I was lucky enough to get the chance to play a minor part in the latest Humanistispeksi, Pe(i)li. The partly improvised musical told the story of a nerdy teenager Kerkko, who enters the virtual kingdom of Consolia and teams up with his crush, Rosales, the daughter of the King of Thieves, to defeat the power-hungry sorceress Mezereum. As a heroine of Consolia, I’d love to share some behind-the-scenes pictures with you readers!
It would seem logical that since Humanistispeksi is a roughly 10 month long project, most of the work would be done by the actual show time. Yeah right! When we started rehearsing the play, the idea of basically living on the backstage of Gloria for a week sounded distant and surreal, even though I knew the most intense part of the whole speksi experience would be the five days between the dress rehearsal and the final performance.
However, despite all the stress and bustle – like getting your dress sewed on you while you desperately try to repair damaged props and at the same time someone is painting your lips and someone else is tucking curlers in your hair – we did have lots of fun backstage. When a group of excited, hungry and tired people are crammed in a small space, things might get a little… silly.
The actors were expected to show up on hair and make-up about six hours before the show. For many of the actors it took several hours to complete the looks, and I can’t help but wonder how the beauty team was always so perky and positive. They held it together when the sleep-deprived actor team was on the brink of hysteria.
Speaking of lack of sleep – we had a few hours to kill before warm-up, and usually that meant lunch break or just messing about, or often in my case, dozing. Since the backstage was like a buzzing beehive, there really was no comfortable place for a power nap.
Before the doors opened for the audience it was time for our team meeting. We shared what was on our minds, did a vocal warm-up and tried to get into character. I had spent six months of my life with these lovely people and naturally we had become close, so the thought of it all drawing to a close show by show was very emotional. Ask any member of the speksi family what is the best thing about this production, and they’re likely to reply: ”The people.” Of course I had grown fond of the actor team the most, but having the whole production team there together was something else. The atmosphere in Gloria was always warm and supportive, and there are not enough superlatives to describe how I felt being a part of it all. I’m thrilled that judging by the responses of the audience our team spirit showed onstage.
Speksi is definitely addictive. I’m glad I don’t need to wait for next year’s production to get my weekly dose of speksi: the Open Improv Nights will start again this spring, and there are many excursions and parties to come. Interested? The speksi family is welcoming you with open arms!