Saturday, April 14, 2012

Actors Working: Othello Rehearsal Videos

I’ve often said that actors tend to laugh as much, if not more, when they’re rehearsing a tragedy. Maybe it’s because they have to keep it light in order to keep it fresh, to save the real emotion for the audience. Maybe it’s to keep from being weighed down by the terrible sadness inherent in the human condition. It might just be because those heavy, fraught moments can seem more than a little ridiculous under the fluorescent light of the rehearsal hall.

Even so, between the moments of horrific hilarity there exists great beauty and truth, glimpses of the embryonic characters that will (we hope) come to their full growth by opening night, when those baby steps we’ve been taking reach their full stride.

Here are some of our actors in process – exquisite Amy, luminescent Leah, straightforward George, earnest Bruce, upright John, hardworking Micah; there are laughing fits and revolting sound effects (Dylan found an app for his phone that makes particularly good ones) and, occasionally, some lovely moments.

The show opens at the end of May. Until then, our actors will be hard at work, carving out the performances they eventually intend to offer to you. Enjoy.

- ACM

Spoiler Alert: In case you haven't had a chance to read or see Othello in the last 400 years, these videos give away some pretty important plot points.