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Flyer for A Coarse Acting Show
No, you read correctly. 'Coarse'; no typographical error there. As in "rough", "rugged", or even "raw". As in acting, be it theatre, film, or otherwise, sometimes used in A Coarse Acting Show, that stageplay within a stageplay, where everything that could go wrong in live theatre does.
And that's where I've found myself the last several evenings, at rehearsals for 'Coarse Acting', having been cast in not one, not two, and certainly not even three roles, but four. Which is completely fine (the more stage time, the better most actors would tell you), and oddly enough, quite do-able, since the show is comprised of four, call them, vinettes.
One such vinette is Moby Dick, based on the infamous 600-plus page tome, in which our Ahab, leg tucked firmly (or perhaps not so firmly) behind him in a feeble attempt to appear as a one-legged sea-captain, wooden support wobbling here and slipping there, staggering proudly across his none-too-realistic simulated ship-deck. But, in A Coarse Acting Show, that's the point: characters are supposed to be a trifle silly and over (or under) the top, and sets and props are scripted to be a wee bit -- er, bad.
Another vinette as it were -- a tiny show within a show -- is Stalag 69, where I'm likely to have too much fun portraying a stereotypical Nazi German interragator. In this play, the flats fall down, the stage crew is exposed to the audience, and the lead actors fall apart in what they deem as a quickly deriorating, and therefore, hopeless performance. It's every actor's and director's (and crewperson's) worst nightmare come to complete and chaotic fruition, much to the utter belly-laughing enjoyment of the audience (or so we hope). For instance, in Streuth, another vinette, characters repeat whole chunks of dialogue and several actors make ill-timed entrances. Again, much hilarity thusly ensues.
Most of us actor types have been in such performances where things went horribly awry that wasn't scripted, Coarse Acting Shows that were supposed to be veritable Les Miserables' or Cat On A Hot Tin Roofs. That is, despite our best intentions and efforts, a flat moves (or, God forbid, falls!), and character misses a key entrance (or exit), or even as something simple (and sadly common) as someone missing a line. And, naturally enough, these tend to be the productions we remember years from now, those near-pathetic plays that had all the best intentions, but very little of the execution. I've seen seasoned actors turned to near tears at a botch scene, and sometimes complete thesbian newbies sail right along without missing a hitch. Even if the hitches around them had themselves been missed.
All of this is why I often prefer improvisational theatre over traditional scripted stuff, as goofs and gaffs can more easily be covered. To be completely honest, some screw-ups actually add to the show -- particularly in improv -- as the audience can often appreciate a small hitch or three. Everyone likes to see the occasional stumble, the dropped prop, the forgotten line, or even the fly down on the actor's pants (speaking from recent experience, sadly). Despite the hard work that everyone has put into a production in question, it's always morbidly amusing to see the whole thing -- or parts of it -- unravel before an auditorium full of near-unbelieving eyes.
"Coarse acting" can therefore teach us a lot; not just about acting, but mayhap life in general. For when the world knocks down a flat or tosses a completely out-of-sequence line your direction, stand firm and carry on.
All the world's a stage, after all. Even if it contains a few broken props.
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