Guthrie Theater

Tech. If you are a designer or a technician this is your rehearsal time. Jam-pack all of your vision, questions, problems, solutions into 1/6^th of the time the actors have had. Go. If you are an actor this is the week of tedium when your sense of the play takes a back seat to the designers and technicians. Pack 12 hours worth of food, supplies and entertainment in preparation to stand around and repeat the same lines and movements over and over and over. Go.

I secretly love Tech. I like to pack as if I'm going camping. On this show the shock of the 10-12 hour day was particularly poignant. After 5-hour rehearsal days, 5 days a week, this seemingly normal Tech schedule was a real blow to the system. Martha, our fearless Stage Manager, looked up from her mysterious Tech desk in the middle of the week and said, "What the h*** happened? Where did these long days come from?" If you are a Stage Manager during Tech you constantly reinvent the wheel.

And if you are an actor during Tech you find any possible way to entertain yourself while you play the waiting game. Some of the most hilarious moments of my life have happened during Tech; performing water ballet under an enormous puppet stage, endless choruses of Stand By Me in Welsh accents, handstand contests, unbelievable stories and constant impressions of actors we used to know.

The rest of the time is filled with time-filling activities. Raye does the NY Times Crossword, Angie and Sally read magazines, Tony reads Sci-Fi, and a Scrabble competition is started. I occupy myself as I do during any and every other spare moment. I knit. I love to knit during shows because it becomes like a little fuzzy plague. I knit and soon little wooly projects start showing up in every corner. Ask Angie about her hat. Ask Carin about her socks.

Then previews come. Suddenly we have to put away our time-filling activities and, you know, do the play. It's always a little wonky to remember what it was we did in the rehearsal room, mix that with the stunning technical elements and pull a refined show out of our hats. But the miracle always happens. In this case it was miracle after miracle and the first Preview audience leapt to their feet at the end.

Tonight we open. Look for me after. I'll be wearing my knitting project.