Open Rehearsal: The Court Theatre Blog
August 31, 2010
2010 Jeff Awards
Timothy Edward Kane in The Illusion, directed by Charles Newell
Court Theatre was honored by an incredible 18 Jeff nominations for the 2009/10 Season including nods for The Comedy of Errors director Sean Graney and his production of The Mystery of Irma Vep last fall at Court.
Court Theatre is honored by the eighteen 2010 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations it received for the 2009/10 season. We extend our sincere appreciation to all of the artists and audiences who made Court’s 55th season an incredible year. Below is a list of Court Theatre’s nominations.
PRODUCTION - PLAY - LARGE
”The Illusion”
”Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
”The Mystery of Irma Vep”
ENSEMBLE
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
DIRECTOR - PLAY
Sean Graney - “The Mystery of Irma Vep”
Charles Newell - “The Illusion”
Erik Hellman and Chris Sullivan in The Mystery of Irma Vep, directed by Charles Newell
ACTOR IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE - PLAY
Erik Hellman - “The Mystery of Irma Vep”
Chris Sullivan - “The Mystery of Irma Vep”
SOLO PERFORMANCE
Mary Beth Fisher - ”The Year of Magical Thinking”
The cast of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, directed by Ron OJ Parson
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE - PLAY
Allen Gilmore - ”Sizwe Banzi is Dead”
Timothy Edward Kane - “The Illusion”
SCENIC DESIGN - LARGE
John Culbert - “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Collette Pollard - “The Illusion”
Allen Gilmore in Sizwe Banzi is Dead, directed by Ron OJ Parson
COSTUME DESIGN - LARGE
Jacqueline Firkins - “The Illusion”
Alison Siple - “The Mystery of Irma Vep”
SOUND DESIGN - LARGE
Joshua Horvath and Nick Keenan - “The Illusion”
Joshua Horvath and Ray Nardelli - “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
LIGHTING DESIGN - LARGE
John Culbert - “The Illusion”
Mary Beth Fisher in The Year of Magical Thinking, directed by Charles Newell
August 17, 2010
First Rehearsal for The Comedy of Errors
Yesterday was a day of “firsts” at Court Theatre’s rehearsal hall. Most remarkably, it was the first rehearsal of the 2010-11 Season, and to mark the occasion, Artistic Director Charlie Newell gave a warm welcome to the assembled cast, artistic team, and staff before introducing Steve Albert, who also happened to be starting his first official day as Court Theatre’s new Executive Director. Yesterday was also the first time that all of us had the opportunity to hear Sean Graney’s new adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors as read by the six-member cast. Before that, though, the Comedy of Errors design team presented their models and sketches for the visual world of the play:
The Comedy of Errors scenic model, designed by Tom Burch.
The Comedy of Errors takes place in Ephesus, which director Sean Graney and scenic designer Tom Burch have envisioned as a once-prosperous city fallen on hard times. The setting of a city street is typical of Roman farce, from which Shakespeare adapted his play. Sean also gave Tom three “starting points” for thinking about the look of the play: postwar East Berlin, eighteenth-century France, and the torture room from the Saw horror movies. Tom gravitated toward French architectural elements but also French portrait paintings, which he described as society’s artistic outlet for thinking about the self (identity is an important theme in Comedy of Errors). Tom also envisioned Ephesus as being so desperate that its citizens have had to use scraps of doors, windows, even works of art to patch up its crumbling infrastructure (the doors will also open and close as the rate of entrances and exits increase). Lighting designer Heather Gilbert also hinted at some of the surprising sources of light that will appear from behind the wall of doors and windows.
The Antipholus twins, both played by Erik Hellman. Costumes designed by Jacqueline Firkins.
The Dromio twins, both played by Alex Goodrich. Costumes designed by Jacqueline Firkins.
For the costumes, designer Jacqueline Firkins had to tackle the practical problem of designing costumes for six actors playing twenty different characters. Each character must be sharply distinct from the others, but their costumes must be simple enough for the actors to change quickly from costume to costume (audience members who saw The Mystery of Irma Vep are familiar with this challenge). For visual inspiration, Jacqueline drew from a range of styles and periods in order for the costumes to telegraph both a historical and a contemporary sensibility.
A Boatswain and the “Angry Merchantess,” both played by Stacy Stoltz. Costumes designed by Jacqueline Firkins.
Dr. Pinch and the goldsmith Angelo, both played by Kurt Ehrmann. Costumes designed by Jacqueline Firkins.
After the designers finished their presentations, the cast began to read the play for the first time. Sean has been adapting the script so that all the characters can be performed by six actors, but this was the first time everyone had the chance to see how it was going to work. Some of the choices Sean has made with the play have never been done before with Comedy of Errors, and the result has been a new, nuanced reading of an often overlooked Shakespearean comedy. For the assembled crew, however, the most important revelation of the day was how truly funny this four hundred year-old piece remains to this day.
Check back here for more behind-the-scenes updates as we delve further into the rehearsal process!
The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare opens September 16, 2010. It is adapted and directed by Sean Graney.
