For the past three years, MET Associate Artistic Director Julie Herber has been working with the Buckingham's Choice Players. The group's next show opens on Monday, November 17th. BC Players president and long time MET patron Marvin Fink shares his thoughts on the upcoming show and the rehearsal process:.
BC Players present…..
“THE CEMETERY CLUB”
By Ivan Menchell
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This play was originally produced by the Yale Repertory Theatre on January 13, 1987 and was subsequently produced at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Eisenhower Theatre on March 30, 1990. It was then moved to the Brook Atkinson Theatre in New York on May 12, 1990 and it was finally produced as a movie in 1993.
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The play is a comedy-drama concerned with the serious subjects of death, love and renewal of life. There are three widow ladies who have been visiting their husbands’ graves for a number of years. However, a certain amount of unrest has developed within two of the ladies who feel life may have some other purpose for them. The third lady remains devoted to her husband memory and is steadfast in her visits. This sets up a conflict when, by chance, a man appears to visit his wife’s grave and they all accidentally bump into each other. Apparently two of the ladies know this man and the complications and intrigue that develop will both sadden and amuse you. How does one begin anew and should they, are the basic questions that are asked, and does anyone have the right to interfere. The play has some very funny lines in a Jewish New York flavor but the play does more than represent the ethnicity of New York. The problems presented to senior citizens who have lost a loved one are universal and this play will prove very meaningful to many of us.
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The cast and director: Marianne, Jill, George, Anne, Julie Herber and Bryce
The Buckingham’s Choice Players are in their final weeks of rehearsal for their 5th presentation of plays given for and by the residents of Buckingham’s Choice, a senior citizen retirement community in Adamstown, Maryland. The plays are directed by a professional actress and director, Ms. Julie Herber, Associate Artistic Director of the Maryland Ensemble Theatre (MET) in Frederick, Maryland.
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Our performers are senior citizens with many years of life’s experience behind them to guide their understanding of the characters they play. They are used to being natural and real in real-life situations and it just needs a little prompting and coaching from Ms. Herber to make them appear this way before an audience.
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Bryce as Lucille and Anne as Ida.
A typical rehearsal day starts as the actors assemble, hopefully on time. Julie arrives and we check to see what Julie has in mind for a rehearsal today. “We’ll start with Act 1”, she says, and George, (our one and only man in the play starts to improvise the living room in Ida’s home in New York City). Since we are rehearsing in the library extension at Buckingham’s Choice we don’t have a couch or a cocktail table, but George quickly puts together a couple of chairs and finds a large cardboard container which will serve as the cocktail table for serving the tea which our three leading ladies, will be drinking from during the scene. .
George as Sam and Jill as Mildred.
Since we don’t have any props for a doorbell ring at the moment, Julie says “ding, ding” and Ida enters from the kitchen, stage left and says “I’m coming, I’m coming”. She opens the door and Lucille enters, flamboyant and aggressive, as only she can be and our rehearsal has started. Although the play will be presented as a staged reading, the actors already know most of the lines and they can relate to each other quite well with good eye contact. This can be dangerous, however, since the actors can be carried away by the scene and start to improvise to maintain the pace, and this, of course, throws off the cue that the other actor requires to respond correctly and he or she may loose their place in the script. Some one says,” Excuse me, I’ve lost the place”, and so we go back and play the scene again, This is why we rehearse so much. Hopefully this kind of error will be eliminated, but the actor who must respond must also understand the sense of the scene so he or she can respond appropriately if required, and not say “excuse me, I’m sorry”.
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Marianne as Doris, Anne as Ida and Bryce as Lucille.
I would like to cite a few examples of some of the instruction Julie has given our senior actors during our rehearsals that are good examples of the style and techniques that make a play enjoyable to listen to and watch.
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a) The importance of appearing natural and relaxed. The actors must believe they are in a real-life situation and adapt their own personality to the character they play. The actors must whole heartedly believe in their “imaginary circumstances”.
b) Also, the importance of learning to listen to what the other actor is saying and responding in a meaningful and appropriate way.
c) The need to be responsive to the things about them and to feel familiar with the immediate environment and to relate to the articles (props) that are about them.
d) Allow themselves to show emotional response to changes in events, circumstances and other actors as their personality-character dictates.
e) Showing memory of past events so that their responses (lines) reflect and color the manner of their response. This is achieved by having a full character history developed through the rehearsal process.
f) The importance to remember that every line has a meaning and should be motivated by the feelings of the actor.
g) Once the actors have established their character, they must remain consistent with that part, especially if it is a character that is distinct from their own personality.
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Marvin S. Fink, President, BC Players
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Want to see the show?
When: Monday, November 17th and Tuesday, November 18th at 7:15pm
Where: Buckingham's Choice, Adamstown, MD
Contact info: 301-874-5630
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Elissa with Bill Stitley.
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