Every production at the Omaha Community Playhouse has its
beginning where the cast comes together for their first read through, the
design team creates the set and the director establishes the blocking of the
show. OCP’s boom is
unique in that it already has a head start on the process. Boom kicked off OCP’s
21 & Over series in 2010 with a staged reading featuring most of the same
actors that will appear in the full production.
Director Amy Lane is the 21 & Over visionary and coordinator
and has been involved with boom
since
its initial staged reading. When asked why boom was chosen for the 21 &Over series,
Amy said, “boom
was the most produced comedy in the United States for the 2010/2011 season. I
thought it would be great to kick off 21 & Over with a great comedy that
hadn’t been produced in Nebraska.”
She said, “The 21 & Over series is a way to reach out
to new audiences and to experiment with new works. The idea of alternative
programming OCP was developed as a way to try new things, to engage in
a national dialogue with the newest and edgiest works in American theatre and
to expose our audiences to the future of theatre. The Playhouse is a leader in
the cultural force of Nebraska. 21 & Over allows us to push the envelope.”
The transformation from a staged reading to a full
production is an unusual process that allows greater character development and
a better understanding of the script. Amy explains, “It's unusual to start a rehearsal
process with a cast who are so familiar with the play and the roles. Instead of
starting from scratch, as is the case with most plays, we are able from the
first rehearsal to draw from a pretty deep understanding of the script. Instead
of a blank page, we are starting with a well-defined sketch and go from there
to fill in the details.”
She adds, “Directing a reading has its own unique challenges
especially in terms of space. For the readings, we perform on the sets of the
current Howard Drew productions. For boom,
it was on the set of A Thousand Clowns.
The challenge is to make one play make sense in a space that was designed for
an entirely different story. For the full production, of course, the set
will be designed specifically to meet the needs of boom. One of my favorite parts of directing has always been the
collaboration with designers in creating the world of the play. This was
no exception; all of the designers embraced this quirky little world and have
designed some great stuff.”
Boom is the second show in the Howard Drew theatre this
season and is part of OCP’s new “Find Your Stage” concept featuring
contemporary and edgy shows. When asked why boom was a good fit for the Howard Drew
series, Amy explained, “Our new concept for the Howard Drew Theatre embraces the
idea of theatrical adventures, contemporary scripts and edgy work. Boom is a perfect fit.
It is written by an amazing up-and-coming playwright, Peter Nachtrieb, and is
one of the best comedies of the past five years. It's a quirky little story of love, hope and the end of the
world.”
Boom
is a hopeful story about a graduate student taking on the preservation of the
human race through a personal ad as the end of the world approaches. Disaster
strikes, food is running out, the lab-turned-shelter is beyond repair and the
fish are acting strange. Will he and his "date" survive? This
hilarious romantic comedy turned sci-fi fantasy is contemporary theatre at its
best.
Story by Ryan Murray
