Tasks for Acting

(L)Kim G as Henrietta Levitt, (C) Gabriela Castillo as Williamina Fleming, (R)Darrell Johnston as Peter Shaw in Silent Sky, Center for Performance Experiment, December 2017

Prior to writing, Lady Alhambra, I was cast in a play called Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson and directed by Steve Pearson. The play is inspired by the lives of women who worked as “human computers” at the Harvard College Observatory in the early 1900s, and many of the scenes take place at the office where they would calculate the light and distance of stars using glass photographic plates. The director provided us with props that were near to exact replicas of the plates, ledgers, and tools that would have been utilized by the women working as human computers that inspired the play. The cast was directed to recreate a pattern of actions that simulated the work these women did. For example, I am including here a version of the list of actions I made for myself while playing the role of Williamina Fleming. It’s not important to understand what they all mean, only that each is a task: 

retrieve plate from box, insert plate into wooden sleeve, label stars (dots) on plate with random numbers, copy numbers to a ledger, freehand draw a copy of the plate onto personal notebook, workout formula for distance of star on notebook, write result on ledger beside labeled star, do all of the listed actions while listening and delivering lines.

The experience of doing actual work on stage while juggling lines, character, and action, was a game-changer in my approach to action and character. It also connected me to the present and helped me reach a heightened level of concentration on stage. In my solo show, I dedicated the transformation part of the show to this skill. 

During the transformation part of the show, I transform from Joan (referred as M.C. on the script), a male master of ceremony wearing pants and vest costume, into Nila, a cabaret dancer who wears a revealing showgirl type outfit with a feather crown. The transformation takes place while Joan has a conversation with his sister, Rachelle. In order to make this possible, I had to make a mental list of where I indicated on the script to take off and put on each item of clothing based on the timing of the line. Here’s an excerpt from the play: 

MC: 

Donde coño está Nila!? [blazer off]

Rachelle: 

Lower your voice Joan. The whole club can hear your. [hang]

MC: 

Ay por favor! Are you hearing them? You’d think it’s the opening ceremony for the world cup! El Chino is getting deafer than a rug [vest buttons + vest]

Rachelle: 

He’s nearly 90. Nila is in the dressing room getting ready. [hangs] 

MC: 

I’m ganna need a new music director before the year ends. Mierda. How fucking long did it take to bury that old hag? [shirt buttons + shirt]  

Rachelle: 

I hate it when you get like this. You have no respect for the dead. [hangs]

(Lady Lahambra 1)