Tympanic Theater Company Blog » Rehearsal Diary

Tympanic Theatre company just don’t stop!

tim b. — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:15:49 +0000

With the completion of the 3rd season and planing of the 4th you'd think the Tympaniacs would take a breather this summer. Right………..
When AD Dan Caffrey was offered some FREE theatre space he pounced on the chance without even having a project in mind! Now 6 weeks later (seriously like Dan talked to us about this first week of May) we are producing a night of apocalyptic romance fantasies written by Dan, directed by Jamie Bragg and myself.

Personally, I am really enjoying just watching it all come together right now and watching everyone involved in Extinction Fantasies pull everything off as a team. The company members (only a few of us can even work on the show because everyone else is working on other cool theatre projects in Chicago or out of town!) and the associate actors and designers are all doing a phenomenal job and have been extremely professional in a short amount of time. I'm particularly pleased to be working with two actors who I've seen grow over the past year, Jared Nell and Jenn Betancourt, as we hit the ground running to work on the intimate one act The Deer Callers. Dan basically wrote this one on a napkin 6 weeks ago and it's now a fully developed one act ready to open next Friday July 2nd!

I love it when a plan comes together which is why I welcomed the opportunity to join Tympanic this spring. When you get the right crew together and you are part of an fearless artistic team, you really get a chance to create quality theatre. It's kinda like being part of the A-Team. You never really know how you're going to pull it off but as long as you stick together it all works out in the end. I don't want to give too much away about Extinction Fantasies: Two Apocalyptic Romances by Daniel Caffrey. But I do need to express how excited I am about every artist that is involved, as well as our run in July at the side project and our participation in this year's Abbie Hoffman Festival at Mary-Arrchie in August. I pitty the fool who don't see this show!

Mr. T (imothy Bambara)

OZMA and HARRIET in Rehearsals

Susan Myburgh — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:33:31 +0000

With only a few weeks left before opening weekend (March 25th) the Ainslie House is hip-hoppin' Robo-Rehearsal style. Here are some rad-tastic pictures (by Heather Moats Photography) of a recent rehearsal with Christopher Acevedo (Ozma), Paul E. Martinez (Frank), and Cara Olanksy (Harriet) and Director Tim Bambara.

Director, Tim Bambara

Paul (Frank) gets up close and personal...check out those beautiful pores!

Chris (Ozma) listens closely

Cara (Harriet) shares a laugh

Cara and Chris get some direction

Chris channels his inner-android

Paul (Frank) gets scientific

Tim in director mode

Chris is so excited he could SING...or yodel...or...we're not really sure.

And that's just HALF the cast, folks. There's plenty more 90′s tellie-lovin and robo-hawtness where this came from. But in order to get in one the TGIF fun you have to head over to Brown Paper Tickets and reserve your seat!

OZMA AND HARRIET

at The Side Project

March 25 – April 18

Thurs – Sat @ 8:00p and Sun @ 7:00p

$15 General $12 Student/Industry

www.tympanictheatre.org or call 773-442-2882 for tickets

As always,

Thanks for reading!

Susan

AND THEN IT BURST : Rehearsal Diary (TEA)

Susan Myburgh — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:55:23 +0000

We've officially started rehearsals for all four plays in AND THEN IT BURSTS. This is our first show acted, directed, and designed by Tympanic Company members. AND THEN IT BURST is a great opportunity for us to come together as a company and show off one another's strengths. Most of us have been working together artistically since the college days, which means we've come to know one another inside and out. It's a treat when you get to work with actors who you already have strong relationships with. You get to skip all of the ice breaker conversations, the nervousness, the self-consciousness, and dive directly into the material. (Not that I don't like the excitement of a bunch of strangers getting into a room – - it's just a totally different experience) This has become particularly apparent to me in our rehearsals for TEA, one of the four pieces that make up AND THEN IT BURST. Ali, Chrissy, and I are treading through new territory every day. The pieces is growing with leaps and bounds and I have

A. George's excellent depiction of the care vs. conflict every mother/daughter relationship has

and…

B. Ali and Chrissy's complete and utter willingness to take risks and their ability to fully embrace every challenge that comes their way

Last night's rehearsal was particularly rewarding as we did the usual character-ey type work. We're learning more about these characters, their desire to escape, but the genuine love and care for one another that keeps them trapped. And all of this over a cup of tea…

When I'm directing a play I always like to collect some images that I think reflect what the play is about. Emotion, tone, lighting, costume, or make-up effect. It can be as literal or figurative as possible. Here are some images I have collected for TEA.

Thanks for reading!

Susan

For more information of AND THEN IT BURST, tympanic, and general nonsense check out www.tympanictheatre.org.