Notes from an Actor (continued)November 8th 2007 |
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From Adam Luckey:
It is time to prepare for the final weekend of Hamlet. It is hard to believe that this is almost over. Months of individual preparation through reading, research, and remembering have seemed to pay off. I have received many positive responses to my portrayal of the prince and that makes me feel pretty good. Now it is time to muster up my final ounces of strength and concentration and declare that “the rest is silence” one final time. Well, 4 more times, actually.
The show seems to have built momentum as the weeks progressed. Houses were a little thin for the first two weeks but thickened considerable this past weekend. I believe we were close to selling out on Friday and Saturday. It was a good feeling to look out at all the filled seats in the theatre and to find plenty of eyes to look into as Hamlet. The play itself is also building momentum. People are settling into their parts, people are starting to relax and find new bits on stage, technical elements are now almost second nature to the folks in the booth, and so the piece itself seems to run smoother and more fluid than it did in the first few weeks. “It is in the pocket” as they say.
People are starting to ask me if I am ready for the show to be over. Yes. And no. I can see myself wanting to playing Hamlet again very soon. There is so much in there and I barely scratched the surface. I find myself changing things around a little bit on stage every night. The language lends itself to variety in physicality, delivery, and intention. I can say that there has been very few evenings where Hamlet has been the same every night. He finds new things to look at, react to, new ways to say things, new ways to live. Every night. And it just comes without thinking. The words really lead you by the nose and all you can do is follow and trust that they will get you where you need to go. And they do. Always. So yes, I am ready for a break, but I am ready to start rehearsals for my next Hamlet. I have a feeling that I will be coming back to this play many times in my career. Whether it is by playing Hamlet again, playing another part in it (Laertes, Horatio, Claudius, and Polonious come to mind), or just re-reading it for one reason or another.
The final stretch. I see the light at the end of the tunnel and I feel the heat drawing me back into it. Hamlet, you bastard.
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