As you may recall, I'm currently performing in a pair of one-act plays at the Repertory East Playhouse in Santa Clarita, CA. I'm really enjoying the work (and working with a great cast and crew) but have to admit the plays are a bit exhausting (which accounts, in part, for the reason there's been fewer postings around here).

In the English farce The Real Inspector Hound, I play an insecure, bitter, second-string, theatre critic named Moon (who makes the Muppet hecklers look kind). For those that don't know the show, Hound centers around two theatre critics and a stereotypical oldstyle murder mystery. The two worlds become one as time goes on and both critics become part of the onstage drama as the audience looks on. The play was written by the incredibly talented Tom Stoppard and is very clever and witty.

I enjoy playing Moon and take great joy in finding new nuances for the character. He's very self-involved and, in some ways, a very nasty little S.O.B. Always fun to play a jerk.

The play starts with Moon onstage in his theatre-critic box, passing the time and waiting for the play to begin. With our director's permission, I take the bit one step further. At ten minutes before the hour, I walk out the back of the theatre, walk around the block and enter the theatre with the rest of the patrons. After being snotty to the box office and sneering my way around the lobby (particularly at the actor headshots on display) and make my way to the seat. I then sit and improv in character until the rest of play begins. Fun stuff.

To be honest, the dialogue has been the most challenging part of this role. Moon has some rather long rants and monologues throughout the play. They're full of self-aggrandizing and generally have little to do with what other characters are saying or doing. It's one of the few shows that I've had to keep running through the dialogue once the show run has begun. That being said, since I spend much of the show glued to a theatre a chair, it's some of the easiest blocking I've ever had.

For the blocking ease that I enjoy with Hound, I make up for it in Black Comedy. Comedy was written by Peter Shaffer and, for a farce, is rather unique. I play sculptor Brindsley who waits, with his girlfriend, for a rich collector to arrive to see his work. Because he's broke, he borrows some of his "camp" neighbor's precious antiques while the neighbor is away. Trouble begins when the power goes out and his girlfriend's militaristic father, his camp neighbor, an elderly neighbor, and his ex-girlfriend all arrive in darkness. They all fumble around in the dark and Brindsley has to try to secretly return the antique furniture and hide the ex-girlfriend.

This farce is unique because it switches dark and light. When the lights are "on" for the characters, the stage lights are off (the first 10 minutes of the show). When the power outage occurs in the play, the lights come up and the audience gets to watch the characters trip around in the dark.

It's a lot of fun but it is physically quite tiring. During the course of the play, I trip and fall on my face three times; bump into people, doors & furniture; get slapped; get soaked; get spit upon; am hit in the head; and move lots of furniture -- all the while pretending that I can't see. There's also a lot of fast-paced dialogue as well.

By the end of the show, I am a sweaty disgusting mess. I feel pretty good immediately following the show but if I come home and lay down on the couch, even for a minute, I am out like a light. Thank goodness Black Comedy's only a one act play, I don't know how I'd survive another act. ;-) THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUNDAUDITION ACTING ACTOR TOM STOPPARD BLACK COMEDY HOLLYWOOD LOS ANGELES PLAY PETER SHAFFERCOMEDY THEATRE THEATER