Since I've talked about casting and named a number of members of the cast already it is about time the full list was posted:
Rev. Parris Ricky Dunne
Betty Parris Marie Morrissey
Ann Putnam Ann Loh
Martha Corey Amanda Kirwan
Rebecca Nurse Carol Acheson
Elizabeth Proctor Patricia Harte
Sarah Good Susan Cloonan
Giles Corey Edmund Ryan
Herrick Ger Meagher
Thomas Putnam Jim Malone
Rev Hale Kevin Fahy
Cheevor Michael Hennessy
Francis Nurse Rory Moroney
Danforth Simon Thomson
John Proctor Trevor Somers
Hathorne Tom Callery
Suzanna Walcott Catherine McVicker
Mercy Lews Jennifer Williams
Mary Warren Juanita Guidera
Tituba Lily Almeida
Abigail Williams Rachel Culligan
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Dancing Queens
The stimulus behind the events at salem comes from the dance in the woods. Yet this pivotal action is only given refernce in te text. I want to convey its importance and I wanted to set up the importance of the girls as a driving force behind the action that is to come. Even though she reacts to the events as they happen, Abigail has a pre-meditated plan to get at Elizabeth Proctor.
I decided that Film wold be the best way to capture this. In the the theatre we are working in this could have 2 effects. It can make the points that I made above but it can also make the audience sit up and take attention from the get go.
With this in mind, we filmed the dance sequence last week and the results are what I was hoping for. Whether or not the audience want it or not is another matter. We supplemented the existing cast of Rachel Culligan (Abigail Williams), Jennifer Williams (Mercy Lewis), Catherine McVicker (Suzanna Walcott), Marie Morrissey (Betty Parris), Juanita Guidera (Mary Warren) and Lilly Almeida (Tituba), with 5 young girls from Cahir, Shauna, Sarah, Danielle, Leeanne and Tracy. The younger girls choreographed the scene to a piece of music from BattleStar Galactica of all places.
Award Winning Filmmaker , Paul Kelly filmed it out in the woods and did a remarkable editing job in such a short period of time.
The stimulus behind the events at salem comes from the dance in the woods. Yet this pivotal action is only given refernce in te text. I want to convey its importance and I wanted to set up the importance of the girls as a driving force behind the action that is to come. Even though she reacts to the events as they happen, Abigail has a pre-meditated plan to get at Elizabeth Proctor.
I decided that Film wold be the best way to capture this. In the the theatre we are working in this could have 2 effects. It can make the points that I made above but it can also make the audience sit up and take attention from the get go.
With this in mind, we filmed the dance sequence last week and the results are what I was hoping for. Whether or not the audience want it or not is another matter. We supplemented the existing cast of Rachel Culligan (Abigail Williams), Jennifer Williams (Mercy Lewis), Catherine McVicker (Suzanna Walcott), Marie Morrissey (Betty Parris), Juanita Guidera (Mary Warren) and Lilly Almeida (Tituba), with 5 young girls from Cahir, Shauna, Sarah, Danielle, Leeanne and Tracy. The younger girls choreographed the scene to a piece of music from BattleStar Galactica of all places.
Award Winning Filmmaker , Paul Kelly filmed it out in the woods and did a remarkable editing job in such a short period of time.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Cast List
Finally, the play has been cast. It was exactly the arduous task that I thought it would be. I criticize people everyday in class. I tell people they are wrong and I expect them to learn and move on. Much harder with adults. Harder still when some of these people are your friends. When you don't cast somebody for a part that they want it is undoubtedly disappointing to them. Sometimes the reasons for casting them is not logical or explainable but instinctive. It is very hard to defend an instinct. Already, a mere couple of days after the final casting, I am not sure if I have done the right thing or not. In fact the more I think about it, then I am sure that I haven't done the right thing at all in some cases but you must live and die by your decisions. Next time I will certainly do things differently.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Casting Tituba
Finding someone to play the part of Tituba has been tough. I did not want to go down the route of using face paint and stage make up to darken somebody up. I was also afraid of finding a dodgy accent.
There are not a lot of women in Clonmel with dark skin. This is a fact. We could not sit back and hope that somebody would just turn up. I decided tahat I had to pro-actively find some one. I was very lucky that Lilly a young Portoguese woman agreed to read the part for me. I was doubly lucky that she read so well.
So, another part done. All that's left are four women and ten men. At this point in time I have nine women reading for the four parts and fourteen men for the ten. This will inevitably mean disappointing people. Hate doing it but it has to be done.
There are not a lot of women in Clonmel with dark skin. This is a fact. We could not sit back and hope that somebody would just turn up. I decided tahat I had to pro-actively find some one. I was very lucky that Lilly a young Portoguese woman agreed to read the part for me. I was doubly lucky that she read so well.
So, another part done. All that's left are four women and ten men. At this point in time I have nine women reading for the four parts and fourteen men for the ten. This will inevitably mean disappointing people. Hate doing it but it has to be done.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
First Casting
This was tough. I've been conscious that casting the Crucible well is hugely important. The need for the right person in the right part is fundamental to getting it right. Everybody has seen a play where somebody who just wasn't right for the part. It can kill the whole thing and leave the audience detached from the performance. So, with that in mind, we set off in to reading for the parts of Abigail, Mary, Mercy, Suzanna and Betty.
The people who read did so with great conviction and passion. It made for a really interesting and competetive read. It also gives me great confidence that that pivotal groupof girls will carry a lot of the momentum of the play.
Anyway cast part one are in order of appearance:
Betty Parris Marie Morrissey
Suzanna Walcott Catherine McVicker
Abigail Williams Rachael Culligan
Mercy Lewis Jennifer Williams
Mary Warren Juanita Guidera
The people who read did so with great conviction and passion. It made for a really interesting and competetive read. It also gives me great confidence that that pivotal groupof girls will carry a lot of the momentum of the play.
Anyway cast part one are in order of appearance:
Betty Parris Marie Morrissey
Suzanna Walcott Catherine McVicker
Abigail Williams Rachael Culligan
Mercy Lewis Jennifer Williams
Mary Warren Juanita Guidera
Monday, July 20, 2009
Choosing the Crucible
Clonmel Theatre Guild in its infinite wisdom have decided to allow me to direct Arthur Miller's The Crucible. It is a daunting task and I've decided in my infinite stupidity to attempt to keep a blog for the next few months in order to give me a chance to reflect as I go.
We've decided to start early and get a few things done over the summer. As a teacher, I benefit from having a long Summer off. We have started trying to get started on the set, programmes, posters and some of the other things that are very important yet can take up time when time gets tight. One of the actors said to me at the start the play will be time consuming and later it will become all consuming.
There is a real dread within me about taking on such a mammoth play. I wanted to direct this year having directed my own play, Mulcahy Park, a couple of years ago. I was talking to somebody else in the guild about directing and he said that I should direct something that I love. I love The Crucible. I think that Miller is the 20th century's greatest Playwright and The Crucible his greatest play.
The size of the cast is going tobe a difficulty. Finding 10 strong women won't be a problem, however many of them have to be young so i will have to age some of the young girls up. There is also a shortage of male actors in the guild and we will certainly have to import some and more importantly cajole others back onto the stage.
I am very conscious that the Guild is a group and therefore I want to utilise everybody within the guild before I go looking outside. Added to that I hate giving bad news. I know that there will be some people who will not get the parts they want. Not looking forward to that.
i am going to begin the casting process soon. We are going to use multi-media in approaching the play and we are going to video the woods scene to play within the play, probably at the beginning. I am going to cast the young(older) girls very soon. I know which actors I want but I am not sure which parts I want for them. Each girl will not only need to have their own characteristics, they will also need to fit relative to each other.
We've decided to start early and get a few things done over the summer. As a teacher, I benefit from having a long Summer off. We have started trying to get started on the set, programmes, posters and some of the other things that are very important yet can take up time when time gets tight. One of the actors said to me at the start the play will be time consuming and later it will become all consuming.
There is a real dread within me about taking on such a mammoth play. I wanted to direct this year having directed my own play, Mulcahy Park, a couple of years ago. I was talking to somebody else in the guild about directing and he said that I should direct something that I love. I love The Crucible. I think that Miller is the 20th century's greatest Playwright and The Crucible his greatest play.
The size of the cast is going tobe a difficulty. Finding 10 strong women won't be a problem, however many of them have to be young so i will have to age some of the young girls up. There is also a shortage of male actors in the guild and we will certainly have to import some and more importantly cajole others back onto the stage.
I am very conscious that the Guild is a group and therefore I want to utilise everybody within the guild before I go looking outside. Added to that I hate giving bad news. I know that there will be some people who will not get the parts they want. Not looking forward to that.
i am going to begin the casting process soon. We are going to use multi-media in approaching the play and we are going to video the woods scene to play within the play, probably at the beginning. I am going to cast the young(older) girls very soon. I know which actors I want but I am not sure which parts I want for them. Each girl will not only need to have their own characteristics, they will also need to fit relative to each other.
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