5/23/09

Saturday, May 23

The Edge of Peace Workshop

This week, I worked with playwright Suzan Zeder on a workshop of the play she's currently finishing up: The Edge of Peace. It's the final play in a trilogy that she's been working on since 1982 (the first two plays were Mother Hicks and The Taste of Sunrise, but it stands on its own as well.

It's a beautiful play that involves a deaf character (who, it is specified, must be played by a deaf actor). I had to learn a bit of sign language for my role.

I played the role of "Girl", who is born in The Taste of Sunrise and is the main character of Mother Hicks. She's a sassy 23-year-old who is a Women's Air Service Pilot in World War II. It was a fun new type of role for me, and I loved it.

D-Train and Newbie were in the reading as well. D-Train read the role of an 11-year-old boy named Buddy (and he did a wonderful job providing most of the comedic moments of the play). Newbie played June Ricks, a war-wife whose husband is M.I.A.

D-Train, me, and Newbie before the reading

We had a final reading of it yesterday, and actually had a pretty good turn out. We did a talk-back afterward, and the audience had some very insightful feedback. It was great being able to share that work with people.

It felt great being on stage again, even though it was only a reading. Aside from understudy runs and open-classes, I haven't performed in ages. It feels so right. I know this is what I was born to do.

Also really exciting? During the rehearsal process, they made us mugs! In the Repertory company, each actor has a mug in the rehearsal room labeled with their name that they can use throughout the rehearsal period. And for this, I got a mug! I was so stoked!

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