Behind the Scenes with the Shakespeare Theatre Company

March 5, 8:20 AMDC Cultural Events ExaminerJada Bradley

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What's behind the curtain???

Earlier this week, the Shakespeare Theatre Company threw open its doors to the public for a technical rehearsal of Ion, which will run 3/10/2009 - 4/12/2009.

This will be the American debt of this contemporary translation of a play from Greek playwright Euripides in which a temple servant learns he is the son of a king. As Neal Riccipio, of the theater's marketing department, wryly noted: the play originally debuted in London years ago with some guy named Jude Law. Riccipio also said that the Shakespeare Theatre Company plans to have more open rehearsals next season.

Although many of us might be bored if we followed our friends or relatives to work for a day, this would not be the case if your friends were actors. A good play is compelling--even in rehearsal.

When director Ethan McSweeny came by to  chat, he reminded the preview attendees that Ion was the "only Greek play with a happy ending." He noted that since there were no stairs in the rehearsal hall, this was the actors' first time going through it with the stairs. The let us in for one hour of the rehearsal and that put the play at the midway point--a scene that required copious use of the stairs.

It was intriguing to see the kinds of tiny details that were covered--whether the director saw a need for change or because he liked an actor's improvisation. For example, they went over just what and precisely how actors ate during a picnic scene where characters are plotting revenge.

I was also suprised to learn that after all of this fine attention to detail, the director takes off after the previews. McSweeny will be moving on to his next show at the Globe Theatre in San Diego, leaving the stage manager to run the show using his notes.