Witches and Puppets and Bears. Oh My!
Well, it looks like we have to do this now. Nearly forty people attended the auditions over the two nights, meaning that we are able to cast the 100+ characters, albeit with a considerable amount of doubling.
The auditions were really interesting. I don't recall us as a company holding evenings quite like these before. The emphasis was very much on workshopping people and ideas, and rather than putting pressure on individuals a great deal of the work was done collectively. This was great as it meant people (particularly those new to the company) didn't feel put on the spot, allowing them to try out all the ideas. From a personal point of view, I would have found it difficult to make some of the casting decisions based on what I saw, because for all the good work produced, we only caught glimpses of what people can do with text and interaction with other performers.
However, this is a very different show, and it's probably true to say that for the majority of people auditioning we already know a lot about what they can do in the conventional acting sense. It was great to see these familiar people respond to our requests to behave differently, and to use different sets of "acting muscles".
Some very nice work was produced, and it was encouraging to see just how many performers were comfortable with the physical aspects of the work. The multi-role playing workshop produced some wonderfully entertaining results, and I think we've been able to find out what we can do for the polar bears, witches and angels. I was particularly pleased with how positively people threw themselves into these unusual tasks, and even more pleased with the ideas that people were coming out with.
Even at this early stage, there is a strong sense of ensemble and a very supportive attitude to the project, with people integrating quickly, sharing experiences, discussing ideas etc. No egos, which was very good to see.
I managed to look in on some of the puppet work at the end of the evening, and even had a go myself. Paul and Gerri are brilliant not only at bringing the puppets to life, but also at coaching the rest of us. I think some truly excellent work is going to emerge from this area of the performance, as already people were able to animate puppets of different sizes, imbuing them with characters, responses and emotions. This is so important to the success of His Dark Materials, and I am confident that we can pull it off.
The auditions were really interesting. I don't recall us as a company holding evenings quite like these before. The emphasis was very much on workshopping people and ideas, and rather than putting pressure on individuals a great deal of the work was done collectively. This was great as it meant people (particularly those new to the company) didn't feel put on the spot, allowing them to try out all the ideas. From a personal point of view, I would have found it difficult to make some of the casting decisions based on what I saw, because for all the good work produced, we only caught glimpses of what people can do with text and interaction with other performers.
However, this is a very different show, and it's probably true to say that for the majority of people auditioning we already know a lot about what they can do in the conventional acting sense. It was great to see these familiar people respond to our requests to behave differently, and to use different sets of "acting muscles".
Some very nice work was produced, and it was encouraging to see just how many performers were comfortable with the physical aspects of the work. The multi-role playing workshop produced some wonderfully entertaining results, and I think we've been able to find out what we can do for the polar bears, witches and angels. I was particularly pleased with how positively people threw themselves into these unusual tasks, and even more pleased with the ideas that people were coming out with.
Even at this early stage, there is a strong sense of ensemble and a very supportive attitude to the project, with people integrating quickly, sharing experiences, discussing ideas etc. No egos, which was very good to see.
I managed to look in on some of the puppet work at the end of the evening, and even had a go myself. Paul and Gerri are brilliant not only at bringing the puppets to life, but also at coaching the rest of us. I think some truly excellent work is going to emerge from this area of the performance, as already people were able to animate puppets of different sizes, imbuing them with characters, responses and emotions. This is so important to the success of His Dark Materials, and I am confident that we can pull it off.
posted by Cracked Actor at Friday, January 13, 2006
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