A Severe Test

(Photos by the brilliant Lindsay Schnebly)

This weekend THE CRUCIBLE opened at Actors Co-op in Hollywood. I'm real proud of this show. We all gave away our very molecules down to the protons and neutrons. There is something about working on a play that has exquisite writing and dynamic storytelling that brings the best out in artists. The set by Gary Lee Reed is not only completely functional and supportive to the story, it's stunning. A hard wood floor in the shape of a cross in a thrust configuration and raked das boot. Our lighting designer Jim Moody came in with great ideas AND is outrageously collaborative. He makes it look easy. He loves light. Beautiful. Joseph King Barkley is a friend of mine who I entrusted the original music to. He had never done this for a play and boy is this guy a natural. He got it. He got it good. The music is strange, wonderful, eclectic and yet cohesive. Lori Berg designed the props and she is always so easy to work with and does such great work. One of my favorite props are a set of wooden baby blocks. They say so much. David Atkinson built the set and he did a great job and rigged a special treat for the top of the show . Tim Farmer and Gary Lee Reed also did some building of benches, a table and various other props etc. The costumes were built by Shon LeBlanc's team at Valentino's Costumes. They are extremely well respected in Los Angeles and Shon did a beautiful job as well as being flexible with my desires. Rick Marcus came in and worked the violence in the play. It looks REAL good. Our Producer Becky Hayes was great. Supportive, let me do my job and did stuff I didn't want to. She also agreed to be in the play for me and is wonderful as Ann Putnam. Laura Hovermale has been a super stage manager. Keeps the troops in line and is loving but tough.

Directing a play with 19 actors in a small thrust theatre with a low ceiling ain't easy. But these actors made it feel that way. I made some choices early on that I'm very happy with. All 19 actors are company members of Actors Co-op (ok, the 12 year old isn't an official member but her dad has been for over 11 years so she was practically born into the Co-op). One of the choices made was to not go with dialects. In all honesty, the characters would have had all sorts of accents and adding on a dialect can often times distance an actor from true emotion. So, we had none of that. All the actors are using their natural voices (except the actor playing John Proctor and that was a mutual decision based on other things we were working one).

Come out and see the show. The show runs to June 7th and typically is performed on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. You can call the box office at 323.462.8460 or look for 1/2 price tickets at www.lastagealliance.com or goldstar events. They may also be listed on Plays 411.