Jul

The Madwoman of Chaillot: The Space

On Monday, July 27, 2009 at 7pm, I performed in a staged reading of Jean Giraudoux’s The Madwoman of Chaillot (French title La Folle de Chaillot). Today I’d like to talk a bit about the performance space, and my observations on it.

This a play is a poetic satire which Giraudoux wrote in 1943, but it was first performed in 1945, after his death.

This production was directed by Jay Michaels for the Readers Ensemble Company (REC). The REC is run by Justin Flagg and Dana A. Iannuzzi. It was performed at The University of the Streets at130 East 7th St. in New York City just off of Tompkins Square Park.

Anyhoo!

Arriving at 5:30pm I sought out the entrance to the University of the Streets. It was a little hard to find as on the otuside it is little more than a single doorway between storefronts. I worried that audience members would have trouble locating the space. Beyond the door was a tiny lobby and a narrow old staircase that wound its way to the performance space on the second floor.

At first I passed it by. The door didn’t say “University of the Streets” on it, but I didn’t go far before backtracking and spotting a REC sign which pointed the correct way.

Upon entering I nearly collided with John Payne’s wife. John is a fellow Long Island actor whom I met in recent months. He would be playing the part of the (Police) Sergeant in this production. We exchanged greetings before continuing on our separate ways.

Beyond the entrance there was a small cramped lobby and ticket counter, then, beyond a curtain, was the performance space. Here on the second floor it made up the corner of the building overlooking Tompkins Square Park and 7th Street. There were 3 or 4 tiers of movable seats around an unraised performance area. A piano and some music stands took up a portion of the floor.About half the cast was already present.

One of the first things I noticed was the heat and humidity. It was a little uncomfortable, and was only bound to become more so as the evening progressed. A large window air conditioner was in the wall in one corner, but its effects could hardly be felt beyond the 4 seats around it. Later in the evening, before the show, two fans were positoned to circulate the air. One by the Ac, and another on the performance floor. The latter was bit noisy, and would doubtless have to be turned off during the show.

Of course, I worried about audience members dealing with the heat. The actors were here to work, and would put up with it very well, but I worried about an audience that would have to sit through an unfamiliar show. The early arrivers would obviously take the most comfortable seats near the AC, and other after them would try to take the next best spots. Then there was the possibility that during intermission people might try to take seats other than the ones they had during act one. Fortunately, everything went well in that regard. Everyone put up with the heat, and the show, being enjoyed by all, certainly helped.