It is great to be working on a show again especially one as crazy and fun as this one. Thanks, Laura, for letting me be on stage this time!
So does anyone have any ideas about how to become an old woman when you already have a bad back?? I have tried many things, but could use some fresh ideas.
After looking over the various words to describe our characters, I decided that the character of the Spartan Ambassador would be "wringing" - indirect and slow, due to his lack of intelligence and insatiable desire for posterior sensuality, but strong, because of his position of authority.
While defining these characters will be easier due to the cartoonish level of caricaturization, it almost feels limiting to subtlety and nuance. However there isn't very much of that in such a blanant comedy as Lysistrata.
at the bottom of the page where you write your entry, there's a drop box named Status, you need to pick 'Published' otherwise your entry won't show up. When you log on, there's a list of all the entries--all the ones right now have a pencil icon next to them and that means that those entries haven't been published.
[Note: Thanks, Nicole. This has been changed and now defaults to "Published" so you need to change that if you want to save a draft. I also went ahead and published all the backlogged entries. -Eric Meyer]
so this play makes me a little nervous. mainly because of how hard i think comedy is to pull off well. especially in a 'cartoon' style. it could easily go in a way that's very shallow. but on the other hand, if we dig deeper into the history of these characters, we could come out with a very smart comedy. and i'm glad to see that we are heading down that track--i hope we can continue that throughout the rehearsal process. and i'm also excited to learn what different things i can do with my body and voice--i always feel a little intimidated about going all out physically and vocally because it doesn't work all the time. it's nice that everyone is in the same boat; we are all just trying stuff out and if it doesn't work, we just try something else. it's great that even in such a large cast, we all seem into doing that--i think that's a rare thing to happen, so I hope we continue to have that kind of outlook!
I have to tell you guys, honestly, I'd never heard of "Lysistrata" before Laura pulled me in on this. It's actually a wierd twist of fate I'm even here. I met Laura at an annual party that mutual friends of ours give once a year called "The Gun Show". It's really just a huge bash for a bunch of friends who's birthdays fall around July the 4th every year - one of those being my fiance's, Geoff. I just remember standing next to someone at the middle of the party, being slightly more innebriated than I'd thought, and she turned to me and said, "Want to hear a dirty joke?" It was Laura, and even though I don't remember the joke, I do remember laughing my ass off and knowing I'd found someone with the same taste in raunchyness as I have. CUT TO : a few months later, after I'd worked through Laura on the film "Elsewhere", I had an offer from her to come and audition (with said fiance) for a role. My audition? Horrible. But I'd done costuming for a previous film, and told my new friend that I'd be more than happy to help out. I figured she'd just need me to sew up a few pieces, come in and help out every so often. Yeah, I was very surprised to learn she wanted ME to be the costume DESIGNER...OK, I could do this, no problem. But first, I had to find out more about this play. So, I did what anyone else would do. I googled it. And can I say how flippin' exstatic I was to discover this play is one of the more beloved ones across the country, in fact, one of the most produced plays in it? My research consisted of looking at the costumes of past performances, along with construction of the sets, etc. I needed a glimpse into the minds of my predecessors, to see what their ideas were transformed into. It was a range from bohemian chic to out right calamity, and even phallic to extremes I'd never even considered. I had a range, now I just needed to graze in it - which is what I've been doing since. My assistant, the lovely Miss Holi, has been great inspiration - Holi is an actress, who was looking for something more to do with her art, and has been a wonderful help to me. My main focus in my research was two ideas that keep floating in my head from conversations taken from our first Tech meeting, to a personal one between Laura and myself, for the look she wants for this production. The first idea: CARTOON. She made several comments about the idea of 'Warner Brothers', 'Elmer Fudd', and just an over-all sense of nonsense, that I have to state here, I haven't seen in any other production stills I've looked at over the 'net. I'm happy to say that Laura's idea of the cartoon universe to set this in is unique and, for this rendition at least, perfect. I'll be downloading some of my pictures that Holi and I will be using to construct the costumes, as well as (hopefully) later on my own sketches of the looks for the characters. The second idea came from Annie, our history expert. She made note of the era this play is coming from, and it rang so true to me that I can't ignore it. The play is about the valiant efforts of a people to end war and continue on in peace, for the sake of humanity (at its core). The whirlwind philosophies that blast at us from the news reports and daily drama going on in the middle east are perfectly reflected in this drama from centuries ago, and I feel they need to be exploited for their benefit here. That may be more the job of the director or set designer, but if it can even echo in the costumes...well...where's the harm in that?
Anyway, look at the pic's, laugh it up. I've collected them into groups simply to save file space on my ancient Gateway Dell, so they're not in any real particular order. It's how I roll...
Have a great time with this, everybody. Enjoy it. I know I will...
Your costume designer,
Tara Eary
Hello to my lovely cast,
After only one week of rehearsals, I can already see what a hilarious show this is going to be! Remember to pick your signature move and the one you revert when needed. See you soon!
Punching - fast, direct, strong
Slash - fast, indirect, strong
Pushing - slow, direct, strong
Wringing - slow, indirect, strong
Gliding - show, direct, light
Floating - slow, indirect, light
Flicking - fast, indirect, light
Dabbing - fast, direct, light
