Behind the Scenes Blog!





















Final Show Today, June 27, 2010
Our final show of Prisoner's Dilemma takes place today at 5:00 p.m.  I'm very proud of my cast and crew and the success we have had with this show. The crowds have come out to support us for every show,  even our 11:00 p.m Thursday night performance had no trouble drawing 45 people. Thanks to all of you who have come out to support us. As you know, this is just a beginning for me. I will be producing /directing more shows in the future. If you have an original finished script that you think would be a good fit for the company drop me a line at @FacesofWayne on Twitter or Wayne Current on Facebook.


Here is something I meant to post yesterday. Dilbert and the Prisoner's Dilemma. I'm sure those that have seen our show will get a kick out of this. 





Many Flavours of Sterling, June 25, 2010
The days are just flying by at the Ottawa Fringe Festival. We're all having a blast and looking forward to our last two performances of Sterling Lynch's Prisoner's Dilemma (Saturday June 26 at 3:30 p.m. and Sunday June 27 at 5:00 p.m.) Come and check out the show that Fully Fringed says is "Not to be missed!"


Don't forget to check out the other shows Sterling is involved in. G-Men Defectives is a hilarious little "seminar" which will teach you how to fight the commie menace. It's very silly. The other show Sterling is involved with has a lot of heart. Deliver'd From Nowhere tells the story of two friends taking a road trip to see Bruce Springsteen. The trip turns into a voyage of self discovery with "The Boss" providing the soundtrack for their journey. 






June 21, 2010
So how is Prisoner's Dilemma doing? Our opening night was 11:00 p.m. on a Thursday night. I was anticipating a small crowd despite my 2-4 one promotion. I was pleasantly surprised to see 45+ people show up. People obviously liked the show and told their friends to see it because our next show on Saturday was sold out. One reviewer, has said that Prisoner's Dilemma is not to be missed. I'm thrilled that the show is doing so well. There are just 4 performances (one of them tonight at 6:30) left so come check us out. Make sure you either arrive early or buy tickets online to ensure that you get a seat. This show is very popular!


Radio Play (June 11, 2010)
Current Productions is pleased to announce that the cast and crew of Prisoner's Dilemma will be on CKCU 93.1 FM tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. Listeners will be treated to a sneak preview of the play, an interview with the team that is making this great show happen, and hear about a fantastic contest we will be holding on this blog for some fabulous prizes. Make sure to tune in!



The Teaser Trailer
My hat's off to Nadine Thornhill for putting together this amazing teaser.





How Do You Memorize All Those Lines?By Brianne Tucker (June1, 2010)











As a professional actor I often get asked the same question from people who are not in the business: How are you able to memorize all those lines? And each time, it is a fairly easy answer: Repetition, repetition, repetition. When I have my husband around he can read all the other parts for me and I can fill in my own characters ‘blanks’. It also becomes easier if I begin to section off different chunks of dialogue. It can be as simple as “This is the part where we meet” to “This is where my motivation changes from wanting revenge to wanting forgiveness” or something to that effect.

I did have a teacher at school who thought that if the number one thing that you were thinking about was your lines then you haven’t really done your work. I have to agree with that, and as we are now into our second month of rehearsals and the opening of the show is a little over two weeks away (Jeez, really?) I am working on putting layers into my character. Other actors may have a different way of naming this, but what it means for me is that I start looking at Sarah very decisively: what is she thinking in this moment, when is she the most comfortable, would that make her feel awkward, etc. And instead of having a general idea while rehearsing I now work on specific moments that alter decisions and status between the two characters. I will have to wait and see how rehearsal goes to find out how well I have done my job or to discover how well my ideas mesh with others…




Off Book (May 27, 2010)

The cast and crew of Prisoner's Dilemma have been working very hard and I'm pleased to announce that as of May 24 we are now officially "off book". This means that all the actors have their lines memorized (with occasional prompting when necessary) and are no longer walking around with scripts in hand. We are well on our way and I am very pleased at what we have accomplished in so little time.

During one of our early rehearsals Nadine commented on the completeness of   Chloe´ Ekker's, stage manager's kit. A stage manager has to be prepared for pretty much anything and Chloe´ certainly is. We thought it might be fun for our readers and audience to learn what went into one of these kits and Chloe´ graciously agreed to write a post about it:

Inside A Stage Manager's Kit by Chloe´ Ekker


The best cure to a slow, cloudy Spring morning is totally guilt free shopping! So weeks before our first rehearsal I set off on a dollar store shopping spree for my stage manager’s kit.  Other shoppers stared as I hauled my cart to the front of the store.  “Hey, I need to buy all this office supply; I need it for my job.” Some people have 10 pairs of shoes, I collect office supplies!     

In my stage manager’s kit I have:  (I apologize to all my friends and family who have already heard me brag about my SM kit)


- scientific calculator  
- glue stick  
-  Exacto knife  
- 10 foot ruler  
-  Large yellow paper post its (though it’s technically the no-name brand)  
- Small and Medium plastic-y post its  
- Small sewing kit  
 - 2 erasers… wait a minute, I used to have more!  
 - 4 pencils and a push pen  
 - Gum  
 - Small and large permanent marker  
 - Small erasable marker  
-  AAA & AA batteries (Ya, I know no one uses them anymore… however during a rehearsal for the youth infringement we suddenly needed batteries and Dan, our  
musician, had to run to the nearest corner store) 
  
 - Small first aid kit and feminine hygiene products.  
 - Plastic round thingies for ripped page holes   
 - Scissors   
 - Dollar store tape (it says it’s invisible tape but, really, it isn’t)  
 - Pencil sharpener  
 - Bull dog clips (don’t know what those are? Google it, you’ll be surprised!)  
 -Paper clips  

And that’s only the top level, folks!!!! What do you think? Am I forgetting anything important in my SM kit?  


  First Days (May 10, 2010) 

The first rehearsal is very much like the first day of school. Everyone actors, stage manager, and director is excited and a little bit nervous. Prisoner's Dilemma  marks my return to directing after a very long hiatus (university days), so I was probably the most nervous of the group. I have a lot riding on this show.  I am providing all the financing, my friend wrote the script, and it is the first show of a brand new company.

Very quickly during the rehearsal I realized, that as a director/producer, I had already overcome the biggest hurdle facing a production. The show is well cast. My actors were giving it a 100% right from the start.  I have no doubt we will have a good show with this kind of commitment. Everything else will sort itself out.

This is how the rehearsal went: I am a big believer in getting actors up and moving as quickly as possible. In fact, for Prisoner's, we began with movement by putting the scripts down and then having the actors (Nadine and Brianne) play the scene solely by expressing their intentions while moving instead, of the lines from the script. We then repeated the movements but this time used the script/stage directions etc.  I love it when character motivations and intentions determine the movement and drive the dialogue!

Here are some photos from our first rehearsal:


(Brianne Tucker on the left Nadine Thornhill on the Right)



(Wayne, Brianne and Nadine)

Photos by Chloe Ekker

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