Recital September 30, 2006

Here they are: the 15 screen shots I've collected from last night's recital. I laughed almost as hard replaying the video as I did during the show. I tried to pick out a representative frame for each piece, and the only games I missed were those that didn't really look good in a single, static image - like Tag Out Story.

Opening and Warm Up

I was pretty pleased with this opening shot, until I realized I was missing Andy, Victoria, and Mike. They get enough exposure from Caught in the Act, so I'm glad all the other players have a good clear shot (well, and me of course). From the left we have Neil, Justin, Marika, Eric, Alan, Scott, Patricia, Allegra, Teri, and Ben.

Pillars

We had two great volunteer word-givers from the audience. Mike and Neil were given "laundromat" as their starting location, and at this point, the word "twit" was given out to be applied to Neil. I think our volunteer word giver surprised and embarrassed herself. Neil, on the other hand, is in a pretty typical pose.

Story Story Die

This is the start of the piece, so everyone is still in play. Andy is starting off, and he had been given something like "ineffectual evil" as his emotion/attitude. Victoria, Eric, Alan (from behind), Teri, Patricia, and Ben round out the players in this frame.

Irish Drinking Song

Teri, Victoria, Patricia, and Andy belted out this song about Irish immigration in the 19th century ... oh no, wait. This one was about NASCAR.

I have it on good authority (well, the one Irish person who attended the show) that this isn't really an Irish song.

Really?!

Alphabet

Mike, Justin, and Scott were given the set up "prison camp". At this point in the scene, the warden (Scott) is trying to get on with a pottery class while the prisoners are spending a lot of time talking about escaping.

Almost all of the letters in the alphabet were used in this scene, although I do not guarantee that they were used in the order they are normally given.

Open Scene

Andy and Allegra had "nurses" as their starter. So, of course Allegra was stealing drugs (and anything else she could get her hands on) from the hospital. In this frame, Andy, the holy and pure co-worker, has discovered that she has tracks on her arm.

Our shows are all about providing life lessons for the kids.

It's odd how many scenes that night involved drug abuse in one form or another. Not normally a theme for us, they weren't particularly out of place. Just noticeably different.

Surprise Lines

Marika, Allegra, and Ben were given "train station" as their location. I think the surprise lines were delivered fast and furious, just like they should be. It was a good scene.

My favorite surprise line was "I'm 64". I just found it delightfully mundane.

Puppets

For me, this was the funniest scene in the whole show. It was physical, situational, and Neil played his positions with some wonderfully simply but appropriate lines. From left to right, we have our volunteer puppeteer Mark, players Scott and Neil, and our second volunteer Kelly. By this point, Kelly was lost in hysterical laughter and was basically rough-handling Neil around the stage. Scott continued to set him up, and Neil just played out lines that addressed the wacky poses Kelly was putting him in. I finally stopped the scene because I couldn't breath anymore.

Emotional Zones

This scene had the funniest single line of the night. In this shot, Teri is showing a cow's tail to Eric and Andy. The setup was a cattle drive, and Eric's character had been preparing steak for dinner. But, Andy's character was a vegetarian. Teri's character, trying to be helpful, said "...try this tail, it's almost a vegetable".

Hmm, it was MUCH funnier in the show.

Continuing Scene, Changing Genre

In this shot, Victoria, Scott, and Neil are playing their scene as a Film Noir. The setup was the location "amusement park". I love the way Victoria is just vamping it up. Look at that pose...and in sneakers!

This scene went on to be about incest. As I mentioned before, we are nothing if not educational.

Expert Panel

Sorcery was the topic for this expert panel made up of Justin, Allegra, Ben, and Marika. Neil did a great job as MC. In this frame, Justin is discussing finger painting and sorcery. Allegra's character is trying to hit on Ben's character, and Marika is contemplating being 300 years old.

My favorite moment during this scene was when Neil dealt with a question from the audience that was off track. He claimed there was a technical violation because the asker hadn't raised her hand, allowing him to avoid the having to get an answer to the question. Nice!

Open Scene

Eric and Mike were given "hairdresser" as a profession, and in this shot they are discussing the Parisian Finger Cut.

I liked the physicalizing that occurred during this scene. The chair helped a lot as both players got in and out of it throughout the scene. Eric was really expansive in his miming. It was wonderful to watch him dunk his head into a water bassin while washing his own hair.

By the end of the scene the two characters had switched roles, with Mike's character giving Eric's the haircut.

Step Out Musical

At this point in their scene, Victoria, Andy, and Allegra were dancing their way off stage in the final number of the musical.

Their scene had involved a mother that had "tried everything" to raise her kids, like abandon one and spoil the other. They finally came together at the end and this final group song was about teamwork. It involved a lot of stomping and train noises as they worked their way off stage. It really worked much better on stage than it sounds from this description.

Really.

Switch Dubbing

I'm sorry this frame is so blurry, because this was one of the cleverest moments of the night. Eric had timed the rhythms of my calling "switch" for this scene, and he set up a big kiss just before I switched him and Victoria into the scene. So he was celebrating his success before a big smooch on stage with Victoria. Nice.

Final Bows

Okay, in this somewhat blurry shot, captured from the video of our final bow, I've gotten at least a smidge of every player's face. From left to right: Patricia, Mike, Justin, Eric, Scott, Teri, Ben, Victoria, Allegra, Marika, Alan, Neil, and Andy. All are taking a well deserved bow at the end of a very successful show.