Hello, this is Matt Clevy, Fault Line Theatre’s Director of Communications. Starting today I’m going to be taking the Rehearsal Blog in a new direction: I’ll be posting my personal experiences of the rehearsal hall, bringing you, our audience, behind the scenes and sharing with you what it is like to create a story with Fault Line Theatre.

When I’m performing, I find the process of moving from table work to staging both exciting and daunting. Once I reach the final table read I’ve developed a level of comfort and camaraderie with the text, but getting up and beginning to stage the play threatens to dismantle that. I have learned many lessons working with Aaron Rossini, and one that is essential is to embrace the move away from the table. It is the moment when a play transforms from words on the page and ideas in our heads into a living, breathing piece of theatre. Leaving the table is terrifying because I can no longer hide behind the words, I have to create a physical life for the character. I have to make choices that involve my entire body. That’s a scary proposition, but it is also freeing and exhilarating. Last night Megan and Jacques got on the feet for the first time, and one moment in particular caught my attention. There is a point early on in the play where Ken relates a story to Megan about a friend that visited him in Africa. The friend was attacked by fire ants, and Ken describes how his friend was jumping around in the middle of the street in a panic, but the moment did not really come to life until Jacques physicalized what was on the page. I was struck by Jacques’ energy and commitment to his fire ant ‘dance’, but more so by the effect in had on the relationship between Jacques and Megan. It was a major step in making the story their own, and I felt as though I caught a glimpse of what Megan and Ken were really like together. Aaron excels in creating a rehearsal room where actors feel free to fail. That freedom makes for fearless actors, and fearless actors make the bold choices that create great theatre. I felt very lucky to be there when Jacques and Megan took their first brave steps toward creating the physical life of this play.