Acting out Islam: Playhouse Plays Stage Presence and Cast Crew Construction. Part 8.

I got the part!

The goal was to be able to get a decent part on stage and see how it really feels to be a performing actor in front of a live audience. It was amazing!

Why was that the goal?

Well according to the professionals, acting is not what we see on film. Performing on Stage in front of a Live audience where you have to be in Character the whole time and anything can happen. That is REAL acting Talent!

But let me go back to the beginning. I found the casting notice for a play at Theatre Suburbia. Suburbia is a small community local playhouse in Houston Texas. They have been putting on shows for decades. This is their 47th season, so the majority of the people involved in the production, as well as the patrons of the shows were more of an elderly crowd. This is something that is affecting the industry in general. There is less interest from younger people in society to enjoy live stage performances.

I showed up for an open casting call to the theartre and read for different parts. The casting notice read as follows.

The Poetic License

By Carl Williams

STORY: Martie’s idyllic memories of a poet from her college years rise again when he reappears, willing and able to continue the romance. Her regular-guy husband, who’d rather bowl than read poetry, seems a poor match against the dashing, artistic Brook Oliphant. Martie’s best friend Janice, who also knew the suave poet when he was a teaching assistant, is drawn to Brook again as well, especially now that she is recently divorced. Suddenly, their nostalgic used-to-be's contend with the ordinary here-and-now – until the women meet one of the professor’s current students. They discover that Brook uses the same old poem to romance all his lady friends and students. Will they separate his iambic from his pentameter or, at the very least, have him arrested for the reckless use of a concealed poem? Ultimately Martie realizes the four rhyming lines Tom writes are much sweeter than Brook’s “poetic license” will ever be.

CHARACTERS:
Martie Kyle – Female, 40, attractive
Janice Starkwell – Martie’s best friend and next-door neighbor, 40, slightly overweight
Tom Kyle – Martie’s husband, 40, a big sort of guy
Brook Oliphant – The poet, 40s, good looking
Samantha Uberhausen – A college student, 20

DIRECTOR: Judy Reeves

REHEARSALS: July 25th, through September 13th, 2007

PERFORMANCES: September 14th, thru October 13th, 2007
Fridays and Saturdays at 8:30 PM, including Sundays at 3:00 PM (September 30th and October 7th)

INFORMATION: No monologue required. Auditions will be readings from the script. Bring your resume and headshot if you have them. If not, we have forms. For further information, call the theatre at 713-682-3525 and leave your name, telephone number and any questions on line four of the voice mail system and your call will be returned. Or, email your questions to theatresuburbia@juno.com.

I read the first night of auditions for both male parts. The second night of auditions I showed up again and read again. Even though I have never been on the stage before Judy Reeves looked at my resume and gave me the part of Brook Oliphant. Now this was a big deal. He was the poet in the play and had a lot of serious dialog. Imagine the conversations we had about doing monologues and then picture reciting poetry for the whole show. As the character Brook Oliphant was a professor who used poetry to communicate, I found the role to be a perfect challenge for me.

The original concept was to use acting and film to generate new ways of communicating to a western audience the concepts of religion and Islam. I had intended to use acting as a method of developing better communication ability. What better role than someone who was a cunning linguist! Not to mention the fact that he, Brook Oliphant, used the language to cause women to fall for him and to make them swoon by his very words. If I could learn to handle that, it would be perfect!

How would I manage the intimate scenes? Well as I read the script and got used to the character I started to feel very comfortable. The cast was chosen and rehearsals begun. When I originally decided to get involved in this process I really did not realize how much work it takes. There were days and days of endless rehearsals. I did not expect to have to go to rehearsal every day for about four weeks. It was a never ending process. 

At first there was no set designed and the cast made do with a bench and a few props. This was because in a playhouse the rehearsals take place while a current show is being played. You have to use their set and make do. After the first week or so we all started to show up for additional days on the weekend to actually put the new sets together.

Here are some pictures of me and other cast members getting our hands dirty. In this playhouse, everyone gets involved and helps build the sets, construction, and even painting!

Final Cast
Christi Todd
Debra Schultz
Tony D'Armata
Saleem Siddiqui
Courtney Furgason

The funny things is when the show finally got to opening night, you were totally ready. We had a preview show the first night which was in full dress and costumes. It is an invigorating experience. Everyone is tense and there is a feeling of excitement in the air. You know this is the moment you have been waiting for. There is an audience and they came to see you all. By this time we had all already memorized our lines and covered the blocking of scenes. Blocking is the way each person stand or sits, to make sure they are always giving their best to the view of the audience. So when the lights go up and the show begins everyone knows exactly where they are supposed to be and what they are supposed to say. It is supposed to look natural to the crowd but it comes from hours of practice and careful preparation.

You are live on stage and have to stay in character. No matter what happens, the Show Must Go On!
The show was on for 5 weeks which was a long time. We performed 14 live shows over that period. 

Some nights were brutal. There were times where there was very few audience members attending. The show was in reality a Romantic Comedy and there were times that the audience members were dead. You could go out and deliver the lines and do your part but the audience did not react. They were comatose! This ends up making you feel less energetic and then your personal performance has less flare.

On the other hand, when the crowds were good, or lively, it was magical. You would go out on the stage and you could feel the excitement and joy. You stand in front of the audience and deliver a line and the crowds lose control laughing out loud, and there is no better feeling in the world. At that moment you are so high from the reactions of the crowd that you feel incredible. I wondered as I was sitting back stage, in the changing room, some nights if this would ever end. Back stage might sound glamorous to some, but in reality it was a little changing room of a bout 5x5 size and you spend 5 weeks sitting there listening to the show and waiting for your cue.

Over all the stage play experience was a good one. I learned more than I expected and realized that it was something that I could learn to appreciate if I found a part that I could really get into, a character with lots of spunk.

Islamically there were a few issues that people may have trouble with. In one scene I spend the time sitting on the sofa talking. It is a party or get together and as is usual, there is drinking involved.

Actor with a glass of alcohol in hand.

Now as a Muslim who does not drink alcohol, this was a little troubling for me. I have gone through my whole life living here in the west, and even through law school, and have never been tempted to drink. The idea of getting drunk is just so foreign and quite frankly disgusting to me. Now I am not saying I can’t appreciate certain values of alcohol. Descriptions of Junnah or Heaven make it very clear that there are all kinds of wine. So I spent part of my time on stage with a glass of bourbon in my hand.
Now, to be clear and specific, from a religious point of view, there was no alcohol there. The glasses were filled with ice tea and no one was ever drinking on stage. It was acting, not getting drunk! Yet the idea of seeing Muslim role models drinking is one that I found a little bit disturbing. This is an example of some of the possible conflict areas that Muslims will have to deal with when being involved in the acting arena.

The other possible issue was dealing with many women. Now in this play it was MY character that was supposed to flirt, and seduce all the other women in the show. There were three women in the cast and I was having affairs with all three of them. That is a lot to deal with for many religious people in the Muslim community. There were no nude scenes and I was not making Porn, before anyone gets all excited and pronounces me a disbeliever or infidel.

So the intimate scenes where I do end up kissing some of the female actors, or actresses, were actually a lot more subtle than I expected. The scenes of the show were designed so that just before anything ever actually happens, the set would fade to black and the scene would be over. There was the lead into the intimate scenes and then the assumption of sexual activity but never anything actually occurring on stage.

Does that mean there was absolutely no physical contact? No, of course not. There were times where I touched the women, or held them up, or sat next to them. This is where some people will say that Islam forbids any kind of contact between men and women. There is a lot of debate over this issue, and my goal is not to give a religious opinion. Again the point being is for me to elucidate the areas where Muslims might have concern when dealing with the field of acting and films or TV.

Hopefully this series of articles or blogs about Acting, Actors, Actresses, Films, TV and the entertainment industry from an Islamic point of view benefits the readers. It was my attempt to change the way people view the industry and think of their involvement in this changing world of ours.

If you are interested in getting involved in the industry, or would like to support projects of Muslims in the entertainment industry, please contact me.

Saleem Siddiqui

HotConflict@Gmail.com

Acting Out Islam Series

Part 1. Acting out Islam! Communication with Muslim Actors and Actresses.

Part 2. Acting out Islam: Classes, Instruction on Performance Emotion Stage Presence.

Part 3. Acting out Islam: Monologue Process, Homosexual, AIDS, Gay Sex!

Part 4. Acting out Islam: Audition, Resumes and Head Shot. How to Land a Part?

Part 5. Acting out Islam: Short Films produced by Low budget Hobbyist for Exposure.

Part 6. Acting out Islam: Independent Full Length Feature Film Movie Production.

Part 7. Acting out Islam: Web Serial TV Episodes Soap Opera Style Film Production.

Part 8. Acting out Islam: Playhouse Plays Stage Presence and Cast Crew Construction.

Please check out our other series of articles.

Alternative Careers for Muslims To Stop Terror and Win the War of Ideology in Islam

Using Technology Internet Social Networks Trends To Understand People, the World

Saleem Siddiqui is a Political Commentator, Public Speaker, Actor and Consultant. He is a trained Mediation and Conflict Resolution Specialist. He conducts sermons and training for various religious and Nonprofit organizations. Working with effort to increase Muslim and Islamic awareness in Communications, Public Relations (PR), Public Speaking, Political Strategy, Media, Marketing, and many  other fields as they relate to the integration of Muslims in the United States of America and around the world.

Saleem Siddiqui has undergrad degrees in Arabic and religion from the Middle East and attended Law School in Houston,Texas. He has consulted with the FBI and testified on behalf of the District Attorney of Virginia on cases relating to National Security and “The War on Terror”.

Comments

[Courtney Furgason]

Well, I don't know how I got to this site but since I'm here I might as well comment. This is Courtney from the play. Your blog was very interesting I didn't realize that our religions had so much in common.
I hope you come try out for another play some time.