REHEARSAL JOURNAL

FARRAGUT NORTH: Yesterday afternoon we worked on Act I Scene 1. We did a run-thru in the rehearsal hall. John Ambrosone, Lighting Designer and David Remedios, Sound Designer watched the final run-thru to prepare for our first Tech Rehearsal on Thursday. We want to create a “media storm” with lights and sound. David and John will collaborate with our VideoDesigner, Christina Smith and develop fast-paced transitions that will drive the play forward at a breakneck speed. David is writing/building a sound scape for the production that will compliment John’s lighting and Christina’s video design. Our goal is to drive the play forward by designing a “media storm” for each of the scene transitions. We are exploring the sounds of an Iowa snow storm, the Red Line D.C. Metro train, political television audio and hard driving, pulsing music. The intention is to place Stevie, the campaign Communications Director at the center of a political storm.

  In the evening rehearsal we moved to the Frank Center Stage and did our first run-thru on the set. The actors rehearsed on the set and became familiar with the 4oo seat theater. On Thursday we will begin our first full Tech Rehearsal.

FARRAGUT NORTH is a drama in nine scenes that take place in and around Des Moines, Iowa, during a recent presidential campaign. Stevie is the super-aggressive press secretary to a Governor running for President. At just 25 he’s cannier than political operatives twice his age, a veteran spinmeister who’s mastered the art of manipulation and dirty tricks. This is his story. Stevie starts out genuinely smitten with the idea of making a difference through being part of the political process, but whose hubris eventually squelches his better impulses and even his ability to sustain a personal relationship.

“You’re twenty-five. There’s so many other things you could do besides this horseshit. Think about it. You make it to the White House, you do your four years, if you last that long, and then what? You get off the train every morning at Farragut North and trudge to some consulting firm with all the other political has-beens. Next thing you know you’re forty, then fifty, so many races under your belt you can’t remember which you run and which you lost. Do yourself a favor. Get out now. You stay in this business long enough you’ll turn into nothing but a stone-hearted hack…” Tom Duffy, FARRAGUT NORTH.

Ed Herendeen