Every generation makes its choice
Sunday, November 9th, 2008Straight off of our production of Ghosts we have launched into rehearsals for our December production: Mom and Pop by local Columbus playwright Sarah Tobin. Part of my duties as director is to share my concept of the play with the production team. This is what I recently sent out to everyone.
Mom and Pop
Written by Sarah Tobin
Directed by Jill Ceneskie
Every generation must choose its path. Do we follow our dreams or do we follow tradition? Do we support the family owned businesses of our neighborhoods or do we opt for the convenience of the large corporate mega stores? These are the issues I want our audiences to leave with in their minds.
Hendrick Hardware is warm and inviting, but should also appear as though it is lacking something as each generation we see is lacking. The present day generation lacks direction in the face of too many options; our 1958 characters lack options in the face of unexpected events; our 1937 characters lack family unity in wake of a new generation being born. With each generation we see a little warm disappearing but it is never gone. There is love for the store, even if they don’t want it for their own lives.
Some scenes will contain very similar blocking to reflect that idea that although each generation has its own dilemma, at the very core of it, struggles are all the same in many ways, and we all face these problems in our own time. We can also see each character’s level of connection to the store through blocking. We see, for example, that Franz, Bart, Ed, and Gus are comfortable in the store and will wander in and out of the aisles for various purposes. Luke will walk straight through the aisles but take no notice of them. Eda, on the other hand, is at home in the store but avoids a commitment to its function, as she is never seen walking through any of the aisles. Gerda, Gail, and Becky avoid the area where the aisles are, showing their disconnect from the store (each has her own reason for this disconnect).
All in all, we see how the early generations affect their children and the complications that one man’s dream can cause for generations to come.
*****
And that’s that. Now I’m working on scheduling one on one meetings with each designer. It’s nonstop from here to December 4th when we open!
Jill
