Friends in Not Low Places ...

....aka A Play in Hill Country or Austin's Wednesday night in Austin

Austin 360's blog gives more detail about what Austin as doing on Wednesday night, and play with the very briefest of rehearsals.

Writer Edwin “Bud” Shrake was working on a new novel and staging a play when he died almost a year ago. "The Friends of Carlos Monzon" was the play, and Wednesday, director Jeff Nichols brought it to the stage, in a celebration of the writer, for an invitation only audience at the Long Center's Rollins Studio Theater.

The play "is based on a writing assignment gone awry: In the ’70s, while writing for Sports Illustrated, Shrake was assigned to cover the Carlos Monzon-Bennie Briscoe middleweight title fight. At the time, communists and terrorists were blowing things up, death squads found good sport in disappearing people by tossing them out of airborne planes and exiled president Juan Peron was on his way back from Spain to make it all better.

One night, while sitting in a bar, Shrake had the misfortune of being swept up in a post-bombing raid, thrown into a secret prison and held incommunicado. No one, not even his editors in New York, knew what had become of him. Prisoners were interrogated and tortured. The unluckiest went skydiving without a chute."

The production, it was noted was minimal in its scenery using Spanish music Ray Benson and film and photographs to create the setting. It had a very brief prep for those in it with most of the actors flying in Sunday for rehearsals starting Monday, and the performance Wednesday. Talk about acting by the seat of your pants. Even Black Box productions have more rehearsal time.

As is in any live theater, whether with days of rehearsals or weeks, there are no second takes. But there is something about, that different kind energy of performing before a live audience after acting in front of a camera that you can see would appeal to Austin. Especially after doing a weekly television show. Totally changing directions from what you have been doing, your acting is now right there open and exposed for instant critique and reaction from your audience, not waiting weeks or months to see the audience's response.

While there were some bumps in the performance on Wednesday it sounded like it was overall a success, and was another experience to add to Austin's growing list.



For those celebrating Easter May we remember the sacrifice made and rejoice in the triumph over it and
gift that is given to all from it.