Week 5: Connection

This is from yesterday, just before the 2pm performance of this weekend's DCPs. Travis predicted its presence on this blog at the time, and so it seemed to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Or maybe I just like this photo.

I wanted to make sure to get this photo while we still had the light, and in thinking back on this experience I think it captures a lot of the essence of the experience. The element of human connection (a phrase that we talked about a lot in rehearsal as a central theme of the show) is encapsulated here, and I love the simplicity of this image. The director and cast (missing greatly our fantastic crew and design team), having one last moment of connection before we go inside to tell a story.

This got me thinking a little about theater - I think that generally when people think theatrical lighting it's the extreme, things like spotlights on a darkened stage, that spring to mind. It's the especially dramatic that people remember. But, like the sunlight here, in many shows/circumstances that light isn't meant to be distracting. Because there is power in the natural, the realistic. And in many ways, that realism can be what gives unusual choices or moments their power. This is a wash of sunlight, not direct because we were in the shadow of a building. But I wanted to take advantage of it while we had it, because we were going to be entering another world soon, and that world - beautifully lit by our designer - didn't have cell phone cameras. And this was a moment to capture. Human connection. A moment before the stage journey begins (but an important part of the theatrical journey itself).