Rehearsals have started at Phoenix Theatre on the first week of projects including one in which I’m a part: CHRISTMAS 2.0 by Donna Hoke and directed by Ron May.
The play is about addiction to social media and how it can disrupt our real world connections. I’ve found the play to be poignant for so many reasons, but most especially because I’ve seen how social media can take over my life if I let it! The main character, Angela, feels stranded as her husband, daughter and friend all seem a bit checked out of her life and checked into their devices.
I’m getting to play Angela’s high school sweetheart, Billy, who left her after a post-graduation summer romance. But now, twenty years later, Facebook has put them back into contact and the feelings have come back! Billy is a plumber and ex-jock and a real delight to play, beer gut and all.
What I love a bout the festival as an actor is that you get to be right in the middle of a creative process with the playwright in the room. I also love that everyone respects each other as professionals in the rehearsal hall. With that baseline of respect, we all take risks and see what we can offer the playwright to help him or her take the play to an even better place and delight an audience. It is a fun process. However, it is fast! Four days of rehearsal and before you know it we are on our feet with an audience!!