Behind the Scenes: Lighting

As anyone who has ever been in a nightclub can attest, lights play a huge part in setting the mood. Coincidentally, theatre lights are also usually a huge part of bringing a show to life. In the case of this show, our lighting designer, Heather Melville, has been hard at work making our stage space look like a vibrant nightclub. Check out some of the pictures she used to inspire her design:

From these inspirations, Heather created a lighting plot. This is like a map of where all of the lights in the theatre will be hung. It looks like this:

(If you look closely, you can see where all the lights are drawn onto the grid....)

Then, some handy lighting technicians took over the theatre for a day to hang all of the lights and make sure they were focused on the parts of the stage where the action will be:

Lots of hard work and ladders, right?

Finally, Heather's hard work is unveiled in rehearsal. It looks super-cool!

Come see us when the show opens next week (Sept. 28th) to get the full effect of Heather's awesome lighting design!

Also, in case you haven't already, join our Facebook event page and feel free to invite friends! 

(Still need to buy tickets? Do it here: http://theatre.sdsu.edu/index.php/season_of_plays/AsYouLikeIt)

#FREE stuff?!?!

How to get free tickets to As You Like It (opening NEXT FRIDAY, September 28th!!!):


1. Find SDSU Theatre on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheatreSDSU
2. Follow SDSU Theatre for updates about shows and other School of Theatre events.
3. Re-Tweet this for a chance to win free tickets to As You Like It!

Just 10 more days until opening night... Are YOU ready?

Two weeks until opening night!

With two weeks to go until opening night, the play is up on its feet and running. The actors are now getting more and more into character, as evidenced by these pictures from rehearsal this week:

 Audrey (Hayley Gulizia) and Corin (Becca Burrola) exchange words at a table in Duke's Deep Woods

 Phoebe (Kate Clements) shows no mercy yet to Silvius (Kevin Sattler)

Rosalind (Katie Rich) and Silvius (Kevin Sattler) entreat Corin (Becca Burrola)

 Orlando (Aaron Drake) avidly texts in front of the bar

The cast onstage as assistant director Amy Shine looks on

Have you gotten your tickets for the show yet? They can be purchased online, here, for $14-$16. Hurry up! This show will sell out fast! 

More updates on some behind-the-scenes work coming soon...

Shakespeare Text Workshop

Last Thursday, text coach Katie Keddell worked with the actors of the As You Like It cast. If you have never witnessed actors in a warm-up, acting class, or workshop, be assured that it is very entertaining!

In order to prepare their bodies and voices to perform, actors do a variety of physical and vocal exercises. Much of it involves making funny faces (to stretch facial and vocal muscles) and funky noises (to warm up vocal cords). This is where it gets entertaining! Sometimes actor activities involve vigorous jumping around and stretching, and other times actors are simply asked to lie on the floor and breathe. If you are an SDSU student curious about acting classes, you are encouraged to check out acting for non-majors or an improv class at the School of Theatre, Television and Film! 

In the meantime, here's a fun example of an actor exercise in action:

So polite, they are, those sweet actors!

Here's another fun game designed to help the actors really use the "O"'s Shakespeare puts in his text:

More rehearsal pics and info are on the way!

Official Show Poster

Keep your eye out for this beauty to start popping up on campus!

We're proud to introduce the official As You Like It poster:

It sings of La Cage, don't you think? Glamorous! Get ready, SDSU– here comes AYLI!

A Blast from the Gender-Bending Past!

An icon we are exploring as inspiration for the character Jaques is Marlene Dietrich, a famous femme fatale from the era of film noir. Megan McGrory has been playing with sensual movements and vocalizations based on Dietrich's performances in film. (Read more about it on the Directorial Ideas and Inspirations page!)

But did you know that Marlene Dietrich gave an Oscar-nominated performance in which she dressed as a man, and kissed a woman?

Check out this irresistibly charming performance of Dietrich's in the 1930 film, Morocco...

Can you imagine how that went over in 1930?! Phew!

Keep your eyes open for more gender-bender icons and sneak-peeks of the show!

In Rehearsal

Greetings from the SDSU Experimental Theatre, where we are rehearsing As You Like It!

Since this rendition of AYLI is set in a drag club (aptly titled "Duke's Deep Woods"), everyone has donned their rehearsal heels! Woohoo!

Look closely for cast members in heels- our "drag queens!"

The cast is hard at work putting the play on its feet. Not only are they dealing with notoriously intimidating Shakespearean text, they are testing out new blocking (stage directions). They're doing great!

Peter Cirino directs the cast in the faux wedding sequence from AYLI, Act IV. "Come, sister, you shall be the priest, and marry us. Give me your hand, Orlando!"

Scroll down on the blog to see the kind of work actors have been doing to familiarize themselves with Shakespeare's text. Doing Shakespeare is not so scary, after all. Shakespeare is for everyone! 

"No, no, Orlando; men are April when they woo, December when they wed: maids are May when they are maids, but the sky changes when they are wives. I will be more jealous of thee than a Barbary cock-pigeon over his hen, more clamorous than a parrot against rain, more new-fangled than an ape, more giddy in my desires than a monkey."

Without further adieu, ladies and gents, we present to you... Rosalind, Lion-Tamer!

Silvius anxiously stands by as Rosalind fends off a feisty Phoebe.
(Left to right: Kevin Sattler, Katie Rich, Kate Clements)

Can you see the resemblance?

Stay tuned for more shenanigans and updates from the AYLI rehearsal room, coming soon!