Richard Maxwell Project

Hello all!!

(firstly, i apologise as this will be a fairly long blog! but hopefully of use)

Wow - what a performance! As i couldn't go with you guys on monday, i went last night and was fortunate enough to hear the interview with Richard Maxwell and the cast afterwards. It was so useful hearing some ideas and views from the director/writer himself and i picked up a few things which may be helpful to everyone.

- 'take the adjectives away from a text'

- 'standing is doing'

- 'doing not showing'

Maxwell.

One of the actors was asked how they prepared for such a piece like this and he replied with advice that Maxwell had told them before the show. "Be Active". A lot of the audience laughed at this point as his style doesn't usually reflect 'activeness', but i can see where he is coming from. His acting certainly isn't passive. A lot of the activeness was seen through the stage combat, but also through the actors listening. Maxwell said 'Let's acknowledge the fact that these actors have heard these lines a hundred times before' - the actor knows what the next line is, and he is saying that this shouldn't be hidden behind pretend emotions. One actor said that the emotions are 'in the text' and it's all about 'connecting' with them.

The actors talked about being aware of everything in the room, not just the stage area. At one point, someone dropped something in the audience and the person speaking on stage actually turned his head to look out at where the noise was coming from. Whilst watching this, i thought it unprofessional as it appeared that he had come out of the 'acting zone', but when explained afterwards it made more sense.

I was disappointed in a way about there not being any music in this play as i am going to be doing this for our production. Someone commented on this and asked whether the stage fighting replaced his usual music. He said no, but that the fighting could represent 'fiction against reality'. He said 'we're here in this room now, but we are also in another place'.

Lastly, something i thought very funny was the actor playing the man tied up. He was asked what it was like to play a role where you are there for nearly 2/3's of the play as just a witness. He replied with: " (pause) um... urr.. well.. (pause) it's kinda like... um (pause) i'm sorry.. i'm really inarticulate....i don't know..." (or words to that effect) It made me laugh because it seemed to be classic Maxwell.. the general not knowing what to say...

I'm sorry that this has been such a long essay! but i really hope it was of use to you... it certainly helped to clear some things up for me. I'd really recommend going to see him on the 18th if you can, to ask him some questions yourself. Despite the fact that i heard him whispering to the interviewer last night 'i'm really shy'! (if you can believe), he was very articulate with his ideas.

Take care, happy blogging - see you monday for the rehearsals to commence!

Helen xox