… completely different.

This post has nothing to do with anything.  We just think these guys are funny (we got to see them when we were at the Charleston Comedy Festival in January), and we’re glad they have a blog now.

So check ‘em out! 

Last night we were shooting publicity photos before rehearsal.  Now, we were all wearing fancy jammies in the photos, which was lots of fun. (you should know, as I type this, I hear it in a British accent in my head.)  Anyway, we were all so comfy, we decided to rehearse in our jammies.  And let me just say - everyone should always rehearse in their jammies.  It was lovely!

Okay… that’s a lame title for a post about our first blocking rehearsal for Hay Fever.  So sue me.  Anyway, we came out of the gate running last night, blocking the first half of the first act - all sorts of lazy, spoiled British-ness.

Stay tuned.  These Hay Fever posts are bound to get downright crazy.

Well, faithful readers, it was a big weekend for The Distracted Globe.  We closed a great production of Much Ado About Nothing to truly wonderful audiences (we expect you all to return in July for Hay Fever… and bring that incredibly enthusiasm… we loved it!).  Saturday’s peformance had a little something special - our Hero (Chelsea) was ill and unable to perform, so assistant director Jennifer went on in her place.  Understudy performances are always a thrill.  More of a thrill, however, was when Chelsea braved the sickness to return for the last performance on Sunday.  And a stunning performance it was.  What a trooper! 

We also had two performances by The Midnight Hags of Suddenly Macbeth.  And, though we may all be cursed for life now… it was an awful lot of fun.  From chickens and Feng Shui to scoliosis and child-stealing gypsies… well… we managed to graze the surface of the text and explore all kinds of fun stuff - that may have, in some way, perhaps been associated loosely and based informally on Macbeth.  Whatever.  It was fun.

And now, rehearsals for Hay Fever kick into high gear.  See you in July!!!  (Well… we’ll see you in blog form before then… but you know what I mean.)

That’s right!  2 more performances of Much Ado About Nothing - tonight and Sunday afternoon at 3:00.  Then, it’s all a thing of the past!

And only one more performance of Suddenly Macbeth - comedy improv based (ever so loosely) on Shakespeare’s most Scottish tragedy - plays tonight at 10:30.  It was a wild and crazy time last night.  And you can count on an even wilder and crazier time tonight!

See you there! 

That’s right.  Today is the summer solstice.  The first official day of summer.  And it’s supposed to be something like 90 degrees today.  And I don’t even want to think about the humidity.  So celebrate the solstice the way I plan to: with air conditioning!!!  If I could build an air-conditioned tunnel directly from my car to the door of a building, I would.  Because I am a big wimp.

But nonetheless…

Tonight begins the final weekend of Much Ado About Nothing.  It’s an awfully fun show, so come enjoy the lovely summer colors and the lovely summer themes and the lovely summer air conditioning!  The remaining performances are TONIGHT, Friday and Saturday at 8:00 and Sunday at 3:00.  At only 5 bucks, it’s cheaper than retreating to the movie theatres.  And come on, Harry Potter isn’t out until July… so come on down!

We’ll also have some late night improv Friday and Saturday night by The Midnight Hags - The Female Hemisphere of The Distracted Globe.  We’re taking our fate into our own hands as we spend the evening deconstructing The Scottish Play.  Suddenly Macbeth plays Friday and Saturday at 10:30… and again… only 5 bucks! 

Well, now that we’ve opened Much Ado About Nothing, we couldn’t just leave well enough alone.  So, we’ve begun rehearsals for our second show of the season, Hay Fever.  We’ve spent the last two nights sitting around a table and reading and talking and dissecting and speaking in silly British accents.

Yup.  Hay Fever is a British comedy.  Remember Monty Python?  Eddie Izzard?  Black Adder?  Red Dwarf?  The Office (the original)?  Brits are funny.  So make sure to keep this on your calendar.

Of course… there is a problem for the actors when doing British comedy.  It’s really easy to just slip into a British accent at inappropriate times throughout the day.  At work.  At the grocery store.  Whatever.  Theatre can be hazardous. 

Okay… we have had an AWESOME weekend of Much Ado About Nothing, but you know, we’ve had just about enough comedy.  So we’re taking on some tragedy this weekend.  That’s right.  You heard me.  The Midnight Hags (The Female Hemisphere of The Distracted Globe) will be taking on MacBeth late night at The Warehouse Theatre this weekend.

Wait… is it bad luck to type the word MacBeth in a theatre blog?  Should I take my computer outside, spin around three times and spit on my hard drive?

I dunno.

Whatever.  Come see the show.  It’s gonna be great!  

Much Ado About Nothing runs June 21-23 @ 8:00 and June 24 @ 3:00

Suddenly MacBeth runs June 22 & 23 @ 10:30… ooh… spooky!

Yup!  Much Ado About Nothing opened last night to a great crowd and a lot of laughs.  We were pleased to have in our audience a group of teachers from Curriculum Leadership Institutes in the Arts (CLIA) - a fantastic audience - as were their fellow theatregoers!  We followed up the performance with a visit to The Northgate Soda Shop for their Theatre Thursday festivities.  If you’re not familiar - The Soda Shop keeps their kitchen open late on Thursdays so that the wayward theatre people actually have somewhere to get some food after rehearsals or performances.  Awfully kind, eh?

At any rate, after such a great opening, I wanted to give you a little taste of the pretty finished product.  These clips are from the final dress rehearsal.  See all those costumes and colors and sets and lights?!?!  They look even better in person!

Clip 1

Clip 2 

Clip 3 

See ya soon!

Much Ado About Nothing June 15-16 & 21-23 @ 8:00, June 17 & 24 @ 3:00

Suddenly MacBeth June 22 & 23 @ 10:30

Hay Fever July 19-21 &  26-28 @ 8:00, July 22 & 29 @ 3:00

This morning, on the way to Starbucks (or as we call it… Starcrack), a coworker of mine asked me an excellent question.  He asked me why he should bother coming to see another Shakespeare play.  He said the language is hard to understand, and he just doesn’t really care to spend another two hours of his life confused.

A fair concern.  Shakespeare’s language doesn’t roll off the tongue for all actors or roll into the brain of all audience members with ease.  And, in general, people have a lifetime of bad Shakespeare experiences to solidify that.  Starting in school where it’s read and dissected rather than acted and brought to life.  Of course it’s boring!  People in Shakespeare’s time wouldn’t have read it in school either!  I’m an English major, and I’ll tell you right now that it’s doing Shakespeare a disservice to put it in a lovely glass box on a pedastal.  Maybe you’ve seen a production or two, starring Mr. "listen to how important my voice is while I speak this text, you ruffians!" or Ms. "I’m not sure what I’m saying, but I sure am saying it loudly!"  With costumes by Mr. "Tights and cone hats are SOOO in!"  Heck… you probably even saw those guys IN the movie your high school English teacher showed you.  Those are the people who do the best they can to separate themselves from the audience.  "We’re better than you because we’re doing Shakespeare."

So why should you bother to go see a Shakespeare play? 

Shakespeare’s characters are emotional and raunchy and weird and smart and, frankly, they’re just like you or me.  They just happen to have the advantage of a really good writer.

Our mission - and the mission of a lot of companies - is to look beyond the time period to the essence of the story and what the people are going through.  Your first boyfriend.  That will they/won’t they relationship.  Friends who think they know what’s best for you.  Getting in that last zinger in the argument.  Love.  Jealousy.  Friendship.  Family ties.  These are familiar situations, right?  So we try to find a setting that is already familiar to us, and has the same themes.  Then we use pieces of that familiar situation throughout the play to aid the language in telling the story.  And the language… well… we spend a lot of time making sure that WE and THE ACTORS know what the heck it all means.  If we don’t know… how can you?

Right?

Come see Much Ado.  You’ll see what I mean.  In a play all about family, love, deception… and probably a couple of dumb flunkies who do what they’re told… a lot of the same ingredients for a neighborhood mafia, eh?  You’ve seen those mob movies… you already know these characters.  They’re just telling their story a little differently. 

Shakespeare is for audiences.  And I hope you (and my coworker) will agree!