March 2, 2012 - After some setbacks and delays we started rehearsals this week. Exciting for many reasons. There is the energy that is always present when working on new projects. There is the chance to work with old friends and new collaborators. There is the infinite opportunity of what you will find hidden between the lines of the text. But this particular show is the release of lots of personal excitement.

Pericles is a play that I love and a piece that I have loved for a long time. I remember telling a friend of mine in college that I was going to sit down and read Pericles and he asked me "why." "Because," I told him, "it's different." Well, different it was. And while it wasn't love at first-read, the play has grown on me and when I saw the posting for this festival I jumped at the change.

The start of this process is also exciting because it is the first production that will live and rehearse within my new basement studio. Mark Twain: Patriot, Teacher, Philosopher was the first that housed my own artist process in my new venue, but Pericles will have much of the work of the whole team going on there as well. So far it has proved to be a good atmosphere. The sitting room where we are doing our reading and text work is a little smaller than I'd like to admit, but it's working fine. But the mere fact that I have it combined with the fact that we can go just a few steps away and try on masks or store costumes and props is a really neat feeling.

Oh, speaking of masks, I have been hard at work over the past month in my basement making the masks that will help bring Shakespeare's/Wilkins' characters to life. This is a new experience for me and a very rewarding one. When my mask designer told me that she was too busy to work on this show, I thought that it would be a good idea for me to do them myself - I use them enough in my productions, that it would be a valuable skill to have. And it has been nothing but fun to create them. The actors are all very excited to start working with them when we begin blocking rehearsals. Right now, the process is finishing up the last details and getting them fitted to the actors' faces. I promise I will have more on the masks soon, including pictures.

That's it for now. This weekend will bring costume shopping and finishing up the masks. By the end of next week we'll have finished up our table work and will be ready to start blocking.

Stephen F. Murray
Director