Columns in the Snow

"I am gold, mother. I am gold itself. The finest of ladies wear me on their wrists, and the finest of men as a crown."

We plan a lot of extra time during our rehearsal process, since so many of the actors work long hours and have side-hustles on top of that and we're just a casual organization. It's always been like this, the Brooklyn crew used to rehearse during various happy hours in the backs of various bars. 

It all worked out. And this play will survive the week we just lost to a crazy snowstorm that cost us three rehearsals. Total pioneer stuff, fat flakes from the lord's cereal box. He just filled this old bowl with layers and layers of his favorite powder. Which then turned to ice. Actors trapped in their homes, dancers trapped at the tops of their driveways. It's a hilly old town. 

So, I went a little stir-crazy for a while but finished up some logistic stuff, working out a "column map." Some of the actors playing columns also have speaking roles. And some of the columns are in a dance scene, so it was important to make sure the ones that need to make a costume change weren't in a scene directly before when they needed to be someone or something else. 

It's the kind of thing I like to do with people in the room, but sometimes you put these things together on paper. 

There was also an amusing subplot concerning the line, "We have that in our back pocket." An actor inquired as to whether or not there were pockets in ancient Rome. We make no claim to historical accuracy and freely embrace anachronism, but... with all the downtime, Wardrobe and I decided to look into it as an intellectual exercise.

Her talking house computer answered the question, "When was the pocket invented?" with: "The pocket was invented by James L. Pocket in 1759," which.... was hilarious but couldn't be true. Those things get their information from online dictionaries, and knowing this, pranksters often vandalize the text.

Further research showed us that far from an eponym, the word pocket just comes from "pouch." In any case, they didn't really have pockets like we think of them back then. The earliest "pockets" were basically small messenger bags. But... for no real reason, we decided to change the line to, "We have that under our togas."

It just made us laugh. But then someone suggested, "I'll keep that under my hat... and also in my back pocket," so we went back to pocket.

This is what passes for "dramaturgy" in our casual crew.

We were able to squeeze in a single rehearsal last week. The Emperor showed up, and the Greatest Actor in Rome, and we sat at the chess set and took turns playing several roles each so we could get through a few scenes. I really needed it. You go so long just looking at the words on paper, you begin to wonder if it sounds good out loud.

It did. I was happy with the scenes, and it felt so good to feel like progress was being made. I was very grateful to them both for shoveling their way out and making it to the chess set. Then we took a day off for Valentine's Day, and now we're taking a day off so I can go to Florida (mother, alligators).  Long ago, these dates seemed like they would be needed breaks, but now they're just continuations of the "gap."

However! I have every confidence we'll hit the unfrozen ground running next week. Why, we'll do so much rehearsal before March, we'll be sick of it. We'll need a Roman purging feather. Say I. The columns will be dancing. The Oracle will be prophesying, the soldiers will be kissing. Everyday miracles and every day, miracles.

Wardrobe and I had coffee mid-week. The cafe was deserted. We shared an apricot tart and took notes and encouraged one another and shared sketches and edits and dreams. It's going to be good.

And eventually I'll meet all of the actors.