Play in a Day – Tech

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Play in a Day at the Orlando Shakes, featured 20 actors, 7 writers and 7 directors. A lottery done the day before picked the creative teams for the seven plays. Each play was given a 20-30 minute tech. Tech is when the play is rehearsed in the theater so sound and lighting cues can be worked out. One of the plays referenced the set… “It looks like a children’s theater show gone horribly wrong!” I sketched as the play “Out On Top” written by Kenny Babel was being rehearsed. Kenny wrote the play between 2am and 4am the night before. Elizabeth Murff as the wife, Steven Johnson and Anthony Pyatt as the sons, played family members who just lost their father. The father had died in a freak accident at the opening of LEGO Land. He had climbed a LEGO Empire State Building and fell. A Bank of America skyscraper pierced his heart. In one scene the two boys stood with their hands at their wastes as if at a urinal as they spoke about their father.

Family Road Trip which I had been sketching all day entered the theater to polish their tech. John Connon slipped up on a line and then he shouted, “I f*cked it up ya’ll!” He followed with, “I wanna do art and I wanna get paid!” Both lines are classic Beth Marchall standards, delivered with her distinctive sharp southern drawl. Beth said, “I wanna be famous just so drag queens can play me. Also I wanna make tons of money so I can throw it at talented people.” She walks the walk. Posing for photos with the cast, she compared tattoos with John for Kristen Wheeler behind the camera which made me happy since I had painted the makeshift tattoos on John as a lark using my portable watercolor set.

Soon the theater filled with an audience. Beth stood, “Thank you for coming to Play in a Day and what a long day it has been.” Lindsay Cohen who had written “Welcome to Heaven” sat in my row. She seemed nervous since she had no idea how the audience would react, and she didn’t get to see the development process. When the audience responded with thunderous applause I glanced over and saw her relax.

Dress Rehearsal

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David Lee the author of this play had been given the wrong theme before he started writing. Chasmin Hallyburton had told him the theme was Traditions rather than Transitions. He started writing at 2am and the final draft seems to fit the intended theme perfectly anyway. Play in a day works in strange and twisted ways.

Beth Marshall came out to the courtyard after lunch with some touristy clothing on hangers. She had a black mu-mu for John Connon who was going to play her. She gave him her necklace and he was given a big red wig and as the crowning touch, a Mickey Mouse beanie. Sarah Lockhard had a bright orange T-shirt that said, “Aqua Girl.” She was given a Stitch hat with floppy alien ears and a tiny Stitch head hanging from a chord. The fact that I had worked on Lilo and Stitch when I was at Disney Feature Animation warmed my heart. Stitch is as much a pop icon as Mickey now. Being the youngest member of the cast Sarah had fun playing a spunky child. Steven Middleton had his own costume picked out. His loud Hawaiian shirt had palm trees and a bright sunset against the bright blue design.

Beth wanted John to have her tattoos so I stepped in and painted the tattoos in watercolor on his arms and feet. His right arm had an intricate spiraling ivy pattern festooned with leaves and a spade. His left arm had an owl and each foot had a tattoo. I simplified the designs since I knew they would be seen from a distance. He was a little worried at how permanent they might be but I assured him they would wash right off. Watercolor always washes off my skin easily. Clothing on the other hand…

I watched the actors rehearse again and again till the play was second nature. Sarah grew more animated and energetic with each pass. Though I heard this short play perhaps 20 to 4o times, I always found something fresh and unexpected in each performance that made me laugh. When there was a line that said, “We’re traveling light, no props Missy.” John looked at his non-existent cigarette with disdain. Sarah discovered the sunroof as she shouted, “I AM a seagull.” Extending her wings in the wind.

Rehearsing in the Darden Courtyard

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Beth Marshall was warned that 300 children were about to swarm the lobby to see the play, “Miss Nelson is Missing.” Beth decided to move her cast outside. After several read throughs, Beth invited the actors to go “off book.” There were a few hiccups, but the actors memorized their lines amazingly fast. John Connon pretended to smoke a cigarette. Steve Middleton had his loud tourist costume bundled up beside him. The three actors were playing parts in a family inside joke that they easily slipped into. Sarah Lockhard pointed shouting, “That one!” “No to small.” John countered. “How about that one?” she screamed. “No too large.” Steven replied. “That one!” “Yes that’s just right.” John responded. They were playing a game of eye spy as they drove into Orlando. Steve swore he saw the Aurora borealis but it was just the outlet malls.

After passing Holy Land, the cast began singing “Star of Wonder.” While Beth was checking the progress on the other six plays the actors came up with the idea of inserting the “Star of Wonder” lyrics into “It’s a Small World After All.” This was a playful spark of genius. They decided to move like animatronics as they sang. “Star of wonder star of night. Star of royal beauty bright. I-4 west leading still proceeding. Guide us to the perfect light.”

They were playing and having fun. By noon they had their lines down. Beth moved three metal chairs into the center of the courtyard and they performed the piece straight through. David Lee prefaced his play as, a small Christmas Play in homage to the days when Play in a Day was written to celebrate Halloween.

Play in a Day

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Beth Marshall invited me down to the Orlando Shakes on November 3rd to experience the creative process of Play in a Day. Play in a Day kicked off the festivities for Playfest, the Harriet Lake Festival of New Plays which ran from November 3-6. When I entered the Shakes, actors were already divided into six groups and they were doing the initial read throughs of of the scripts. Play authors had been given the theme of unexpected transitions and a twist, no props allowed, the previous day. Most scripts had been written overnight right up to the moment they had been turned in at 7am. There was then a thirty minute pow wow between the writer, director and actors. Then the writers were asked to leave to avoid endless re-writes. I decided to sketch actors Sarah Lockhard, John Connon and Steve Middleton who were reading and laughing. The play was short, only about seven minutes, but it was fun. Someone in the lower lobby shouted, “I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s funny!” Beth Marshal who had just sat down said “That is the perfect review.” Rob Ward had also stopped in to read the part of Michael Wanzie. He did a hilarious, spot on impersonation.

The short play, titled, “Family Road Trip” was about a family road trip to Orlando. Sarah was the daughter riding in the back seat and John played the mom while Stephen was the dad behind the wheel. David Lee the author now lives in NYC but he had a long history at the Orlando Shakes. Beth explained the piece to the actors, “David writes for the audience, the whole thing is a poem. He’s not Anton Chekhov.” She asked the actors to try a read through with British accents which she didn’t like, then Southern accents which worked better. When they pointed out specific Orlando venues, like the Orlando Science Center, the Orlando Rep and the Orlando Museum of Art, she asked them to loose the accent. Stephen asked for some clarification so he could better memorize the lines. Much of the dialogue centered around groupings of three.

David Lee texted Beth from NYC, “Do they like the skit?” Beth texted back, “Steven found all the deep meaning, Sarah is playing Veruka Salt and John is playing me! “When asked to describe the short play she was directing, Beth said, ” It is HA-Larious!” I decided to stick with this group of actors and see how the rehearsal progressed. They would have to be ready to perform at 7pm that night.