I mentioned last week that two of the challenges of making a piece of theatre in the current rehearsal process are our old chums/enemies time and money… Well, for the first time in almost two weeks of rehearsal we had everyone in the room at the same time- and I am compelled to write that it was delightful, truly delightful! and we enjoyed nearly an hour together.
We started the day by sharing our ‘unison experiences’: singing in choirs, martial arts practice, dancing in musicals, playing in bands, doing Greek choral work (mostly in theatre training) and from Richard Stewart, marching. It was one of those excellent moments in a rehearsal room when the assembled group acknowledges the expertise of its members. So, (Richard leading) the actors learned how the differences between standing at attention, at ease, easy, turning and marching. And then, briefly, in groups of three, people marched, as Richard kept everyone ‘in time’. I watched, delighted as everyone dove into this simple-yet-different experience- people wrinkled noses, shuddered at they’re own abilities, delighted in moments that worked and we all had a good laugh. It was the fastest company bonding I’ve experienced in some time.
We then carried on with our game ‘who moves what, where and when?’ (scene changes), and finished that game on the rest of the play.
The rest of the morning zoomed by with a rehearsal of the beginning of the play. We’ve discovered the ‘company action’ for the beginning of the piece- it’s ‘Intervention’. I’ll come back to this development another time-
The afternoon was spent working on drug hallucinations and choral work- lots of progress- and we finished the day recapping scenes with Emily and Marilla.
After that we had a production meeting; the production manager, set/costume designer, stage manager and I sat down and talked through all aspects of the production. That took about 90 minutes, lots to talk about…
We then went and picked up some of the cardboard for our set; Thursday is recycling day in Parkdale and there’s excellent free cardboard available. Thank goodness we’re taking a ‘poor theatre approach’ with this play and that it matches the socio-economic realities of the world represented in the play! Ah, money… our other friend/enemy.
(this isn’t where we went shopping- but it’s an example of the cardboard ‘riches’ available…)
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again- it’s wonderful that the style of theatre we’re exploring matches up with the ‘world of the play’ and philosophy on recycling!
Thanks for reading… it’s been quite a day…