So we're begining our second week, and things are starting to pick up. Basically the first 3 weeks are crazy and disorganized, and then you finally start to get in to a routine. But I'll get into that in a second.
So, this place is divided into different groups of people. There are the interns: they are usually undergrads. They are mostly actors, but there are a few tech interns as well. They are pretty much the manual labor around here. The acting interns do a lot of the daily cleaning of the
theatre, and act in the shows, and help out with the tech stuff for a few hours every day. The tech interns just work on tech stuff all day.
Then there is the staff. This is mostly grad school/just graduated. It's people like the Master Capendar, Master Electrician, Props Master, ect. Then there's the designers, who are often also sometimes staff, like me (lighting designer/master electrician) and the costume designers (designer/head of shop).
Then there's the higher ups: the management and administrative staff, the equity actors, the directors, ect.
So, all last week the only people here were some of the management people and the staff. We spent all week doing inventory on our shops, cleaning shops and offices, or in my case, lights, and enjoying all the quiet and excess food before all the actors showed up.
But now the actors are here and things are starting to get crazy. Before we can get into any sort of routine they have to have costume fittings, clean the theatre, learn all the jobs they have to do, learn all the safety for all the shops, audition for the first couple of shows, and start learning the first two shows (also move in). We are starting off the season with a straight play and also something called the Strawhat Review, which is apparently a free show that the locals just adore, giving us publicity and just kind of showcasing what we're doing this summer.
So I've been kinda relaxing a lot lately, which I'm not going to get to do for the rest of the summer I'm pretty sure. But with no shows yet, and all my lights ready to go, there's not much for me to do for a few days.
The staff (other techies) here are really great. We've started a routine of going for a walk every day after dinner. Last night we decided to go on a new trail and accidentally ended up 5 miles out of town, forced to walk down the side of the highway to get back (either that or brave the tick-infested woods at sunset, which none of us were too keane on). The best part of this accidental 2+ hour walk was that we did discover an ice cream place at the end of it and all had an ice cream to celebrate. I hope our walks can continue through the summer but I'm not getting my hopes up .
They feed us 3 or 4 times a day here. Breakfast is just kind of fend for yourself, but they leave out bagels, cereal, things like that. Lunch is leftovers, sandwiches, and maybe something little like soup. And then dinner is a full meal, and so far always delicious. In fact, the only trouble I've had with food so far is that the coffee they supply is terrible. So me and my roomie have started buying our own and using the coffee pot in the "rehersal space" - really our living room- to make our own coffee every morning before we go to breakfast. In some ways it's really nice anyway because we can drink coffee and check our e-mail and get ready. The dining room is right next to the theatre, about a 10 min walk.
It's really pretty up here. So far it hasn't been more than warm, although it's also been very rainy and every time it rains the temp drops a lot. The town itself isn't that pretty, but every once in awhile you get some glimpses of the hills, which are beautiful. And I've been to some of the towns in the area already, so I've kinda seen what it looks like around this area. Apparently the state flower is lilacs, and that makes a lot of sense. There are lilacs everywhere!! And they're just now blooiming, even though they've already bloomed and died in Missouri. It's really great.
I think that's all for now. I'll post again when I have more news.
How I spend my time off: pull 'n peels, pastels, gel books, a novel and my ipod. My gel books are there because I try to do all my non-computer work outside. Carol offered to find me an office to work in, but for now I'd much prefer just to work in the house. I made myself a little nook next to the window, I sit in an armchair with a tiny tabel just big enough for my computer, my notebook, and a cup of coffee. And the window faces west so it picks up all the breezes. It's much better than any office.
This is our normal walk, when we don't get lost in the woods. We live at the very top of that opposite hill.
Me, Jesse (the master carpendar) and Jacqi (my roomate) very excited about finding the trail in the woods. This was before we accidentally walked 5 miles.
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