Can Anyone Spare an Audience?
It's opening weekend for Wit and each night we've been able to count our audience members on two hands. I thought last night, being Friday, would draw a larger crowd. The production of Private Eyes in the theater next door had a good sized audience. Our stage manager came into the green room..."I'm calling 15 minutes, but not really. Cuz, we only have three people in the audience so we're gonna hold up a bit."
"Oh, so we're doing a show for the ushers?" Evelyn, the comically-on-the-verge-of-crochety elder actor, joked. We had three "ushers" show up and we all kind of chuckled because there's really no need for even one usher in our small, 90 seat black box. As I came downstairs from the green room, the bustle of our neighboring stage was exciting and I felt a pang of jealousy.
There ended up being a total of 8 people in our audience...the three ushers, the two producers, the lead actor's ex husband and date and my fiance. It felt like we had done all of this work just to put on a skit for our family members. I wish I could lie and say that the size of the audience doesn't bother me because it's about the work...and the love of the work. Which...is very true for me...but I was bummed out last night that our theater was so empty.
I'd like to think that right now we're Portland's best kept theater secret...once reviewers start coming, they'll speak so highly of our show that the crowds will come in overwhelming herds...we'll sell out every night...we'll have to extend the run of the show! Okay, that took it a bit far, but at this point, I can only hope. We had no reviewers last night, and I really thought we would...I really hoped we would.
My acting coach, who came to preview night, said that Wit is the best play he's seen in Portland for years. And his praise of me was...I'm still speechless...it brought tears to my eyes. His praise was actually a bit frightening for me because I began to worry that I wouldn't be able to live up to it again. That I would let it go to my head and then I would falter and fail by allowing my ego to control me into trying to "get it right", to make sure I validate him. But it also made me feel quite amazing...I mean, he's my acting coach. His comments mean a great deal! And, so far I've been able to stay connected and use the excitement of it in my work (something that I credit my acting class for teaching me...being able to use what you have/are feeling in the moment), and I continue to get wonderful comments...and beyond that, I continue to feel good about my work.
I think that last night, the lack of energy that you get from a larger audience made me start to feel how tired I was. We've been rehearsing/performing every day/night since last Saturday...and that's on top of working 8 hours a day for me.
But, even though I'm tired and bummed out about our small audience, I am so happy to being doing theater again. I really missed it and I had forgotten how much joy it brings me. There were times where I it was all I could do just to go to acting class and focus on my training. But now, my consistent training and working is starting to pay off because it's just a part of me now, and it's propelling me and my work to new levels...and I am so grateful.
I don't know how many people read this (probably about as many people who have been in our audiences...or even less!), but come see Wit. It really is an amazing play.
Love,
Aislinn
"Oh, so we're doing a show for the ushers?" Evelyn, the comically-on-the-verge-of-crochety elder actor, joked. We had three "ushers" show up and we all kind of chuckled because there's really no need for even one usher in our small, 90 seat black box. As I came downstairs from the green room, the bustle of our neighboring stage was exciting and I felt a pang of jealousy.
There ended up being a total of 8 people in our audience...the three ushers, the two producers, the lead actor's ex husband and date and my fiance. It felt like we had done all of this work just to put on a skit for our family members. I wish I could lie and say that the size of the audience doesn't bother me because it's about the work...and the love of the work. Which...is very true for me...but I was bummed out last night that our theater was so empty.
I'd like to think that right now we're Portland's best kept theater secret...once reviewers start coming, they'll speak so highly of our show that the crowds will come in overwhelming herds...we'll sell out every night...we'll have to extend the run of the show! Okay, that took it a bit far, but at this point, I can only hope. We had no reviewers last night, and I really thought we would...I really hoped we would.
My acting coach, who came to preview night, said that Wit is the best play he's seen in Portland for years. And his praise of me was...I'm still speechless...it brought tears to my eyes. His praise was actually a bit frightening for me because I began to worry that I wouldn't be able to live up to it again. That I would let it go to my head and then I would falter and fail by allowing my ego to control me into trying to "get it right", to make sure I validate him. But it also made me feel quite amazing...I mean, he's my acting coach. His comments mean a great deal! And, so far I've been able to stay connected and use the excitement of it in my work (something that I credit my acting class for teaching me...being able to use what you have/are feeling in the moment), and I continue to get wonderful comments...and beyond that, I continue to feel good about my work.
I think that last night, the lack of energy that you get from a larger audience made me start to feel how tired I was. We've been rehearsing/performing every day/night since last Saturday...and that's on top of working 8 hours a day for me.
But, even though I'm tired and bummed out about our small audience, I am so happy to being doing theater again. I really missed it and I had forgotten how much joy it brings me. There were times where I it was all I could do just to go to acting class and focus on my training. But now, my consistent training and working is starting to pay off because it's just a part of me now, and it's propelling me and my work to new levels...and I am so grateful.
I don't know how many people read this (probably about as many people who have been in our audiences...or even less!), but come see Wit. It really is an amazing play.
Love,
Aislinn
posted by Aislinn at
9:59 AM
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