On Approach . . .

Attila Clemann (15/12/02)

On approach . . .

We sit with only a few days left before the public performance of the production we have been struggling with for the past 5 weeks. At this point we have had one full run through clocking in at close to two hours for a show that should be really less than one. We have a set that is still drying because I alone have had to build the better part of everything we asked for otherwise it simply would not get done. Sharon has pinched and poked herself putting together an army of costumes and props while recording all the blocking of the show. Steph has started smoking even more as she pushes each actor to bring them up to speed. Julie is in daily contact with the organizers to keep the ball moving while taking over one of the parts dropped by a very reluctant acotr. Servane has laboured with the percussionists to keep them in place, on cue and quiet (and five minutes seems to be their maximum for that). And poor Etienne, who left us two weeks ago, is in the cold and sends us longing e-mails wishing he was with us now. The actors are still struggling with their lines. We have yet to let the understudies get a chance to run through the show. We tried to have extra rehearsals this weekend to make up for lost time but had limited attendance. We will try tomorrow to run the show outside in the blazing heat just to be able to run in a big enough space at least once before we go the square where we will actually perform.

And during all of this we still hear the students say, “Calma . . . calma.” And quite frankly we are calm in a rather hysterical way. There is simply nothing more we can do and we just have to go on. Our week will most naturally be difficult but there seems to be an interminable air of calmness and casualness amongst the students. Perhaps they have no fear of standing in front of an audience and forgetting a line or not knowing what to do next. Perhaps we have something to learn there. I can’t really tell anymore. There is what we wanted to do; there is what they want to do; and somewhere in between there is what we will do. And ready or not ‘The Good Woman of Setsuan” as performed by Andarilho under the direction of Les Métissages will see it’s day this Friday and Saturday at the Praca de Sao Pedro here in Recife, Brazil. Cheers all. See you on the other side of the 21st.