Through my internship with Center Stage Theater, Merkaz Hamagshimim Hadassah, my coordinator Rafi Poch, told me about a new theater project he wanted to try out through which I could write and possibly perform in a play or two. From day one, I knew that this was going to be a fun new project. I also acted as an artistic advisor for the project; a little administration here, a little organization there. My expectations and goals for participating in this independent opportunity were to get a play up and on the stage, to make new friends, to be on stage (that was more of an afterthought), and to have a great time!
Being involved with 3 shows at once in 3 different capacities was challenging. I was acting and dramaturging in Comedy of Errors, writing Yalp (working until 4am on the first night!), and acting in The Mood Ring. At one point I had rehearsals for all three going on simultaneously. I still don't know how I managed to be in 3 places at once! The most difficult part was writing Yalp, especially at 4am when I couldn't keep my eyes open. Dealing with all the craziness of planning and executing rehearsals, sleep deprivation, eating at odd hours/intervals (midnight canned fruit cocktail and Prigat, anyone?), and just generally being in a million places at once was exhausting, but was altogether a rewarding experience. Rehearsing Yalp was the easiest- once the script was written and tabled, it flowed really well, which is the sign of a good script. After about three read-throughs, my girls were good to go. They rehearsed a bit more on their own, studied the lines together and separately, and there it was! Tal and Elianna are excellent, versatile actresses and it really showed.
All of this theatre work required a lot of practice. For Yalp, we had just enough but Mood Ring we didn't have enough! I didn't get it down completely until the final performance, although Elianna and Dale and I were all proud of each other for the work we put into it. We did what we could in the time provided - that's the beauty of the project. It forces quick trust and group bonding under strict circumstances and you find yourself doing ridiculous things you'd never do and really pouring your all into this performance. As the clock ticked on, the adrenaline rush and that golden image of my work on stage really exhilarated me and pushed me through to prevail and succeed. It was definitely a wild and fun experience that I'd do again in a heartbeat.
