Day Three: Another Rainy One

Thursday, May 29

The routine in Prague has been to stay up late with the company, hanging out together, and trying to meet people in Prague that may be interested in seeing our show. At earliest, I've gotten to sleep around 2AM, which means my mornings have been virtually non-existent. I'm usually one of the first ones up in the apartment around 11AM, and then I still have to be quiet to respect other people sleeping, so I may either write or go for a walk before showering and setting about my day in the afternoon.

It's also been fairly damp and cool, and this was perhaps more true than ever day three. We weren't really obliged to go out exploring much in the nasty weather. Around 3:30 I left with Jake and Samantha to go see some nearby gardens, but they were closed, or so the guard told us rather obtusely. Then we changed course and stopped in two churches, including the grand St. Nicholas Church at the heart of Lesser Town. This time I did pay for the ticket to walk around inside a bit more. Of particular interest in this church were the statues, which reminded me a bit of those ringing St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican; however, there was a much darker tinge to their apparent messages. Many of the figures portrayed appeared to be killing or walking over someone as triumphant, if perhaps also malevolent, figures overpowering the devil or devil-influenced humans. These victims had traits, if subtle, like pointy ears that seemed to denote that they were evil figures themselves.

After the church, I parted ways with Jake and Samantha, and I met Sofia across the street at our theater, where we saw another of the Fringe shows: The Engagement. The team from that production had come to see our show the day before, and we felt obliged to return the favor. It was a fun little play about a couple that decides to get married, and the bride is immediately thrust into a gameshow setting where the host quizzes her on the strength of their relationship, often testing her with answers provided by the groom in advance. While it felt disjointed at times and needed a bit more work, the couple was really charming and gave us characters to care about in a fascinating setup that had a lot of potential. I expect they will grow though, as they shared after the show, this was their first production as a company, so they're still figuring things out a bit.

By that time, we needed to prepare for our own show, and our audience for night three was by far the best yet. I had issues with my guitar staying in tune, which is tough to handle in the hot humid room we're in, especially given how much I strum the guitar and am liable to pull the strings out of tune. The pre-show improvisation I did was the best yet, as verified by the cast, who told me after the show they felt really great about going into the show after my opening. As soon as we started the show proper, I could feel my strings had pulled out a bit, but I'm on stage the whole time, and there is no good moment to tune. I tried listening to my arpeggios (when you break up the notes in a chord by each string) to hear which notes were a little sharp or flat, and then I tweaked it over the course of the show. I certainly felt better about it the second half of the show, and my playing followed that form, but when that stuff happens, it's easy to lose concentration. I didn't feel it was my strongest show, but I was happy to hear the cast hadn't noticed my discomfort and really enjoyed the performance. They definitely felt it was our best show, even if I'd liked the night before more. I was happy to receive the compliments from both them and some audience members, who included other Fringe performers.
We stayed after our show to see the group after ours, which had gotten rave reviews for their work at other festivals around the world, and whom we'd had great interaction with outside the show. They did a piece set in Fascist Italy based on the film Una Giornata Particolare, but the trademark of the show was their use of chalk to draw the space. They began with an old radio clip bringing us into the scene while they drew windows on the black walls of the theater, and over the course of the show, they added to the ambience, drawing a telephone when one rang and a phonograph when one started playing, or erasing and re-drawing a window when it was opened to let drawn cigarette smoke flow out the window. It was an ingenious use of space that captured my imagination and made the room wholly theirs, while the acting was also compelling and reeled me into the story.

The night concluded again at the Fringe Bar, where it was funk and soul night, and our company ruled the dance floor. The Fringe staff was taking videos of the dancing all night, so who knows what will happen with that.

FYI: Theater In Asylum is blogging our trip with lots of pictures and video as well, including links to our reviews–which have all come in really positive. Check that out here: http://www.theaterinasylum.com/news.html