 Welcome to today's episode of In The Studio. I'm here with Vanessa Rapitz and Paul Delbeini. So we're here to talk about Common House Productions. Can you tell me what is it? So Common House Productions is a new theater group that is located here in Davis and we just started doing productions this past summer. So we're a theater group that puts on plays in the Davis and larger surrounding areas. Okay. So how many shows have you produced so far? This is our second. We produced one in October. It was a ghost story called The Woman in Black, so we actually opened it on Halloween in the rain. It was a great opening show for us. I remember that one. So are you based out of Davis or? We are based out of Davis. We do draw actors from Davis and Sacramento and larger areas, and some of our members are in San Francisco and even down in LA, but our main functioning happens here in Davis and all of our productions so far have been in Davis. Okay. So what kind of actors do you have a part of Common House Productions? Are these students or graduates or? Actually, most of our actors are not in school anymore, but we do have some graduate students. We have professional actors like Paul to my right, and then we have people who are teachers and just community members at large. Okay. So Paul, what drew you to Common House? Were you here at the beginning? I wasn't in the first production of Common House, but I know a lot of the people who are involved with Common House Productions, and I've been in Davis for about three years, and so I just decided that I wanted to start getting back into performing with some of the professional companies. So this is actually my first stage production in probably about two years because previously I worked mostly in variety and vaudeville shows in Europe. Oh wow. So that's so cool. So how big is the group? Is it? Well, so the group is sort of different. We have a board of eight members, so we all decide what shows go up, who's going to be involved in directing or co-directing in my case, and then we sort of gather our actors and our crew and we do open auditions. So there are eight of us that are serving on the board and then it depends on the show who else is involved. We like to think about it as a sort of community production group, so we try to draw it from all areas of the community. That just sounds perfect for in Davis. So which kind of audience are you like reaching out? This is for like adult productions, right? Well, adult. Not adult in that way, but yes. I mean most of our shows are children friendly, even if they're a little scary like The Woman in Black. We actually, some of our best audience members were children, but yeah, it's mostly aimed at Davis and the larger Sacramento community. So we try to find shows that are really focused on storytelling that can bring in a really broad audience. So it's not really aimed at a specific group. And this production The Foreigner I think is a good fit for Davis as well because it's definitely kind of a comedy farce with lots of twists and turns in it. So it kind of takes you certain directions and then kind of turns a corner to something unexpected. So I think it's really a good fit for a Davis public. Yeah. So this production company, it's only been around for a little while, but are you hoping to see it grow? I mean I think that's our ultimate goal. Yeah. I mean we're on our second show and we already have summer productions planned. So we are moving forward pretty rapidly and we are hoping to have regular seasons in the future. So for, what's your role exactly in Common House? It's an interesting question for Common House because we all sort of fill different roles in terms of the board. There is a sort of hierarchy. So we do have a president and a vice president and treasurer and secretary like any group would have. But then for any given production we fill in different roles. So for instance for the woman in black I was doing live sound and making great plunger noises for a bog scene of drowning, which was my favorite part of that show I think. No, but so for this play I'm actually co-directing and then for the summer productions I will be the dramaturg. So there are ways in which we all sort of take on different roles with each production and share the work. So how do you pick which plays you're going to do? It's normally something, we have an actual official process where you can fill out a form and you make a specific proposal to the board and we accept a play. And so this proposal actually was brought to us by our president, Steph Hankinson, and she had seen the play before and knew that it was sort of perfectly story driven for our group. And she made the proposal and Katie Gehring, my co-director and I proposed to take it on. And so it's that sort of democratic process. But we really chose this particular play The Foreigner because it's hilarious. Even in our first read through we were all just cracking up because it's so funny. That sounds amazing. So do you look for people to volunteer and come in to help out with the productions? Absolutely. We're always looking for volunteers. If you talk to me for too long at a coffee shop I might rope you into doing sounder lights depending on what our needs are. But yeah, we're really hoping to get a lot of community response and to have people who are interested in helping us out either to be in a play or just to sort of give us info on and feedback about how the plays are going and to be a part of our group. So for like rehearsals and stuff, where do you guys practice? Well we've tried to do most of our practicing on the Wyatt Deck for this show at UC Davis which is where we're putting on the productions that we get real stage time. But in times of inclement weather we mostly are doing our rehearsals in a garage in a residential house here in Davis. So it's that grassroots sort of production. It's all you need. Exactly. So Paul, do you want to talk about your role in this play? Yeah well in this production I'm Charlie Baker who's kind of a meek fellow, kind of shy, very timid. He's a proofreader for a science fiction magazine who is madly in love with his wife. And the basic story is his wife is ill in the hospital and his friend decides that he needs to get out and get away. So he takes them to this small rural type of bed and breakfast in Georgia and from there things kind of unfold. So my character I guess plays a central role because over the course he really goes through a transformation of kind of finding himself and kind of coming out of his shell. So I found it quite interesting as a role. It's very, it's quite exciting for me to be doing something like this on stage again because actually most of my performing material is silent. Most of my work and my solo show is kind of like Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin type physical comedy which is what I primarily do. And so this was kind of a nice chance for me to branch out and memorize lines again. I love comedies and it sounds like this is very different from the last show that you did. It's a complete opposite. Yeah, I mean other than the fact that it's sort of the small cast who all have fairly equal parts in the play. It's, it is a two act comedy. It was written by Larry Shoe and first produced in the mid-1980s and like Paul said you know it is this comedy about two British people who come into this bed and breakfast and part of the trick is that and I won't give too much away but Paul's character Charlie gets represented as a sort of exotic foreigner who doesn't speak English even though he really does and people tell him all sorts of secrets and so that's sort of what's revealed is what people are hiding and what they're willing to tell people when they think that they don't understand them. And so it does have that sort of fun disclosure element to it. There are a lot of surprises. Kind of that lost in translation sort of thing or or not so lost in translation unfortunately for the people telling their secrets to Charlie Baker. What language do you pretend to speak or do you have? Well it kind of morphs because what happens is Charlie kind of gets stuck in the situation where he really doesn't want to talk at all but due to overhearing certain conversations he doesn't have a choice so he has to play along and and that is kind of what transpires in act one. So act one is a lot of laying out character development so you really get a clear picture of who all the characters are and then act two is when everything kind of starts to be revealed and the tension picks up and the suspense picks up so it's it's quite exciting and it kind of my accent I like to keep the other actors on their toes so you never know. Kind of changes each time but it sounds like the kind of play that would really appeal to pretty much anyone. I mean this isn't just targeted for one group of people. No absolutely we're hoping to get a lot of community members in but yeah even when we bring in a new person who's working on tech it's sort of refreshing for us because they'll be laughing at lines that we've gone over so many times but it really is a funny show. Yeah it's that thrill of seeing someone else experience humor for the first time. Absolutely. Yeah and also I mean we're at the point now with the rehearsal process that for us it's become familiar and so every time we've got someone else out in in the audience there's this moment where all of a sudden you hear laughter and you're like hmm I guess that guess that is funny I should remember that so it it's really exciting I think we're I'm really looking forward to putting up the production and really having an audience to to have that final transformation occur. Because we've been working on the Wyatt deck we do get the random passerby who just stops and watches for a while and it's that's sort of been a great promotion for us too because we have our posters out already and we can tell them come and see our show. Yeah a great word of mouth for that I mean I I know that's what I would do because it sounds really funny um yeah I can't wait to see it it's going to be really fun. Yeah. So on the Wyatt deck that's um that's in the arboretum so you guys are going to be showing during picnic day right? We are yeah we're actually running um April 18th through the 21st and then the 25th through the 28th for our shows but on the 20th we're doing something different we aren't doing our usual 8 p.m show we're doing a picnic day special so we will be out performing at 10 a.m and doing doing a full performance but then we will also be on the deck throughout the day for picnic day festivities sort of promoting our show promoting Common House and also promoting our co-sponsor which is the UC Davis Arboretum and they've been really helpful in in helping us with the space and allowing us to really set up and do our build we've actually done some building on the Wyatt deck so it will look a little different from what people normally expect to see out there on the deck which I think will be fun and exciting. Well it's a great location and especially being outside and everything how are people going to sit or is the audience going to bring chairs or is there we'll have chairs provided and we have risers set up so you have different vantage points there will be some what I like to think of almost as ground-leaning seating right the up front that are a little maybe a little less comfortable so you might want to bring a cushion because you'll be sitting on on deck stairs but we have a pretty good capacity for seating so we're looking forward to nice large audiences and the setup is really nice out there and so as a performer it really you're actually performing almost three-quarter round which is also really nice and being out there in the arboretum with the the trees in the background it really gives it the feeling of this you know of this small B&B in in rural Georgia so it I think that really adds a lot to the that rural feel being outside. Yeah the deeper dimension in everything do you film in the dark or not film do you act in the dark because during evening performances so do you have special lighting in everything? I mean it's not special but we do have lighting that we bring in and and the lighting is pretty basic but we have it nicely lit throughout the show so it will you will definitely be able to see our performers but yeah and I think the nighttime will actually work really well for giving you a sense we've built a sort of indoor frame so all of the action actually takes place indoors and so we're trying to give you that feel even though we're out on the deck and I think it works really well especially because we're doing night performances with the exception of the 20th. So where exactly did the foreigner come from I haven't heard of it but it sounds like an amazing story. Yeah I'm amazed at how many people really do know and love this show the minute that we started talking about producing it our friends on Facebook would say oh I love that show I can't wait to see it. It's by an American playwright and his name is Larry Shoe and again it was produced in the mid 80s for the first time and had a sort of successful Off-Broadway run but it tends to be a show that smaller theater companies can put on because it does have a small number of characters but it also has that sort of great community feel so it's sort of perfect for us. Yeah and Off-Broadway run it actually won a lot of awards in terms of writing and everything and in fact the the writer Larry Shoe himself was in the original production he played one of the characters so. So I'm kind of thinking is this like one of those kind of like an hour town show where you have like minimal like sat and everything where it's you know the acting really holds the story? Absolutely absolutely I think you know the actors are definitely our star feature and the way that they're able to relay the story I mean we do have a sort of fun set of course but it's not about you know pyrotechnics or special lighting or fancy sound it really is about telling a story and in that way it is a lot like our first production of The Woman in Black where it was sort of we set it up as a campfire ghost story. Here we've definitely gone and added more costuming and some different features but it still is about telling that story. And also we've got a wonderful cast of actors that we're working with and that's also really exciting for me to really work with so many great people that come from diverse backgrounds and what they bring to the production and the kind of that creative process which is always an exciting part of me of an exciting part of the production is how do you explore your character and the relations between all the other actors and what they bring to the production so I think that part of the storytelling is really enhanced by that group of actors that we've got for this production. Yeah they're working really well together as an ensemble cast it makes it much easier for me and my co-director Katie because a lot of times in rehearsals they're really coming up with the ideas of where to move and what to do and how to make scenes funnier. We obviously are giving direction but a lot of it is in some ways it is play you know and we're trying things out what if I do something over here what if I try doing Charlie's voice like this this time you know and so that kind of collaboration and the sort of democratic process that we have at Common House really enhances the experience for everyone and I think it allows actors like Paul and our other great actors to really show what they have you know and show us just how funny they are and that's the exciting part because you just keep throwing things out and knowing that at a certain point they'll say uh okay no not that we'll take that out but then you can just try again and I think it's really one of those things as an as an actor that you want to in a sense give the directors as much material as you can to work with and then cut away and sculpt instead of just kind of showing up and saying okay what do you want me to do and I think that aspect of of working with both Vanessa and Katie has been really really nice that uh I know that I can just push and push and push and push and push and that they'll know when to reign me in. You don't normally want to reign Paul in it's fun to let him go but yeah there is there is some sculpting definitely that goes on. Well it sounds like there's just like this great balance between you know the actors directors do uh does the crew stay about the same like or do you have to keep bringing on new people or do you let people go after the end of a show? It it really depends on what we're producing at any given time I say you know we've done two shows but but really based on what we've done so far everything is always shifting and changing we tend to have a lot of our core people we pull in board members as needed but we really try to bring in new people and we did bring in new actors for this production there there are only a couple of repeats from the woman in black so we've got a fully new crew in that way where we actually are taking one of our wonderful actors um Julie who performed in the woman in black and she's now doing our tech work for us so people just shift roles and again that's where we look for volunteers if if again it's my coffee house story but if we find you in a coffee house and you say you're interested in theater we might just put you you know on a lighting unit or something so yeah that's that's part of how we're trying to create this community group in Davis well it sounds like you're like working to make a really good atmosphere so people want to stay and then just keep helping and we hope so that's definitely the goal to make the common house grow absolutely and I think it's important to start cultivating and developing small professional theater groups here in in Davis I find that the the arts community here in Davis is so rich yet um I mean being in Davis only for three years I mean I moved here from from Europe so coming from that European background of arts and small arts theater and small professional theaters I was actually a little bit surprised to find that there were so few smaller professional groups here in in Davis that um you know it's pretty much the Mondavi and then oh what's in between here and there so it's really exciting to see common house productions and and other smaller professional production companies starting to pop up and start building the grassroots movement to really have more small professional theater here in Davis which I think is really something that the community needs yeah we I mean we have all the space for it there's tons stages there's a huge clientele for people who want to see theater right and the Mondavi just you know brings people in but they don't stay and we have a couple of like children's groups but I feel like common house really feels a void that was in Davis yeah and I think also it it will feel a need of bringing professional theater and make it accessible to to uh everybody at you know in terms of the price point for tickets and I think the collaboration with the university and really getting out there so that the theater as a whole continues I think that for theater live theater in particular to thrive and to get people away from television sets and away from texting and everything that they they need to have the chance to go see good live theater and really kind of teach everybody again what it's like to go out and enjoy an evening out on on the Wyatt Deck seeing theater so you were talking about how it's more accessible but what are your prices for your shows so we have ten dollars for adults and eight dollars for seniors and students which tends to be fairly affordable yeah that that's amazing compared to you know the little that we had before of like this level of work yeah and there are other groups and I think the sort of consensus is the more theater in Davis the better and we're just thrilled to be a part of the Davis theater community and to be bringing again as Paul said this live experience to people and and really again to people of all ages the more we can get those younger patrons out and get them interested in theater I think the better yeah it's just planting the seed of want absolutely because I think that's really where the future of live theater lies is in is in youth that if we don't plant the seeds for live theater that there's not going to grow it's not going to continue and I think we really need to continue that type of live storytelling and that one-on-one personal contact and sharing experiences and emotions because I you know without that we you know we could sit here and text each other for the interview you know and I really find that interesting more and more when I'm out I'll see people sitting next to each other having a conversation while they're texting another conversation and so I think really the the live theater experience is something that we we really need so I'm really excited to be working with the common house and keep things going and keep theater live absolutely yeah I feel like that's what makes Davis so different is that we keep trying to provide all of these different little outlets for people and to expose people to a different type of culture yeah especially because everyone's got their iPads and everything so you just walk around with your little personal entertainment but it's not the same as seeing a show there's something special you get like that magical feeling when you see someone in front of you putting something on yeah because I think that also is a huge dynamic of the live theater experience is that even though I know my lines and I know what direction it goes it's something that shifts and changes based on the audience and where they are that evening and that's really the the craft is you kind of feel where the audience is leaning and then you so it's kind of like this ebb and flow and as an actor you kind of have to ride those waves and find out where the next ebb is going to be and how to catch that next wave to really keep the energy of the show going yeah that sounds amazing so the the foreigner sounds like it's going to be an amazing show and I'm sure that all the people at picnic day because how many how many days are you guys putting it on um it'll be eight days total eight days weekends yeah okay so that gives people plenty of time and no excuses to miss it yeah I think we're thrilled to sort of be we're not fully affiliated with the University of California Davis I mean I teach there's a lecture teaching drama in fact so it's sort of a nice vehicle for me but I think it's nice to still have it on campus and have it in that location where people will know where it is and picnic day hopefully will be again a great sort of promotion for us people will see what we're doing and hopefully come back for an evening performance I'm sure this is going to draw a ton of people into common house because I I can picture ucd students you know trying to pick something up and being coming apart of the company on the side yeah and maybe they'll want to act in one of our summer productions and that will be a great promotion for that as well yeah I'm sure that your summer production like it's going to be amazing too do you have any plans so far we do but they're not official so I'm going to keep them under wrap but there will be more comedy for sure humor is always the way to people's heart well um is there anything else you'd like to say about the foreigner um come and see it you know we're running for two weekends and I think it's going to be a blast um I know I'm looking forward to watching my actors put this on and laughing in the wings while they're while they're moving around and just telling us a great story the joy of seeing like people laughing for the first time that can always bring like a new spark and I'm sure that it'll make your performance even stronger yeah I'm really excited to have uh to have some audience uh most definitely not just me sitting yeah not not just the two or three people well I think that ends things on in the studio thanks for joining us thank you so much Nora