Your Guide to this Blog - Please Read

DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE SCHEDULED TO BE A GUEST ACTOR AND HAVE NOT YET PERFORMED!!!!!!!

The Gorilla Theatre is producing Tim Crouch's An Oak Tree this September. It is the ultimate look at the acting process and the power of suggestion.

The Premise: 2 actors. The 1st has been in rehearsal for 4 1/2 weeks. The 2nd is a different actor every night who has no prior knowledge of the script. Yes, they walk onto the stage for their opening night completely cold, unprepared. It is the proverbial actor's nightmare realized. Through the course of the evening the 1st actor, Steve Mountan, guides the 2nd actor, "Bob", through a series of communication techniques that provide Bob with a loose framework of what is supposed to happen. The rest, the direction the play goes from there, is solely up to what Bob brings to the table.

In addition to the 13 Performance Bobs, we have invited 23 local actors to our rehearsals. Steve needs an unaware Bob every night for an productive rehearsal process. At each rehearsal we begin with a warm-up between Bob and Steve, a full run of the show, an immediate reaction from Bob, a response once Bob has had some time to digest what has just transpired followed by a discussion where we further look at specific sections and possibly go back and work those sections for technical polishing.

We have been recording the rehearsal Bobs and would like to share them with you. But it is difficult do so without including "spoilers". So I have devised a spoiler alert system. I will try to only include the vague information on this main page. If you see a link to hidden text or a video clip, be warned that they may, and probably will, include information that will prevent you from being as unaware as Bob at your first performance of An Oak Tree.

NOTE: Not only will the video clips most likely contain spoilers for those who have not yet seen An Oak Tree, they may also contain adult language. Nothing extremely vulgar but they are candid and unedited interview clips. Consider yourself warned.

With all of this diclaiming out of the way, I do invite you to read, comment and participate in this experiment. It is truly a unique experience for all involved. Look for further entries from everyone involved.