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

In the Spotlight: Macbeth

Randy Jeffreys, who plays Macbeth, was kind enough to shed some light onto Macbeth's descent into madness...

What to you do to get into your role? Randy: Most of all being an adherent of the Mamet approach, I trust the text to give me what I need to find the core and truth of my character. Of course Shakespeare gives you the very best to work off of ! How do you learn your lines? R: No real unusual method, I just immerse myself in the script...at home, in the car, at work whenever possible. Rehearsing with a script in my hand is maddening to me, so I strive to be off book as fast as possible. I truly believe you can't really begin to breathe life into your character until you are free of the script...at least that is how it feels to me. Favorite thing about your character? R: The fact that he is at his core a very decent man at the start, and the descent into the darkness is so compelling, and gripping and of course tragic. What’s your dream (Shakespeare) role? R: This is it by a large margin. When do you think Macbeth goes to the 'dark side'? R: Certainly an argument can be made that it's when he kills Duncan, but I think he feels the most irrevocably lost after Lady M's death. He loses his last tenous grip on the man he once was. Why do you think he is so easily manipulated by his wife, Lady Macbeth? R:I don't know if manipulated is quite accurate. He has clearly pondered the path he takes before they openly "discuss" it. Although his love for her does make him open to her desires as well. Do you think he ever wonders about how and why the witches chose him? R: I'm not sure. The events happen to him in such a breakneck manner that he may not ever really dwell on that. By the end and of course far too late, he realizes just how badly he has succumbed to their "mis-information". What do you think is his last thought before the one of woman born ends his existence? R: Excellent question ! Probably just wondering how it all went so bad , so fast. Just a complete feeling of fury, desolation, and regret...pretty difficult to imagine the enormity of his sense of loss. Thanks Randy! And again, thanks Dana for fabulous action shots!