Editor’s Note: The Collegiate has been following the cast of “Incorruptible” since auditions. This is the third story in a series.
As the weeks pass by, the theater production “Incorruptible” gets closer to opening night.
On Thursday, March 15, the cast and directors worked on section 11 of their scripts. The actors must be off-book by this time and although they might not know their lines 100 percent yet they still needed to start learning it from memory.
If they couldn’t remember or needed help with their line they would shout “line” and the stage manager, Isazic Ortiz, would feed them their line or part of it from a table right off the side of their sets.
Their process that night was similar to other nights. They would run through the section altogether, Tom Kaechele, Director of “Incorruptible,” would help with small kinks with movements or placement, they would run through it again, Kaechele would give more notes, and the process continued until rehearsal was over.
Again, each run-through had a goal, this time it was to make each time faster. They started off with eight minutes and eight seconds but by their last one they were able to run through the section in seven minutes and one second.
When the show starts on opening night, they won’t be running through as fast as they can, but these rapid run-throughs help the actors pick up cue lines quicker and learn their lines better while still fixing the kinks that were previously given to them.
The actors are really exploring the dynamics of their characters at this time. They are more focused on what their characters mean and how they are able to express their role through body language.
They’ve learned that there’s more to the character than just the lines they’ve been given and the words they say. As they perform in their classroom, they’re exploring others’ behaviors.
From the start of their rehearsals to March 15, the energy in the room has increased. People feed off each other’s energy as they are getting more comfortable in their roles.
Kaechele can see that the actors are having a fun time on stage and feeds off their energy.
“I’m working with some less experienced actors but they’re really excited and eager to work so I was having fun,” Kaechele said. “We were improving and I was having a good time. I think they would know if I was sitting there and going ‘Ooh we’re in big trouble’ so I think it’s going quite well.”
Ortiz, the stage manager, finds that knowing most of the cast from classes has helped with the production.
“I’ve had classes with most of them,” Ortiz said. “…I think this is a huge benefit personally because I’m not all that good with people so having people that I’m familiar with definitely helps the process.”
When the cast and crew had a little less than a month to prepare, Kaechele said he wasn’t worried as long as they kept working on it like they had been these past couple of weeks.
“I’m all about the process, I always feel like the product will take care of itself if you work the process correctly, so I’m not worried about anything even though I know we’re not where we’re going to be in a month,” said Kaechele. “I feel like the bones are there, it’s just a matter of tweaking each moment a little better and a little better.”
The show opens at 8 p.m. on April 11. Tickets can be purchased on Raider Connect.
