Date of Run: May 3-19, 2024
Role: Christopher Dunn
The photos featured in this post are captures from the filmed performance.
This was only the second role I received where the company appraoched me, rather than me auditioning for them or me reaching out to them because they were short an actor or two, the first time being A Christmas Carol.
The story of this play begins in December 2023. Two people with whom I had worked in August: Osage County reached out to me telling me about the auditions for this play. They both spoke highly of me to the director, recommending me, and she in turn was willing to consider me for a role. I knew that this company was in St. Helena, CA and I thought that was rather far for me. I had done shows in Yountville, which was ten miles south of there, but even that was a bit of a drive for me. While this was a two-character play and that did seem enticing, I wrote back to them saying that it was a bit too far of a commute and I moved on.
That would not be the end of it. At the beginning of January, I saw a notification in a Facebook group that they were looking to fill the role; I shrugged and kept scrolling. Then, one week later, Shannon McDermott, the actress playing the lead character in the play, sent me an email. She told me that she had seen me in August: Osage County and she kept thinking I'd be perfect for the role. She also mentioned that since she lived in Napa, we could maybe have the majority of rehearsals there and the director would be fine with that since there were only two people in the play. The email also contained a pdf of the play, and she asked me to think it over.
I spent two days reading the play and mulling it over. It was tempting to do a play with only two people in it (how many chances would I get? No, really) and hopefully, spend time with the director really delving into a character. Truth be told, I was also flattered that they didn't give up on me that easily after I said not the first time. I messaged her back saying that if rehearsals could be mainly in Napa, I'd be happy to reconsider.
I agreed to meet with Shannon and the director, Sharie Renault at the end of January in St. Helena at the church where rehearsals would take place. Given how both Shannon and I were in rehearsals for another show, that was the earliest and the best location for everyone.
One little thing gave me pause; a few days after I spoke to Shannon, I saw a post on the company's Instagram page looking to cast the role. Maybe they didn't want to put all their eggs in one basket? Or maybe they didn't want to wait that long for me? Or maybe they hoped to find someone a little closer to them and make it easier for everyone.
The drive to St. Helena was not as bad as I expected. The roads were not too narrow, and it was a fairly straightforward drive. Once I arrived, Shannon and I read the first scene the two characters have together and then we and Sharie had a long conversation about the play, the characters, what was going on, was the action real or imagined and so on.
We came to realize that I would not need to be at every rehearsal, nor would I need to have a heavy rehearsal schedule. Shannon had broken down each scene and what happens in each scene. It appeared that I was only in two scenes. Each scene was long, but the scenes I was not in were several pages of monologues for Shannon's character. That being the case, rehearsals would only be three days a week and I would only be called to two at the most. One of the rehearsals could be on Saturday during the daytime when the traffic would not be bad.
I accepted the role. I rather liked the conversation about the characters and the play. It really made me think. And also, the thought of doing a two-person play was too good to pass up. Again, how many chances would I get for something like this?
Rehearsals would not begin until March. Though I was still in rehearsal for another show, I set about getting into this character's head in small ways. Since my character, Christopher Dunn, was described in the company social media posts as a Holden Caulfield type, I started by reading The Catcher in the Rye; I hadn't read that book since high school, and I figured I should get reacquainted with him. Sharie also suggested I read Crime and Punishment since that book is discussed by the two characters quite a bit. That book took me a month to read.
For learning my lines, I started on that in early February once the show I was presently in was up and running. I was given a scanned pdf printed copy of the play which meant two pages from the book on one paper. I counted how many pages where I had lines and it totaled fifteen. Some of them were easy since I had only a handful of lines, but others were going to be difficult; two of my pages had lengthy monologues.
I started out by setting myself one page a day and going back and reviewing and solidifying them after memorizing every few pages or so. By the time I had memorized seven of those pages, I started to worry that I would lose what I had learned and there were moments when I had a little trouble remembering the first line on a page. I estimated that I would have all my lines memorized by the end of February, if I was lucky.
I had reason to worry because I had never taken on a project like this. The largest role I had ever had previously was Mortimer Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace, but this time not only would I have more lines, but there was only one other person in the play. I did wonder whether I could pull this off. Still, I had it easy compared to Shannon since she had several pages of monologues to learn. It wouldn't matter to me if she blanked on a line in those, but I could only hope it wouldn't happen while we had a scene together. While I learned my lines the old-fashioned way, by reading them over and over, she used a memorization app where she recorded her lines and listened to them over and over.
As I predicted, I fully memorized my lines by the end of February. On paper, I knew them in the order in which I said them in the play. Learning them was no different than the way it was in any previous play I had ever done with. Learn each page one by one. There were times I wanted to jump out of sequence and learn the pages with fewer lines, but I worried it would mess up the order in my head.
Of course, learning lines in the correct order was one thing. I knew what was going to happen once rehearsals would begin and the script would be out of my hands and Shannon would start saying her lines with me. We would just see how much of it would stay in my head. I had a reason to be worried before that: One day at work, while running through my lines with my script far away from me, I skipped a whole page. I had a feeling something was wrong so much so that when I came to a certain line, I flat out blanked. All the more reason for me to fully cement my lines.
Rehearsals began in late March and for me, there would only be slightly over a dozen, including dress rehearsals. As we discussed, I had two or at the most, three per week and all were held in St. Helena. It was just the four of us, me, Shannon, Sharie and Deb, our stage manager. Each rehearsal began with a discussion on the scene and the characters and questions for me, such as why my character would say particular lines. We got the blocking done pretty quickly and we delved deeper into the characters and explored options for how to portray a scene. And that's when I realized I was in over my head.
Three weeks before opening, we started to do some short clips of action, as the company did with all their plays. Sharie also wanted to do a one minute clip of me taking about my character. I all but begged not to have to do that. I'm horrible with words and I have a speech problem which would become too pronounced if I had to think of something up. I have a speech block where I can be talking when suddenly my brain stops me at a word it doesn't think is right and I take a while to find my way again. The one bright spot to never being cast as the lead or given a major role of substance is that I'd never have to do interviews about my character. Shari's response to me was "But you're such a good actor." My response: "I can memorize scripts easily, that's all written down for me. But trying to think of something on the fly? Can't do it."
The other thing I realized was I just was not good in trying to delve deeper and deeper into certain moments. One specific moment in the play required me to touch Shannon's face. Shannon had her thoughts about why that happened, but I couldn't find anything to say. I did not feel good at the end of that rehearsal on the way home. This was not a onetime thing. Whenever they talked about why these characters did certain things, I just could not contribute.
I believe the main reason for that is because I did not get offered deep complex roles often and if I ever did have something of substance it was often with a director who favored letting actors explore roles on their own and didn't ask probing questions. Or if I ever did, I was paired with someone whose memory was not the best and I often had to cover them.
I was grateful though to have a director like Sharie who took the time and effort to ask these probing questions about my character, the motivations and the meaning of certain scenes. I only wish I had had more experience in this matter and that more directors I worked with had taken a more hands on approach to helping me create a character.
I did a lot to prepare for this role and get into the head of Christopher Dunn. Earlier I stated I read The Catcher in the Rye and Crime and Punishment. My character also mentions Old Yeller, Franny and Zooey and The Wild Palms as his three favorite books, so I read those too. He mentions that Carl Burger's illustrations for Old Yeller are masterpieces, so for the longest time I had one as the wallpaper on my phone because I thought maybe Christopher would too. I compiled a playlist of songs to help me get into his mindset such as "I Am a Rock" and "The Sound of Silence," by Simon and Garfunkel, "Tom Dooley" by the Kingston Trio and "Losing my Religion" by R.E.M as well as songs that I felt described a layer of him such as "Up on the Roof" by The Drifters. One of my props was a notebook and I actually did write in it whether it was as him thinking of ideas for the novel he's writing, or a writing exercise described by the other character. He also mentions that he likes to draw impulsive pictures, so I did that too.
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| Rehearsing a scene |
As good at asking actors questions as Sharie was, over time, I felt that she was not the most decisive person when it came to some things. For instance, when we filmed a brief scene from the play for promotional purposes, she had a hard time deciding which scene we'd do. In another instance we did a reading of a small section at the St. Helena library, and she kept asking us what we should read. How should I know? I just do what I'm told. I had expected her to decide the moment they decided the reading was going to happen. She was also not the most organized, especially when we got to performances and had to set up. She would just be standing there, looking blank, and I'm more of a "go-go-go" person getting everything ready.
We wondered how many people would actually come to see this play. Shannon mentioned the number of people who came to see a play usually depended on how many different actors were in the show. The more actors in it, the more likely they could pull in different people and increase the audience size. I warned them that I wouldn't be able to pull in many, if any at all.
I worried whether Shannon was going to have trouble during performances. She had the lion's share of lines. One of her monologues ran fifteen minutes. She often stumbled in the same places, tripping over her words or forgetting lines and Deb often had to bail her out. I wondered how it would be during a performance when she'd have to find a way to get herself out of trouble. I don't think even in performances that I was ever word perfect. There were at least two lines I was not saying correctly, and I only realized it after the first weekend of performances and when I went back to review.
A few days before tech week, we did a staged reading of a brief scene from the play at the library in St. Helena. There were a few other pieces of work being read as part of the company giving the community a preview of their upcoming shows. For me, it lasted all of a half hour and then a long drive back home. I decided that if I worked with that company again, I would not do that unless there was a rehearsal afterward.
Much to my surprise, we were going to wear microphones during the show. They were not those little ones that are taped to the side of the face or placed over the top of a person's head. These were the kind that are worn by people in interviews or giving a presentation; the kind with a head the size of the first third of your finger and clip onto your shirt. That was actually kind of nice. It meant I didn't have to project and risk my voice sounding too mean. That tends to happen for me when I project; I come off sounding too angry or aggressive.
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| My most intense moment of the play |
Tech weekend was a little different than what I was used to. The first two days, when we added in lights and sounds, were done in the rehearsal space rather than the performance space. On the first day, it was a full hour before we started because Sharie and Alan, our light and sound designer, were trying to figure out sound problems and load images onto the projector we were going to use. We never got a full run through on either of the two nights because in addition to the technical work, we often stopped to further dissect a scene or a moment rather than focus on the task at hand.
Our performance space was a multi-purpose room at a church. We only had two days in there for tech/dress rehearsals. The set consisted of furniture for three locations: a professor's office with a desk, two chairs and a coat rack on stage left, the professor's home with an armchair, ottoman, lamp and little table just off-center stage and a high table representing a restaurant on stage right. Surrounding everything were a series of metal rods and black drapes. On Fridays we could leave everything set up as it was after each show and on Saturdays, we had to push everything just enough so that a sliding door in the wall could close. On Sundays we had to take everything, the sets and lights and push it into a corner and cover it all with the drapes. Then everything had to be set up again the following Friday.
When we moved into the performance space, since we had to share it with whatever else was booked there, we only had two days for dress rehearsals and final touches on tech. On the first night, our call time was 6:30, but we didn't start until 8:00. While the drapes had been put together, none of the furniture or props had been transferred over. The company did not own a truck and Shannon's boyfriend, who did own a truck, was not available to help. Luckily, the two buildings were only a two-minute walk from each other and whatever could not fit into somebody's car could be walked over. But Sharie, as I said, was not the most organized. She may have been good at directing and analyzing a scene and developing characters, but in terms of organizing and setting everything up, she had no plan at all. Even she would admit she was not the most put together person.
When we finally got everything over and set up, there were still difficulties. Originally, in addition to the drapes serving as the walls, there was supposed to be a solid wooden wall with a thin blank screen and the projector would be behind it showing images of things like a bar, snowing outside, a photo mentioned by Shannon's character and so on. On this particular night, it kept going to sleep and we couldn't figure out how to fix it. We couldn't understand why this was happening because it never did that in rehearsals. Eventually, we decided it was fruitless, and we decided against using it. Since the photo described by Shannon's character was needed, we had a large photo printed out to hang on the drapes.
Compounding that night further was that Sharie still kept wanting to stop and dissect parts of the play. This particular instance was because at the reading the previous week, someone of no real significance asked if the play was about child pornography simply because my character cracks a bad joke about naked toddlers. So, we had to stop and talk about why he does that. We only had two days of rehearsal in the actual performance space and I thought the time for doing that was over. We needed to spend time trying to get through the entire play with all the technical cues. As it was, we only got through half the play that night.
On the second night and final dress rehearsal, I was determined that we not have a repeat of the previous night. I worked as fast as I could to get the furniture, props and drapes set up, spiked in place and ready to go. We managed to start earlier than the previous night and this time we got a full run of the show done.
In addition to setting up the set every Friday, we also had to set up chairs as well. We started with twenty chairs and built up from there depending on ticket sales. We could only do two rows because in Sharie's opinion, a third row did not make a good view for anyone. We had to squeeze in as many as we could and make a curve in the arrangement. Personally, I thought having the audience go to just past the edge of the set wasn't good either. It also wasn't a good view, and they could see backstage where I set up in my little corner. At the very most we could fit forty seats.
On opening we had just under twenty people. In my first scene, a large section of dialogue got skipped when Shannon said a line that was supposed to come later. Unfortunately, everything in what we skipped was something that gave insight into my character. Luckily, the line she gave me was only a line from the same scene and not from a different part of the play. It threw me for only a second, but I responded with my cue for that line, and we went on. I later missed one of my lines, but I managed to incorporate it into what I said a moment later.
The second night had between 30 and 35 people and went better line wise. On the third day, we had only fifteen people. It was on the third day when I started slipping. I forgot my cellphone before going on for my final scene and I was so in the moment that I almost jumped a line. I'm usually better than that.
At the end of each performance, this company did a talk back with the audience. I had done these when I worked at other companies, but in those cases, it was only after Sunday shows or only once in the entire run. Regardless of how often it was, I've never enjoyed them. Waiting for a long time for someone to raise their hand and often no one ever said anything worth listening to or answering. And this time, there was only the three of us (Sharie, Shannon and me) and I was playing a role of substance; I would be expected to talk. It was harder to sit there, twiddling my thumbs and act invisible until it was over. Sharie did try to stimulate thought provoking conversation from them, but I still would rather have just left after the show.
The second weekend was a hot one, even in the evening. During the first two nights, there was another event next door, playing a lot of loud Latin American music. Everyone else did warn me that this could happen. We did the best we could, and it didn't blare too loudly for us. I certainly didn't notice anything when I was onstage. Both nights had about twenty people or so. The third day had sixteen people, not surprising since that particular day was Mother's Day.
The third weekend was cooler, but not without hiccups. Alan, our light and sound guy, was exposed to whooping cough sometime before the weekend began. Though he had been vaccinated, he still opted to wear a mask. The first night had 25 people and the second had 25-30. On both nights, Shannon's boyfriend, Matt, filmed the performance; personally, I felt Saturday was my better night. On closing night, we had 35 people. On this weekend on the first two nights, we filmed the performance. Personally, I thought the second night was better for me.
At the end of closing performance, after we did the talk back, a woman came up and gave me a bag with candies in it. I didn't think anything of it, but then after I used the bathroom and came back in to start striking the set, I saw her helping and I realized the woman was my mother. I was so focused on getting on with the strike that I didn't even notice it was her. She helped us put everything away and joined us for the cast party.
During the cast party, a lot of gifts were handed out. Shannon gave me a Yale Bulldogs T-shirt, since the play takes place at Yale and I had a line that I yelled, "Go Bulldogs!" She also gave me and everyone else a bag of homemade caramel corn. Deb gave me a shirt with The Simpsons characters on it because it had a clown on it, in homage to my line about clowns. Sharie gave me an edition of the book Old Yeller with the illustrations. And I gave them...nothing. I felt like such a heel for that for days afterward. I had only given cards to one cast that I had worked with before and it had been hard to write them. Even with only three people, I did not feel much like writing anything.
This was a good part to play. I was grateful for the chance to play it and the chance to work with a director who was willing to delve into the characters with the actors rather than let it be very organic. I do wish though that they had a photographer come in and take some pictures. Even ones that Sharie supposedly took in rehearsals never made their way onto social media. The only one I found of myself taken at a rehearsal (the one seen earlier) was from a newspaper article promoting our show. But luckily, as we had a filmed performance, I was able to make screenshots. They may have not had the best resolution, but it was something.
