A few days before the start of technical rehearsals for The Big Meal, Literary Associate Lauren Halvorsen spoke with Sam O’Brien and Maya Brettell, the youngest actors in the multi-generational cast, about their first reactions to the unconventional script, how they prepare for a role, and what they’re looking forward to as performances get underway.
How long have you been acting? Where do you go to school?
SAM: I have been acting for two years now, and I attend The Field School. I really enjoy playing sports, and I also really enjoy acting.
MAYA: I am an eighth grader at South County Secondary School in Lorton, VA. I have been acting and singing for four years, and dancing for ten. I’m also a part of the Synetic Theatre Teen Company. Last season I performed in all musicals, but I wanted to keep growing and try new things.
How did you get involved with The Big Meal?
SAM: I got a call saying that I could come to Studio for an audition, and I was then cast in the part.
MAYA: My two brothers were called in first to audition for the role of the Boy. They asked me to help them get ready for the audition by reading the Girl’s lines. We thought it was really funny, and we could relate to how the brother and sister were trying to top each other’s stories. It turned out that my brothers were too young for the role and I just happened to be called for the next round of Girl auditions. A few days after the audition, I came home from school and was really excited to hear that I was offered the role. I didn’t want to jinx myself, but I had told my mom to say “Yes!” if the call came when I was at school.
What was your first reaction when you read the play? How do you prepare for a role?
SAM: My first reaction to reading the play was confusion. The play is written in eight columns and looks like an Excel spreadsheet, so it took awhile to get used to. Overall, I really like the play and think it is very interesting.
MAYA: My first reaction was like a state of shock, because I was still digesting what I had just read. I was also kind of nervous, because I had no idea how to rehearse with the script written in such a new style. I had to sit back from my script and put the pieces together; once I did, the story completely came alive in my head. It’s been really cool to unravel the story with Johanna and the cast; they are all pretty amazing.
When I’m preparing for a role before rehearsals begin, I don’t like to get too far into the details of the character. It’s better to have a general view of the character. Then, when working with a director, I am more open to input and feedback which drives my acting. For example, when one of my characters is annoying her brother I will pull from what I know as a sister with two younger brothers, but also take in the challenge from the director to see different angles and react to those choices. I love to dance and sometimes it means just going inside myself and feeling the music, and my acting comes from that same place.
What’s been the biggest challenge during the rehearsal process? What have you enjoyed the most?
SAM: The biggest challenge so far is remembering right when to say your line. Because of the way the play is written, it gets very complicated. I also really enjoy all of the light changes; they’re cool.
MAYA: The biggest challenge is being consistent with your emotions and how you say the lines. When you deliver something just the right way and you wish it would sound or look like that every time, you know that’s the direction the line or emotional impact should go. The hardest part is being able to stay on that path and make it just the same every time. It’s not something you can immediately do; consistency takes lots of rehearsing.
We start performances in a little under a week. What are you excited and/or nervous about?
SAM: I am overall excited, but I’m a little nervous and hope that I don’t screw up.
MAYA: I am really excited to have a large audience, because in rehearsals you don’t have the same amount of emotions to toy around with. In a full house, anything is possible and chances are most of the people haven’t seen the play. That’s great for the cast, because we can also start fresh and see what the public thinks of our work. I’m nervous about all the crazy overlapping lines, because as artistically arranged as they are, those things are hard. Correct timing is crucial, or the whole scene is in jeopardy. But I like to remind myself to relax and have fun, because while I really stress over these things, I love theatre and wouldn’t choose to be anywhere else.
Artistic Team
Johanna Gruenhut- Director
Brian Crane- Assistant Director
Tim Mackabee- Set Design
John Burkland- Light Design
Addy Diaz- Costume Design
Elisheba Ittoop- Sound Design
Cast
Josh Adams- Man 3
Maya Brettell- Girl
Ashley Dillard- Woman 3
Matt Dougherty- Man 1
Chris Genebach- Man 2
Annie Houston- Woman 1
Hyla Matthews- Woman 2
Sam O' Brien- Boy
Synopsis
The Big Meal follows a young couple, Nicole and Sam, from first date to first fight, their first kiss to their newly wedded life at a single restaurant table. The years pass and Nicole and Sam start building their own family—a son and daughter—who come enthusiastically and then reluctantly to family meals at the restaurant. Sam’s parents visit and accompany the family on their big meal tradition. More years pass and the children become adults with families of their own, as other loved ones fade away. Both familiar and surprising, and observed with aching accuracy, The Big Meal shows a family in all their embarrassment and heartbreak.
With rehearsals for The Big Meal underway, Literary Associate Lauren Halvorsen spoke with director Johanna Gruenhut about her personal connection to the play, the challenge of casting a generationally diverse ensemble, and the surprising discoveries of the design process.
At the first production meeting, you spoke about the various entry points of this play for an audience. What initially drew you in?
The first thing anyone notices about this play is that it tries to capture a whole life cycle —really, even more than that, sort of a whole generational cycle. So there is a point of entry for anyone, because everyone is likely to be going through or have recently gone through at least one of the events in the play. For me personally, it was really two things:
(1) One of the character’s deaths is just a very moving and challenging scene, and I saw her death through the lens of the son she leaves behind. I lost my father just short of three years ago, and that wound is very much still a fresh one, so I could not help but see the scene through the child's eyes. In some cases, a death is really about the people left behind. I think this play captures that sentiment.
(2) As we begin rehearsals, I will be entering my seventh month of pregnancy with my second child. I suppose motherhood alters how I envision certain moments. This play has both the birth and death of children, and captures the ferocity and capacity of a parent's love.
Well, okay, three things drew me in. The play also has people falling in love, starting with Nicole and Sam. Who can't relate to the euphoria of falling head over heels?
The family at the center of The Big Meal is played by an ensemble of eight actors, spanning multiple generations. How was the casting process?
I think this ensemble is harder to cast than others because the actors are all supposed to be part of one family, and because the family spans generations. So beyond just the chemistry you want between them on stage, you wonder whether you will be able to capture a shared essence passing through the generations. In some ways, a family is like one big uber-person, and so the cast here is really an uber-actor.
The play’s set in a non-descript restaurant, or, in Dan LeFranc’s words, “every restaurant in the Midwestern United States”. Can you talk about the role of the setting in the play, and how you and set designer Tim Mackabee approached the design?
The challenge designing this show is really that the restaurant needs to feel at once like a recognizable place and like no place. We really felt the tension and actually, we did a complete 360. We started off thinking: to make it no place, let's make it look like every place all in one. We wondered what a Cheesecake Factory would look like inside of a Chili's inside of a Red Lobster… you get the idea. We were talking about all kinds of junk we could have on the wall, 'flare.' Luckily, we realized quickly enough that we were wandering down the wrong path! What makes a place 'every restaurant in the Midwestern United States" is that it has Midwesterners in it. It’s the people and the lives they are living in that space. So we decided to let them speak for themselves, and we designed a set that could absorb them.