Fool: A Dedicated Team

Respect. Cooperation. Dedication. These are all vital qualities you need from a team to have a production you can be proud of! And I'm having the BEST time with this rehearsal process because everyone involved is investing so much time and effort and going above and beyond to make Fool For Love a success!

Alex (playing Eddie) and I have stayed after rehearsal to run lines a few nights, and it has really paid off! We were able to get the scripts out of our hands very quickly. I really admire fellow actors who want to get the lines right and get them down as soon as possible so that we're free to accomplish more during rehearsal without needing a script in one hand! Plus it's fun to play and explore new interpretations and discuss our take on things together. I've had a lot of fun working with and getting to know Alex so far, and the extra time spent outside of rehearsal definitely adds to our connection on stage.

Jeff Ircink, playing the role of the old man, was memorized almost immediately, and he brings so much depth to the telling of his stories! His character mostly has a few chunks of monologues, and Bo Johnson (director) could easily plug him in seperately, but having him present during rehearsals helps to develop more of a connection between May, Eddie and The Old Man. I'm sure Jeff couldn't help wondering how his time could have been better spent while Alex and I struggled through working out our fight sequence last week, but we greatly appreciate his patience and assistance with line reading, since we didn't have a stage manager during our first week. - Shout out to Aaron Kopec (owner of The Alchemist) for stepping in!

Derek plays Martin, which is a character with less lines, but there is no such thing as a small part, only a small actor! And Derek proves it because he also comes to rehearsal memorized and always ready to work and experiment with different line deliveries. It's so great to be able to depend on everyone in the cast and be free to explore and create together... Sometimes when you're trying new acting choices, they don't always work, but it's so helpful to work in an encouraging environment that won't judge your new ideas. The only way to find new interpretations and improve is to let the creative juices flow!

And I absolutely LOVE working with Bo. He's a fantastic director! He's so supportive and collaborative. He's got so many specific ideas for the production and opinions about the lines and the characters' relationships, but he works with us to build on what we feel about everything too. It's so much fun, it's all play! Each day I'm so eager to get to rehearsal and solidify things we've discussed and discover even more little moments in the play, and it's all thanks to the wonderful, encouraging and collaborative environment that Bo established from the beginning! He's right there with us every moment of the way, invested in each beat, in each line! And that's exactly the way I love to work with a director, where we're all on the same page with each other and are heavily invested in every detail of the play. We even finish each others' sentences sometimes when we review and discuss the things we've acheived already or what we still need to accomplish in the remaining rehearsals. That's when you know you're a great team! And I couldn't be happier about the people I'm working with at The Alchemist!!!