Tuesday, November 6, 2007

The Ensemble

ensemble: noun: a group constituting an organic whole or producing together a single effect.

A major part of the Ventoux Process (or at least from what I've noticed) is the cohesiveness of the Ensemble. We are all individual actors that come together and perform as a whole. Our tune-ups are done as a group, a lot of the focus work is done to make us aware of ourselves, our body is our instrument, and of those acting around us. This group is not about one actor or one performance. This group is about performing a 'single effect,' the show.

Schedules and time constraints have made the cohesive aspect of this group more difficult, but we are all dedicated to the single effect, we all have the same goal; and regardless of what we have going on in our personal lives, we have to perform to the best of our ability. We owe the audience that and more.

The show has taken on a new life and we now know what the first layer of the show looks like, but in these next 9 rehearsals we'll step up the intensity and see how deep we can make the layers. We are playing the same emotions as before, playing the same intent and need, but now it's time to see how intense we can make that need. How many steps and layers into the process can we delve? That's for each actor to decide, and I'd like to challenge myself and my fellow actors... find those 6 more changes and take it to a place you never thought you could get to. Step it up and start to play for the single effect.

Cheers.