It’s hard to believe, given everything that has happened since I got here, that it has only been two weeks since I started my internship at McCarter. And technically, since I didn’t actually start working until August 1st, it’s only been a week and a half. Which is crazy.

I came in the midst of dramaturgical preparations for Stick Fly, and the literary office was buzzing. Stacks of books on Martha’s Vineyard and African-American history, along with piles of papers there still hasn’t been time for me to figure out the meaning behind, created an obstacle course to maneuver on the way to my new desk (also host to various still-unidentified towers of scripts and correspondence). I was welcomed warmly (with a note of relief that should have warned me about the busy workdays soon to follow) by Carrie, McCarter’s literary manager and my new boss. After a quick tour of the theatre buildings and a whirlwind introduction to about thirty different people, we dove in.

Aside from logging in a few stray scripts, I wasn’t actually to do much literary management during my first weeks at McCarter. Instead, my efforts were mainly aimed at preparing for the swiftly-approaching first rehearsal of Stick Fly. Here is a laundry list to give you a brief idea of what sorts of activities are involved in such preparations. As Carrie mentioned in her post about the joys of pursuing photo reproduction rights, I compiled a timeline of African-American history from 1920 to the present. I also put together a bulletin board of images of Martha’s Vineyard and the African-American upper class to hang up in the rehearsal room for the benefit of the actors—this with the help of Alexis, the utterly fabulous directing intern assigned to the show.

And then, of course, this play is a work in progress, and so there have already been several new iterations of the script to reproduce (with actors, designers, stage management, etc., eighteen is a bare minimum number of copies for each new version—which means the copy machine and I have already become good friends. Also, I have thus far sustained two paper cuts, which Carrie calls, quite aptly, “an occupational hazard” of our department. Too true.)

I also got to interview Shirley Jo for the online resource guide (check back soon for a complete transcript of the interview, which should be posted to the blog sometime this week). I was a little nervous about this at first, I’ll admit, but Shirley Jo immediately put me at ease with her energy and loving spirit. And then she started in with her reflections on the play, and, I’m not kidding, I got chills. Good stuff. Seriously, check back.

Anyway, all this, in the midst of a dozen smaller administrative tasks, like checking the mail, pursuing photo rights, and typing up Artistic Staff meeting minutes, in addition to finding my way around the labyrinthine office and backstage space and trying to memorize all thirty of those names (luckily there’s a handy bulletin board with pictures of everyone who works at the theatre—you’ll find me there in a free moment, desperately studying), has certainly kept me busy so far.

But it all paid off this weekend, with the start of rehearsals. I’ve been able to attend the first two days of read-throughs and discussion, and it has been so amazing to hear Lydia’s words in the mouths of the actors, and to see how everyone is connecting with the script in such personal, deeply moving ways. It has really shown me what a universally powerful piece this is. I cannot wait to see it continue to develop, as a text (and I will be in charge of maintaining script changes in our computer system, so I’ll certainly get to watch that process step-by-step) and as a living, breathing piece of theatrical art. Can’t wait.

Posted by Elizabeth Edwards, Literary Intern at McCarter Theatre

This entry was posted on Monday, August 13th, 2007 at 7:01 pm and is filed under Get Connected, Stick Fly. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.