Richard loves Richard

 I can't believe that we only have one performance left.  And yet it has been such a gift to even have these half-dozen live performances!  It is such an immense honor to be playing this role.  Dream role!  Bucket List!  That thing you hope you'll be able to do, although it's incredibly daunting role...call it what you will. I won't be greedy and bemoan our lack of a real rehearsal process, or a lengthy run.  We were lucky to get to do it at all!  This was almost another event filmed in our Little Fish parking lot with no audience.  But Lisa took a chance that we could maybe do this with an audience, and it has really paid off.  Especially for me.  When I think of doing all of these soliloquys to a camera instead of living, breathing, joyously hate-filled audience members, I am filled with nothing but gratitude.  

My first year with Shakespeare by the Sea was 2002 when I played my first Macbeth, probably too young, and very controversially for the tastes of some.  I was accused of playing "Richard" as Macbeth.  Having done both, I can now say that I was indeed playing Macbeth, just not the Macbeth that was expected (or in many cases wanted).  But that's one of the great things about playing well known roles.  People have expectations, and many have preferences of what they want from their well known characters.  I can only relate to the characters that I play from my own sensibilities, and try to breathe life into them from my own person.  And sometimes people dig it, and sometimes they don't.  Acting is a funny occupation.

And every night is different.  Which is effing beautiful and what makes live theatre it's own, unique artform.  I mean, it doesn't matter how many time you see Black Widow, it's the same movie (and it's pretty awesome!)  Nor does it matter how many times you view the Mona Lisa, it's the same painting.  You may see different things in both with subsequent viewings, but that's because you are changing moment to moment.  But come to our show multiple times and not only will you see different things because you are evolving, but also because the show has a life of its own.  It is growing and evolving (and not just because we are finally speaking the correct words in the right order).  

And the audience is different every night!  Individually and as a whole.  Saturday night, they made me work to win them over a little bit.  And when they laughed and enjoyed the darkness, it's almost as if they sort of hated themselves for doing it.  Every other night so far, the audience was there for Richard...until they just couldn't be any more.  But tonight, they were all team Lady Anne, and even Margaret!  And don't get me wrong, these are two of the finest actors I've worked with, but Anne was married to the enemy and the only person to go to the old king's funeral, and Margaret was a monster...and she's fucking crazy to boot.  But Saturday night, the audience was team people-who-hate-Richard.  Which was a whole new fun journey I got to take.  Finding new things every night is what makes our work exciting.  And when faced with a hostile group of over 1000 people, they certainly had me scrambling.  And it was great!  I'm glad this was the performance that they recorded.  The one that will be streamed on YouTube in a week or so.  It felt like we finally put it together, and although I wasn't word perfect in the second half of the play (like a promised I would be), this felt like the performance that the show really arrived. And that makes sense with our limited rehearsal time.  And it's not that those previous four performances weren't wonderful theatre.  Because even before we arrived, this group doing this play was dialed up pretty high.  But as Azim told me before the show tonight:  "There's something in the air tonight.  This is either going to be awesome or sadly mediocre."  I told him that I had no doubt it would be awesome.  He agreed and then we went out to make it so!

Also my fights were on point tonight.  It's always a drag when I'm the one screwing up the choreography.  I mean, I invented it!  Get it right, idiot.  But, I lay the blame at Master Shakespeare's feet.  Why put the big fight at the end of 2 hours of talking my ass off and limping my ass all over the stage?  You were an actor, Billy Shakes!  You should know that this would be rough.  I used to give myself some really cool stunts and moves in the fights a make.  But that was before I was officially "too old for this crap."    Now, I just want to come off as capable and interesting in my fights.  Side note, two years ago when we did Henry V, I played Chorus/Exeter but I knew I was going to miss a performance so our dear friend and colleague, Christopher Nelson understudied for me.  And he was so excited to get to do my fights...until he discovered that I had blocked Exeter largely out of combat.  "But you always have the coolest fights," he complained.  Not any more, my friend, not any more.  I was really happy that a former SBTS'er came to the show Friday night.  Rebecca was with us in 2007, and she raved about the show, but then also was very complimentary of the fights and asked who the choreographer was, and was so surprised and delighted to hear that it was me.  Back then, I wasn't a fight dude.  I was just a talking dude.  But the fights (especially when this dumbass remembers them) are really cool.  They follow my three rules of fights:  They are safe, they are exciting, and they tell a story.  

Anyway, I found some new stuff tonight.  Some fun stuff in the Lady Anne scene...probably because the audience made me work so hard to convince them...but I was super penitent about my slaying of King Henry tonight...and also quite emotional that her hatred was killing me slowly.  And Dana is such a wonderful partner that she grabbed it and ran!  I found one last appeal to Buckingham to try to win him back with our shared language of fun theatrics in the top of the second half.  Jonathan is also very game and able to pick up whatever is put down.  It really is such a wonderful thing to be with these people on this journey.  We get the best people, because only the truest artists who are in it for the right reasons dare join our merry band!  

I feel like I have at least six weeks of further discoveries...and one more day to find them all.  Come down at 7 PM tonight...Sunday to see how many I can find!!!