Collegiate Times

Welcome to week two of Going Wilder, your special guide into the world of Virginia Tech’s upcoming production of Thornton Wilder’s “Skin of Our Teeth.”

If you’re joining me for the first time, my name is Dan Waidelich and I am a cast member in the show.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Wilder will open for audiences Feb. 18, but before that happens the cast and crew still have a lot left to do.

We’re working hard on it.

Last week, I discussed the basic audition process and how actors get involved in a production. That’s half the battle. Well, probably less than half. That’s a fourth of the battle.

Now it’s time to take a look at the bulk of getting a show on its feet: the rehearsal process.

“Skin” is a grand fantasy about the struggles humanity faces and our tendencies to repeat the past. Whether we are in the ice age, dealing with a flood or picking up after a war, the cast members will need to immerse themselves in this crazy world.

That process started, as productions usually do, with a full cast and crew read-through. Essentially that’s when all members sit around in a circle and — wait for it — read through the play.

The idea of a read-through might sound dull, but this is where the cast really starts to hear the tone of the play and begins to put voices to characters. The natural rhythms and flow of the play start to appear and gives the actors a blueprint of where the play is going.

I love acting, but I also don’t want anyone to overlook the work of the “techies,” or those crewmembers who turn the stage into a living, breathing theatrical world.

Our lighting, sound, set and costume designers have all shared their vision with the rest of the assembled cast at this point. Before actors even get into the theater to rehearse, we know what the techies have waiting for us.

Their aim is to make Squires Studio Theatre look like a destroyed, debris-filled wasteland. That’s the actors’ stage for “Skin.”

That’s our playground.

So how does the cast go from merely reading the words in a book to being unleashed on our stage, ready to perform?

That’s the question we are all still trying to answer. Essentially, we bring everything we have to our characters. We find out who they are, who they were and how we can play that role as genuinely as possible.

“Skin” is a play that speaks to all the problems plaguing our society from war to global warming, but we’re concentrating on something a bit less controversial: the importance of family and education in society.

Director Greg Justice was very upfront about that from the beginning, so the actors and the techies are using his concept as a lens for all our efforts from here on out.

The rehearsal process is still in its beginning stages. I have little more to offer at this point, except my opinion that things look to be progressing well.

I promised readers last week that I would do my best to help create a quality show. My promise this week is simpler.

I promise you that I have an excellent feeling about this show.

Make sure you come back next Thursday for another update on the rehearsal process of “Skin” and another walk on the Wilder side.