tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534509012046591314.post1938025924220393564..comments2023-11-05T10:11:31.578+00:00Comments on Just William's Luck: 'c'est exactement pareil...'William Rycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15056188088340973039noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534509012046591314.post-46762294378255249092011-03-25T22:46:38.490+00:002011-03-25T22:46:38.490+00:00To be honest Kevin we are very lucky with this sho...To be honest Kevin we are very lucky with this show that it is already up and running. Our tech took less than two days whereas a friend of mine who is in Sir Cameron Mackintosh's latest production, Betty Blue Eyes, recently emerged from a two <i>week</i> tech. The mind boggles.<br /><br />Actually, it has taken many years to get here but I've grown to rather like the tech. There's something about the regimen that I like and you certainly get proper breaks.William Rycrofthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15056188088340973039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534509012046591314.post-45906084192047149812011-03-25T16:27:27.008+00:002011-03-25T16:27:27.008+00:00As someone who sat through two "tech weeks&qu...As someone who sat through two "tech weeks" in a regional theatre as an observer, I was intrigued by the process. I think the comparison with the laboring work of monks is appropriate -- it is boring, repetitive, but essential to making things work. And with a production as complex as your show, my experience is like dipping a toe in the water.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534509012046591314.post-14031358782966012482011-03-25T08:34:49.794+00:002011-03-25T08:34:49.794+00:00It's a nice book Max, and one I happened to re...It's a nice book Max, and one I happened to read at the right time for me personally. Tech week is the period of rehearsal where all technical aspects are added to what the actoes have rehearsed on stage. It means going through the show adding all the lighting, sound and video cues, practicing quick changes etc and even though ours is a show that already has those cues plotted it still takes a while as we have to do everything 3 times. This is because we have four separate teams of actors to puppeteer the horses and there are three different rotations that they work in. To make sure each of those is tech-ed we have to go through it all 3 times (which is a bit dull frankly for those of us doing the same thing again and again - not as bad as waking at 4am each morning for a day of tough labour and bedtime at 8pm however!)William Rycrofthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15056188088340973039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534509012046591314.post-42412091618091670782011-03-24T19:46:52.083+00:002011-03-24T19:46:52.083+00:00Nice piece Will. I am surprisingly tempted by a bo...Nice piece Will. I am surprisingly tempted by a book about a bunch of monks and some landscape - to be reductionist.<br /><br />Still, you and Trevor vouching for it. Hard to resist.<br /><br />What's tech week?Max Cairnduffhttp://www.pechorinsjournal.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534509012046591314.post-68794512923928667742011-03-24T13:06:03.329+00:002011-03-24T13:06:03.329+00:00Thanks wayfaringreader for the comment (especially...Thanks wayfaringreader for the comment (especially as we had a little problem making it stick!) Whilst I've pictured the cover of the nyrbclassics edition, my copy was actually an old Penguin paperback from the 70's with a cover so hideous I couldn't bear to pollute the web with it. Is the nyrbclassics edition not available where you are?<br /><br />The book was originally published in 1957, I believe, and does make mention of the impact of war on monasteries but casting far further back in history to mention the upheavals that came with Reformation, counter-reformation etc.<br /><br />Your comment about the contradictions is interesting. There must be a huge tension involved in making that commitment and the difficulty in sticking to it. The ultimate ambition of course, and the whole purpose of that life, is to prepare for eternal life - so a very different 'ambition' to most of us! There is another small tension I imagine in that many monastic communities have different sections, monks that spend a lot of time studying and others that perform mainly labour. There is a hierarchy of religious observance and I wonder if that creates a tension of its own.William Rycrofthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15056188088340973039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534509012046591314.post-48499555268252342552011-03-23T15:05:18.918+00:002011-03-23T15:05:18.918+00:00Will, thanks for this post. I had seen Adam Haslet...Will, thanks for this post. I had seen Adam Haslett’s mention of the book and was curious about it. However, it has proved rather hard to find here. <br /><br />It is not listed on Amazon or in my local library and none of the Canadian online used booksellers have copies. I had dropped the idea of tracking it down but now I will try again to find one. <br /><br />A question and a comment: <br /><br />Q) You don’t mention what year the book was written. Is it pre- or post-war? Either way, does he mention the war(s) and the affect it has on these contained communities?<br /><br />C) One of the quotes you pulled caught my attention: 'the same habitat should prove favourable to ambitions so glaringly opposed.' In context, he is writing about his worldly ambitions vs. the monks other-worldly striving but it could also apply to the “ambitions” of those living within the Abbey. I hadn’t really thought about it before but it dawned on me that contemplatives live simultaneously in community and in isolation. Surely that innate contradiction creates a unique tension.Wayfaringreaderhttp://twitter.com/#!/wayfaringreadernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534509012046591314.post-71761230577687732022011-03-22T15:49:38.692+00:002011-03-22T15:49:38.692+00:00Thank you Kevin. Yes I realised that even mentioni...Thank you Kevin. Yes I realised that even mentioning tarting about on stage and dedicating one's life to religious observance in the same sentence might be a little blasphemous but you need a flair for the dramatic in my game!William Rycrofthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15056188088340973039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534509012046591314.post-43869837670503287012011-03-22T14:52:27.327+00:002011-03-22T14:52:27.327+00:00Excellent review, Will. I found your final observa...Excellent review, Will. I found your final observation about the process of rehearsal (especially tech week) and its isolation from "real life" particularly appropriate (even if it is vaguely blasphemous).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com