The show is on its feet. After spending a full week at the table discussing theories, thoughts and ideas, each scene is getting blocked and been given an initial shape. Table work is a golden time and allows the actors to find a psychological through line into the play, to answer intellectual questions and find logical work-throughs but can be difficult to find the emotional truth of the scene as our brain is the driving force. Our emotional centre is directly linked to our physical bodies so a lot of our reactive emotions tend to be physical reactions to our immediate surroundings. So once the work is put on its feet, each moment, line and scene fundamentally changes because our bodies react much more intuitively than our brains. The space also majorly informs the work and the Lyric stage management team have been stellar. By Monday morning, our rehearsal room had the vital parts of the set constructed, props sourced, stand-in props organised, maps and blueprints on the wall. Everything we needed to allow us to block scenes properly and play around with the play to the fullest extent.
Dysfunction is at the heart of this play and Gary Mitchell has an amazing capability to write deep familial dysfunction and discomfort. Watching this play unfold day after day, there’s an uneasiness you’re left with. It’s that feeling we’ve all felt, sitting in a friends house when a
family argument erupts in front of you. The unease, the second-hand embarrassment, the I-can’t-look-yet-can’t-look-away factor, and all you can do is sit on that lumpy couch with your hands in your lap and endure. Like a fly on wall in the movie Magnolia. Burnt Out manages to capture the frustration of being tied to people from a past you try to forget, the fear of the unknown and festering nature of jealousy; and I can’t wait to see what else this amazing cast and creative team bring to the table over the next two weeks.
- Film Recommendations - Mulholland Drive / 10 Cloverfield Lane / Copycat / Magnolia.
Ross Fitzpatrick
Assistant Director - Burnt Out