electricution kept the adrenalin running. Paint does not dry quickly in the rain.
Bravo - set is built. Now how to transport a kitchen in a sedan? Borrowed a neighbour and a van - Newfoundlanders are a friendly bunch - van hood accidently opened into windshield en route to theatre. Smashed front window of the van!
One day to hang/focus lights, restage show and run cue to cue.
Day 2 of the run - someone has 'borrowed' the tape of the waves that plays throughout Act 2. Nothing to replace it at the theatre. Walmart has no waves. No new-age stores on the main street in St John's. Let the Greek music tape underscore the second act. Gingerale spilled all over 'Greece'. Reformat 'Greece so Shirley is not stuck to one sticky spot.
Great run - great audience response! Strike the set and we're off to Belle Island. Rent a truck. Load in the set. Off to catch the last ferry. Camp out on the island - 2 slept in reclined front seats of a car. The tallest slept on the front seat of the truck. Unfortunately short one (me) slept on the floor of the passenger side of the truck.
Our theatrical home on Belle Island turned out to be an Elementary school. The stage was a typical auditorium type small wood procenium stage with a painted cement brick back wall. The horror was what was painted on the back wall...a castle scene complete with a huge mutant wheat sheath all in bright primary colours! How to disguise this artwork in a couple of hours became one of the many challenges of the day. We were used to a blank cyclorama behind the set - lit up in blue. The fairytale scene was not going to pass for Greek scenery, so we had to use curtain legs to mimic columns. The auditorium had 2 working lights hung front of the house 40 feet in the air. I had to bounce up a fully extended an extention ladder to the dust covered fixtures trying to re-focus lamps that had obviously not been moved since their 1962 installation. (no wonder they had not been touched - this could have qualified as a fear factor task!) Did the best we could manage and back to setting up the sound...Shirley's voice was being affected by many cigarettes and too much red wine, so we agreed to body mic her for the show.
After much work and an hour of rest, the house opened for the first show. This was an anniversary celebration on the island. The expectation was for a full house! Five minutes till curtain, there were 8 people in the audience. Hold the curtain for 5 minutes. Waiting for the audience. The explanation? Bingo. Apparently our show date and time conflicted with Bingo night. Bingo was full - we had 12. The entire audience thouroughly enjoyed the show. We were assured by the event coordinator the next night would draw a much bigger crowd. No Bingo scheduled.
Day 2. Audience count 7. Bingo was such a success they decided to have another night of it. Show was not so smooth. We were too tired and the giggles kicked in. Technical difficulties added to our lack of self control. Shirley was obviously doing an audience head count in act 1. She leapt from page to page - forward and backward through the script chucks of dialogue all out of place and context. We had intermission to regroup. Settled her down. Focus for act 2 - all 7 audience members deserve to be entertained - after all they gave up Bingo to attend.
Act 2 takes place on a beach in Greece. Shirley is wearing a bathing suit with a cover up. The body mic was discreetly clipped to the front of her bathingsuit. Somehow, the mic detached itself and fell between her breasts. We first noticed a quiet rustling sound when she moved her arms. The more vigorously she moved the louder the rustle. Yes we were amplifying the sound of her breasts rubbing together. Turned down the sound and lost her voice. Finally accomplished some semblance of a happy medium and a sigh of relief. Then all of a sudden there is low grumble. Am I hearing things. Listen - nope, nothing. ok. Rumble. Quiet. Longer rumble - great! She should have eaten something before the show went up. There was no way to leave the mic on and avoid the rustling/grumbling noises that were projected through the empty auditorium. Mic off. Producer and crew collapsed in a fit of giggles.
We probably should have refunded the audience!
