This is one of those theatre stories that makes being an actor worthwhile. One of the things that Valhalla Shakespeare Project takes great pride in is allowing the audience to “see the strings” (to borrow from Julie Taymor). Rarely have I seen such a committed and emotionally invested audience.

As you read this little anecdote, remember that this production was staged to be completely bare bones. We did not include any lighting or sound effects (except for those that we actors could make on our own or as an ensemble). It was staged to be an outdoor (okay…in a quonset hut), daylight production with minimal props. Our performance space was very sparse (albeit very impressive); there was only enough electricity to power some ceiling fans which were suspended from the (majestical) roof and a couple of outlets for powering small appliances and that’s all. Even the heating unit which is used during the winter is wood-burning and takes a day to heat up. There was not even an option for lighting in our space.

Last night during our “final” performance of Hamlet, we had to hold the house because we had a fairy sizable showing. The good thing is that the audience got to choose their own seats (they came in, popped open their lawn chairs or spread their blankets, and waited for the show to begin - some even brought picnic dinners). The show was supposed to start at 3pm, but we didn’t actually get underway until nearly 3:30p. Then, during intermission, we had to hold longer than normal because of the number of people trying to get into the one Port-o-let we had at our…um…disposal.

Then there was the whole problem of the time change which occured between Saturday and Sunday this weekend. So, when we “fell forward” in time over night, it made nightfall happen an hour earlier for us out on the farm. Add to that the fact that we were even further behind schedule because of the size of our audience and you make for some very interesting theatre indeed.

As the second half of our production got underway, it was painfully obvious to everyone present that Act V of Shakespeare’s show was going to be performed in complete darkness. Unfortunately, that’s also the part where characters are slinging swords at one another and dying all over the place. By the time the graveyard scene came around, I could not see Hamlet’s (Brian Webb Russell) face across the 20 foot circle that was our stage. The change from Brian’s Hamlet to Mark Cabus’ Hamlet involved a dagger toss across the circle. Thankfully, Brian opted instead for a walk across the circle for a handoff. It was obvious that the audience (who also knew that the swordfight was coming) were becoming concerned about the darkness, too. One audience member tried to help out by shining a light onto the stage as the fight was about to begin, but it was unfortunately it was right in Mark’s eyes making for a much more dangerous situation than pure darkeness (to which our eyes were somewhat adjusting). Mark broke our 20′ “Circle of Concentration” to thank the anonymous audience member but that it was more of a hinderance than a help.

About that time, one audience member pulled his Jeep Grand Cherokee into the performance space and turned on his headlights. Mark and Jesse (Laertes) made some slight adjustments to the staging of the fight so the lights were not directly in their eyes and continued the fight.

Gertrude died.

Claudius died.

Laertes died.

Hamlet died.

Fortinbras entered and the play ended.

All in the headlights of a Jeep Grand Cherokee.

By my count (and my wife’s verification) only a handful of people left. The rest of the audience stayed and “watched” the show in the darkness. They felt completely invested in the show.

I have never had a stronger compliment from an audience in all of my time in the theatre. It would have been so easy just to get up and leave when the lighting started to fade, but they stayed with us. To everyone who happened to be in the audience last night: THANK YOU!

This entry was posted on Monday, October 30th, 2006 at 10:02 am and is filed under Acting Journal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.