First Day of Blocking

Today was the first day of blocking on The Philanderer. We've been sitting around the table since Wednesday talking about the play, and today we finally got it up on its feet. Blocking can be really cool. It can be pretty tedious if you've got a director just going "Move there. Move there. Stand here. Move there." Penny, our director, is not doing that, letting the actors go and seeing what they can find. If you have actors who are willing to play, that can be exciting. Sometimes, I think I see in rehearsals more exciting acting than the audiences ever see, because there are these moments when things are just clicking and the people onstage just make connections in the moment, out of nowhere, out of a combination of the their smarts and their instincts. It's exciting to see.

Today was also the first afternoon rehearsal we've had. The OSF has two rehearsal slots: 12-5 and 6:30-11:30. All our slots so far have been 6:30-11:30. (I don't know how that gets decided.) Anyway, it's not like I need the sleep, but it's nice to have the evening free. It feels like I can really kick back and relax.

Today was also my first snow fall here. The snow started last night and fell all day with almost no accumulation. But it was slushy and as the temperature dropped, you started getting ice patches. The main roads are pretty clear, but the lesser roards and the sidewalks are a bit slick. So, rememer when I said that the theatre is uphill from my apartment? So that means it's a downhill walk on icy sidwalk for three blocks. I took babysteps for most of the way. Strangely enough, my back didn't hurt as much at the end of it.