Cast Blog

New
Gerry Lucas - Donny                                                                          31/05/2012


First Dress


Yesterday marked a significant landmark in the development of 'American Buffalo'. We successfully completed our first dress rehearsal. I say successfully, in reality there were quite a few teething problems, but we managed to get through it - just about. 


The biggest problem for the cast is using the (quite magnificent) set, as if we had been lived in for years. The attention to detail by the brilliant set designer, Colin Judges, makes me smile as there are details that might not even be seen by the audience like a poster protesting against the Vietnam war, and an authentic shop sign hidden at the entrance of the store.


The space looks incredibly 'lived in' and this attention to detail not only helps the audience but also helps us actors feel at home. I'm looking forward now to the opening night!!






Gerry Lucas - Donny                                                                              29/05/2012


Technical Week


Well the week we have all been dreading and looking forward to in equal measure is, at last, upon us. Technical week is when we make the transition from the rehearsal room to the stage. 


We open Saturday and our technical week includes a technical rehearsal where we sort out the many practical problems of staging the show, as well as two dress rehearsals (where we run the show without an audience). 


Wish us luck! 





Gerry Lucas - Donny                                                                              10/05/2012


Act 1 


On Tuesday we had the nerve-racking event of running an whole act without scripts. For most actors this marks a significant moment, when you realise the opening night is getting ever nearer. 


Quite remarkably we managed to just about get through it, but the concentration was so that I had a bit of a headache afterwards. 


We run the second act without books on Friday. I know both I and Colin are still learning it so god alone knows what it'll be like!


Wish me luck!!






Gerry Lucas - Donny                                                                                 25/04/2012


Fight! Fight! Fight!


We had a grand old time last night tackling the part of the action that I am least capable of pulling off - namely the fight! For a confrontation that lasts less than a minute it took us several hours of working out how to grab each other safely and make it still look that we were convincingly knocking seven bells out of each other. 


Neither I or Colin (Teach) are particularly aggressive, but screaming and shouting (and punching of course) has brought out the in inner cave man in me. A bit worrying I suppose. We agreed to rehearse it pretty much every rehearsal to get it right - so we are hoping to have a video for you pretty soon. Back to line learning!




Gerry Lucas - Donny                                                                                 20/04/2012


Learning Lines


Being cast in a play is always an exciting event. The challenge of playing someone completely different from you is a major reason why we carry on putting ourselves through this stress! However the one constant factor that runs through every project, no matter what show you undertake, is the dull task of line learning. 


In the case of American Buffalo it is especially hard. I have done everything (cleaned the fridge, put my DVD's in alphabetical order) rather than sit myself down and learn it. Why the reluctance? I think there is a mental block at the moment. The play is nearly all one liners (for my character at least), which makes it incredibly hard to learn. In fact If you have a play where you have huge chunks of dialogue to deliver as a rule of thumb it is normally much easier to remember. 


Well I better get back to it!





















Gerry Lucas - Donny                                                                                 17/04/2012


It starts...


As we speak we are just entering our third week of rehearsals. It might be early days but already the scope of the task of playing Donny is beginning to loom large. At a cursory glance you might think that American Buffalo is a slight tale. Three, not very bright crooks planning a robbery. But like many quality scripts American Buffalo's true genus lies in its intricately plotted subtext. 


Much of our rehearsals to date have lead to discussion about this subtext and how this group of characters came to know each other in the first place. The relationship between Don and Teach and Don and Bobby is something I suspect we will continue to talk about in the weeks to come.


Mamet is extremely clear about how he wants from his actors. As you approach playing these character you become aware that you need to observe every full stop, comma, bracket and ellipsis. None are there by chance. Its a bit like following a recipe - you ignore the instructions and ingredients at your peril!


More to come...