Friday, December 09, 2005

PHI BULANI~ Memorable Performances

"I was in a production of Sleuth playing the role of Andrew Wyke, opposite Jeff Binder playing Milo Tindle: these two characters are constantly attempting to best each other to the point of death- and to that point, at the end of the First Act, Andrew is supposed to kill Milo Tindle- with a gun. Big, big climax to the first act, well in this production i was sporting a 38 revolver i think it was- a bit weighty, also it was rigged with blanks of course for actor's and audience safety. Well we get to the end of the second act, the tension on stage is huge, it's been a great first act, the final scene has been deadly to this point, Wyke has viciously dragged Tindle up a winding staircase, with a snubnose thirty eight grazing various parts of his body. Tindle is on his knees... prepared to die! and- the gun jams, the flippin gun jams, and Tindle has to die, otherwise there is no moving forward in the play. So by this time i've muttered a couple of obscenities under my breath, attempting to alert my co-star- Jeff Binder that something a little unusual might be coming his way, so placing my hand on his shoulder , something i never ususlly did, i give him just a squeeze- just before i club him to death, bludgening him with the butt end of the revolver... Jeff totally went with it, confessing to me after that he was really sh*!ing himself 'cause he knew something was up. Awww man we laughed so hard back in the dressing rooms. There's nothing quite like that heightened state of live performance when anything can happen... cause it usually does!
PHI BULANI

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