Antigone Now: Things We Travel With

- 2 vans (one with 4 rows of seats, one gutted to hold our stuff)

- 1 Stage Manager

- 9 actors (or 8, when Wifey was out sick)

- 9 costumes

- 9 metal chairs

- 1 silver trunk (containing gaff tape, rubber gloves, wipes, scissors, and the like)

- 1 container of black face paint

- 1 sound board/sound system

- 1 crate of wires, on a dolly

- 2 speakers

- 1 monitor

- 2 banners (one with the name of the theatre, one with the name of the play)

- 1 microphone

- 1 mic stand

- 1 music stand (for the SM)

- 1 First Aid kit

- occasionally some lighting equipment

We do our load-in/load-out ourselves.

"Message That Still Connects Today"

Yes. Another article about Antigone Now. We're totally famous.

Message that still connects today

Iceman as Creon

Two-Shots-Up as Antigone

Antigone Now: Education & Outreach

This is a video that was made before we started touring. But I thought it might still be worth watching.

Antigone Now Can Be Performed Anywhere!

If you're a reader of this blog from a distance and have never met me, this video might be the first time you get to hear me speak. So, um, nice to meet you!

Please Vote!

Hello everyone!

There are some local awards that are being voted on at the moment. If you have time, please head on over.

NOTE: You need to fill in at least 5 categories on each page for your votes to count... So here are some of my suggestions... (You know... in case you wanted to vote but aren't good at coming up with things on the fly... or if you live slightly out of the area.)

In Arts & Entertainment, you can vote on things like:
- Best theater company (my theatre!)
- Best play (Antigone Now)
- Best local actress (one of my awesome classmates!)
- Best local actor (one of my awesome classmates!)
- Best category we forgot to include (Best Local Arts Blog: Angela Learns to Act, http://www.AngelaActs.com; OR, Best Entertainment Deal: the free Late Night Series at my theatre!)


In People & Politics, you can vote on things like:
- Best local magazine (Sarasota Magazine, which interviewed me earlier this year)
- Best local website (Angela Learns to Act, http://www.AngelaActs.com)
- Best local blogger (Angela Sauer)
- Best new idea for the Suncoast (bringing back touring theatre productions!)
- Best local college (my program)
- Best category we forgot to include... (Prettiest Blogger... ;) Just kidding.)

Antigone Now Director

Here's the director of Antigone Now, talking about our production.

"Finding Their Voice"

Here's a recent article about the 1st-years in my Conservatory and the training they're receiving:

Finding Their Voice

It's a great read for anyone who is considering going to grad school (especially to mine).

~A~

'Antigone Now' Packs a Powerful Punch

Our first review! And the first time that I've made it into a photograph in a review!

REVIEW: 'Antigone Now' Packs a Powerful Punch

'Antigone' Hits the Road

I know I'm behind on posting our tour craziness...

So here's an article on us, so that you can feel caught up until I can do some back-posting.

'Antigone' Hits the Road

The Ode to Man

My friend Angel gave this to me several weeks ago while we were still in rehearsals for Antigone Now, so I thought I would pass it on. It was published in The New Yorker, August 16 & 23, 2010 (page 78).



THE "ODE TO MAN" FROM SOPHOCLES' ANTIGONE

Many terribly quiet customers exist but none more
terribly quiet than Man:
his footsteps pass so perilously soft across the sea
in marble winter,
up the stiff blue waves and every Tuesday
down he grinds the unastonishable earth
with horse and shatter.

Shatters too the cheeks of birds and traps them in his forest headlights,
salty silvers roll into his net, he weaves it just for that,
this terribly quiet customer.
He dooms
animals and mountains technically,
by yoke he makes the bull bend, the horse to its knees.

And utterance and thought as clear as complicated air and
moods that make a city moral, these he taught himself.
The snowy cold he knows to flee
and every human exigency crackles as he plugs it in:
every outlet works but
one.
Death stays dark.

Death he cannot doom.
Fabrications notwithstanding.
Evil,
good,
laws,
gods,
honest oath taking notwithstanding.

Hilarious in his high city
you see him cantering just as he please,
the lava up to here.

- Anne Carson

Master Blog!

I've received yet another internet accolade. The second this week! I feel special.

I got an e-mail saying (among other things):

"We've scoured the web looking for amazing blogs that not only are great in content, but informative and helpful when needed. And we've determined your blog to be such! We like to call it a Master of its category!
[...]
Congratulations, and keep up the awesome work!"

They even gave me a little award badge thing. How great is that?

Top Performance Arts Blogs

You can find links to my blogs and others that have been chosen here.

Ranked: Best Blogs for Theatre Lovers!

It's always exciting (and surprising!) when this little blog of mine gets attention elsewhere on the web. So I was thrilled to be included on a recent list of great theatrical blogs...

The 50 Best Blogs for Theatre Lovers!

And I sort of got mentioned TWICE!

"Angela Learns to Act" is one of 10 blogs ranked in the "Acting & Actors" category. (See #28)

Angela Sauer is currently working on her MFA in acting, and anyone who drops by her blog can pick up on the valuable lessons she learns along the way.

And the "Blogs at Backstage" (which includes Unscripted, for which I am a regular blogger) is one of 10 blogs in the "News & Views" category. (See #47)

Aspirant actors should stay as informed as possible about the news and trends that impact them the most.

Picture Time!

I just realized that I STILL have not put a picture up for this semester... So here's a photo from our first day of class in August. :)

BACK ROW: Killer, All-the-Way, Iceman, Angela, Wifey, Thrill, Newbie

FRONT ROW: D-Train, O.D., Two-Shots-Up

And here's a picture from our last day of classes in London (after class at Wagamama, with our lovely voice professor, Charmian).


LEFT SIDE: Wifey, Two-Shots-Up, Thrill, Charmian, Iceman, D-Train

RIGHT SIDE: All-the-Way, Killer, Newbie, O.D., Angela

Saturday, October 2

Antigone Now


At this point, we're all just exhausted. We're working through the entire show about three times a day, and it's emotionally exhausting.

It's also really hard on our bodies and our voices. We're well-trained (thank GOD!), so we're being as careful as we can be, but this takes its toll anyway. We sit on metal chairs motionless. We stand motionless. We kneel. And I scream half of my lines. It's intense.

I've been hydrating more than usual (I usually hit 10 cups of water a day) and eating honey. I've been resting my voice whenever possible. I've been lying down whenever I get a chance. But it's tough.

Director said today that we need to be more consistent in our emotional connections during the play. I think that right now, we just really need a day off (which, fortunately, we get tomorrow.)


~A~

Friday, October 1

It's October? Seriously? How did that happen?


Class

I read a scene with All-the-Way that I used for a competition when I was in undergrad. Head-of-Program seemed to like it (and thought that it was a particularly good fit for me), so he said to keep it around as a possibility. I have to tell you, I felt AWESOME about that.

All-the-Way & O.D. did a scene that was quite funny, but Head-of-Program thought it was too prop-heavy to bring to Showcase. He also said that he thinks someone has suggested this scene every year, and they always have to rule it out in the end.

Thrill & Iceman did a scene that required too much background information.

Two-Shots-Up & Wifey did a scene (perhaps the only non-comedic scene that anyone has brought in thus far). It was a good scene, but Head-of-Program didn't think it was evenly split between the two characters.

Killer & All-the-Way did a scene that Head-of-Program liked, but he thought it wasn't right for All-the-Way. He said to hold onto it, and maybe try it again in the future with Wifey.

Dude, this is complicated.

We've been having conversations about headshot photography as a class, but it's complicated. We have different ideas about what headshots should be (and how much they should cost). And we all have different schedules. I don't know how this is going to work out. I'm praying that we have a good solution for everyone.


Antigone Now

My notes include:

- The 1st prologue was weak

- After Creon's intro, move with motivation, not just because we're obediently following our blocking ;)

- By "naturalistic", our director seems to mean "struggle to come up with the words you're about to say"

- During the prayer, get more charged as it goes

- The final run (of three) was the best run we've done so far

- We shouldn't be working to make a word into something that it already is (or, as the director put it, "making butter buttery")

- Change the word "mama" to "mother". Change the word "daddy" to "father".

- After the prayer, get determined on the lift
(we all come together to lift Two-Shots-Up in a crazy cool way)