I’ve been doing theater for a while now.  Actually, I’ve been acting for over half my life, and for the part before I was still acting, just without a stage.  I love performing, and every show I do is unique in some way.  The never ending diversity of shows is part of what draws me to theater.  No two will ever be the same  However,  it has been a long, long time since I have been this excited about a play.

The way we are going about rehearsals, and the work we have done in the first few weeks, is radically different from how I have ever gone about a show before.  But the coolest thing about it is that I am not weirded out by it, or afraid that it is time wasted (a fear that undermines much of my past forays into more experimental theatrical approaches).  Everything that we have done, every exercise and warm-up, is in a very real way linked to the show.  Some make us look at characters in a different way, and some just bring us together as an ensemble.  What I have found most intriguing are the exercises that involve, as we have begun to say, “The DNA of the Play”. Actually, for me that is what this has all been about, really.  I have never thought of a play this way, but it makes so much sense I feel like it should have been obvious all along!

Now, I’m not but a lowly English major, and terms like DNA usually make my brain shutdown on first contact.  However, it just makes sense.  Everything in the play is connected, every line resonates differently due to the lines that come before it, whether in the same conversation or not.  All the themes, all the characters, everything is connected, and it is the discovery of this, the mapping out of the arcs and through-lines that I have found amazing.

And, of course, working with Kali has been fantastic.  She brought us a massive tool box, and filled it with inventive, interactive, and most importantly FUN ways of finding the DNA, finding our characters, and finding a new way to enjoy theater.  When the group lurches around the room together, then falls to floor crying, then hysterically starts laughing (And all without any prompt to do so!), I as an actor feel the DNA.  It is one thing to talk about it, and quite another to become part of the DNA yourself.  To which we owe Kali a tremendous debt.

I know I have mentioned it before, but I’m going to say it again.  This cast is awesome.  With a show like this, and the direction that we are taking it, it is crucial for everyone to be on board 100%, and to try their absolute hardest.  Which is exactly what is happening.  The work ethic of every member is astounding, and everyone comes to rehearsal with an open mind.  And the best part is, we all have fun together at the same time!  I could not have picked a better ensemble to work with, or one I would have more fun working with.

We’ve done so much in so little time.   I thought I knew the play before, but now I see it in a completely different way.  Actually, its more accurate to say that I see it in a myriad of different ways.  The subtleties of the text, the dark humor, the way everything fits together, I never noticed any of it before.  Its like we are doing a completely new play.  Which, I guess, in a way we are.  Because the very way in which we are searching for and discovering the DNA of the play alters it permanently at a profound level.

And all of this before we even began working directly with the text!  I have learned more about “Uncle Vanya”  than I thought would be possible in just three weeks.  I cannot wait to see what more we can do in the next couple of months.