Doing Shakespeare in Rhinebeck, NY
So I have not posted in a long time, because, you know, life. But now I am back, and happy to say I am acting and writing again. The most recent production was Shakespeare's Henry V March 25-April 3 at the Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck. I played a very small role, as the Duke or Orleans, so I only had a few scenes and lines, but that is fine. I like b
eing able to hang out with a big cast of great actors and really drink in the experience without having to worry too much about my lines and cues. Plus, I got to do a big sword fight scene with King Henry during the climactic battle of Agincourt (that, btw, if me above, emoting after having lost the fight).
Playing Henry V was Taylor Seupel, a superb young actor from the New Paltz area who totally aced the role. He and I had a great time rehearsing our fight scene and eventually playing it in front of audiences. We also had a great time creating a promotional video for the show. We got together at a rural parcel near New Paltz where we fought our scene while one of Taylor's friends filmed us on foot and via drone. You can check out the video on Youtube below. The voiceover is by Stephanie Hepburn, another wonderful performer, who played Captain Fluellen.
I really enjoyed not just the sword fight, but everything about this show. We had a great director in Joe Eriole whom I hope to work under again someday (thanks Joe!) and the cast was a cadre of fun, mutually supporitve, highly talented folks who made this the joyous experience it was for me. During the rehearsal process, Joe organized a day for the whole cast to get together and get to know each other better by having show-and-tell: we each brought in an item we felt would reveal a little of ourselves to our cast mates (I brought Mutiny Island, the first book I ever read by myself). Yes, I learned a lot of nice things about my castmates and we had a lot of laughs and smiles. Then, on opening night, a we awaited that first curtain, a group of us sat downstairs around a keyboard and sang "Science Fiction Double Feature." These are only two examples of how we all bonded.
And now it's all over. We put up our last performance of Henry V on April 3, and since then everybody has gone on to other shows, and gone our separate ways. All the bonds formed in that show will fade, little by little, and as I have written elsewhere, a lot of these people I will probably never see again. But we had fun while we were together, and I am glad I met them all.
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