Saturday, May 30, 2009

First PIP blog of 2009! (Or, blood packs)

...And thus begins all Cal Shakes summer blogging!

I guess I should start with an introduction: I am Carrie, Artistic Learning intern extraordinaire and lover of brightly colored tennis shoes. Two weeks ago, I boarded a plane out of the great city of Baltimore (Go O's!) to the Bay Area where I began what will be my three month stint as an intern at Cal Shakes. I, like seven of the other interns, am living in the intern house, which we have nicknamed Real World: Oakland (except that we are never at home, and we all get along). But this stuff all seems boring compared with the subject I want to discuss today.

Blood packs.

Yup, I said it. Blood packs. Romeo and Juliet is one gory show. I mean, this ancient grudge leads to some seriously bloody mutiny. It is AWESOME. But here's the thing about live theater: Every show is different. Sometimes, Juliet will put that happy dagger in that sheath and... nope, nothing. This may be, in large part, due to the fact that her blood pack somehow landed under Romeo's legs. Or Tybalt will just keep stabbing Mercutio until we can suddenly see a scratch—just a scratch.

Over the course of a tech, blood packs stop flying across the stage, blood finally reaches a realistic thickness, and everything comes together as it always should. Tech leads into previews which finally leads us to one of the most magical times in all of theater, Opening Night.

Tonight that magic begins. The Bruns will be filled and everything will be perfect. Especially, the Opening Night Party music mix. Just wait... it's worth it.

Okay, that's all for now. Go see Romeo and Juliet!!!!!!!!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It was extremely interesting for me to read the post. Thank you for it. I like such themes and everything connected to this matter. BTW, try to add some pics :).