Richard III officially opened last night after a Thursday preview. Like most previews, we were a little nerved before we settled into our relationship with the audience. I felt no small awe at my first experience performing on an amphitheater stage at night – the lights are so bright but the audience is this great void. Still, you can feel them there; feel their intense attention.
The first review is in and it’s an absolute rave. They highlight the work of the savviest and most skilled pros in our cast, which is well-earned. I feel like I learn something just by watching how they stand.
There’s a great deal of fatigue that can set in, not just from the physical demands of the show (one of our soldiers is swinging a sword with a herniated disc), but from the emotional energy you commit there at the theater for so many nights. Until that first moment in front of a real crowd, the response you get is somehow just not enough. The show requires an audience for our work to resound to us. Now that we’ve got ours, the toil is far behind, and here comes the fun.
Photo by someone more talented than me