Right after I finished my second production of Irma Vep, I went off to play in my second production of A Midsummer Night's Dream!  Last time I was Demetrius; this time I was Oberon and Theseus - at the Millbrook Playhouse in Pennsylvania!  Millbrook is an awesome theatre and I'm so happy that I was there.  The Playhouse is very popular and people come out in droves to see the plays.  There are usually productions up and running in both of their theaters (a main stage and a black box) with another play rehearsing at the same time - so the Playhouse, an old converted barn, is a beehive of industry - and a wonderful, positive community.  I frequently found myself walking past an actor from another show in a hallway and we'd ask each other about our respective projects.  And with so many artists, designers, carpenters, directors and technicians, our communal dinner times were always a blast.

I'm very proud of our Midsummer.  Teresa assembled a very strong cast. I especially loved working with my scene partners, Ariel as Puck/Philostrate and Mary as Titania/Hippolyta.  We aimed to create as restrained and refined Athenian characters as possible, to create the greatest contrast to our dark and wild fairy characters.  We wanted the fairies to be animalistic and physical - Puck and Oberon would signal each other with animal noises, climb all over the set and could smell characters before they entered.  Titania and Oberon's relationship was very sexual and visceral, with an intense emotional core expressed through prowling, violent physicality.  It was a total treat  to commit so fully to our scenes and then spy on the other characters as Oberon while "invisible," as well as to watch the mechanicals' ridiculous clowning at our wedding in Act V. 

All of the actors lived together in a large dorm complex at Lock Haven University.  I had limited access to the internet there, which I LOVED.  Without facebook et. al. as a distraction, I had more time to spend with my castmates - we'd often stay up late talking.  I would go to the university's gym most mornings, and often some of us would go to the local coffee shop together, or walk along the nearby river.  After shows we would all go out together to get VERY inexpensive drinks.  There was also an opening night party every week, which would involve a fancy gala at the playhouse.  And every Saturday post-show the playhouse has a cabaret that audience members would stay for and that we'd all perform in.  I hosted it the second week with Jonathon (my roommate, who played Demetrius) and we had more fun than should be allowed.  The third week was themed "Christmas in July" - and I dressed up as a Christmas elf and gave a PSA about Krampus, the Christmas Devil (a real German tradition - look it up!) 

Summary: I made many friends, had a great time and got to be a part of a magical, beautiful play in an awesome place.  Yes, please, any time, thank you!

I thought it would be fun to post photos from both of my productions of Irma Vep side by side - I played Nicodemus and Lady Enid last year at Cortland Repertory Theatre last year and I played Jane and Lord Edgar this year at Lost Nation Theater.  The styles and designs of the two shows were quite different - between that and playing opposite tracks, the whole process was an awesome challenge for me.

Before we get to the pictures, I should post our reviews from the more recent LNT production!

Jim Lowe of the Times Argus said we "played off each other with an intimacy & discipline with the depth of a theater version of chamber music…. It was joyous fun and sidesplittingly funny….several audience members were sure there were more than two actors performing until they were told otherwise at intermission.”  You can read Jim’s whole review here – and you can also read the interview he did with us during our rehearsals here.

OH and you can WATCH an interview with us – spliced together with some rehearsal footage!  Here it is!

Alex Brown of Seven Days wrote “Scheer is equally adept at wordless clowning and mile-a-minute dialogue, and he turns his limber body into a comic instrument in itself.”  She also used words like “lithe,” “acrobatic,” “graceful,” and “androgynous”!  She ends the piece by saying “Love and Scheer connect so well onstage that they remind us of what only live, collaborative theater can do. As tightly rehearsed as this show is, the actors never telegraph a moment. Each exchange blooms up fresh before us, with all the hard work concealed and all the fun conveyed.”  You can read her whole review here.

You can read reviews from last year’s Cortland production on my reviews page.

And NOW – the PICTURES

One More!

Christopher Scheer and Eric Love (Scheer Love, as it were)