First of all, before you read any further, if you haven't already purchased your tickets for the 2023 WYO/CTG co-production "Noises Off," go to www.wyotheater.com immediately and get them. Advance tickets are selling very well, and once people see this production, they WILL want to see it again and again. Don't miss your opportunity!
That being said, the show opens next week, and I guarantee we'll be ready for you. However, right before it opens is a period among the cast and crew of adding a lot of new technical elements that make the show even more real. Costumes start getting tested. Rehearsal props are exchanged for the props we'll use in the show. Growing pains are stretched out as we go from the rehearsal space to the actual set. Soon lighting and sound will be added, and we'll all have to adjust to the glare of the lights and how to control our voices with microphone packs and little devices on our faces.
All of this means one undeniable thing: this thing is actually happening. We're actually going to do this incredibly difficult play for an audience. While often this can test an actor's faith in the health of the production, it also can be used as turbo fuel into the next phase. It kind of feels like athletes prepping for a major sporting event.
Over the last several years, I've become a fan of professional hockey in addition to being a fan of professional basketball. Both the NHL and NBA seasons are in their playoffs, and it's been interesting to note the parallels.
An idea that I remember from my studies is the element of creating a theatre event that makes an audience have the same feeling as watching a live sporting event. The stakes are high, lines have been drawn, and no one knows what the outcome will be. Needless to say, tensions are high.
Where this applies in this play is just how a farce is constructed. As I've said on my podcast several times, Comedy is about watching someone (or several someones) be given a set of potentially unbeatable circumstances and watching to see if they can set the world right again to hilarious effect; maybe they will, maybe they won't
But, as it relates to team sports, generally the audience is all cheering for the same team. Secretly, the audience wants the actors to set the world right again, but have no idea if it will happen. What they know is that they'll enjoy watching it, and if the actors get themselves out of their unbeatable circumstances, the effect should be similar to when your team wins! Hoorah!
In some cases, I've actually seen audiences not just applaud and laugh, but cheer when a cast finishes a show, just like a sports crowd would when a game is won at the buzzer.
We hope that's what you find when you sit in the audience for the next two weeks at the WYO. We'll bring our A-Game and our A-Team. You get to sit out there and see if we win.
I'll see you at intermission!
