First First Rehearsal or Crossing the Great Divide

It’s just a scene from a play, adapted for the screen. It’s just a class project. It’s Pinter for god sake — a playwright that is known for putting major meaning between the lines. I’m just a techie for god’s sake– what am I doing pretending I’m literary. I’m sure these experienced actors will expose me for the sham I am.

There’s The Lizard Brain (TLB) talking again. “Geez dood. Give it a rest.” I tell it. It slinks off. I know it will be back but I take the opportunity to greet my actors as they arrive. This part, at least, is familiar. I’ve been to parties before…

Now we are sitting at the table. This is where the rubber hits the road. I have to cross the great divide. I’m sitting on the “tech” side of the ridge. On the other side are people who love text and digging and reaching down to a meaning deeper than the obvious. I couldn’t possibly be one of those….could I?

We get rolling. Pearl, my uber-literary friend and directing partner, comes prepared with all kinds of wonderful, probing questions about the scene and the characters. Questions that seek the core of the twisted relationships that inhabit this script.

TLB pops in. “I told you…”. I hiss at it and it goes back to it’s rock. I kick back and observe. It’s what I do when liberal arts majors are in the room talking about stuff I didn’t think about. Nerdy people need not apply – or contribute.

But wait… someone was talking about jumping through serial relationships and the emotional landscape of it all. I think back to college when I was a serial boyfriend to a string of women. I understood this. I had something to say about this. Do I take a risk and reveal this about myself and tie it into the discussion. Yes. I jump in and open my emotional self to the analysis. Help! I’m not in my comfort zone!

The actors respond. They jump in with related stories from their pasts and we connect to the play in a deeper way.

Woah. I’m suddenly feeling very literary. It was… fun.