Keep Me and Bearclaw review at Newsroom Panama

From the arrticle:

"Bearclaw is a one act drama that centers on Peter a retired history  teacher with memory problems  and  little time left  to make some difficult decisions tto help  make amends for past events. The central character, Peter Senior is realistically played by Gerry Dowden  whose voice you may have become familiar with on his morning radio gig, The Breakfast Show. (89.3 FM)  So here’s a chance to see the face behind the voice.
Andres Clemente  plays his role as the underachieving orderly  to a tee,  and HB Twohy  is the perfect frustrated son of the cantankerous old guy.Luv Jhangimal, as the nurse, completes the quartet that provides a well acted peep into the lives of those in a world that as the central character says “you get used to.” The play is  superbly directed by  Hilary Hughes, with Amit Nathani as assistant director. The producers are Giancarlo Benedetti and Amit Nathani. And I have to restrain my fingers from typing  "It can't get any better."

Last night really showed me what this production is about: passion and dedication. I'm not the only one who has put forth a lot of love for this. Everyone has. When we arrived at The Guild last night for the press junket, a power outage had robbed us of juice, so we naturally did what everyone else would in that situation: we bought 24 votive candles and lit up the porch for a very intimate showing of Keep Me and a preview of Bearclaw. The backstage and tech crew served as the audience, shining flashlights on the actors faces to give them a spotlight among the shadows. It was a thing of beauty and undoubtedly an unusual night at The Guild!

Cast and Crew pictures by Tony Loew

Cast of Keep Me and Bearclaw

Keep Me with Melanie Gilpin, Ricardo (Nimo) Agurcia and Brooklyn Sample

Production team of Bearclaw: Amit Nathani Assistant Directer/Producer, Hilary Hughes Director, Giancarlo Benedetti Producer

Cast and production team of Bearclaw

All pictures by talented photographer Tony Loew.

Bullet Point EVERYTHING (because that is the only way I can absorb information lately, that or through a walkie talkie, yes I have become One Of Those)

Design by Maria Theoktisto

• Isn't it LOVELY? Don't you wanna frame it and put it up on the wall?! I would've NEVER picture it this way, it is very much a reflection of the script. 

• Tonight we had full tech rehearsal, rehearsing both plays (KEEP ME and BEARCLAW), as well as polishing the sound + lights. The backstage coordination needs working on, but hopefully by tomorrow evening it is squared away (if not, we might have a funny lookin' press night). 

• Tuesday morning Brooklyn (director and writer of KEEP ME) and I headed to Punta Paitilla to chit chat on The Breakfast Show with Gerry D. Not easy for me to get anywhere at 7:30am, so we were a bit late (got a bit of shit from Gerry, but it was only Gerry in character as Peter Sr.). It sure helps to have a radio show to help promote the show! Gerry is also one of the main character's of BEARCLAW. It's also his theatrical debut, so you can only imagine the jitters he must be feeling right about now (must be much the same debut jitters I'm feeling as well).

• Wednesday May 4th we'll be having a PRESS NIGHT, so if you are a member of the press and would like to get a sneak preview of KEEP ME and BEARCLAW, shoot me an e-mail and I'll give you the details. 

• OPENING NIGHT is only one night away! I think the realization hasn't fully hit me yet. When it does be sure to keep the smelling salts nearby 'cause this old lady is sure to get heart palpitations and all of that long list of Victorian Lady ailments. 

• I am overwhelmed by gratitude and love. Gracias. 

BEARCLAW in La Prensa's Vivir+

Bearclaw got a nice little article in La Prensa's Vivir+ section during the weekend. Check it out!

Sneak peek at BEARCLAW Rehearsals

We'll have a poster for BEARCLAW and KEEP ME by this evening. I am so excited to plaster Panama City in BEARCLAW propaganda. Yes, opening night is looming like the pot at the end of the rainbow, or just the topping of what is sure to be more productions. At this moment I feel like I could quite possibly get into directing another play, but only if I had the backup like I have had for BEARCLAW (which is to say AMAZING! Amit + Giancarlo have been my pillars of support in this production). Putting on a play ain't easy! I am not getting paid for this, as it is community theater, but I must say that a lot of blood, sweat and tears (and wine) has been poured into BEARCLAW. 

Ok, so you have a good production team, so what? If your cast is shit, how much can you actually DO. Not much. Thankfully, the BEARCLAW cast has been incredibly hard working, productive, and talented. We're at the final two weeks before BEARCLAW opens and now we're tying the loose ends, snipping unnecessary bits, and polishing it to a fine sheen. Long hours await us next week, but I really can't wait to see how the characters develop over this period of time. 

The BEARCLAW blurb, spread the word!

The Theatre Guild of Ancon is proud to present: BEARCLAW, a one act drama written by Timothy Mason

BEARCLAW centers on Peter a retired history teacher whose time on Earth is running out. Faced with the truth, he is forced to make a difficult decision while making amends with his past.

CAST:
Peter Sr. - Gerry Dowden
Paul - Andres Clemente
Peter Jr. - HB Twohy
Constance - Luv Jhangimal

CREW:
Director - Hilary Hughes
Assistant Director - Amit Nathani
Producers - Giancarlo Benedetti and Amit Nathani

PREMIERING at the THEATRE GUILD OF ANCON May 5th, 2011 8pm.

FEATURING KEEP ME, a one act drama adapted and directed by Brooklyn Sample, with the participation of Ricardo (Nimo) Agurcia and Melanie Gilpin.

SHOW DATES: May 5th-7th at 8pm;
                        Matinée on May 8th at 6pm.
                        May 12th-14th at 8pm.

TICKETS: E-mail reservations (24 hour notice) to tgapanama@gmail.com;
                Telephone reservations 212-0060

Complete Cast for BEARCLAW

In order of appearance:

• Constance: Luv Jhangimal 
• Paul: Andres Rafael Clemente
• Peter Sr.: Gerry Dowden
• Peter Jr.: HB Twohy

I'm very excited about the cast, everyone is very dynamic and eager to get into character. A true pleasure to work with! 

We've had four rehearsals so far and they have been very good, productive and even a little intense. It is a drama after all! We've been doing very little blocking because the set design is not complete as of yet, so the rehearsals have been taking place in my livingroom with Bruno supervising from a gigantic (for him) bean bag. 

Had a meeting with Brooke and Elena on Monday regarding set design. We should have the set ready to be built by early next week. We're excited about the set that Elena has created; it is interesting and innovative and able to merge both sets from Brooke's play KEEP ME as well as the set from BEARCLAW. Today we're meeting at The Guild in order to see what props and furniture we have to work with. 

Prepared to get dirty and dusty and quite possibly sneezy. 

Auditions for BEARCLAW, March 12th and 13th

Fernando Dreyfus and Giancarlo Benedetti, the producer

The Production team for Bearclaw, left to right: Giancarlo Benedetti (producer), Amit Nathani (producer, assistan director), Hilary Hughes (director).

Amit Nathani, Love Jhangimal and Hilary Hughes.

Auditions went smoothly and we were able to cast the majority of our small play. We were able to cast two new faces, who we're really excited to be working with (Love + HB!). New actors for the Guild, woooo!

Folks we've cast for Bearclaw: Andres Clemente for Paul, Love Jhangimal for Constance, HB Twohy for Peter Jr. We're still missing one last person to fill in the most pivotal role of Peter Sr., an early to mid 60's year old retired History teacher. If you know of anyone who would be interested in playing the lead of this very interesting production, let us know! 

All pictures taken by Elena Badrutt.

To everyone who made it out for auditions: thanks so much for your support! It was very hard to make the final casting decision, but we are confident we made the right choices. When you get so many great actors to come out for auditions, it kind of makes one want to direct a huge production just so that you can cast them all. 

APPROVED!

Yesterday we got approval for the production (wooohoo!), which means that the next step will be auditions. We're searching for a late 60's male, a late 20's to mid 30's male, an early 20's male, as well as a late 20's to mid 30's female. I'll be detailing what we're looking for in each character in the next segment.

The audition dates are not set in stone yet, but as soon as we figure out the dates we'll be letting everyone know about it. We're looking for fresh new faces who are eager to work on their acting, as the play is rather sombre with bits of dark humor and sarcasm. We aren't necessarily looking for serious people, but we are looking for people who want to uncover another layer in their acting. Also, we're not necessarily looking for actors with experience, but experience is always welcome. If you're a newbie and have always had an interest in theater but have never had the opportunity to do it, come on down. Sometimes all you need is a lot of passion and a little bit of direction.

Huffing and Puffing

One of the useful articles I Googled on How to Direct a Play. There were plenty of useless ones as well, as is to be expected with the Internet. I was following these steps before I even knew there were a set of steps to be followed. It might be common sense, but then again, common sense is not too common. The play has been selected and the production and directing crew has been arranged. We're waiting for the go ahead from The Board and then will commence with auditions some time mid March. I'm looking forward to auditions because then I can get started on other things that I'm worried about like blocking, scenery, settings, fleshing out of characters, among other things. I just want to get started already! I feel like a race horse puffing steam into a cold morning, ready to go.

The first meeting of minds was held on Sunday evening at Ace's house. Four of us gathered in the living room and went over some of the basics of the production, what we plan on doing, when, where, how. We talked about character development and potential cast for the play. We then did a rather quick read through of the play to figure out how long it is (an hour, more or less). It's exciting to start honing in on the little details that need to be flawless in order to set up a play. One by one they are checked off with a smart little check, done and done, what's next?

We've decided that we're having open auditions, though we can't help but dream of casting certain actors in roles we can easily fit them in. We're looking for actors who are itching to try out a more serious play, who are looking to get in contact with their method acting, who want to transcend a whole other level. I want them to emote, to feel, to make others feel, to connect, to empathize. A mostly male cast with one strong, but tender female. This is going to be really good, I can feel it.

In the Green Room

"A green room is a room in a theater, studio, or other public venue for the accommodation of performers or speakers when not required on the stage.." According to Wikipedia, anyways. The term 'green room' was first introduced to me in a very offhand manner, as if I should implicitly know what it was. I didn't, but I loved the idea that there was jargon for this mysterious community. It felt very much like Alice tumbling head over heels in the rabbit hole. A brilliant discovery that seemed like a well kept secret among a certain few.

                  The entire cast of Strangely Familiar (both actors, musicians and dancers)

My first foray into community theater was a participation in a Christmas Show that was more like a variety hour, in that it had singing, acting, games, etc. I was twelve at the time and it had a big impact on me. A couple of years later I was able to find a way back to that community theater via a friend whose mother was heavily involved in producing. My first backstage "job" was babysitting a flock of unruly kids all aged under twelve for a different Christmas play. The kids were rowdy, but I took a secret joy of herding them about for their acting moments, peering at their reluctant acting from behind the set. 


I was able to volunteer for more plays, and grew to love the musty old haunted timbers. I loved seeing a production get under way, the actors fleshing out their characters, the scenery and set coming to life before my very eyes, the coordination, dedication, passion, energy needed to create something. And create it was, for you're creating this fantastical, magical voyage in to a story told by dedicated, unpaid volunteer actors, backstage crew, light and sound crew, not to mention the production team. They've all sacrificed hours of their personal time to bring something to life, to create. I liked being a part of that, it resonated within me. The anticipation of a new show, the routine created by shows, the feeling of give and take with the audience, nailing your lines, the clap of hands, the warmth of the lights. A potent, addictive combination. 

                                                                            Improv8


Some plays that I have performed in:  'Boeing Boeing', 'A Christmas Carol', 'The Tender Trap', as well as participated in improvisational comedy, one act plays, as well as an original musical called Strangely Familiar. My most recent part was that of Sarah in 'God's Favorite'. I tend to do very well in comedies because I very rarely take myself seriously and have no problem making a fool of myself, in fact its easier for me to play the fool than to act seriously. 


Recently, a director I worked with in the past that I hold in very high esteem came to visit for a couple of weeks. I was able to spend some time with her and glean some tips and good advice that I took to heart. We were discussing the community theater that we both love and have been very passionate about. She asked me point blank if I had ever thought about directing. I balked, directing is not an easy thing to do and is a very real responsibility that had never actually crossed my mind, until she mentioned it. She mentioned a couple of one act plays that I could start off with, making it seem rather easy. I warmed to the idea. Why couldn't I bring something to life, create? I had been in plenty of theater productions both on stage, backstage and front stage. I had never been in the producing or directing side, but maybe it was about time. 

                                                                        God's Favorite

I mulled this thought over for a bit of time, and thought that hell, maybe I could just write my very own one act play. Maybe this is the push I needed in order to validate all the writing I do that seems rather futile at times. But time was passing and I wasn't really writing this brilliant so far invisible one act play that I was planning at some point of this year making into an actual production. It just wasn't happening. 


At this point I had auditioned and got a role in a play called God's Favorite by Neil Simon. During rehearsals I had some time to wander about the theater (as I enjoy rifling about though the nooks and crannies) and came across the library where a great variety of books on theater, plays, playwrights, among other things can be found. On my spare time when I wasn't on stage I would grab a couple of these books and leaf through them, finding most of them boring and lacking in something that I couldn't quite grasp. 

                                                          Hydra, an original one act play 

One night I found a bright yellow tome titled "Best One Act Plays of 1988". I flipped through a couple of the acts until I landed on one that caught my eye immediately. I read a couple of lines and I knew I had found the play that I wanted to direct. I finished reading it In the Green Room, between scenes. It only has four characters, a mostly male cast (less drama), very few scene changes, and it is only one act. 


I have a production team, I have a backstage crew; I haven't proposed it to the Board of Directors yet, but I know it will be approved because its a helluva story and its going to knock some people's socks off (because of course, that is my intention; I want to make a damn good production, nothing half assed). I'm excited, a little nervous, and ever so eager to get started on the casting, lighting, setting, everything. I have a really eager, talented crew who wants to create something amazing just as much as I do, which will make everything ten times better. 


This is my foray into directing a play for the first time. I'll be using this as my sounding board, a place to document the happenings of an ongoing production, the hardships, hassles, and the successes. 


Break a leg!