Back to School

Hello! As the assistant director of True Love Lies, I will be blogging for the next month, sharing my perspective on the rehearsal process up until Opening Night.

Rehearsal Day 1

At the risk of sounding entirely too romantic for my very first post... There was literally something in the air today that felt like a new beginning. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, but also an absolutely autumn day. September 1. Though (I believe) students have another week left of their summer vacation, the first day of September always has that sense of preparation, of readying oneself to enter into a new phase. And I believe everyone present in the rehearsal hall today felt just that. It was a landmark. A stepping stone. The first day of rehearsal for the first production of the Factory Theatre’s 40th season.

The Factory staff and actors had the opportunity to see their first glimpse of the final production as each of the designers (set, lighting and costume) presented their visions. Playwright and director Brad Fraser heard his words read aloud by this particular group of actors for the very first time. And all involved were able to put faces to names and take our very first steps on the journey ahead.

One of the highlights for me was hearing from Brad’s perspective the process through which we will be working in the weeks to come and the philosophy behind it. (I think I’ll reveal this piece by piece… stay tuned.)

I walked home with a huge grin across my face. I’m simply overjoyed to be working with such a great group of individuals on such an exceptional piece of writing. As is sometimes the case on the first day of school, sometimes you can just tell that it’s going to be a good one.

-- Briana Brown
Assistant Director