Doors

I'm sure those of you on Facebook have seen my posts about doors and wondered what was going on. Let me explain;

I have eight doors onstage for Unnecessary Farce and, as the name implies, the show is a farce with all the typical misunderstandings, pratfalls, and ins and outs that a farce has. Trying to remember which door stays open and which door stays shut, making sure the timing of the opening and shutting of doors is right and trying to get the actors to remember which doors are left open when they exit a room (a feat in and of itself, not to mention them having to remember the blocking and lines and where props go) is difficult. I've spent several hours going over the script and creating door charts and walking the blocking on the set to try to get it fixed in my head so I could direct the actors about the doors and I still feel that I am continually missing a couple of the door moves. It;s very much like a dance. The timing needs to be dead on and if a door is shut, the next action could be completely missed. It is the exact kind of thing that I am not good at and really have to work at to get straight in my head. I have a new appreciation for those '70's sit coms like Three's company. And it only had five doors. But, as of now, I can only give notes and if the actor's miss a door close or door open cue, they will have to get out of it on their own. I will be up in the booth calling the show. Tricia can help them out some with the doors because she is backstage and I think they have it down. They are good at their job and I have all the faith in the world that it will be a good show.