Jaclyn Johnson, Raising Medusa, and Threes....

First things first! I am Jaclyn Johnson and I have the distinct pleasure of acting in Raising Medusa which opens on April 2nd. I play multiple roles in this production but I am predominately known as Chorus Member Three. Voice 3 is what they call me for short. I like being a Three. Three is an influential number; things (good or bad) come in threes, the "rule of three in comedy," there are three Fates, three Graeae, three Gorgon sisters (no apologies here, I'm on a Greek kick). I think threes are special. So I will begin with a three...

Three weeks ago I climbed into my trusty Toyota Camry and began driving south. Four and a half hours later I arrived in the fair Iowa City and after settling myself into some lovely and inspiring temporary housing, I nestled into a clean, new script. It was beautiful, with clean pages, aside from the multi-colored steaks of high-lighter that popped words and directions my way. These gleeful affections were fleeting however, and in no time that clean script went to the dogs. Now it sits atop my desk, barely noticed, messy with X's and arrows, old blocking notes and new blocking notes, inserts, re-writes, and scotch tape. Three weeks from the day I drove down, I have a new script. More multi-colored streaks and deliberate blocking reminders delicately written in margins grace the pages. Again, the days are numbered. Shortly after I get this majestic, clean script, it is time to be off-book. Sure, I still enjoy the beauty of it while I sit at home working lines, but gone are the days of reading and walking, gone are the days of "wait, I gotta find my pencil," gone are the days of "what page is that?" Here are the days of "LINE?"

So here we are, over three weeks in, new scripts in bag, and there are new lines to learn, old lines to unlearn, blocking that doesn't work any more and moments that need clarity. It always makes for exciting rehearsals. I wasn't going to acknowledge, mostly for my own benefit, that while we are over three weeks into rehearsals, we are also less than a week away from opening. I've done productions that had a week to complete everything from first read-thru to opening night, and I know it will be plenty of time. Yet, at the end of each rehearsal, once I am headed home to think about the scenes we worked today and the issues we will face tomorrow, I know I have a lot of work to do.

With a group of such bright, fun and inspiring colleagues, this rehearsal process has been crazy good fun (and good pretzels). I am having a blast contributing to this production. Since this is a new play, there are constantly more and more questions popping up. While that can be frustrating at times, with all this constant discovery, a metamorphosis is occurring right before my eyes. I'm certain even Ovid would be impressed. *wink* And thank Zeus it evolved so much. Even though I like my nice clean script, I don't really want to show it off. I would much rather share the play with you. I've always been better at acting than I am at highlighting and penmanship.

This is my third (wow! Those magical threes!) premiere production I've done with Riverside Theatre. First I was Lydia in Keith Huff's Prosperity in 2005. Then Barbara Miller in Bruce Wheaton's Kinnick. Third, the lucky number Three in Barbara Lau's Raising Medusa. I thank her for giving me my first Greek Chorus personality. I have previously played multiple characters in plays and it is always such fun! In Raising Medusa, I play five characters in the show, three of which are reoccurring. Although I'm anxious about getting all my costume changes right, I will be proud to present Barbara's words to an audience later this week. I hope you are able to share this creation with us. It is a beautiful orchestration of poetry and theatre, power and love, strength and security.

- Jaclyn Johnson

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Raising Medusa opens this Thursday at 7:30 pm - reserve your tickets today! Call the box office at 319-338-7672 or visit www.riversidetheatre.org