from Meghan Beals McCarthy, Dramaturg

Today was not a good day to wear white to the theatre.

When I arrived, I was met on the loading dock by the crew standing around a pallet filled with over two hundred gallons of corn syrup; they were receiving a tutorial from special effects artist Steve Tolin on how to mix the several different viscosities of blood needed for our production of The Lieutenant of Inishmore.  I watched for some time, fascinated by the mad scientist antics as they mixed syrup, water, colorant and detergent.  The resulting color is a brilliant scarlet that is startling enough in the five-gallon paint buckets; I can only imagine how breathtaking it will look in action on stage.

This is the fifth show on which I’ve worked with BJ and I have never seen him having so much fun.  During rehearsals the past two weeks I heard things like, “I’m running out of bullets too soon,” (John Judd) and “well, the joke lands right after you’re dead,”(BJ) and “my brains will show up on the door, so that’s good,” (Andy Luther) and now it’s  all coming together.  Today is our second day of technical rehearsals and everything is proceeding apace.  All of the meticulous planning is paying off; of course, it helps that this is the seventh Inishmore production for Steve Tolin, our special effects artist.  The special effects are stunning: pyrotechnics, dead cats, corpses and lots and lots of guns.

Meanwhile, as I dash through the loading dock during a break and my hand comes away from a doorknob covered in blood, I remind myself to wear my painter’s clothes tomorrow.  Because starting tonight, the blood’s going to start flowing.