Welcome to NRT 2014: A Summer of Transformation

Hello, and welcome to "Nebraska Repertory Theatre: Behind the Curtain," the blog that gives readers an inside view of all things Nebraska Rep 2014. Throughout the summer, check in with us to hear about our transforming season; it's sure to be one that won't disappoint! 

Though our management has been in the offices since last week, we welcome our crews into the shops today. In addition to the crews, we also welcome our first blogger of the season, Virginia Smith!

Virginia Smith is the Artistic Director of the Nebraska Rep and is also the director of Circle Mirror Transformation. You'll be hearing from her every Monday to learn how the productions are unfolding and transforming week by week:

I will be blogging every Monday this season with news from the rehearsal halls and the dressing rooms. Since none of the shows are in rehearsal yet, it may seem that nothing much is going on....wrong! All the designs are in and being built, props are being gathered, light plots are being hung, all without the guest directors having met the actors!
So, being one of the directors, I'm nervous. Have I planned expansively enough to express the play that the actors and I will discover in the rehearsal process? How much should I prepare? Shall I calculate every move, or let all of it emerge organically from the actors.

I'm not sleeping that well and think about the play day and night. But I know the actors, some of whom I've met only briefly, are much more nervous. Will I be a tyrant? Will I hate everything they've been thinking about the character? It's always a nervous moment when we meet for the first rehearsal and actually see what we've all been thinking about in the first read through.

Because I cast all the shows, every first read through is a very anxious time for me, because that is when I first hear and see the whole casts together. "Together" before this has only occurred in my brain, and now, everyone looks to see if they agree. My fervent prayer is that the guest director agrees with my vision. Yikes!

Doug and Alan are reading the play over and over, creating what they envision, and making notes to share with the actors. I am reading the script over and over and trying not to do the same "normal" preparation, which generally makes me a little less nervous at the first rehearsal. The play I'm directing has much more improvisation, and I believe that it should come from my cast as they interact in the rehearsal process. Some of our best work in the theatre comes from just jumping off the cliff. But that doesn't happen without stress.

Right now, the actors are getting ready to spend an enormous amount of time away from home and families, memorizing, absorbing, creating, sweating (it is summer in Nebraska after all) and ultimately becoming agents in the world of these plays. They might be even more nervous than I am, and I'm feeling like the earth is moving under my feet.

Follow us daily here on the blog, and keep up-to-date on updates through our social media accounts. Check out the sidebar to find links and feeds that keep you connected with NRT's 

transforming summer!