Bil - No Need To Need

Yep, even cooler than this one.

There's a photo shoot today for the Dream Theatre Company 2011 season.  Remember how cool the 2010 season photo shoot turned out? ☞
Well, this one promises to be even cooler.

And, of course, we have another performance tonight.  We had one of our biggest audiences of the run so far last night, but on Thursday we had one of our smallest audiences of the run.  Aw.  Don't despair, accountants and art lovers, this turned out to be a very good thing.  The show was incredible, and for perhaps the first time the entire cast found the exact balance of being tuned in to ourselves and being attentive to the audience.  We never overpowered them with intensity, and we never underwhelmed them by being too distant.  It's hard to describe, so I'll just say the audience members spoke to us after the show, and I think we have some new permanent fans.

The relationship between audience and actor is one of the most important things in this company's acting style, and Jeremy's scripts tend to present the necessary opportunities to play without the proverbial 4th wall.  It's not about breaking the fourth wall with cheeky winks and outward-turned interruptions of the scene.  It's about letting the audience exist where they are the entire time, and acknowledging their presence when it makes sense.  It's about treating them like gods without praying to them or begging them for favors.  So when we've got a small audience, it actually turns out to be easier when it comes to giving them attention – but it's a tricky balance, because we mustn't make them uncomfortable.

Talk to the doll...if you dare.

We've all got those needy friends who demand our attention, and once they've got it they use it to ask for attention.  You know those people.  I think we've all seen plays, too, where the actors try so hard to act and impress us that we feel obligated to clap at the end and compliment their hard work after the show, when all we really feel is like they've got their hands around our throats and they won't let go.  That's what we try to avoid.  We don't want to be needy actors.  We just want you to enjoy your experience.  It can be as personal as you need it to be.  You can also talk to us for hours and hours after the show if you want.  Mostly, we want you to feel like a human being.

If we fail at that, won't you please let us know?  We should know.  There's no point in letting us carry on like a bunch of idiots.  Leave a comment or e-mail us directly (annainthedarkness at gmail).