Andrew Blair’s versatile nipple acting.

Rigorous lovemaking set to rap music.

The amazing faces Marguerite Stimpson makes during fight scenes.

Days-of-the-week panties.

Michelle David’s disturbing interlude with a stuffed puppy.

An epic whisper scene.

Tara Westwood’s hilariously accurate womb sounds.

Projectile whipped cream and gazpacho spit takes.

Family lap time.

Graphic hand puppets.

This week is the big fun.
It’s all fun, actually.
From my first hearing of this play at our retreat a couple of years ago, I thought, this is fun. And weird.  And oh-my-I-can’t-believe-she-did-that.

But this week, tech and opening, are the REALLY BIG fun times for me in the process.  Tech is the time to watch the magic happen- to see the hard work of the diverse artists come together in an always surprising, always inspiring way.  At this point in my age and career I am lucky enough to be working with the experienced, the proven, the truly talented who have their craft honed and are able to see things in a different way than you or I when we read a script.  It’s always a joy.

Opening is the time to celebrate.  And share.  And say thank you.  Thank you to the artists who collaborated with us.  Thank you to the InViolets who worked on this show even if they weren’t cast in it.  Thank you to our donors who make the show possible.  Thank you to our patrons who come to the theater with open hearts and minds, looking to be entertained and affected.  Thank you to the Creator, who instills in us humans the need to communicate, to express,  and to teach.  To tell stories.

It’s almost time to share this one.

Well, for starters, we’ve had some amazing quotes during rehearsals, like:

“That’s weird and scary for you! You can’t get your hand out of her crotch!”

“Andrew touches everyone’s boobies now in this play.”

There are SOOO many more and most involve body parts or sex, but I’ll
leave it at that.

I have had so much fun rehearsing Branched. I love and appreciate the
whole cast. Robert is someone who will make you laugh nonstop. He gets
thoughts that pop into his head and then how he vocalizes them for
others is done in such a way, that you sit there hoping it will
happen. Every single time he begins a sentence with “I’m sure this is
too much…”, Erin beams and says it’s always JUST what is needed.
Watching Erin watch scenes (I’m not in of course!) has become my new
favorite thing. She is such a talented and amazing person and seeing
her happy is contagious. Marguerite is so great, she has gone from
making me laugh hysterically, to taking a direction and then in the
same beat, making me cry. Let’s just call a spade a spade and say that
Andrew is wonderful, has such great energy and showed up off book from
the get go! Michelle… well, it’s a good thing she’s playing Ben, my
son, because if I had to act opposite her and play a character that
didn’t love her wildly, that would just be too hard. She is making me
want to have another kid.

Stage combat is FUN! I always thought I’d get to do it by playing a
cop or something on a tv show, but nope, it’s now, on stage, with
Branched. It’s more tiring than I’d have expected and Lexi is awesome.
I feel like I have an umbilical cord now attached to Fran. She’s spot
on and incredible. Keeping this group on track isn’t always the
easiest thing, but she does it lovingly. Having MHH and AR in the room
with their laughter is a joy.

I wanted to do Branched because I knew it would get me out of my
comfort zone. It has and continues to do so, but I am grateful for
that. Oops… I just typed something that was a major spoiler, so I
should stop now.