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All hands were on deck at our latest Bridging the Gap rehearsal. The 22 member LGBTQ intergenerational cast continued to develop scenes for our original show: Aboard the Raging Queen.

First the company welcomed a new member. They introduced themselves to him by working in groups to create frozen images inspired by the word “welcome,” followed by words and phrases that described the essence of our group and our playbuilding process. You can see one of the frozen images in the picture above!

After our welcoming activity, everyone broke into scene groups and continued developing the four original scenes we have been devising over the past weeks. With the support of co-directors Timothy Connell, Kevin Ray and Sherry Teitelbaum, group members focused their rehearsals on refining ideas generated in earlier sessions by improvising dialogue, writing original monologues, experimenting with props and costumes, and creating an original song! These techniques were used to highlight the underlying thematic content of each scene through the colorful characters aboard the fictional LGBTQ cruise ship, The Raging Queen.

Following our small group work, the entire ensemble came back together to perform their revised scenes for each other. It was thrilling to watch the variety of ways each group revised their scenes to bring into focus explorations of themes such as invisibility, privilege, tradition, family, and romance.

When the scenes were over, we pulled our seats into a circle and the ensemble gave each other feedback about the aspects of each scene that excited them. Near the end of our discussion, one group member expressed how delighted she was to be creating original theater inspired by her ideas She stated,

“I am enjoying this process so much. I feel like we are creating the play rather than working with someone else’s lines.”

Another group member who has been in Bridging the Gap since its inception in 2011 told the rest of the group,

“This year it feels different. Somehow the process feels longer. And there is a feeling of warmth that has never been there before.”

We’re only a few rehearsals away from our December 7th performance but by all indications, Aboard the Raging Queen is sailing on smooth waters! Stay tuned for more in the coming weeks.

To read more about our show, Aboard the Raging Queen, click here.
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