Rubber Room #3: Round Three

February 10, 2011 7:00pm show

Larissa:     Cecily Benjamin
Alan:        Jared Zirilli
Sinclair:    Richard Hoehler
Daytona:   Elizabeth Bell
Patti:       Mary Ruth Baggott

I'm not giving away anything by telling you that there a certain number of pieces of furniture in the room.  In the first two performances, the characters took identical positions, which made me conclude that where they positioned themselves must have been a stage direction.  But I had to throw away that idea with the third performance since the actors positioned themselves differently.  So identical results can also be random.

Attitude stepped forward with this performance, just as sound and mobility dominated the last.  It does not mean that it was absent in previous performances, but rather I noticed it because I was finished with taking note of such things as what happens (#1) and then what's different (#2).  Attitude is indirect; sarcasm is attitude.

Suddenly words seem to take on a deeper meaning.  So, I'm struck by the word "appealing." The actors are appealing.  The actors are appealing to one another.  I don't mean in the passive sense that they find each other appealing.  I mean it in the active sense that with every word and action they are appealing to each other, making their appeals, trying to make something happen.  That's what Rubber Room #3 showed me, and I have no idea if it's because I am seeing the action for the third time, but it gave me a deeper appreciation of how often when we speak on and off the stage we make appeals.