11:11 Theatre

Sunday night rehearsals are always fun because most of the classrooms are locked so we find ourselves to be somewhat like nomads as we scavenge the building for a home. Usually, on nights like these we end up in the hallway, which always proves interesting. This Sunday was no exception. In a remote, little corner down by the archeology department we set up camp and began to chip away at Act I. We worked steadily, with little interruption other than the occasional student walking by, slowing down to see if we’re anyone important and then speeding by when they realize we’re just a group of theatre lovers rehearsing for a play. Really is it just that though? I’d like to think it’s so much more.
For me, rehearsing, learning new blocking and characterization is always exciting. I love watching our rehearsals and seeing actors come to life on-stage as they discover their characters. Each rehearsal, each person that touches me in some theatrical sense, each glorious (or even not so glorious) play I see is reaffirmation that under the lights, on the stage, in a scene amongst interesting and beautiful people striving to portray life is where I need to be.
You might have noticed the swell of feature films popping up and suddenly filming here in Boston. Sure this is a great thing. But somehow, every time I see those trailers and cameras set up along the garden (there always seems to be a park scene that needs to be filmed in all of these movies), something inside of me feels the slightest tinge of resentment. I suppose the thing that irks me about Hollywood invading my town is the attention it gets. Every night on the news there are more pictures of Kevin James or Sandra Bullock taken by some Bostonian passing by the set with their camera phone ready, eager for any glimpse of a star sighting. And I guess I just wish that the magical connections that we’re building in our own small ways as we rehearse in our remote corner of the archeology department would be able to be recognized and appreciated and warrant respect simply for there own artful sake. Maybe those college kids are passing us by in the hall-way. Heck, we’re no Brad Pitt. But, if they were to come to one of our shows I’m willing to bet they’d be surprised how truly good theatre can be just as, if not more, captivating and enthralling as any old flick! I’m not saying we’re meant to compete with the glamor of Hollywood, but as people get caught up in all of that sometimes us theatre makers must strive to show how our art form can be equally as meaningful and powerful.
Sure we might not attract a nation of viewers, but I know that the ones we do play to will be deeply touched and moved. And that in the long run is justification enough for us to keep coming back to this passion of ours. Yes, even if it means occasionally rehearsing in a hallway.

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