Farewell to Mackers

This summer season has been absolutely incredible! We've had superb performances, amazing sets and costumes, and epic battles -- and everyone, cast and crew, has been a pleasure to work with, both onstage and off and we can't wait to do it again in the fall!

Thank you for reading and thank you, our audience, for supporting Yorick and free public theater in the parks.

In other news, Yorick's also has it's own, new main blog!! We'll still be blogging about particular productions, but this time, we have one central site. Please update your bookmarks/RSS feeds to Poor Yorick's Players blog here!!

We're hoping to grow our online presence and continue sharing our love of theater in blog-form for many more seasons, so if you would please take the time to answer a few questions we can make Yorick's blog even better for Twelfth Night!

Poor Yorick's Blog Questionnaire

(it's short, I promise!)

Most importantly, spread the word!

All our love and thanks

April, Kristin, and the cast and crew of Poor Yorick's Players

Macduff

Macduff is the hero, the fallen and the proud throughout his journey in the pages of "Macbeth". Adam Rutledge take us on that journey with him as Macduff. Enjoy!

Q: What do you do to prepare for a role?

A: I read the play, of course. It sounds a bit trite, but that's really the most important thing I can do before I start memorizing. I'll read the whole play at least once through from the perspective of my role, then I'll read the cut version of the working script several more times. Each time, I look more and more specifically at what people have to say about my character, what my character has to say about other people, and what things my character has been able to observe (vs. what's unknown to him). I don't like thinking about a character in a vacuum; if another character says something about "me," I need to figure out why they say it and incorporate that into my performance.

Q: The best way to learn lines?

A: All the re-reading helps, but out-loud repetition is the only sure bet. For monologues, I'll record myself and listen to the recording.

Q: What is your dream Shakespearean role?

A: Richard of Gloucester, from Richard III. I love the squicky (April: Adam, I totally think you make up a word here) villains, and I love crazy body language and movement. Speaking of villains and movement-oriented roles, I also really like Caliban, from The Tempest.

Q: Macduff, the hero of the show.......and yet he is called out by Malcolm for abandoning his family without cause or notice....he did say he was going to Fife....what is going through Macduff's mind at this point?

A: Well, he went to Fife well before leaving Scotland. Once Macbeth's power grows totally out of control, though, Macduff is all about setting his personal life aside to find Malcolm and save the nation. Once that decision is made, to become a traitor to the throne so as to stay loyal to the country, he can't stick around for long, or even risk telling his family. He has to simply leave, otherwise he'll be found out. And if his family knows, they'll be put in even more danger. The tragedy is that they're put in danger either way, but Macduff can't know that beforehand.

Q: Do we think Macduff has an over-developed sense of patriotism? Or is he just about right?

A: He certainly has a lot more patriotism than I think we're used to seeing these days. I'm well aware of how jaded I am, personally, so it's actually a little refreshing to play someone with such an unshakable idealism.

I really love Macduff's loyalty to his people. In the top of the play, he's not pandering to the king or playing politics with other thanes; the battle was fought in and around Fife, his home, and someone has to lead his people in cleaning up the mess. Later on, he refuses to fight with the Scottish peasants Macbeth has coerced into his army. I suspect it's this loyalty to the nation, and thence to the crown--rather than to the crown through politics--that leads to Duncan trusting Duff to be the one to serve as his wake-up call.

I can't help but wonder how Macduff holds up over the next few years after the play ends; Malcolm has essentially opened the door for the Anglicanization of Scotland, and soon Macduff's country, for which he sacrificed so much, will be unrecognizable to him. "Earl" might not be the most comfortable of titles for a Scottish patriot, no matter how well deserved.

Q: What is going through Macduff's mind when he hears from Ross that his entire estate has been made into a slaughterhouse?

A: Ugh, that scene is so hard to pull off! There are so many things happening here. Malcolm has just said he's coming to Scotland with an army to take back the crown, so Macduff has a moment of triumph; this is why he left his family, after all. We're also fresh of of Malcolm's bizarre deceit, and because of that, Duff still can't be sure how trustworthy the man he's chosen to support really is. Then he's told about his family's death. So here we have a man, depressed and keenly feeling the pain of his nation, confused about his own loyalties, and now grieving. In the midst of all this, he has to reach the final decision to throw in wholeheartedly with Malcolm and visit revenge upon Macbeth. It's quite a lot to think about!

Q: Seeking revenge against Macbeth for multiple reasons rounds out the end of the play before a new king is crowned - What do you think goes through Macduff's mind as he kills Macbeth?

A: I think he pretty well wears his heart on his sleeve in his last monologue: "If thou beest slain, and with no stroke of mine, my wife and childrens' ghosts will haunt me still." I think there's a moment of relief, and release, just before the killing blow is struck.

Thanks Adam!

It's not cursed, really!

And then there was this one show where Hannah (Fleance) got locked in the dressing room with an Entertainment Weekly and a bag of Teddy Grahams, not realizing the door was stuck. The men, between scenes, armed with hammers, attempt to break down the door while Arthur just decides to bust through the ceiling to get her out.

And then Hannah falls through the ceiling xD

So everyone is safe and sounds and just as Hannah gets out through the ceiling tiles, the door gets unhinged. No two shows are exactly the same...

Notes From The Stage Manager - Twas a rough night.

Readers!!! Did you miss us? I bet you did. As you know, Yorick is in hell week number two as we OPEN for our SECOND WEEKEND!! FRIDAY AND SATURDAY!! 7:30 P.M.!!!! Tall Trees Amphitheater!!! Monroeville Community Park West!!!! BE THERE!!!

Now that my shameless plug is complete (this is a Macbeth/Yorick blog after all), I wanted to share with you a bit of a hysterical adventure the production team and a few dedicated actors had last week at the final dress rehearsal......

It was a calm, humid beginning to the tech set up. We believe in task lists for efficiency and spreading out the responsibility load, so all were at their assigned posts. I got there a bit early to get the light and sound board up so when my amazing ASM Rachel got there, we could plug things in, get a sound check, work with the wireless mic, play with sound effects and be on our merry way. Mother Nature, however, had another destiny for us. Let me just say this.....'Tempest' has nothing on Yorick. NOT. A. THING.

Before we knew it we saw it.....the cloud. The Deathstar of all thunderclouds. About two seconds later.....Gale force winds, slanting thick buckets of rain, thunder that could wake the dead and lightning streaking across the sky in all directions. Go Production Team!! We have a Director, Producer, Stage Manager and Asst. Stage Manager hanging for dear life onto the corners of the tent, ironically meant to protect things from rain.....As I scream for help I get Lennox and Macduff son charging up the hill to come to our aid. Valiant cousins! Worthy gentlemen!

We are just hanging out, getting drenched, holding onto things, using our bodies as warlike shields as Mother Nature rages on for about 20 minutes. We gather our goods to transport back and forth, back and forth. My script? IT SURVIVED!! As did all the cues. For the win.

We finally all make it down to the amphitheater, soaked to the bone, ringing out clothing, watching the newly formed rivers barrel down the pathway. Did this stop us? Ha! In your witch filled dreams. We dried off as best we could, and on with final dress. I would also like to point out we only started five minutes late. I really do not know how much more amazing we can get.

What was it like with lightning aversion therapy and hanging on for dear life? Kristin, please insert water-logged picture here:

note from Kristin: Yeah, it kind of looked like Atlantis. But with less fish and more downed trees.

So there is no curse....right????

Parry! Swing! Ching! - The Beautiful Sounds of Battle: Fights and Mackers.

We all know there is A LOT of blood, murder and gore in "Macbeth". How does it all look so real and cool? Adam Rutledge. Fight chroeographer extraordinaire. Here is a dip into the madness.....

Q: As a fight choreographer, can you explain a little bit about the process of getting certified to teach and choreograph stage combat?

A: I've studied stage combat for a little over ten years, now. I started during high school with a very short master class at a Texas Educational Theater Association conference, which gave me just enough knowledge to be very, very dangerous. After I graduated high school, I took several classes at Southeast Missouri State University before eventually attending my first major workshop under the auspices of the Society of American Fight Directors. The SAFD is a national organization dedicated to teaching the art of stage combat, and they have a standardized way of teaching that makes it very simple to learn the basics. I've been a member of the SAFD since 2004, and they have recognized me as proficient in all eight weapons they teach. The proficiency test process is fairly rigorous, requiring at least thirty hours of instruction in a particular weapon discipline, culminating in the performance of a fight scene which is evaluated for safety, acting value, and overall intensity.

So I've gone through that process eight different times, and actually performed in several more test fights as a partner for other actor-combatants. Actor-combatant is the term the SAFD uses for members recognized as proficient in several weapons; although there's a huge emphasis in the organization on safety, stage combat is part of a performance, so acting is incredibly important. If you just do a few moves safely, it looks less like a fight and more like a martial arts kata: interesting, but neither visceral nor exciting.

Q: What approach do you take when teaching a novice actor? A professional?

A: The first thing I always look for is skill level in stage combat, as well as in general movement for the stage. I don't care if an actor is Equity or SAG, or if he or she has a dozen or a hundred shows under his belt; I need to know if he can move or not. From there, it's just a matter of getting the right technique down, to make sure we're speaking the same language. I'll always have a session or two that are just going over technique, not learning any choreography yet, no matter how long my combatants have been acting, just because I need to know they'll understand what I mean when I say, "cut high outside." Once I know they'll understand my instruction, I can start putting down choreography.

Q: How do you work out the choreography beforehand? Is it in your brain? Do you write things down? Do you dream fight choreography at night?

A: Hah! I don't usually dream choreography unless it's someone else's choreography I'm trying to remember. Usually, I like to sit down with a director and discuss general themes of the show, what a director is planning to do with the text of the play. I'll go into a show knowing the general shape of the fight, how it progresses from beginning to end without knowing the specific techniques it will use. Then I'll talk to the director about my ideas and make necessary changes. At that point, it's very similar to any other tech aspect of the show: a set designer comes up with a plan, then shifts that plan based on what the director has to say. With Macbeth, I actually gave Julie a fairly thorough synopsis of the fights, written as prose. It's a good method of conveying my ideas without getting bogged down in details that will likely change anyway. After that, I started actually teaching the actors technique before I set any real choreography. Since I knew a rough shape of the fight, I knew what techniques I needed to teach, but I still didn't have set, blow-by-blow choreography. Once I started actually doing choreography with the actors, it's actually a fairly organic process. I knew I wanted the midpoint of the Macbeth/Macduff fight to come out of a tight spiral, largely controlled by Macbeth, into a sudden break and then a wounding from Macduff, but I didn't know exactly how many moves it would take to make that happen.

Once I had the actors on stage and could actually see how we worked together, what kind of distancing we had, and so forth, I was able to fill in the specifics. Much like regular stage blocking, I knew we had to start in one place and end up in another; I just had to figure out the steps to get there! After that, there were of course little tweaks that had to happen to fix things here and there, and that's where I will usually have my flashes of random "aha!" moments, sometimes in line at the Giant Eagle or in the shower, or someplace else where it's comical for me to start running choreography by myself.

Q: Favorite weapon to use onstage?

A: Oooh. That's tough, but I think probably the knife. It's a very intimate weapon, with plenty of opportunity for really visceral choreography. It's also a very specific weapon; if someone swings a broadsword at your face, you can just duck and the audience will get it. A knife is so small on stage, your victim has to be very particular about their reactions to an attack: was that a cut at your throat? or your eyes? Knife fights, I think, have the best chance to really get under an audience's skin.

Q: What is a fight call? Why are they necessary?

A: Fight call is basically a brief rehearsal of the show's fights, done shortly before every performance. I usually start fight calls during tech week, if not before, because the actors don't have time during a run to work the fights anymore. My fight calls consist of a mark-through of the fight, just to see that the actors understand their space. Then they'll do a run of the fight at about 3/4 performance speed. I don't do full performance speed in a fight call because I don't want anyone to blow their steam without an audience, but I need the actors to come pretty close just so we can see everyone's moving at the same pace. So, right before showtime, the actors have run each fight twice.

The process does several things. First, it ensures the actors that they remember all the choreography--it's just like going over a monologue right before going on to perform it. Second, it gives the fight captain a chance to give any necessary notes, which may be about choreography--"keep your point low when you duck"--or environmental issues--"keep an eye out when you enter for this fight, someone left a grape on stage during last night's show"--or even just compliments about the fights' general awesomeness. Finally, I think it helps get actors pumped for the show they're about to put on.

Q: Any favorite stage combat stories you wish to share with the class?

A: I mentioned earlier having enough knowledge to be dangerous after my first combat class. I thought I was really hot stuff after that 90-minute master class, so I decided to stage a fight for my senior year talent show. Long story short, I was way too heavy with my blade--I was hitting my partners' swords very hard--and I had no clue how to teach other people what little I knew. Half an hour before the show, we ran through the fight one last time and one of our swords broke. We didn't have a replacement, so we decided to go on with one of the three swords six inches shorter and far more jagged than it should have been. Then, during the performance, one of my fight partners went up on choreography, forgot where he was because we were both very caught up in the moment. I must have blinked in that moment, and it's lucky I did, because when I left the stage I looked in the mirror and found he had cut me on the eyelid! I learned a lot of things from that: light bladework is a good thing; keep a safe fighting distance so if you miss on choreography, you don't hit your partner; and always stay aware of your fight, because getting lost in the moment can be a very bad thing. I'm lucky I still have two eyes after that!

Q: Favorite fight/murder of the show?

A: I like them all, of course, but I think my favorite choreography is the Macbeth/Donalbain fight. I'm very proud of how it flows, of the cold inevitability of Mackers' triumph.

Q: Most challenging fight/murder of the show?

A: Definitely the last fight. We're so tired by the time we get to that point in the play; I know Randy must be completely exhausted! Plus, it's a longer fight, which always makes it a more difficult fight. Choreographing it was a challenge, too, because you have to find a way to allow for all that dialogue while keeping the danger of the fight going.

Thanks Adam!

Malcolm

My faithful readers, how we have missed you!!!! Week one is down, two more performances to go...and we know you are craving some more posts from the depths of "Macbeth". We sat down with the Prince of Cumberland (Stephen Ferrick) for an inside look to the 'good guys' side of the tale. Enjoy!!

Q: How do you prepare for a role?

A: The first thing that I do to prepare for any role is read the script four times: once for familiarity with the play, and one read-through for each of the three essential things that an actor has to know in order to start working on a role - What do I know to be true about my character? What does my character say about himself? What do others say about my character? The end result is a couple pages of notes on the role and the show, and a good idea of where to start that let me start sculpting the clay of the character (or Play-dough, if you're the sort who enjoys lame jokes). Once I have a general shape, the proverbial lump o' clay gets tossed to the director, who adjusts and re-sculpts it as they see fit, and removes any extra limbs that I might have thought looked cool when I started working the clay. The end result is a statue with two sculptors, who work together to keep improving the piece at each rehearsal until it is unveiled on opening night.

You can't get too attached to your initial sculpture, however, or you'll end up with a sphinx without a nose. Beyond hammering the script into my head, I try to keep it pretty simple. The most important thing for an actor to concentrate on when building a character, especially in Shakespeare's plays, is making the characters accessible to a modern audience. I know some actors who do an insane amount of research for the roles they're in, particularly Shakespearean ones; they look up historical context, read analyses of the characters, watch other people perform the roles, and do a bunch of other stuff that I consider (for the most part) to be going overboard. If you're cast as Romeo, for example, researching social interaction and courtship in 14th century Verona and considering the audience that Shakespeare was writing for and his intent with each line isn't going to make your character connect with the audience any better, or make them care when Romeo dies. The audience will appreciate a character that they can understand and relate to more than one that is "true to Shakepeare's vision" or "historically accurate". Randy Jeffreys did a fantastic job as Macbeth, not because he played a Scottish Thane with dreams of kinghood, but because he played a guy who'd worked hard and been loyal his whole life, and been passed over for recognition that he deserved. Also, Macbeth's fall from grace will resonate (I feel like I'm overusing that word) with anyone who's ever thought about taking matters into their own hands to get what they feel (or in this case, what a manipulative companion feels) they deserve. Long story short, it's important to act for your audience.

Q: How do you go about learning all the lines?

A: WORDS WORDS WORDS. There's no secret method an actor can use to memorize lines (or if there is, it's too secret for me to know). It's all about reading, re-reading, re-re-reading, reading out loud, attempting to recite from memory, failing, kicking any furniture in one's general vicinity, shouting assorted curses at the inanimate objects you just kicked, trying to recite from memory again, rinse and repeat. It does help me to learn lines as I'm going to be delivering them; if I'll be walking across the stage when I speak a particular line, I'll walk with the script as I'm memorizing it, for example.

Q: Prince of Cumberland.....do you think Malcolm was expecting that? How close do you think the royal family is to one another?

A: I'd imagine that he was expecting it to happen at some point, he's King Duncan's oldest son, after all. There isn't much dialogue between Duncan and his sons that suggests that their relationship was terribly close, but they seem to be pretty well-adjusted for a royal family. Malcolm and Donalbain seem pretty tight despite their personality differences, with Malcolm being more of a planner and politician and Donalbain being more action-oriented. I tried to push the closeness between the two brothers whenever I could onstage, since it makes Don's death at the end of the show more of a blow to the crown prince.

Q: Duncan is murdered in what seems like minutes after your new honors as Prince by his "sleepy grooms"....what do you think is Malcolm's gut reaction to the murder? Shock? Dismay? Or does he already have a few people in mind who he feels actually performed the murderous deed?

A: Malcolm is ever a planner. He's definitely stunned and horrified by the news of his father's murder, but he realizes that 1.) If someone is out to stage a coup, he's next, and 2.) Mourning won't help him or his brother. I doubt he has any suspects in mind at the time, but he's thinking clearly enough to realize that he and Donalbain need to leave, despite the suspicion it will throw on them.

Q: You away to England, and then find yourself in a deep conversation with Macduff about Scotland, your potential reign, how you are going to overthrow the tyrant, etc. Why the confusion tactics? What are you trying to glean from Macduff? Do you think an accord is truly reached between the two, that Malcolm has Macduff's loyalty?

A: That was one of the more problematic scenes for me, simply because Malcolm spends the majority of it lying about what a terrible person he is, and then hand-waves it away with just a couple lines. The point of the scene, as I understand it, it to establish Macduff as very loyal to Scotland (as shown when he tries to justify Malcolm's negative traits) and to show that despite his patriotism, he values a good a fair ruler more than the official rules of succession that allowed Macbeth to take power. Malcolm had his father murdered and had to flee the country for his safety, so he's not exactly in a trusting mood at this point. He needs to know that Macduff is someone he can trust to do the right thing for Scotland and her people. The conversation is cut short when Macduff receives news that his family has been murdered, and the discussion of treachery and loyalty is thrown out the window for revenge. I believe that if his family hadn't been killed, Macduff would still have sided with Malcolm and returned to overthrow the tyrant, but there might have been a monologue where Macduff questions his decision and considers siding with Macbeth at the last moment. What a twist!

Q: Malcolm loses his brother, Donalbain, in the final act. What some play goers may not realize is that Director J.B. switched this up a bit and replaced young Siward with Donalbain. As an actor, what is your take on this revision? Do you find it to be more powerful in the unaltered script?

A: Siward is only mentioned a couple times before he appears to duel Macbeth. He's built up as the best soldier in all of England, and his death makes Macbeth look stronger, which puts some suspense into the Macbeth/Macduff fight. As I mentioned earlier, when performing Shakespeare to a modern audience, priorities need to be changed a bit. Since most people in the audience probably know the outcome of the play, building Macbeth up as a good fighter and making it seem like he can beat Macduff doesn't really serve a purpose. Cutting Siward (no pun intended) and replacing him with Donalbain makes a lot of sense, and I think the revision makes the last few scenes of the play more powerful than they would have been with Siward getting slain.

Thanks Stephen!

Heads!

Randy spent some time getting his entire head encased in plaster. We won't tell you why, just in case we give anything away ;D but the experience of getting such a custom prop made is super cool!

A few weeks ago I spent several hours at The Tom Savini Make up and Special Effects School in Monessen, Pa. I was having a casting of my head made by the wizards at said school for use in Poor Yorick's upcoming production of Shakespeare's Scottish Tragedy. Encased from my shoulders to the top of my head with plaster, adhesives, alginate, latex, etc., for 30 minutes or so. Good thing I'm not claustrophobic!

The process began with some carefully placed vaseline around my hairline , eyebrows et cetera, to make "removal" of the casting less arduous . The top of my head was covered with a latex cap and attached with a type of surgical glue. The guys then began mixing the gloopy material in a bucket...when it was ready they began to encase me. I was totally "entombed" by the quickly hardening material. Only two small nose openings..so I could breathe! Then the waiting. It was actually quite warm and relaxing...I almost dozed off at a few points. The crew even had to knock on my "head" once because I was so relaxed that I didn't hear them ask me if I was okay ! A quick thumbs up from me and the wait continued. Finally the extrication began and sweet freedom. The casting was removed in two halves and there I was! Can't wait to see the finished product.

Thanks again to Logan Tobia and the whole crew at the school...I had an awesome time!

- Randy