Words, Words, Words

Last Friday's rehearsal had to be cancelled due to last minute scheduling conflicts.

Today's rehearsal was all about memorizing lines! We read through each scene 2-3 times (repetition is the best way to memorize, for me).  As we did this I was finally able to concentrate on the vocal quality of each character.  When we are on our feet I'm so preoccupied by the physical aspects of what we are doing that I hardly have time to think about giving notes on how our characters should sound.  I made sure to encourage and praise the different vocal performances I was getting from Wes and Penny and gave my opinion on certain characters that I felt lacked a huge differentiating character choice thus far.

Though this thesis is about my performance, I find myself taking on the role of director so often that I neglect my own performance in rehearsal.  Sitting and reading through the scenes today I felt that I was able to focus on myself more.  When I memorize lines by myself this week I will be particularly self-indulgent in exploring each character's differences physically and vocally so that I can give the most diverse performance possible.

We have scheduled an extra rehearsal for Wednesday to make up for Friday and will continue to work on getting off book.  Instead of sitting, we will be running through the blocking and weaning ourselves from the scripts by running each scene 2-3 times.  There is always someone who can be on book because all of the scenes are only between two people! I love how convenient that is.

I suppose there is not much else to say, so here comes your dog-in-glasses picture:

Back in Action

After a refreshing spring break the Stone to Stage players got back together for a quick rehearsal on Monday.  We reviewed all of the blocking and I introduced Wes and Penny to the positions they'll be in upstage while they're not in a scene (and consequently where their props will live).  We also got a chance to put all the transitions on their feet for the first time (consecutively at least).  By doing this I realized that I had forgotten about one or two set changes, but we worked them out as we went along and I think it will all work out.

We will start rehearsing with props on Friday! There aren't that many of them, but I think it will be important to get them in our hands as soon as possible.  The set is so minimal that any odd placement of a prop (or a forgotten one) will really stand out.

Our preview for my advisor has been pushed back to Friday, April 6th but I am keeping the off book date on March 30th.

That's all for now.  A lengthier report will surely follow this Friday's rehearsal with props.

And now for your picture of a dog with glasses:

Blocking--Check!

All of the scenes have officially been blocked!

Penny and I had a rehearsal today where we put together the scene from Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief and the scene from Waiting for Godot.  I created transitions, but I'm certainly not married to these, so I'm expecting to change them.

The issue I found in going from August: Osage County into Desdemona is that there's a blackout at the end of A:OC.  That is the only scene in which I require a blackout, so that takes the transition and disconnects it from the previous scene.  Until this point all of the transitions deal with connecting the end of one scene to the beginning of the next.  I've been doing that by having new characters enter and bring an actor from the previous scene into their new role, or by ending a scene physically where a new one will begin.  I am not going to go into the details of each transition (I don't want to give away the whole performance!) but the point is that there has been some connective tissue between scenes until this troublesome blackout.  If I don't change this transition before my advisor sees the piece at the end of the month, I will find out from her if that blackout is as irksome as I find it to be.

One thing that has certainly simplified these transitions--and I must say I am proud of myself for making this decision--is the simplicity of the set.  Four acting blocks are quick and easy to move around and do not require dressing to make them functional in the scenes.  The small amount of props makes things simple too, but something occurred to me during rehearsal today: where to keep these props when they are not in use? Why it took me this long to think of this question, I do not know, but at least I did think of it! I'm also unsure as to where actors are entering from/exiting from since there is no set piece to create a barrier between the stage and the wings.  The nature of the space we will be in pretty much eliminates the wing space too....so these are two technical problems facing me at the moment.

A solution I am brainstorming:

Have actors who are not currently participating in a scene stand on an acting block in a sculpture pose (like in the introduction).  That would require that 2 acting blocks be placed far upsatge (left and right), making that 6 blocks total for the performance.  The props could then be kept behind these blocks according to the actor who uses them.  All of Wes' props would live behind his upstage block and all of Penny's props would live behind her's.  The props are all relatively small, so that is completely feasible.  The only drawback to this solution might be any distraction caused by an actor preparing for an entrance.  They will be completely visible to the audience, so I might have to work with Wes and Penny on a way for them to subtly prepare/have them prepare completely in character.

That goes on my list of things to do after the break.  While we're on the subject, here's the complete list of what I aim to attack after the break:
-working in rehearsals with the plan I just outlined above
-working in the Dance Studio to perfect all of the statues as they occur in the scenes (I want the actors bodies to be as close as possible to the positions Rodin sculpted)
-running the entire show straight through with my actors
-being off book by March 30th
-working the scenes to bring out distinct performances based on the style of each scene
-purchase of costumes and makeup
-recording of museum moment sound tracks
-editing of music for transitions
-acquisition of all props
-sending a description of my lighting needs to the lovely student volunteer SM

That's what I'm going to be doing when I get back.  Over the break I will be commencing the memorization of lines.

Now, as always, I will leave you with the pictures of the 2 sculptures that were worked into the scenes Penny and I blocked today:

"La toilette de Venus" from Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief

"The Thinker" from Waiting for Godot

and the obligatory photo of a dog with glasses:

Regular Rehearsals Have Begun!

Last week I established a regular rehearsal schedule with my actors for the rest of March.  We will be rehearsing on Mondays from 12:30-2:30pm and on Fridays from 12-2pm.  Wes and I started off with a one-on-one rehearsal on Friday where we reviewed the scene from Melancholy Play that we blocked several weeks ago and made some adjustments based on lighting decisions I've made.

There will be three spots on stage: one up center, one down right, and one down left.  When possible I am going to try to place actors in these spots, not only for statue moments, but for the action of the scenes as well.  This will simplify lighting for most scenes, and also serve the style of some scenes very nicely.  For example, the scene from the expressionistic play, Machinal, that we blocked at yesterday's rehearsal relies a lot on the disconnect between the main character and the other people on stage.  By using the downstage spots I can create a severe sense of disconnect between the characters and emphasize the isolation of the main character who will be all alone upstage center.

But I'm getting ahead of myself! In addition to making adjustments to the Melancholy Play scene we blocked the scene from August: Osage County.  By putting this scene on its feet and having in mind where the previous scene would be ending, I was able to come up with a transition that includes a necessary set change.  I am pleased with the efficiency of the transition as it stands right now.  Another discovery that was made during this rehearsal was the need for a total of 4 acting blocks in order to form necessary set items and the appropriate height for certain statue pedestals.

Finally, at this Monday's rehearsal I worked with Penny and Wes to block all of the scenes that the 3 of us are in together (including the introduction--Invocation), leaving only two scenes for Penny and me to block at rehearsal on Friday.  I am extremely happy that blocking is moving so quickly because it means we'll have more tim to work the scenes and polish them to a nice sparkle!

Once we come back from spring break Wes, Penny, and I will run the scenes and work to get off-book before showing our work to my thesis advisor.  I will also be taking the week after spring break to establish any transitions that do not come together by Friday.

More to come after this Friday's rehearsal, but in the mean time, peruse the statues from the scenes I've already blocked:

 

 "Invocation"                       "Eve"  

      me                                Penny  

                                       

                                            "Adam"          OR      "The Bronze Age"

                                               Wes                                 Wes

"La Danaide" for Titus Andronicus

"Pygmalion and Galatea" for Melancholy Play

"The Crouching Woman" for Machinal

"The Kiss" for August: Osage County

And now here's another dog wearing glasses:

TA-DA!