Countdown to Bloodless
It’s happening! Rehearsals for the Theatre 20 production of Bloodless: The Trial of Burke and Hare are starting, and I’m off to Toronto for a month. Much has happened since my last post (yeah, no kidding Joseph, your last post was in January)…
We’ve had two workshops — one in mid-April and one in August. The April workshop was three weeks long, and I got to work with many of Theatre 20’s founding artists, as well as members of their Emerging Artist Ensemble. That was an amazing experience. We workshopped Act One, and presented it in a formal reading, which whetted everyone’s appetites and generated some excitement. In August, we worked for a week with the wonderful and talented students of Sheridan College’s Musical Theatre program, and hammered out Act Two. Needless to say, the script has changed significantly from its previous incarnation. Scenes have been switched and revamped, old songs have been cut, new songs have been written — I even deleted a major character (sorry, Josh). But I believe it’s all for the better, and although there’s still a little more writing to do, we’re in great shape to launch into rehearsals.
There have also been some changes on the production end since I last posted. First, the dates have changed. The production runs October 12-28, 2012, with previews beginning October 9. Second, you’ll notice that Colm Wilkinson has handed over the directing reins to Theatre 20’s artistic director Adam Brazier. This is actually a good thing, because Adam and I get along famously and we’re on the same page almost all the time. But Colm is still on as our creative consultant (”Colm”… as if we’re buddies or something), and he’s given us some invaluable guidance so far.
So that should get you up to speed. If you’re going to be in Toronto this October, be sure to check it out. Visit Theatre20.com for tickets and information.