Open Rehearsal: The Court Theatre Blog
June 15, 2010
Closing Night
It is, apparently, an old tradition of the theater to give the director, on closing night, a bouquet of flowers stolen from a graveyard. Nobody I’ve questioned at Court Theatre has ever heard of this tradition, much less practiced it. The tradition evidently originates from a time when graveyard flowers were the cheapest recourse for struggling theater artists.
Sunday night marked not only the closing night of Sizwe Banzi is Dead but the last day of Court’s 2009-2010 season. (All of our closing traditions at Court involve certain rituals better left unrecorded.) While the Sizwe stage is struck and newly minted UofC graduates evacuate Hyde Park en masse, Hyde Park is weathering a mood of sweet egression. We’ll still be here while the stage is dark, though, preparing for The Comedy of Errors and the rest of the 2010-11 season. (We’ll also be spending time exploring a few exciting new ideas for 2011-12.) Stay tuned.
12 Responses to Closing Night
I was truly impressed and totally engaged in your production of Sizwe Bansi. The actors were awesome and the direction was near perfect! I have been to S. Africa and gotten a chance to visit the Apartheid Museum, both enlightening and painful. Your production flooded me with memories of the experience, the oppression, the humiliation, the righteous indignation Black South Africans endured and the relevance still today. Keep up the outstanding work!
By Michael Woods on June 15, 2010 at 4:58 pm
This was an outstanding presentation! Not only is it relevant to today’s issues here in America and the western hemisphere, but the way two actors fully held the attention of the audience…....Bravo!!!!
By Morris Jones on June 15, 2010 at 5:35 pm
I was in Grahamstown, South Africa in 2006 when the revival of this production was scheduled at the National Arts Festival. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see it (though I did see another Fugard play). I am so glad that I saw this production instead. I found this an inspiring production, from the staging to the acting. I felt the relevance of the play throughout the performance, and the actors could not have given us more honest and emotional characters. Well done, Court.
By Maureen Ewing on June 15, 2010 at 6:18 pm
This powerful production was a tour de force for Chike` Johnson; absolutely riveting performance….bravo! Allen Gilmore was also most compelling as Sizwe Banzi. This play was superbly directed by OJ Parson and an experience I will never forget. Utterly brilliant work all the way around.
By Annemarie Levy on June 15, 2010 at 8:15 pm
Having only learned of South African Apartheid in the early 80’s. Watching news coverage really does not show the depth of such terrible violations of human rights. It was heartwarming to be able to experience this production. The actors really gave their all in potraying the characters and made me really bond with them. I left the theater with a better understanding of how humiliating and degrading apartheid is really is. I wish to thank The Court for providing such insightful material and will continue to patrionize the theater.
By MARY CLAY on June 15, 2010 at 8:36 pm
I took my mother to see the June 6th show and we both enjoyed it. The actors were wonderful and you could feel their frustration, sadness, or other emotions they expressed in the performance. I found my eyes tearing up and I wonder how I would’ve dealt with this unfair treatment if I’d been around during that time. Seeing this play is also a reminder that we should be grateful for the freedom and other opportunities we have.
By Evette Collins on June 15, 2010 at 9:19 pm
This the second time I have seen this play but by a different company. This production had much more impact on me. It’s relevance to today was so evident and I am sure it was because the actors kept me more engaged. I was fasinated by the opening piece by Chike. I marveled at how he gave so much energy and passion to this part of the play. Both actors wove this story so well and with such intensity that the messages protrayed will remain imbeded in my mind for a long time. Thank you for such a wonderful production.
By Susan Ward on June 15, 2010 at 11:33 pm
In lieu of a graveyard bouquet, I want to give heartfelt thanks to Mr. Parson, Mr. Gilmore, Mr. Johnson, and all those who helped create this powerful production. I brought 40 high school seniors to see the show, a week before their graduation, and afterward we spent two full class periods discussing the play and the experience.
By Tamara Jaffe-Notier on June 16, 2010 at 6:51 am
I thought this play was especially powerful having seen the other Fugard plays around town earlier this season: “Master Harold and the Boys” at Timeline Theatre, and especially “The Island” at Remy Bumppo which originally featured the same two collaborators, John Kani and Winston Ntshona.
By Christy Uchida on June 16, 2010 at 1:13 pm
6-23-10
how can one find out where Chike Johnson will appear next.?
By ivy on June 23, 2010 at 2:11 pm
Hey Ivy. Chike has a fan page on facebook. Here’s the address: http://tinyurl.com/242oa28. We were so lucky to work with him at Court!
By Traci Brant on June 23, 2010 at 2:49 pm
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More obscure theatrical superstitions from this 1949 issue of the journal of Western Folklore, by Norma Busse:
1. Do not whistle in a dressing room. If one does, a death will occur soon.
“This is perhaps the most famous and oftenest quoted of theatrical superstitions. When I was with one of the U.S.O. shows of World War II a new chorus girl joined the group. She may not have heard of this superstition, but she started whistling. A singing star yelled at her to “shut up” and told her why. It may have been just coincidence, but after the singer gave her numbers and came backstage she had a heart attack and collapsed.”
2. Never light three cigarettes on one match.
This is a common admonition in the theater. One who disregards it will forget his lines on the stage, or some disaster will happen to him.
3. Never rehearse the last line of the play. To do so brings bad luck and the play will be a flop.
4. The leading man must kiss all the women in the cast. If he does not he will never play a leading role again.
5. When the ghost walks, you get paid.
The origin of this is in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It has something to do with the ghost of Banquo, but its meaning is not clear to me.
6. Never turn loose more than three live rattlesnakes backstage.
7. There must never be any applause during rehearsals, or the play will not have a long run.
8. One must never rehearse a play with the curtain halfway down. It must be all the way up or all the way down, or something will go wrong with the play.
9. There should be no visitors in the dressing rooms during dress rehearsals, or something will happen to someone’s clothes during a performance.
10. The leading lady must never make her first entrance through the “Macbeth trap.”
11. There should never be shoes on the make-up table in one’s dressing room, or the lighting will make one look old and haggard.
12. There should always be a trunk with a rounded top in someone’s dressing room, or the prop crew will forget an important prop that should be on the
stage.
13. It is bad luck to meet someone on a circular staircase.
“If Lynn Fontanne meets someone coming up a circular staircase while she is coming down, one or the other must turn around and go back.”
14. One must never say backstage the opera title “The Last Days of Pompeii.”
“This opera had a six-day run in Italy, during which someone was either killed or injured at every performance.”
15. The barcarole from the Tales of Hoffmann is a bad-luck song.
On the opening night, in Austria, there was a big fire that killed or injured thousands of people. The Chinese also say that this song drove the last Chinese empress crazy.
16. One must never use real flowers on the stage or someone in the cast will die.
By Drew Dir on June 15, 2010 at 3:38 pm