Playing in the Graveyard.

It's amazing the energy a graveyard gives off. You are surrounded by the history of hundreds that all ended up in their one little plot of land.

Some families have plots or mausoleum, some individuals have large markers or a tomb. What a person's grave site looks like says a lot about the impact they've made on the world around them.

Last Saturday we had rehearsal in Greenmount Cemetery. Normally this might be considered a little strange, but for us it made sense. The piece we're working on takes place in a graveyard, so why not get the visceral experience of speaking with hundreds of souls surrounding you?

What really struck me was how many of those graves we visited never really saw visitors any more. The section we were in seemed to have a lot of graves of individuals that died in the 50's, I even found a family plot for the Mortons, though I don't think there is any relation. I thought about how many of these people laying here no longer receive visitors, no one comes to mourn for them. I wonder if all their family is dead and if not, are they remembered enough to be visited?

We did an exercise to warm up where I had the two actresses tell me the story of a person in the cemetery. It's kind of amazing the information you can gather from such a small plot of land. Our history is written by those that bury us.

Like the Leary's, Thomas Leary's mother was buried there, his wife too. They had a large plot marker, like it was meant to be a family plot, but no children were buried there. They could have had children that were buried elsewhere in the world, but a family plot is usually something that is known about, yes? He died after his wife and is buried between the two women that loved him the most.

We also met a woman, Harriett (I believe was her name), who survived her husband. He was a doctor, died in his 40's or 50's, but poor Harriet lived without him for another 40+ years. She shares his grave site though, they are buried on top of each other, lying together for an eternity. Next to her is where her son is buried, died when he was 21. She survived the two men she loved most and had to live on without them. Someone cared for her and her family though, the have a large stone marker than covers her & her husband's entire site.

It was a really great day, I appreciated the opportunity to get out of the rehearsal space and experience something different. It's amazing what getting out of the normal comfort zone of the rehearsal space will teach you.