What is that Zombie doing in Shakespeare

A colleague asked me if our production of Macbeth was really Shakespeare’s Macbeth. I understood the question because we had been using our zombie concept to help sell tickets to students. I assured him that it was really Macbeth and that he would surely recognize the play. He clarified his question a little, noting that Shakespeare did not include zombies in the play.

It is a logical question. While there is a great deal of darkness and murder in the play, the word zombie never appears in the script.

Shakespeare was no stranger to the occult, of course. Many of his plays include witches or seers or other such mystical characters. Many Londoners of Shakespeare’s time would have been true believers in this sort of thing. In Macbeth, Shakespeare includes three witches who, as written, seem to lay down the archetype for our current Halloween witches with their enchantments and boiling cauldron. These witches are an important part of the plot and lay down a great deal of the exposition.

Orson Welles once directed a famous production of the play that came to be called the “Voodoo” Macbeth. Welles chose to set the play in Haiti and turn the witches into voodoo priests and priestesses. Some think the actors were actual practitioners of voodoo and often cast real spells and curses on members of the company and audience as part of the play.

It is a short leap for us, then, to include the concept of zombies in our production. Many of the scenes are very dark, several characters are killed during the course of the action, one in particular seems to come back to life after having been killed onstage, and of course there are those crazy witches. It just seemed to us that even Shakespeare might include zombies if he was writing the play today.

Once we set the concept, many of the other pieces fell together rather nicely. Choices regarding lighting, sound, music, movement, scenery, and costumes became exciting and obvious. The concept is not a reworking of the play itself but rather a vehicle for telling the same story Shakespeare told 400 years ago.

Don’t expect a lot of changed lines or reinterpretation just because there are a couple of zombies hanging around. The play is still Shakespeare’s script; we made some cuts for length but made no changes for meaning. You should easily see the play for what it is: a straight-forward cautionary tale about lust for power.

Times Flies When You Are Having Fun

Boy . . . when you are working on four shows all at the same time, some things really slip away from you. That's how it has been for me.

My primary concern is the impending opening of MACBETH at Firestone. This play has a lot of moving parts and getting them all to work together and all at the same time has been a little like herding cats. The good news is that we have strung together a few excellent rehearsals and I can now say with some confidence that the show is going to be terrific. We still have a couple of fairly tall hurdles to jump and it won't be easy . . . but it will be done and presented to the public. You should come. I'll be the guy breathing a sigh of relief in the back row.

I am also involved in planning our next production, CROWNS, as well as a couple of outside projects. This has really kept me hopping and not on this blog. I was hoping that a few more kids would blog here but so far, no. Several say that they have written things for the blog but I never seem to receive them via e-mail.

I guess they are busy, too.

I am really excited about CROWNS because I love the show. I first saw it at the Cleveland Playhouse and knew immediately that one day we would present it for our audience. I started making plans not too long afterward and now here it is! It hink it is really going to be a lot of fun. We have a great director and an excited cast of mostly newcomers.

Season Subscriptions for our season have been selling really well. We have already surpassed previous years' totals and it looks like we will make the sales goal tomorrow. Once we do, all theatre students earn a pizza party for their hard work (even though no class reached their particular class goal).

It should not surprise me that the Subscriptions are selling well . . . we have the best season in town. I say that not just because I picked the shows --which I did-- but because we offer the most variety of style and literature as well as high prodcution values and an excellent entertainment value. I would put our season against anyone else's for sheer entertainment and enjoyment of live theatre.

More later on MACBETH. There's lots to say. Maybe even a few pictures for your enjoyment.

Method Acting

submitted submitted by Zoe

That's the joke I've been telling everyone when they see the gel cast on my ankle. I'm a method actor. I needed a real gimp.Well, the foot's got a torn ligament. Don't know what I'm talking about? I'll update you.

I fell during swim practice and apparently tore...a ligament. My physician said I needed to stay on crutches for three to six weeks, which obviously conflicts with the opening of Macbeth. This actually isn't a horrible thing, because I can easily use those crutches as part of my character. What a godsend that it's Zombie Macbeth instead of something else, isn't it? What if it were--'perfect posture, no slumping, gimp-less' Macbeth? Wouldn't that be horrible? However, I can't quite believe that I need these stupid crutches for 3-6 weeks, so we're going to make an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon who will check things out further.

Had another sit-down with mom the other day about Lady Macbeth, and she asked me if I were directing the play, who that I knew would I cast as Lady Macbeth? That person was who I must emmulate in order for my character to pop. It's the pop factor that I've had trouble with lately. Turns out, although my stomach literally CHURNS when I think about it, this would be my to-be step-grandmother. My grandpa's fiancee. Oh, she makes my skin crawl! But he's not her first husband, she's VERY intelligent, manipulative, and an amazing actress. When she's around him, she's simpering, helpless, and docile, but all the while getting him to do exactly what she intended...it's almost scary. She seems like a weak little Southern belle, but she's far from it. I don't like her AT ALL which is what I told my mom. But that's my problem. I've found Lady Macbeth, whether I like it or not, and I've got to use her. Subtract about 40 years. Shuuuuuuddder...

At least Thriller's going well. The gimp doesn't hurt too much, actually, seeing as we're supposed to be limping anyway.

Signing out.

more on all-ohio show

We have been informed that the Audition materials for All-Ohio Production of Dead Man Walking have been posted on the Ohio Thespian Website. You can find that here.

I believe that the due date is November 1, 2007 and that it needs to be submitted by me. So let's make the due date for those forms to come back to me October 30, 2007. I think these forms are pretty self-explanatory but feel free to ask me if you have questions. I will also have some copies of it for those of you unable to download the forms for yourself.

Your Thespian officers have set a goal to have a few Firestone Thespians in this production. So even if you can't take it on, you should encourage your friends.

All-Ohio Thespian Production

I received a mailing from our Chapter Director today outlining Ohio Thespian activities for the year. Of special interest to some of us is the identity of the All-Ohio Thespian Production.


It is to be the stage version of DEAD MAN WALKING. You might know the movie directed by Tim Robbins . . . well, he adapted the screenplay into a dramatic work for schools to produce on their own stages. Here is an URL to find out more about this show:


http://dmwplay.org/


The All-Ohio Show is to be directed by Fabio Polanco who is on the theatre faculty at Ashland University. I do not yet know when or where auditions are to be held for the All-Ohio Show but I will tell you as soon as I know. Your Thespian Officers have set a goal to have Firestone Theatre represented in the All-Ohio Show this year so hopefully a few of you are already interested.

We can send a total of 6 actors to auditions and an additional 6 designers/technicians to the interview. I would be the happiest little theatre director in the whole wide world if we had 12 students seriously interested in the All-Ohio Activity.

We have had numerous students involved in the past and they have loved it. You meet fun and interesting people, work with some very talented directors and designers, and work on exciting and challenging material. I know that being involved in the All-Ohio Show makes State Conference about 1000 times more fun than it already is.

Think about it. Then stop thinking and just do it already!

College Choices . . . too much of a good thing

Searching for and choosing a performing arts college is one of the most difficult things our students undertake during their tenure here. Almost every university offers a degree in theatre performance . . . and it can be hard to tell the difference between the good and the less-than-good. Additionally, as some of our graduates can tell you, a school sometimes talks a big game during your campus visit but does not deliver the goods once you are enrolled. It can be a very expensive shell game.

We offer a class here to VPA Theatre Juniors called Professional Theatre Issues. This class, in part, helps to prepare students for their college auditions and interviews as well as provides a framework for choosing the type of university the student would like to attend. It is an interesting dichotomy of a class because most of these juniors think that it is too early for them to think about college and sometimes only give the subject a passing interest in class.

However, for many of them, this class can be a simple exercise in "too little too late." For some of these very talented students, the middle of their junior year might be too late to get serious consideration from the top-shelf theatre schools. If theatre students have not been preparing for college all long the way, it might be too late to be accepted to CCM, NYU, Northwestern, or any number of other exellent theatre schools. Dispite the excellent theatre education students receive here, it is certainly not enough to guarantee entry into the program of your choice.

Many very talented and dedicated students have been turned away from highly competitive programs. This can happen for a wide variety of reasons: (1) the student may not have enough credits, (2) the student may not have the RIGHT credits, (3) the student may not have pursued their craft outside of school, (4) the student might look exactly like three other kids already in the program.

The list goes on and on . . . and only the last one is out of your control. But you have to start early.

I make a few suggestions here for a student sincerely interested in placement at a competitive theatre program:

(1) Participate early and often in school productions. Work onstage and off every time you have the opportunity.

(2) Do whatever you can to play bigger parts or to earn leadership positions. (Improve your audition, be a good citizen, take direction, be a team player, volunteer for the hard jobs, and focus on the show more than you do your social life.)

(3) Actively pursue onstage and offstage experiences at theatres in your area. Be sure that these experiences have true value and are not just additional lines on your resume.

(4) Seek out enrichment opportunities during non-school times. (Summer, especially)

(5) Build your network. Seek out opportunities with truly talented people. Work with as many professionals as appropriate and maintain a positive relationship with them whenever possible.

(6) Pursue other interests, too, but not at the expense of your artistic development. You should have a life outside of the theatre.

(7) Get good grades in all your classes.

(8) Work WITH your high school director to get the kinds of experiences you want and need. If you do not voice your desire to play the lead in the fall play, he or she may not know that it is important to you.

These suggestions may not be the magic key you need to get to the college of your choice, but they will get you started in the right direction. Do not think of your high school director as the enemy. We are here to help you . . . . but you must help us help you.

I will discuss college choice here with some regurlarity. It is a big question with too many answers.

Stratford bound

submitted by Zoe

Guess what I'm doing on the way to Stratford tomorrow?

Why, Zoe! You're doing your tons of IB homework!

Yes, self. But what else will I be doing tomorrow for 7 hours?

Oh, Zoe, don't be silly. You'll be doing one of your 56 sketchbook assignments for AP Art!

Of course, self. But what's that one, most important thing that will trump all of my other obligations and absorb all of my creative energies for 6 of the 7 hours tomorrow?

STUDYING MY SCRIPT!

Today was fun. We choreographed the beginning of the show and got to get into it a little on our own while the witches were at work in the corner. However, when they finished and we all sort of broke apart, I was really proud to see how many people took it upon themselves to go sit in a corner and really just work their scripts. One person showed me about 10 pages of subtext written out in impossibly tiny writing. So I worked out some of my soliloquy work and went into some of Maz's library cart for some help. Really good stuff, if anybody gets the chance. Especially the one with one chapter per play that's pretty much analysis. And the Arden edition of Macbeth.

Stinks to gain momentum and then have to go for five days. At least I'll be seeing physically as much theater as possible. I'm so pumped for To Kill a Mockingbird.

Better go pack away my script so I don't forget it.

Working at the car wash . . .

I wanted to post a couple of pictures . . . maybe later.

Around fifteen (or more) of our Thespians spent their Saturday morning washing cars for free -- but gladly accepting donations. It was a busy day with only one real break and it lasted just a couple of minutes. Seemed like we always had a car to wash. Sometimes four. Thankfully, we have a good location at a busy intersection near the school. There is high visibility and easy access from two different directions. And we don't get in the way of the business. The location offers us a space until around 12:30 p.m. and a free hookup to their water supply. We have to bring our own hoses but that is a small price to pay.

We also bring brownies or cookies for the employees of the business . . . that makes them happy and full. All the better for us, I figure, if they know their generosity is appreciated. And nothing says "appreciation" like a big plate of brownies. (Unless it's two plates)!

This is the fifth car wash we have held since deciding it might be a fun and easy way to make money for our various Thespian activities throughout the year. I have been constantly impressed with our students' ability to work hard and constantly washing strangers' cars. Even a few of the paretns who stopped by marvelled at how industrious the kids were. People who think teenagers are afraid of a little hard work have never seen anything like this. It makes me proud to see it.

Our officers were well-prepared, on time, and organized.

I am constantly impressed with the number of people who will simply pull off the street to have their cars washed by teenagers in a parking lot. Before we started doing it, I would never have believed that it was possible. I'm a believer now; we washed a few cars owned by studetns or parents but the wide majority of cars washed belonged to people we did not know. Saturday we washed a BMW car that wopuld easily $40,00.00 new. I guess if you don't want to wash it yourself, there are only so many places to take a car like this.

Last year we washed a classic Jaguar! The owner said he only took out about 10 times a year. I am not sure the kids had any idea of the value of this vehicle, but they took great car and the gentleman and his wife were pleased with the wash. At least the said so.

That same day, another driver jumped out of her car, snatched the hose out of the hands of a well-meaning student and rinsed her car completely before tearing out the parking lot at high speed. I don't know if we were taking too long or she didn't appreciate the quality of work. Either way, we were all kind of shocked and stood for a moment or two with our mouths hanging open.

No bad behavior on Saturday, thank goodness. There were no unhappy customers and APD did not make an appearance (like last year). Our "customers" were gracious and generous. Most were sincerely interested in our activities and some engaged us in conversation about our upcoming theatre season. We happily provided them with a brochure and encouraged them to subscribe.

I like car washes as a fundraising project. But I especially like it for the social and educational aspects. A car wash gets my students together in a non-theatrical environment. Students in all grades were represented; there were Thespians and VPA Theatre students. Some first-year stuents were there experiencing their very first Thespian activity. Once there, my students must work together for a common goal, build confidence, follow their student leaders, problem solve, meet the public, and build a strong work ethic.

It helps that they know they can use some of the money to pay for dues or conference registration, of course. But I think that most of them are there because it is fun. They probably don't even know that they are learning something, too.

Who's who now?

We created a new student group to lead and support the technical and support areas of our little theatre program.

We called it the Committee of Seven for no reason in particular. I guess we just thought it was funny. And it sounded kind of secretive and ominous. We are creating a logo with the help of the art department. I had drafted a simple idea with the letter /c/ and the number /7/ intertwined in such a way that it looks rather like the letter /G/. I thought it seemed a little cryptic and played into our initial concept of the organization. My colleague immediately said, "Oh, just like the Fantastic Four logo." my heart sunk a little. I had to concede his point, of course, but asked him to make sure it wasn't too much like this other copyrighted material.

We joke about the Committee of Seven being our secret theatre society. The first rule of the Committee of Seven is that no one talks about the Committee of Seven, we sometimes joke aloud. We have announced meetings by saying that there is NOT a meeting on this time and NOT on this day. The announcement works because more people ask about it and we always tell them the whole story. Our bylaws of course strictly forbid secrecy and require that all our meetings and decisions are public and open to any interested person. The whole point of the committee is to give students a more active role (and voice) in the process of creating theatre. And to recruit more and new students to our activities. It's not a secret . . . it's just not very well known. Yet.

Or is it?

I was told today that we are not alone. Apparently there is some book out there in which a private boarding school is secretly run by a small group of students who call themselves . . . wait for it . . . yes, that's right . . . the Committee of Seven! Maybe they have a better reason for naming themselves this -- or any reason at all, perhaps. To me, sharing this name is funny and disapointing all at the same time. I laughed a long time about it and then sighed. Dang. I guess we'll just have to share our name, if not our mission, with these fictional students in a book I've never heard of.

In the meantime, we elected officers, planned our first meeting with the stage crew, and brinstormed ways to recruit designers and crews. You might hear about us later . . . . but it won't be for secretly running the school.

This could be the start of something big

The very first official meeting of the brand spanking new Committee of 7 will take place at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. If you have not been notified --and I think you have-- you should plan to attend.

The Committee of 7 is a student group we created in the spring to help manage all elements of technical theatre and support areas for the theatre productuions during the school year. It is an innovative way to get more studetns invovled in the decision-making process and to help train student leaders now and into the future. My expectation is that studetns will take more ownership in their productions if they serve a more direct purpose in its planning and execution from a technical perspective.

Students fill the various chairs and oversee and lead their own departments. The are chairs for Lights, Sound, Props, and Stage Managers, for example, as well as a postion of house manager, publicity manager, auditions manager, and a shop foreman. I expect that a meeting will be held of the stage crew in the opening weeks of the school year so that all interested parties will know what is going on.

My expectation is that one or more of these chairs (or managers) will blog here, too, so that we can keep even more people informed of our activities as time passes.

Working on the Car Wash

Your Thespian Officers will meet at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, August 27, 2007. All elected officers and class representatives should attend this meeting.

Topping the agenda will be planning for our next fundraising Car Wash tentatively to be held on Saturday, September 1, 2007. Past car washes have been very successful in terms of participation and funds raised. The most recent car wash raised almost $300.00, half of which was placed directly in personal Thespian accounts of the participants so that they can use it to offset Thespian related expenses during the year. Thespians used similar funds last year to pay Thespian dues, register for Area and/or State Conference, and to mitigate the expense of the London Theatre Trip.

Mark your calendar now for the Car Wash to be held at the corner of Pershing and West Market in Akron from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 1, 2007. If you are a Thespian or Thspian wannabe we should plan to attend and participate. Otherwise, bring your dirty car to be washed.

Car washes can be work, because washing a car well is not a walk in the park . . . but the Thespians who have participated in the past have SAID that they had a good time. We ahve the pictures to prove it, too.

thoughts on Lady M

contributed by Zoe

I've never had a problem with heat before, perhaps because it's what I grew up with, but that's not to say I don't feel its effects as much as the next person. Today was probably the worst of this week's 'working conditions'. I know everyone had a hard time concentrating--if I seemed to be in a zombie-like trance, I can't say it was acting. The weather sort of sucks the life out of you.

I was excited to get some of my scenes up on their feet, though. I spoke to my mom about how glad I was to get some of Lady Macbeth's physicality out there, and she brought up a good point. She said when she was acting, she always began her process from the inside out--analyzing everything completely before actually rehearsing the lines. She thinks, and I agree with her, that I happen to be the other way around. The more I get to be on my feet and moving and interacting with the other actors, the more her character develops.Before yesterday's zombie exercise, I pretty much had accepted Lady Macbeth as the memorable character she was and hoped to portray a similar interpretation as I had seen last year at Shakespeare in the Park in central park NYC. However, today as I was working through Duncan's murder scene, I felt like I was beginning to connect with how exhilarated she must've felt, almost drunk with giddiness.

The zombie gimp is beginning to develop on its own, too. I'm starting to let my pelvis lead my movements, and my legs sort of drag behind me, but I can feel this twitch developing, a jerk in the neck that really becomes more pronounced as she loses more control. I really hope to put out there a much more physical portrayal of Lady Macbeth than I'd seen in New York. She knows perfectly well how to conduct herself as a distant, dutiful wife, but on her own, when she's in complete control of her surroundings (including her husband), it's a different story. She's free to do as she pleases.If everyone really commits to the Zombie plan, this could really work. It's only the first week however. I can't wait until I'm not tangled with a script in my hands and can really explore the space. It's actually quite exciting. My interpretation of her morphs by the minute.

It's almost too hot to think about Scotland

Rehearsals for the Scottish play started appropriately enough on Monday with dark skies, heavy rain and lots of thunder. Even though we were closed up inside teh theatre with no direct access to the outside world, we were well aware of the weather conditions as we could hear the rain on the roof as well as the numerous claps of thunder. The rain had cleared up by the end of the first day of rehearsal but it was still a very gloomy day. It helped us all get in the right frame of mind to think about evil deeds and the lust for power, and deadly revenge.


Cool temperatures and rain clouds soon gave way to high temperatures and even higher humidity . . . making rehearsal in our uncooled theatre nearly unbearable. In spite of the low confort factor, attendance has been good so far and all have been in good spirits and ready to get some work done. We have been working steadily with two days of table work, a first day of staging, and another day of situation based improv and more staging.


The building had really heated up by today and was already miserable by our 9:00 a.m. start time. I have been told that the humidity was 91 percent at 8:00 a.m. so you can imagine how muggy the theatre was after sitting closed up with no fresh air for at least 18 hours. By noon, I had had about all I could stand of the conditions and asked how many people would be mad if I sent them home early. No one seemed to complain. Not to me, at least. We'll just ahve to pick up what we missed today later on in the rehearsal process.


It is early enough that falling behind a little bit is not that big of a deal. We might miss the time later if we really get stuck. But for now we can take a few liberties.


Our choreographer worked in the dance studio with the wierd sisters today and said that it went great. She has lots of good ideas and it is going to be so much fun to collaborate with her. The good doctor stopped by, too, and we talked a little about the music for the show. He told me that he is planning to incorporate some vocals along wtih our disordant, dirge-like score. We are still brainstorming about how to get a theramin or theramin-sounding device into the show. The kids who know what a theramin is are pretty excited about its possible inclusion. I hope that we can figure it out so that this unique instrument can be included in our little show.


We'll take the weekend off, of course, as well as Monday. We have rehearsal on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday next week. If the weather cooperates we should get a lot done then.

it was raining in the park

There was a lot of rain and a little thunder but we still had our picnic on Monday. Attendance was very good considering the weather. The picnic is always a good chance to catch up with old friends and make new ones, too, as several of the first-year theatre students were in attendance. The first-years seemed to fit in great and are already looking forward to a great year in their new school.

We are looking forward to a great year, too, in addition to working with them for the first time as they are friendly and very talented.

The officers conducted their first Thespian meeting of the year after dinner. They played some fun theatre games that included everyone and talked about a few of the plans for the coming Thespian year. Those plans will be spelled out here in the coming weeks as we and your thespian officers blog more regularly about our activities.

We have also asked two members of the cast of the Scottish play to blog here about rehearsals of the Scottish play, or "M" as we sometimes call it. So this blog space will be a good place to come and peek behind the closed doors of the rehearsal hall. I will post their remarks as soon as I receive them. I am looking forward to reading their thoughts about rehearsal and the play as it develop over the next 6 weeks.

Feel free to submit an entry of your own if you have somethng interesting or exciting to write about.

Weather Don't Fail Me Now . . .

The weather forecast does not look promising for tonight's Annual FHS Thespian/Theatre Picnic. But fear not: the picnic will go on rian or shine. The site has an enclosed pavillion so that is in the event that the heavens open forth, we can stay dry . . . at least until we make a mad dash for our cars.

Nevertheless, we will proceed with our plans regardless to the weather. This is but one samll hurdle for us to jump.

See ya there!

A Picnic by any other Name . . .

Sometimes a picnic is more than a picnic.


Your thespian/theatre picnic to be held on Monday is also the first Thespian Meeting of the year. There are a couple of things that have to happen at this first meeting as required by your newly ratified constitution. So if you are already a member of Thespian Troupe 5570 you should definitely attend. If you are not yet a member of the troupe you are more than welcome to attend, too, because all of our events are open to all interested students.



One of the most important things that will happen at Monday's Thespian Meeting is the election of class representatives. Your officers are already making plans for the year and need the help of four more students who want to be part of the planning and decision making process. It looks like one member of each class will be elected Monday evening to serve as a Class Representative for your Thespian Troupe.

The officers will hold a quick meeting Monday night to make some final decisions about process but it looks like the senior, junior, and sophomore Representatives will each need to be active Thespians in Troupe 5570 and that the freshman representative will not. This makes sense because no freshman will yet have earned points toward membership. This is all subject to oversight by your officers but whatever is to happen with Class Representatives will happen on Monday (or not at all) because that is how it is mandated in your newly ratified Thespian Constitution. If it doesn't happen then it won't happen at all.

So be prepared to nominate your colleagues for your Class Representative at Monday's Thespian Meeting. Nominations will be taken from the floor and I suppose that it is possible for a Thespian to nominate themselves. Voting will take place with seniors voting for their representative, juniors for juniors , and so on.

Let's Get Started

The 2007-08 Firestone Theatre Season gets underway on Monday, Auguat 20, 2007, with the annual Theatre/Thespian Picnic. All active Thespians and members of the academic theatre program are invted to attend and should have already received an invitation.

The Picnic is designed to be a fun event to kick off the new year. We meet up with old friends and meet new ones. We get to know the incoming freshmen and share schedules and other information.

The first Thespian Meeting of the school year will also take place at the picnic.

If you have not already planned to attend this meeting, you should do so now. We want to see all of you there so we can have the best time ever.