Stage Manager
summertime (an interlude)
By Aniello Fontano
Theatre UCF, 2023
Pegasus Playlab
Playwright: Aniello Fontano
Director: John Gardiner
Scenic Designer: Leslie MacMillan
Costume Designers: AJ Hued,
Morgan Barkhurst, Nick Zamora
Lighting Designers: Ally Reichard & Rey Epps
Sound Designer: Kate Jeffcott
PSM: Marisa Figueras
ASMs: AJ Willis, Jaina Hope
Working on a New Work
For this reading, we had the playwright, Aniello, in rehearsals with us each day. As the director and actors explored the characters and world of summertime (an interlude), we were able to go on these journeys with Aniello and help him make discoveries about his writing, too. The other stage managers and I aided these discoveries by noting script changes each day, updating the digital script and printing new pages for the cast, director, and playwright each day.
"Staging" a Play Reading
Part of the exploration of this reading process involved the physicality of the characters and their relationships to one another. We combined a "traditional" reading (actors with scripts in hand) with a fully blocked performance, allowing Aniello, our playwright, John, our director, and our cast to build the world of the play physically and textually. I took blocking notes and one of our ASMs, Jaina, took tracking notes on props as we wandered through the hot, sunny Chicago day of summertime (an interlude).
Production Photos
all photos by Jessica Compton
