There is nothing like the feeling of being unchained from the physical script in rehearsal. I've always felt my performance can breathe, stretch its legs, grow once I put down the script. This can mostly be attributed to the amount of eye contact that becomes possible between scene partners once you are no longer nervously glancing down at your lines every time it is your turn to speak.
There is one scene in particular that benefits from very deliberate and prolonged eye contact between the characters, and that is the scene from Ruhl's Melancholy Play. I remember trying to describe, in our first rehearsal, how I wanted there to be a palpable attraction across the room between the two characters, Frank and Tilly. I explained to Wes that there should be this constant connection between the two of us and, despite the physical distance I created on the stage, the audience should feel that we are very close. Until yesterday's rehearsal of this scene we had not been achieving this feeling, having been too stuck to our scripts to reach out to each other. I received a huge boost of confidence yesterday, though, when we indulged in eye contact and employed our entire bodies in creating a connection between these characters. Rehearsing that scene without scripts reminded me that I can accomplish what I envision with my fellow actors. This performance can be what I want it to be, instead of being almost what I imagined.
Over the past couple of weeks I've feared that I do not have enough time left to work on what I have established thus far. Thankfully, I'd simply forgotten how easily and quickly performances can grow once you put down the crippling crutch that is the script!
My thesis advisor is coming to watch rehearsal tomorrow and I feel confident that she will see a piece that is in a good place (considering that we are 2 weeks away from performance!), so in the spirit of optimism, here is a dog looking optimistically into the future:
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