Progress with ASTRAY THE SUN

Last night's rehearsal went well enough. Although when we had another run through, we all felt that our performances were a little inconsistent. We each made a handful of really strong choices that we were very happy about, but then we all had "duhh" moments of forgetting a line or dropping our energy from time to time... And that'll happen in a rehearsal or even sometimes during a performance, but the trick is to really maintain your focus and energy as an actor to make sure you stay on your toes and in the moment!

One thing that our director Carol really stresses too is to keep our energy up for the whole show. There are incredibly high stakes in this short play, and so it takes a ton of energy, passion and intensity to convey this epic play in half an hour!

Another important thing that we're really working to perfect is the connection between characters. We've had lots of fun in rehearsals playing and discovering the levels of the relationships, and now we're just tweaking minor details in their interactions to really highlight the different moments that the characters experience in the play.

We also tried on costumes last night. Amelia Figg-Franzoi (Marquette student) brought over some beautiful Elizabethan costuming for us to look at and get a feel for how they will affect our movement. So that's another aspect we're looking forward to adding during tech week because adjusting our movement due to our clothing will be another fun challenge (especially for myself and Peggy Strand, the other female actor in the play, who will wear hoop skirts!)

So today is our last day off. We are super excited going into technical rehearsals and the performances this coming week! It will be busy and exhilarating, so tonight is the time to rest and stay healthy before we forge ahead through the last rehearsals!

- Bethany