Now the work begins.

My cast is, I think, a little freaked out when I say this. We are rehearsing Oleanna, a very, very difficult show and we have been working very hard. We have the show blocked, including fight choreography, which we are practicing every night. But when I say: 'now, the work begins', I mean that we have lines to learn, intents and needs to remember, moments to craft until they are ready. Not until they are perfect, mind, but until they are ready. So we can put the book down and really listen. That, as far as I am concerned, is the hardest part.

'But, we have been working very hard already!' My poor cast. 'This is difficult.' They have been excellent about trying listen and stay connected to each other even though the books are in hand. I think, however, even they will be surprised at how much of a leap the show will take when the book goes down and they really start to play. I can hear parts of it already getting closer but we still have ways to go and never enough time to get there. Never enough time.

So, they are freaked out because it's been such a journey already.  I am sure they are wondering when it gets easy. When it gets fun! I think this one will be fun at the bar after and not before. If we are doing this show well, it should never be easy. Never. I think I am a little freaked out about this as well. But one could argue that this is always true. Regardless of what show you are doing, it should be hard.

So, onward. We will be presenting Oleanna as well as any could, I expect. If you are coming to see the show, you will not be disappointed. But, bring along someone you like to argue with because it surely ain't fun. It's work, even for the audience.

Except for, maybe, at the bar after.


Jacqui Burke is a freelance director, writer, and theatrical teacher living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  She is currently directing and producing Oleanna by David Mamet for a two week run at the Red Sandcastle Theatre, prepping and leading her Shakespeare is Boffo! theatre arts camps for active kids, directing Love Letters for Encore Entertainment, and directing Lend Me A Tenor for Scarborough Theatre Guild.  She is, also, serializing The Pretender, her first novel, online at http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/.  




Jacqui Burke
talk/text: 647-292-0210
twitter: @jaybird01
skype: Jacquiburkecell, jacqui.burke
www.wordsnimages.com
www.jaybirdproductions.ca
www.shakespeareisboffo.ca
http://jacquiburke.blogspot.ca
http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/
http://jaybirdproductions.blogspot.ca/



Ask me about Shakespeare is Boffo! Premium Summer Camp for Kids. The Homeschoolers` Version: 11:00 am – 3:30 pm, August 13-17, 2012 for only $150. Quiet supervision available from 8:30 am for only an extra $50 a week. Spots are going fast. Register, now at www.shakespeareisboffo.ca 

Uneasy.

As we work more and more on the script of Oleanna, we are all a little uneasy. The script is difficult. Facing it is difficult. Playing it honestly even harder still.

And I, as the director, am not pretending it's easy or even trying to make it easy for them. I am not giving my darlings 'emotional marks' to work toward. I am not indulging in the safety blanket of technique.  If they get hung up, I keep asking them (if my ego doesn't get in the way, dammit):  What does he want right now? What does she need, right now? What is she trying to do? How is he trying to do it? How high are the stakes?

I'm not even telling them where to stand or, specifically, what to do - unless we get really lost. Then, I'll get us out of it by shaping the moment loosely (all the while telling them that I am happy for them to adjust as they get to understand the moment better).

Why? Why am I trying to ask questions more than tell (although, jeez, my ego - you gotta believe I catch myself lecturing in rehearsal)? Why am I trying to faciliate more than impose my 'vision'?

For this show especially, and just about all shows really, I just want my actors to be present and honest for the hour and a half they are on stage. There is no sure and easy way to this end. There are techniques and ideas and such; there is conversation and there are concepts and agreements but in the end we, as artists, need to strip ourselves even of that and just be present and responding honestly.

Now, this is a path of thin ice, a tiny thread across which we must walk the gorge. This is leaning too far off the ladder to reach what we need. This is running into the fray to save someone we love. It's dangerous. Why? Because being present and responding honestly betrays the actor's soul. By definition. By necessity. In front of everybody.

It makes us all uneasy because it's scary. It should feel uneasy. If we were swaddled in technique and concept, vision and method, we would feel safe. But I am very sure we wouldn't be as truthful.

It's a lot like life. There is no quick trick to get us to a valued goal. If we are safe, we are not pushing ourselves. If we are swaddled, we are probably watching TV. One of the greatest challenges in life is to be there for people. To be present, to listen, and to respond honestly. But you do have to bare your soul and that makes you feel unsafe, uneasy. So few folks are willing to do that - except for actors.  Except for actors.


Jacqui Burke is a freelance director, writer, and theatrical teacher living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  She is currently directing and producing Oleanna by David Mamet for a two week run at the Red Sandcastle Theatre, prepping and leading her Shakespeare is Boffo! theatre arts camps for active kids, directing Love Letters for Encore Entertainment, and directing Lend Me A Tenor for Scarborough Theatre Guild.  She is, also, serializing The Pretender, her first novel, online at http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/. 


Jacqui Burke
talk/text: 647-292-0210
twitter: @jaybird01
skype: Jacquiburkecell, jacqui.burke
www.wordsnimages.com
www.jaybirdproductions.ca
www.shakespeareisboffo.ca
http://jacquiburke.blogspot.ca
http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/
http://jaybirdproductions.blogspot.ca/



Ask me about Shakespeare is Boffo! Premium Summer Camp for Kids. The Homeschoolers` Version: 11:00 am – 3:30 pm, August 13-17, 2012 for only $150. Quiet supervision available from 8:30 am for only an extra $50 a week. Spots are going fast. Register, now at www.shakespeareisboffo.ca 

On toilet paper and underpants.

Don't worry. It's safe to read on.

When I was in my early thirties, I started working professionally as a stage manager. Stage managing is a very challenging, time consuming, hyper-responsible job which I handled with reasonable success and even some humour. But it could, at times, be difficult.  Over the course of a few years, I started to notice signs - I am sure distinct to me - that told me I was trying to do a tad too much.

First, the toilet paper would run out. This initial clue was almost invariably ignored because of the ubiquitous box of kleenex. Then a few days later, I would reach into my top dresser drawer and pull out the last pair of gotchies. Now, if I dealt with the latter problem by doing some laundry, all was well. But if I dealt with the lack of underwear by stopping by Zellers to buy new ones on the way to the theatre for yet another 18 hour call, I knew I was in trouble.

Well fast forward fifteen years. Haven't stage managed in a very long time but here's me, trying to do too much, again, in a completely different role. This time I am directing and producing Oleanna. We are well in the swing of things and I am dealing with all the great moments and the 'gah!' of dealing with problems. It's getting intense.

I know because the toilet paper ran out a couple of days ago and I have been to the Zellers. Even getting this blog out (and I like to write -- I really do), has been challenging. I've been quiet for a whole month. Just can't wait to see if I can beat the Nanowrimo challenge next month (which means writing 2,500 words a day) while getting the show on its feet. I won't have a stitch of clean clothing left.

But, you know:  I wouldn't have it any other way.

Jacqui Burke is a freelance director, writer, and theatrical teacher living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  She is currently directing and producing Oleanna by David Mamet for a two week run at the Red Sandcastle Theatre, prepping and leading her Shakespeare is Boffo! theatre arts camps for active kids, directing Love Letters for Encore Entertainment, and directing Lend Me A Tenor for Scarborough Theatre Guild.  She is, also, serializing The Pretender, her first novel, online at http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/.  


Jacqui Burke
talk/text: 647-292-0210
twitter: @jaybird01
skype: Jacquiburkecell, jacqui.burke
www.wordsnimages.com
www.jaybirdproductions.ca
www.shakespeareisboffo.ca
http://jacquiburke.blogspot.ca
http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/
http://jaybirdproductions.blogspot.ca/



Ask me about Shakespeare is Boffo! Premium Summer Camp for Kids. The Homeschoolers` Version: 11:00 am – 3:30 pm, August 13-17, 2012 for only $150. Quiet supervision available from 8:30 am for only an extra $50 a week. Spots are going fast. Register, now at www.shakespeareisboffo.ca 

Small Detail. Big Picture.

I am fussing about pens, and water. Forms and script printouts. And I can only describe it as fussing, though this kind of behaviour is really not like me. I have taken on the two jobs of Directing and Producing this time out and, because of a twist of fate, might have to stage manage the piece as well.

For those of you who don't know what that means: The Director is in creative charge of the big picture. She will make large and small decisions, including what pens go on the desk onstage, but she will not fuss over the pens and pencils we use in rehearsal. Or the coffee, or whether we need tea or milk or whether the signs are up or... She will, instead, focus on the talent and the creative. In auditions (we are starting them tonight), the Director's full attention aught to be on the actors coming in, on assessing their abilities and deciding whether they can play the parts on offer. It's the Producer who wants to worry about whether there is an audition secretary, whether there are signs, and who wants tea.

Preparation seems to be the key word for the day -- and will be, I think, for the rest of the production. I am pretty sure I can stay weeks ahead of deadlines as long as I am clear what they are - assuming I remember everything. Tall order being a lady of a certain age. Ha! So this is probably why I am fussing.

I was worried, I have to admit, that immersion in detail might affect my enjoyment of the process. Funny from someone who used to live for the detail. I was a professional stage manager for a very long time. Lists, lists, lists. Think, think, think. Safety, safety. For me, productions were like one huge puzzle of thousands of pieces. Each piece fit together or I made it fit together and, by the time we opened, the whole machine would work. And work well, for the most part. But, now, I worry that too much attention to detail might get in the way.

As a Director, I feel I need to keep my mind and heart open to express truthfully, listen simply, and respond honestly in the hope that we can, as a group, develop a piece that makes absolute sense, resonates emotionally, and tells the story extremely well. Now, don't get me wrong. I do my due diligence, my research, make my lists, know what I want, and read, read, read the text. It's all about the text. But, when I get into rehearsal, I am capable of throwing out the lot if we start moving down a new path that really works. That's fun for me. To discover. And, it looks like this process works judging from how folks tend to respond to the work.

So I wonder: will I be able to stay open while fussing over what time it is? We shall see. This production marks my first return to sorting detail in years. Years. I think I was staying away from the minutia on purpose, actually, in order to more fully become what I am now without falling back on behaviours that were comfortable or easy. Because making a list is dead easy. Honesty is hard.

So, onward with my new theatrical experiment. Perhaps I will find that handling the small details won't get in the way of the creation of the big picture. Who knows? But I will, definitely, find out.

And, oh shoot, I'd best print out that signage.


Jacqui Burke is a freelance director, writer, and theatrical teacher living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  She is currently directing and producing Oleanna by David Mamet for a two week run at the Red Sandcastle Theatre, prepping and leading her Shakespeare is Boffo! theatre arts camps for active kids, directing Love Letters for Encore Entertainment, and directing Lend Me A Tenor for Scarborough Theatre Guild.  She is, also, serializing The Pretender, her first novel, online at http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/.  

Make a donation to Raising Oleanna, a fundraiser in support of Jacqui's production of Oleanna by David Mamet.

Jacqui Burke
talk/text: 647-292-0210
twitter: @jaybird01
skype: Jacquiburkecell, jacqui.burke
www.wordsnimages.com
www.jaybirdproductions.ca
www.shakespeareisboffo.ca
http://jacquiburke.blogspot.ca
http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/
http://jaybirdproductions.blogspot.ca/



Ask me about Shakespeare is Boffo! Premium Summer Camp for Kids. The Homeschoolers` Version: 11:00 am – 3:30 pm, August 13-17, 2012 for only $150. Quiet supervision available from 8:30 am for only an extra $50 a week. Spots are going fast. Register, now at www.shakespeareisboffo.ca 

Can't thank everyone enough, so far, except...

I have been working away, working away trying to raise funds for Oleanna by David Mamet, my production opening in November, for the last few months. It's been my primary focus. I have had to stretch myself quite a bit and embrace behaviours that I previously would have found difficult. I have put certain things aside (like the blogging) as I learned about how to address social media platforms, assessed different marketing strategies, weighed options, and did the bookkeeping (bleck).

This project has been good for me. And the show has done well. We have not raised the lot but we have more than enough money to keep going and for that I am thankful. Never felt luckier to have this opportunity. And, once again, I want to thank those who were able to support Oleanna thus far. Can't thank you enough.

In fact, there are folks that have been so supportive for the last couple of years that I have been wracking my brain to try and figure out appropriate ways to thank them. I bet you know who you are. There is great food and wine in your future...  But, after really pondering this problem, I think I understand the best way to thank everyone.

I have to do not only a good but an amazing job on this show. The absolute best I can do.

That's it. Nothing more to say.

Jacqui Burke is a freelance director, writer, and theatrical teacher living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  She is currently directing and producing Oleanna by David Mamet for a two week run at the Red Sandcastle Theatre for her own company Jaybird Productions, directing Love Letters for Encore Entertainment, and directing Lend Me A Tenor for Scarborough Theatre Guild.  She is, also, serializing The Pretender, her first novel, online at http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/.  

Make a donation to Raising Oleanna, a fundraiser in support of Jacqui's production of Oleanna by David Mamet.

Jacqui Burke
talk/text: 647-292-0210
twitter: @jaybird01
skype: Jacquiburkecell, jacqui.burke
www.wordsnimages.com
www.jaybirdproductions.ca
www.shakespeareisboffo.ca
http://jacquiburke.blogspot.ca
http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/
http://jaybirdproductions.blogspot.ca/



Ask me about Shakespeare is Boffo! Premium Summer Camp for Kids. The Homeschoolers` Version: 11:00 am – 3:30 pm, August 13-17, 2012 for only $150. Quiet supervision available from 8:30 am for only an extra $50 a week. Spots are going fast. Register, now at www.shakespeareisboffo.ca 

It could happen.

Well, as one embarks on a new endeavour, there are those dark moments in which one contemplates the pure, utter disaster that a failure could be.  Whoosh.  Super-not-so-fun.  I know about his because I have failed before -- it's embarrasing, to say the least.  Usually costs a lot of money.  But...I've also managed a few wins.  

I often want to get up and have a gander at the world.  As short as I am, I will pile things up, climb on top and and have a good look around.  Makes me quite the target.  So, with Oleanna, my latest project, I am pretty much up as high as I can go and whosoever might be gunning for me (fate, circumstance, plain bad luck) should be able to take me out without too much trouble -- as I have gone ahead and piled up what could be considered some rickety stuff to stand on this time out.

Not that Oleanna is, in any way, a bad play or that I am unsure of being able to a great job of it but more this:  We are living in interesting times, as the old proverb goes, and most theatres are doing shows that are easier and more fun to go and see. They want as many bums in the seats as they can get. Oleanna is many things, including a riveting piece of work, but it is not easy. It's not fun. And, of course, theatre is supposed to be dying.... Yikes!

Well, I am pretty sure theatre isn't dying but I do think our audience is no longer aware of the innate benefits of seeing live theatre. I was shocked a year or so back when a woman in her late thirties confessed that she had never seen a live theatre production in her life. Never. Wow. And I am thinking there are more people in her shoes than I would have previously believed. Of course, there are a lot of folks for whom live theatre is only the last touring production of Beauty and the Beast.  Hmmmmm....

So, if a lot of my potential audience are in these boats, how would they know that intimate, live theatre is a fantastic, visceral experience shared between artist and audience? That there's nothing like it? Well. They wouldn't.

So, I am going to have to sell this one. And I will. As well as contacting the theatre lovers, since Oleanna is an altercation between college professor and student, I have a marketing plan that includes reaching out to the (how many?) college and university level students and faculty in the fine city of Toronto. Hopefully, I can intrigue some of them to try something that may be completely new to them.

Other than that, I have my fundraiser on the go and getting all my other ducks lined up nicely. All I wish is this: That I will do everything in my power to make Oleanna a success. If I do it all and still fail, then I will actually be proud of myself even though it will look a lot like failure to other folks. I am thinking that we only really fail in life by not trying, by not doing what we imagine, or by not trying hard enough when the opportunity comes along.

And maybe, just maybe, all that work will add up to a win this time out. It could happen.


 
Make a donation to Raising Oleanna, a fundraiser in support of Jacqui's production of Oleanna by David Mamet.


Jacqui Burke is a freelance director, writer, and theatrical teacher living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  She is currently directing and producing Oleanna by David Mamet for a two week run at the Red Sandcastle Theatre, prepping and leading her Shakespeare is Boffo! theatre arts camps for active kids, directing Love Letters for Encore Entertainment, and directing Lend Me A Tenor for Scarborough Theatre Guild.  She is, also, serializing The Pretender, her first novel, online at http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/.  



Jacqui Burke
talk/text: 647-292-0210
twitter: @jaybird01
skype: Jacquiburkecell, jacqui.burke
www.wordsnimages.com
www.jaybirdproductions.ca
www.shakespeareisboffo.ca
http://jacquiburke.blogspot.ca
http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/
http://jaybirdproductions.blogspot.ca/



Ask me about Shakespeare is Boffo! Premium Summer Camp for Kids. The Homeschoolers` Version: 11:00 am – 3:30 pm, August 13-17, 2012 for only $150. Quiet supervision available from 8:30 am for only an extra $50 a week. Spots are going fast. Register, now at www.shakespeareisboffo.ca 

Why this piece? Why now?

I am launching a project to produce a little show called Oleanna by David Mamet.  You'd think that, considering I am an articulate and intelligent type, I would have a dozen great reasons for the why of this particular play.  The project is going to take a lot of time and resources.  I will be begging favours, I know, for months before this project is done.  I will be drained when I am through. So what are all the reasons to embark on this craziness?

I can tell you it's an excellent piece.  It's written by David Mamet, arguably the best American playwright alive today.  Mamet has changed the way way we understand relationships -- even the way we hear ourselves.  In Oleanna, a student goes to her professor seeking help with course material.  In that first meeting, the student is convinced that the professor attempts to sexually exploit her.  She subsequently accuses him of such and ruins his life.  Their power struggle is riveting.  But that's not really why I am doing the show.


I can tell you that if I don't do this show myself, I will likely not be able to do the show in Community Theatre.  We are living in difficult times and the uncertain economy is having a huge impact on Community Theatres all over Toronto.  These organizations are responding with material that is easily approachable, that is funny or heartwarming.  It can be argued that all stories are worth telling but I think that we are shying away from stories that are challenging because we believe that  no one is interested, that no one will come.  I don't think this is true and I am looking seriously at many challenging titles.  But that's not really why I am doing the show.

I can tell you that this show is in line with many of my sociopolitical interests.  I am an unabashed feminist and interested in power as it impacts human relationships.  This show deals with a lot of these issues and a lot of my friends are into discussions on these topics; so I am sure I have an audience - even if it might be a small one.  But that's not really why I am doing the show.

I can tell you I will do a solid job.  I have just finished two two-handers in a row and had a great time doing them:  Wrong For Each Other for Encore Productions and The Last Five Years for TOKL Productions.  Both directing efforts were well received.  But that's not really why I am doing the show.

Here are all the reasons why I am doing the show: 

1)  Because I want to.

That's it.  That's all of it.  I want to, committed to, ready to work like crazy over the next few months to do this thing.  And despite the fact that folks would assume I am much more complex being, the truth is very simple.

And I hope you come and see it.


Support Raising Oleanna, a fundraiser (similar to Kickstarter) in support of this project.


Jacqui Burke is a freelance director, writer, and theatrical teacher living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  She is currently directing and producing Oleanna by David Mamet and is looking forward to directing Love Letters for Encore Entertainment, and directing Lend Me A Tenor for Scarborough Theatre Guild.  She is, also, serializing The Pretender, her first novel, online at http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/.  She is preparing for two Shakespeare is Boffo! summer camp sessions for 2012.

Want to contact me?

Jacqui Burke
Artistic Director
Jaybird Productions
talk/text:  647-292-0210
twitter:  @jaybird01
skype:   Jacquiburkecell, jacqui.burke
www.wordsnimages.com
www.jaybirdproductions.ca
www.shakespeareisboffo.ca
http://jacquiburke.blogspot.ca
http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/
http://jaybirdproductions.blogspot.ca/

Ask me about Shakespeare is Boffo! Premium Summer Camps for Kids.  Two installments in 2012:  The Homeschoolers` Version:  11:00 am – 3:30 pm, August 13-17, 2012 for only $155.  Premium Full Day Summer Camp:  9:00 am – 4:00 pm, July 16-20, 2012 for only $200.  Both prices hold until May 15th, 2012.  Spots are going fast.  Register, now at www.shakespeareisboffo.ca

Like what you read? Click on an ad!