Open Rehearsal: The Court Theatre Blog
September 13, 2009
Thoughts on the Set
Thursday was our first day rehearsing inside the theater, and everyone is very excited about working on the newly completed set. The variety of different textures and levels fits the mish-mashed feeling of the play: a sequence of comical or disturbing stories, a group of people from different walks of life brought together for an afternoon. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom doesn’t simply develop a main plot and a subplot; Levee’s frustrated attempts at success form the basic arc of the play, but for me it’s meat consists of the stories told in the bandroom that go back to the post Civil War South, that reflect the experiences of so many African-Americans of that period. Combined with Ma’s personality and music, the play seems to me more like a fibrous web that stretches over fifty years of history from Georgia on up to Chicago than a simple plotline. The different textures—wood (old barn wood from Wisconsin for the band room, polished oak for the church), brick, and linoleum—,the four levels, twisting backstage pathway to the bandroom, and slanting angles give the set a cobbled, organic feel that not only provides a tremendous aesthetic for the actors to work in front of, but also reflects the feeling of August’s writing.
The cast and crew have been working on tech all this weekend, and we go into previews this Thursday! I can’t believe how quickly it has passed.
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