IBTA Theatre Performance Response: Water by the Spoonful

Allie Ahn

IB Yr.1 Theatre

February 5, 2014

IBTA Theatre Performance Response: Water by the Spoonful

1.     I was in charge of the costume and make-up for the play, “Water by the Spoonful”. When I first signed up, I realized I had no idea how to prepare for costume and make-up. I was hoping to accomplish a strong connection with the themes of this play. I did not want to make the costume random, causing the characters to look awkward when seen together. Yet, I wanted the characters to look and have distinctive clothes and make up that would set them apart from each other. There were so many different themes seen in this play, such as separation, hurt, dependency, freedom, individualism, imprisonment, connection, newness, history, scars, and recovery. It was very difficult to think of a way to connect all these themes and characteristics with the actors. I learned that sometimes making the costume and make-up too themed can cause a greater distraction from the main purpose of the play. This factor could cause the audience to feel the themes and lessons being thrown at them, instead of coming to these realizations alone, which is a vital part of watching any play. In conclusion, we wrote down the different scenes that every actor was in and we made the characters dress up according to time, location, and character. We made the costumes very realistic, like people you would see everyday. I think this made the characters more relatable to the audience. To research, we looked up different plays to see how the actors dressed and wore make up, and we looked at the play “Water by the Spoonful” done by professional actors and costume and make up designers. I was sad that we could not actually design clothes of our own, as I thought that would be a fun, learning experience as it was too time consuming for the time we had for the play. We instead wrote down the scenes that each actor had and asked them to bring clothes they felt matched that scene. Then, we told them the level of formality they were to dress in at that time. For make up, we asked Michelle Son, who is a very talented make up artist in senior year. She helped make the actors that were long time drug addicts look old and wrinkled. I asked that everyone should have slightly exaggerated wrinkles as all the characters were constantly stressed, struggling, and working. I wish that I could have learned to do make up or learned to design some of the clothing, but still learned so much from directing the cast in the area of costume and make up.

2.     When we first decided on this play, I was not really sure what to feel. I was really excited about the whole process, but now I know that I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had skimmed through the play the first time we decided on it as a class. I felt that the storyline was interesting and that the characters were funny and relatable, but I did not feel an immediate connection with it. Never in my life did I see myself doing what we did last Monday and Tuesday. That experience would be unforgettable. I never realized I had grown so much as a theatre student and actor, and I was truly honored to be a part of this amazing experience. To be completely honest, I felt that we would not really do well as a class. I know that this sounds awful, but I felt that none of us would be able to pull through. On the first few rehearsals, we talked about the different possibilities we could take this play, and that is all that this play seemed to me – possibilities. During winter break, I studying the play and I did them rather mindlessly, memorizing lines, writing the different scenes, and looking at the props that would be needed. But the first rehearsal after winter break was the moment my attitude towards this play completely changed. I realized that the possibilities that we were simply talking about were actually going to be a reality. This was also the very first time we did some serious scenes with the class. The moment we started to commit to our characters and learn more about them was when I also realized who my character really was. I started memorizing and saying lines with a greater purpose and found myself strangely, caring for this character. This character I had never met, nor seen, but was supposed to create with my body, language, and actions. That was the first time I felt myself “grow” as an actor. Suddenly, this play became such a great priority in my life, but nonetheless, could not completely focus on it with the thousands of other priorities that were screaming for my attention. I continued to go to all of the rehearsals and tried to get as much as I can done with the little gracious time I was given to give my all for this play. As time pressed forward, I was not sure what to expect. I felt that our class had grown so much closer. We were talking more and communicating. Memorizing lines was easy and we were now focusing on the expression of the lines. We started progressing towards the stage where we started gathering props, working on technical connections, and blocking. Everything was starting to suddenly connect and unite. By the time we started working on the set, I felt so comfortable and confident. But I never knew that creating a set would also be a huge pain. There was painting, drilling, moving, flipping, and fitting. There were all these complicated steps I never even knew existed in this process. But when it was all over, I remember first looking at the completed set, just sitting there, embracing it all and realizing this is where it was all going to happen. It was such an unexplainable moment. The first night was amazing, but there were so many pauses and forgotten lines, I felt like I had messed up so much. But there was so much support and I realized that the audience was on our side and I felt so much more confident the second night. I felt stressed thinking of all the lines, props, and set that were needed for each scene, but soon all of these factors did not become a to-do list that was getting checked off, but something I could play with on the set as an actor. We somehow finished the two nights, and I was immediately feeling relieved, but once I had gone home, I felt a yearning to go back to experience that experience over again.

3.     The first night we acted was when I realized that all my confidence started to slip away. I had never felt so nervous. I messed up on the first scene and thought to myself, “forget it, it’s over.” But the thing about acting is that we always think that actors are self-centered and its all about yourself, but that reality is acting is about everyone else besides yourself. It is about moving, reacting, talking, giving, and taking from the actions and words of others. People focus so much on who gets the spotlight, but I realized that in order to be a good actor, you had to realize there is no spotlight. The attention of the audience drifts naturally towards whom they can relate the best towards and we as actors can only do our best to relate with the audience, not take away their attention. So, yes, we finished the first night, with our missing paragraphs, awkward gestures, and forgetful pauses, but I had never been so proud of all of our hard work. We all had grown, and we all knew it.

4.     The main themes of this play were freedom, recovery, and support. The symbols became visible as you listen to the play. The symbols were the water scenes, Odessa’s out-of-body experiences, flowers, chat rooms, and funerals. Even characters like Mami Ginny served as a symbol. They all pointed to the change and connection the characters had faced. The chat room became a place where the characters connected and became one. It was a place of unity, comfort, and safety from the outside realities they did not want to face. The surveys were a little general and not very thorough with information, but the responses from the IBTA Yr.2 students were very helpful. They gave out a really well written and descriptive feedback. They pointed out areas that were in need of improvement, areas in acting, designing, and technology. I learned to move on from lines that I may  have messed up and not to look back even if there was hesitation.

5.     I would like to become more involved in theatre, not necessarily always through school. I started to appreciate acting in plays more and I would like to learn and go to more theatres. I hope to one day be able to experience that indescribable moment of acting and presenting all your sweat, blood, and tears to a bigger audience. I loved every moment of it, and I can not wait for next year’s production. I feel that for next year, I know what to expect and what works and what does not in theatre. I hope to grow even more from next year’s production and work harder to make it perfect. Mrs. Moon, you are truly an amazing teacher, you care so much for us, and for that I am so grateful. Thank you for all your hard work and you help us just by teaching us and showing us what a true passion for theatre is all about.