FirstWords

Director Andrea Humez (right) leads a talkback session at Theatre@First.  by Andrea Humez “The author is dead,” I joke to the actors, acknowledging the playwright who is, in fact, sitting in the room with us.  “So you’ll have to make your own interpretation of the text.” More than most authors, playwrights have to make peace with the fact that once they’ve written a piece, other people will interpret it in their own ways. Plays are written to be performed, and putting on a play inherently involves layers of interpretation: by the director, by the various actors, by the designers (in the case of a fully-staged production), as well as by the audience. Usually, when I direct, I try to balance between encouraging the actors to make their own interpretations of the text and asking them to go along with mine.  This process is founded on the assumption that we don’t know exactly what the playwright’s intention was, and in some sense, we don’t care, because int...

Cast members (from top) Sarah Brinks, Leslie Drecher, Kat Buckingham, Jason Merrill, Adam Schofield-Bodt, and Ryan Marchant rehearse with enthusiastic support from Director Mike Haddad.  by Mike Haddad, Director of  The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) This show is 100% Grade A madcap insanity...and I wouldn't have it any other way. We have just finished blocking all the scenes in the show, and with each scene fresh ideas for added jokes, outdated pop culture references, and bizarre props have been suggested by cast and crew alike. This show has been a wonderful and truly collaborative effort thus far. I don't think I have ever laughed so much during a rehearsal process. Shakespeare nerd or not, this show is full of laughs, both of the high and low brow.  The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)  shatters the fourth wall. While rehearsing and realizing the number of opportunities for audience interaction in the show, we...

by Mary Parker, Director of The Revenger's Tragedy The Revenger's Tragedy   is a satire. Everything in the play is a bit too much - the villains are too despicable, the murders are too ridiculous, and the ending has too high of a body count. You know, just like the circus! But seriously, in this play (probably by Thomas Middleton but it was the Jacobean era so who knows) the characters are constantly putting on a show. Even some of their private actions are performed for the benefit of an outsider, like the Duchess who sleeps with her husband's bastard son for revenge on the husband. Spurio and the Duchess keep their affair a secret, and neither of them are really into it, so the whole purpose is to stick it to an audience (the Duke) who isn't even there.  Soon, Theatre@First will hold auditions for my production of  Revenger's . This show will be set at a failing 1940s circus, and will feature a band playing popular circus songs from the era. The D...

T@F Artistic Director Elizabeth Hunter Welcome to Theatre@First!   One of the traditions here is to have a greeter out front at each of our shows. I like to take that post on opening night whenever possible.   I love standing out on the sidewalk, opening the door for people and directing them to our box office.   It’s a nice way to get hugs from people I know and sometimes to catch up for a minute or two with past participants returning to support a new show. Most importantly, it’s a chance to put a face on T@F for newcomers, to let you know that you are in the right place and we’re so happy you found us. This spring we are celebrating our 15th anniversary!   We’ve just staged our 50 th mainstage show and sometime this year—depending on how you count—we’ll put on our 100 th overall production. We have grown and changed so much over the years, but we are still Somerville ’s community theatre, creating art and providing a venue for new connections within ...