Beginnings

This week's post is by The Ravagers director and Savage Umbrella founder Blake E. Bolan.

Well hello, America!

Here we are, one week away from the official start of rehearsals for The Ravagers.  Is that even possible?  As I spent my personal life rushing to transition out of one country and into another, out of one home and into another, the rest of my headspace was filled with The Ravagers.  Drafts, casting, designers, scheduling, location, all of the vital components that have to be in place before you start a show.  So, one week left to go before we dig in, and there’s still so much to do.  However, I will tell you something that you probably already have guessed:  it’s a lot easier to work on a project of this magnitude when you are, in fact, in the city in which it will be produced.  Just saying.

Since I’ve been back in the country, I’ve Skyped in to the very first production meeting with all of the incredible design and technical staff. I’ve led a movement workshop with a good portion of the cast, where we got a chance to really play together before we push it into high gear next week (check out the pics on our Facebook page). I’ve gotten a chance to meet some of the actors that I helped cast but have never seen in person before. I met with our technical director, tomorrow I will meet with our inimitable costume designer, Sonya Berlovitz, and as I’m writing this, I’m awaiting the arrival of our sound designer. We have one more big round of changes to the script before we have a colleague with an extremely keen eye take one last look. And then: we begin!

This project has experienced so much growth, so much nurturing, so many exciting beginnings. Beginning to read source material, beginning to think in a larger context, beginning to workshop material, beginning to write, beginning to garner interest. And it will continue to grow, and we will continue to see beginnings.

Alright, Savage Umbrella, let’s do this thing!