A Dispatch from GOOD PEOPLE Rehearsal: Week 2

Melanie Garber

We now find ourselves about halfway through our rehearsal process for Good People. The clarity of story is becoming a reality onstage. In a constant effort to serve the play, we comb through the complex layers of each scene, and at times even each beat, which continues to fuel a wonderful sense of discovery for the artists in the room.

For the actors who are representing Southie natives, a focus on keeping things light and funny, no matter how actually horrible circumstances might be, permeates the room. This approach seems to be the ultimate modus operandi of Good People. Characters taunt and tease each other as a form of entertainment.

The concept of back story keeps emerging, almost, in its own right, as another one of the characters. Do the choices we make really inform our social status? Economically speaking? Are people who are happy just lucky? How does our past affect our present? I suppose it depends how much we hold onto it…

Until next week…

- Melanie Garber, Assistant to the Director, Good People

 

The Huntington Theatre Company's production of Good People by David Lindsay-Abaire runs September 14 - October 14, 2012 on the Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115. Tickets and information here or call our Box Office at 617 266 0800.

A Dispatch from GOOD PEOPLE Rehearsal

Melanie Garber

Rehearsals began last Tuesday for our production of David Lindsay-Abaire’s Good People. The magic from page to stage is particularly poignant this time around because we have a local story (Southie native Margie, played by Johanna Day, is our protagonist) being told by actual locals (actors Karen MacDonald and Nancy E. Carroll and director Kate Whoriskey, to name a few).

In keeping with this focus on local authenticity, we've had a lot of discussion at the table where we can pull our inspiration from to perfect the Boston accent and attitude. We've talked about going out into the city and observing first hand, as well as drawing on movies like The Departed and Gone Baby Gone.

There is also a continuous effort to stay true to the pacing of the language. For example, deciding when these characters have forethought versus when they plow ahead with unfiltered reaction in the heat of the moment keeps cropping up as we muck about in rehearsal. The juxtaposition of playing these two elements adds a humor and sincerity to the performances that’s already paying off as we rounded out our first week together on Sunday.

Until next week...

- Melanie Garber, Assistant to the Director for Good People