Lights Off: Behind A Theatre Temp Production

By Uy Pham

 

 
The set for “DNA” (Credits: Seamus Fera/Instagram)

I’m typing this article as “DNA”, the last Theatre Temp production of the school year, and my last Theatre Temp show ever, is coming to an end. If you came to see the show, I cannot express enough how much we appreciate your support for our program. Since this will probably also be the last theatre-related piece I write for Newspaper Club, I think it would be a great opportunity for readers of the Titan Tribune to get a brief look at what it takes to bring a play to life here at Templeton, at least from an actor’s perspective. Although “DNA” is the focus of this article, almost everything I talk about here can be applied to other Theatre Temp productions as well. Putting together a show is a long and challenging process, but to see our hard work come to fruition every show night is truly a beautiful thing.

“DNA” is a difficult play. It’s dark and heavy, but not without some bits of humour sprinkled throughout. The dialogue is sharp and rhythmic, demanding equally sharp focus from the whole cast. My castmates and I faced many challenges: How do we capture the psyche of a group of teenagers who just accidentally murdered their friend, while still allowing room for the humour to shine through? How do we focus, listen to each other, and stick together as an ensemble to drive the story forward?

During the first stage of rehearsals (called table work), we would read through and dissect the play’s script with our directors, Michael and Seamus Fera. The goal was to try and find answers to questions about our characters: What are they trying to achieve? What is their relationship to other characters? What is the subtext behind what they say? The script usually provided us with clues, but sometimes we also had to do some inventive work on our own.

 Then, we got up on our feet and started blocking the show. Rehearsals usually lasted a few hours after school, four days a week. There was a lot of work to be done: We had less than two months to turn over sixty pages of script into a performance. Focus and professionalism was required. We were expected to write down and review our staging and acting notes, and to continue our script work at home. It was very stressful at times, but in the end, we pulled through, and put on a great show.

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