August 5th, 2015
Written by Ewa Wolniczek (Marina)
The first time I heard about "Seams" was in a coffee shop. I had just finished my shift and decided to hang out and read. Polly happened to pop in and we got to chatting. I was instantly engulfed in this world she had created. Though it didn't take much to intrigue me, as I was doing my own research about the same era, only set in Poland.
It's been such a thrill to be a part of the growth and development of this play. Especially with the character I play, Marina.
In our first rendition, Marina was a character deeply hated by the others, who only caused havoc. Now, with the addition of a few more scenes, Marina's become, instead, an occasional nuisance, a young woman who's passion causes her tongue to flap about too much. I've fallen in love with this brazen character.
I've always loved being involved in SummerWorks and with opening night only one sleep away, I'm bursting to show this matured Marina with all of you!
July 31st, 2015
Written by Krystina Bojanowski (Ira)
I come from a long line of both Russians and seamstresses, so jumping into this play isn’t a stretch for me. Clare joined us in rehearsal a few weeks ago, and has been working her way through Old Frosya’s monologues, finding the rhythm of the accent. As she finds certain sounds, I can hear my baba speaking – my baba, who passed away this winter.
This is a memory play: specific, personal. So what I would like to offer are the thoughts and memories that have come up during rehearsal – of her, and of then.
When my baba was dying, she switched back to Russian. Or rather, she lost her English. Simple questions, answered, clear as day in a language that I do not speak. That is how an important part of my baba – of her story – has been lost to me.
Also lost is the name she would never speak. Her fiancé, the man before my deda. When she speaks of him, he is almost present in the room. He is tall, good-looking man (“so nice lookink, Krystina”) – dead at forty-something (memory fails me now) in a South American country. He make mistake (“we fight, he point gun at me, but that another story,”) and he sorry, but is finish. Once is finish, is finish.
She lived a full life and loved my deda dearly – and still, a name she wouldn’t tell me. I didn’t ask again. People need their secrets.
My baba and deda (left), and her sister on a motorcycle trip. Look just how young they are.
July 24th, 2015
Written by Polly Phokeev (Writer)
Before Seams, I’d never been the writer in the rehearsal room. It’s a funny job. I’m not always quite sure what I’m supposed to do. I feel some days like I’m the designated brain-box of the script – which I suppose makes sense because I’ve written the thing. But sometimes the script and I aren’t actually on the same brainwave. Sometimes Mikaela will pick out a meaning in a scene that I never even knew was there, or an actor will find a really exciting surprise intention. Sometimes I really want a scene to go in one direction, but the script has no interest in complying. I’ve learned that at the end of the day, the play always wins.
The way a tree grows around its surroundings, the script has been growing along with the production – for example, in our workshop phase Sochi discovered that her character, Radya, draws with charcoal on her breaks. That is now in the script; it’s written right into at least two of the new scenes.
In other writing genres, in prose or poetry for instance, the writer’s words are the work. I write a short story and that’s exactly what you read. But with a script, I’m just one part of this huge living organism that is constantly growing, evolving, adapting. I’m sort of in charge of the skeleton, maybe a little bit the nervous system, but the work of the director, the actors, the rest of the creative team – they’re the muscle, the veins, the vital organs.
So maybe I’m not the brain-box of the play. Maybe I’m the resident chiropractor – taking care to adjust the bones so they continue to support this growing being.
July 22nd, 2015
Written by Caitlin Robson (Frosya)
SO EXCITING!
Clare Coulter had joined us in rehearsal and even said she sees herself in me! Context is entirely about looks thus far, but I will take it even still!
I feel both awkward, but totally justified in my fan-girling: Clare is a great listener in the room and has been having deep conversations, asking great questions to Mikaela and Polly. It's been inspiring to work with such a thoughtful and experienced actor.
We've really come to see how Shannon has outdone herself with the design. In the second half of the play, the whole set gets turned upside down-- Judy's knocked over, buckets upended, fabric strewn, drawers pulled out and buttons scattered. We're playing with the absurdity of trying to continue working in the mess as though nothing is different. It's added an intense and uncomfortable dynamic-- already, all our characters feel false with each other.
Yesterday's rehearsal, I found myself unable to stop crying in one scene where I sew a soldier's jacket on a fallen Judy while finding out that my husband is going to war.
The stakes are high in this play, and it's wonderfully maddening in the rumpled, torn space.
Higher stakes still, we are in the last nine days of our all-or-nothing Fund What You Can campaign! We've all been sharing with our friends families and fans and are so thankful for the support we've received! We still have more to raise to cover the costs of the show so continue to support us and share the campaign! We wouldn't be here without you and every bit counts!
We can't wait to bring you this awesome show!
July 12th, 2015
Written by Steve Vargo - Stage Manager
Nothing is set in stone. Nothing. I don’t care if you’re putting on Shakespeare, Mamet, Chekov, or Polly Phokeev (our talented writer of Seams), things are always changing. From the very first word that is put down to the final bows of the last show, and beyond, a play gets torn apart, put back together, rearranged, jumbled up, and reimagined; and—no matter how hard we try to prevent it—performances can change at any moment, any night: a step is taken too far, a word or phrase is slightly altered, the timing on one cue or the next is off by a millisecond, or—theatre-gods forbid—a whole second! A new discovery can happen at any moment, and then the next it can be lost, perhaps forever.
That is what I experience as the Stage Manager. It keeps you on your toes. My job is to make sure everything goes according to plan. Ernie Abugov (the now retired SM of National Ballet of Canada) said of Stage Management as “the link between the idea and the actuality”, but imagine an idea as a multiplier, dividing in two, then sixteen; or another day it’s a circle, around a whole new planet, gathering new information, only to return to where you started; or maybe one day it’s a tree that branches up from a solid trunk, but you remember the hundreds of roots below it. Where did it begin? Where is it going? Which way do we go now? It has this never-ending life.
I sometimes worry about the things we lost, but time and time again, this story, the cast of Seams, and the creative team behind us all remind me that we have to get lost, again and again, in order to discover something new; we have to keep searching, with no end or purpose in sight, to let change overcome us.
July 7th, 2015
Written by cast member Caitlin Robson (Frosya)
First week back in rehearsal: Fresh script, fresh rehearsal space, fresh design, fresh funding campaign, some fresh faces—fresh play!
It has been so exciting to be back in a room collaborating with other actors again. I feel as if everyone, thankful of the break between our work at the Paprika Festival and the Summerworks leg, is rested and ready—no, HUNGRY to take a bite out of more Seams.
From the first read-through, Polly Phokeev had us chomping at the bit: Polly took all of the feedback we had received from our run at Paprika, mulled it over with our fearless director, Mikaela, and churned out a whole new and exciting work! We kept the things we loved, elaborated on more of them, and added in some all new scenes that are going to blow everyone away.
Watching everyone else work is fascinating to me—Sochi Fried draws in charcoal in a brand new scene, and her hands get grubby as if she were a child playing in the mud and I think it’s a beautiful metaphor for how the cast works—always playing, digging in and getting messy and seeing where it will take us.
But there’s more that’s new even in the old scenes: I was so pleased to welcome Krystina Bojanowski to our cast as Ira—I had the pleasure of seeing her work in Romeo (and her) Juliet and her Ira is brand new, sweet, and keeping everyone on their toes. We are still excitedly anticipating our first rehearsal with the amazing Clare Coulter to add to our brand new mix.
If you haven’t checked out our campaign, you won’t want to miss the chance to help this show reach its full potential at Summerworks!
