The cast list went out on February 1st and, while I was thrilled to be a member of the ensemble, the show was set to open on March 1st. There was only one month for us actors and the directors to learn lines, understand a deeply complicated texted and create blocking.  The whole cast was feeling the pressure of the clock ticking.

This rehearsal process was different from any past Hunter production I had been involved in. Machinal rehearsed 6 days a week! 4 hours on weekdays and 5 hours on Saturdays. The cast arrived to the first rehearsal, on a Saturday, expecting a table read, but instead Lee Sunday Evans, our director, said excitedly, “Let’s start putting it on it’s feet!” We started experimenting with blocking our very first rehearsal. There was no time to waste.

Most days, the show would rehearse 2 or 3 scenes at a time. In the 4 or 5 hours of rehearsal there were 3 different rooms active. One group of actors would be rehearsing with Lee. Another group would be rehearsing with our assistant director, Illana. and sometimes a third group of actors would be called for an hour or so to run lines. We were trying to squeeze the maximum amount of productivity out of every rehearsal.

Before we knew it tech week arrived. While we still worked some acting moments during tech, we knew that we had a show on our hands that we all held dear. We couldn’t wait to share it.