My Day as Becky Shaw, or Everything I learned in Gender Studies Class

This past weekend, I got together with fellow cast member Max Hartman to run lines for the show. Max and I actually only have a few exchanges in the play, so we spent most of the time trading off and reading the other roles for each other. Along with giving me a chance to demonstrate my impeccable Jenny Ledel, Leah Spillman, and Cindy Beall impressions, the exercise gave me the opportunity to look at the show from several different perspectives. It also gave me a much clearer picture of how the women in the play view my character.

This led Max and I to start discussing the play as a whole. One of the things we talked about was how easy it can be to fall into “types” with a play like Becky Shaw (and countless other plays, as well). As far as the two guy characters go, one could give a quick read and come to a conclusion like “Oh, he’s the tough one and he’s the wuss,” or something more snotty like, “While one character’s innate maleness leads him to embody the qualities more typically attributed to his gender; the other strives to embrace both the masculine and feminine inherent in all of us.”

Both of those statements are complete bullshit. The beauty of Becky Shaw is that it actually plays with the idea of type, and despite what one might think about the characters at the beginning, those thoughts can get flipped and turned around multiple times throughout the course of the play. While on the surface, the two men and three women might fall into the typical “roles” we’ve all taught ourselves to recognize, each is complex and original and something really hard to figure out. This is what makes the show both difficult and a lot of fun to work on.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go watch football, leave the toilet seat up, and get hot women to like me by wearing the right body spray.

 

 

Image © Leland Bobbé
More photos from the 'Half-Drag' series can be found at
http://lelandbobbe.com/#/18/0

Two kinds of trouble.

 

Poster image for 'Becky Shaw'
Created by SullivanPerkins

Every day I read the news and I think “Wow! What news! An actress showed her boobs in a photo shoot when we've all seen her boobs multiple times in several movies! Oh … and something going on in one of the Koreas… but back to the news on this actress and her boobs! No way! Two musicians wore the SAME DRESS SOMEPLACE?”

An idea expressed in Becky Shaw is the idea of “Two kinds of trouble.” "Sexy" and "Not sexy".

I’m baffled at the idea that someone COULD be telling me the truth but instead they offer me up this sexy fiction because “That’s what people want.” Is it what we want or is it what we are offered?

I’m sad to see paper- “newspapers” go by the wayside… not for any nostalgic purposes but simply because the internet allows for so many more irrelevant pieces of information to pollute my brain and stress me out.

Of course I want to stay informed but I also know that bad news sells more than good news. Sexy news will always win out. And truth will have to out itself.

It all seems to go back to money. Why take a gamble on an uncomfortable truth when a sexy irrelevance is a sure thing?

Last week, I happened upon a brief synopsis of Becky Shaw in a "Fall arts Catalogue" courtesy of one of our local press machines. This synopsis states that Becky Shaw is about an older woman with MS who dates a younger, less distinguished man.

Come see us open September 7th 2012 and decide for yourself if that's what this play is about... (It could also be that whoever wrote that only read the first 10 pages... but I suppose it could be about a woman with MS...)

Finally: I have attached a piece of sexy news and a piece of non-sexy news for your viewing pleasure/stress...

http://www.stylelist.com/2012/08/27/serena-williams-tennis-red-dress-david-letterman-photo_n_1827633.html

http://www.examiner.com/article/seismic-storm-continues-7-3-el-salvador-quake-follows-sunday-s-southland-swarm

Garcon! A Bowl of Wine!

My mom (like a lot of people, I guess) is constantly amazed that actors can “memorize all those lines.” I’m learning my lines for Becky Shaw right now, and I think it’s going to work out on that front (knock on wood, throw salt over shoulder, kiss superstitious Italian medal from my grandmother).  

Now, just because I feel okay on the lines, it doesn’t mean that I’m not haunted by an actor’s nightmare of sorts. In fact, every night as I fall asleep, horrific images of wine glasses flash through my mind. Yep. Wine glasses. I know what you’re thinking: wine glasses are great. After all, they hold wine in them. Yeah, I used to be like you. I used to enjoy a nice glass with some sort of fancy grape-derived beverage in it, but not anymore. You see, in Becky Shaw there are like 47 wine glasses I have to account for at all times. Okay, I’m being told it’s actually only four wine glasses and it’s only in one scene, but I swear it feels like 47.

Either they didn’t teach it—or more likely I skipped the day they taught wine glass traffic management at theatre school. Right now, I’m having some serious Noises Off moments where I stare blankly at Tina Parker and ask “do I leave the wine glass or take the wine glass?”

Lucky for me, Tina, our stage manager Ruth, and our props people have figured out that I’m an idiot, so they’ve gone ahead and labeled all of the rehearsal glasses for me, so I know which one goes to which person. It’s nice to be loved.

I have faith that I’ll figure it all out. I’m doing many bartending drills at home to get up to speed, and I’m watching Tom Cruise in Cocktail on a bi-nightly basis. Seriously, young Cruise can serve drinks in-time with an awesome ‘50s/‘80s soundtrack like no other.

Come see Becky Shaw. It’s going to be great. And if you stay for a talk back (which you totally should do), don’t ask me about my lines. Instead, ask me, “How did you manage to handle all of those wine glasses?” I’ll cue up the “Hippy Hippy Shake” or “Kokomo” and show you how it’s done.

--Michael Federico

A Little Help From Her Friends: Providence & North Carolina

From Jenny Ledel:

The character of Becky Shaw has lived in Providence since she was 11 years old (originally from North Carolina). 

Having never spent time in either place – I look for a little help from my friends.

One of my dearest friends, and KDOG Company Member Christie Vela, is up in Providence, RI, right now for a 10 week run of King Lear at Trinity Rep. Being a pretty phenomenal actress she understands my need for these images. She sent me these pictures to start:

I am also lucky in that another dear friend is born and raised PURE North Carolina pride! Cara Reid is also a brilliant actress who understands my need for this kind of specificity.

Here's the website she sent me of her hometown in NC:

http://theblueridgehighlander.com/jackson_county_north_carolina/index.php

Rehearsal week 1: Letters and Numbers

This past week has been a blast diving into this script. We got started with a ton of improv (Cindy Beall makes a kickass bowling ball), picked music pieces for our characters, and worked to discover the tone of the piece in our table work.

I find it rather difficult to discuss working on this project without spoiler alerts. However, I'll do my best to capture the essence of the argument presented in this play without giving too much away.

As the cast sat around dissecting each moment of the script, this past week, we discovered that this play is full of "Numbers" people and "Words" people. Aren't we all?

Is math an essential part of assigning worth to something?

Can you "calculate" someone's worth based on money?

As Andrew asks in the play "So people who don't have money can't exert any impact?"

Is this the fundamental disagreement that fuels the ongoing fight in our modern day politics?

I ask these questions as we move into blocking. I have my instincts as far as Becky is concerned but I leave this question open-ended for now.

Luckily, I'm an actor who works a finance day-job. Going to work, I get an up close, intimate look at what fuels the "numbers" people and how they calculate worth in the literal and figurative senses. So yes, getting paid to do my job is also paying me to do my other, more awesome, job.

To keep my sanity, I usually have a companion piece to read or watch while I'm working on a play. Something either similar to the play or the exact opposite (depending on how much the character wants to bleed into my daily life -- ie Being in a play is no excuse for breaking into tears at the bank or yelling at the retail worker at the gas station). For this play, I've chosen to read Vanity Fair by William Thackeray - a book i've been meaning to read for years and never got around to it. Perfect timing and a wonderful companion piece so far.

For now I, simply, brag about working with Cindy Beall, Max Hartman, Tina Parker, Leah Spillman, and Mike Federico. Not to mention Ruth Stephenson as SM. And, of course, I trust Korey Kent's costumes implicitly.

The Becky Shaw Mixtape

Last week, we kicked off our first rehearsal of Becky Shaw, and by all accounts it went “rad.” 

During the week, our director Tina Parker asked us each to bring in songs which should somehow connect to the characters we’re playing. Now, that connection could be really anything, as long as you could tell the others why you chose it. This exercise was a really good chance for us to start thinking about these people we’re playing on stage. It also gave us the perfect excuse to sit around a table and listen to some sweet jams.

Later, Tina asked us to start putting together a personal playlist for the show. It could be more songs connected to your character, songs that apply to the play as a whole, or just songs that, for whatever reason, get you in the right mindset to start working on the play. I thought this sounded like another great way to start doing some character work. I think music can serve as a great tool to figure a person out, so I love stuff like this. I also thought it would be another great excuse to sit around and listen to some tunes. 

Just a quick note, I play Andrew Porter—a would-be writer who loves indie rock. That kind of served as my jumping off point, but (without giving too much away) there is a sensitive side to Andrew that I thought would be worth exploring in song. So, here is my Becky Shaw Mixtape. You young folk can call it a “playlist” if you prefer. Some of the songs are character-driven; others just make me think about the show. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to look some of them up and check them out.  –Michael Federico

Side A

1.      “Sadness is a Blessing” – Lykke Li

2.      “Myth” – Beach House

3.      “All the Wine” – The National

4.      “Sim Sala Bim” – Fleet Foxes

5.       “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” – Bob Dylan

6.      “Iron Zion Lion” – Bob Marley

7.      “For Emma” – Bon Iver

8.      “How Can Love be Wrong” – Daniel Hart

Side B

9.      “Black Sheep” – Metric

10.  “She’s Got You High” – Mumm Ra

11.  “Young Blood” – The Naked and the Famous

12.  “Midnight Cowards” – Stars

13.   “Old Friend” – Sea Wolf

14.  “Down in the Valley” – The Head and the Heart

Simply the Best

"On the surface, it’s a brisk, biting commentary on contemporary social themes. But underneath the topical comedy and class discussion is a subtle little time bomb that explodes in slow motion after you have finished reading."

KDT Company member Lee Trull thinks Becky Shaw could be one of the best new plays of the new century. Find out why on the Art & Seek blog: http://artandseek.net/2012/08/07/becky-shaw-the-best-play-of-the-new-century/

Subscribe to this blog to keep up with the process as Jenny and Mike pour out their thoughts via keyboard!

Posts coming soon! Watch this site - rehearsals start Monday, August 6th!

For more information, to buy tickets, or to make a donation, please go to:

www.kitchendogtheater.org