September Re:Union Workshop – Day 1

Today was the first day of our final Re:Union workshop before the production. Wow.

For the first time, we had all the key players in one room.  Playwright. Director. Actors. Designers. Dramaturg. Producers. Stage Management. Administrators. Technical Staff.  Pretty amazing to look around the table and see the calibre of people we are working with to make this show.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

First, allow me to introduce myself.  Hi.  I’m Lois.  I’m the stage manager for Re:Union.  I’m also the social media coordinator for the show and it’s outreach projects, so I’ll be the one behind many of the tweets, facebook updates, blog posts, and other fun things coming out of the workshops, rehearsal hall and eventually the shows.  Though I’ve known Sean & Alexa for a couple of years, this is my first time working with Horseshoes and Hand Grenades and I don’t think I could be more excited to be a part of such a fantastic new play.  I’m looking forward to being your eyes & ears inside the process of building and creating this world premiere.

Today was all about getting to know each other and the play.  Some of the team had been involved in previous workshops, but this was my first day and it was also the first day for two of the cast.  We spent some time talking as a group about our goals for the week: what did we each (and collectively) want to accomplish by the end of this week?  One of my favourite goals that we came up with was to find the magic we want to pull out of the play.

And then we read the play. This was my first time hearing it out loud and everyone’s first time hearing 2/3 of the cast in their roles.  There were a lot of things that really resonated that I had completely missed when I read the play at home by myself. I’m really looking forward to our conversations over the next seven days as we explore the text and discuss the staging of the three big moment: the beginning, the climax, and the end.

Can’t wait to see what we’re creating? Tickets go on sale on Tuesday, Sept. 6 at http://pacifictheatre.org/boxoffice/tickets or by phone at 604.731.5518.