Rehearsal #4 - pages 50-77

Yesterday's rehearsal was another great success, covering a large chunk of the play so Acts one and two are now complete. This middle section of the text is incredibly emotionally intense, as it is the buildup to Alison leaving Jimmy - there's a lot involved including arguments, emotional breakdowns, and the increasing tension throughout the scenes. However, as always the actors handled the text remarkably well and required very little in the way of emotional directing - this meant that for the majority of the day I was merely directing their movement and blocking to fit in with our traverse staging.

The very end of Act Two sees the confrontation between Jimmy and Helena reach a head, climaxing in her slapping Jimmy, and the couple falling onto the bed in an embrace. Up until this point we've skipped over a lot of the kissing scenes just as we were first getting into it. However, both Abi and I felt it very important to get the ending of this scene right as it will be followed by a second interval. Needless to say, it was a rather giggly experience - from a professional level, the actors handled it all incredibly well and after a few attempts at the slap we were able to choreograph the movement to make it both believable and practical in terms of staging. It was, as could be expected, an awkward scene to direct as they are two of my friends and coursemates, and making them embrace on stage does feel rather unnatural and odd. But in the end it was a successful scene, and as it's been done properly once, it'll undoubtedly be easier each time we re-run the scene.

Overall, I was really happy with the rehearsal and felt we've managed to get through a large proportion of the text before we break for four weeks for Easter. Similarly, I'm learning that I am a different kind of director to Abi - she is very good at the physical workshops and getting everyone warmed up and into character. I find myself wholly drawn to the text and interested in directing the emotion of my actors once their onstage. This realisation has helped me relax more into the role and feel able to take charge of certain aspects whilst not feeling like I'm missing out on others. Therefore the method of co-directing is working incredibly well, each of us complimenting and working with each other.

This version of 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' by Greg Laswell will be played at the end of the play. During another music/character workshop, both Alison and Helena were greatly affected by the song.

Past productions

The premiere of Look Back in Anger was on the 8th May 1956 at the Royal Court Theatre in London by the English Stage Company.  Directed by Tony Richardson, there are infamous rumours of audiences gasping at the site of an ironing board on stage, yet it was still described as "the best young play of its decade"(1) by Kenneth Tyan in the Observer.
 The original cast was as follows:

Alan Bates	Cliff Lewis
Helena Hughes	Helena Charles
Kenneth Haigh	Jimmy Porter
John Welsh	Colonel Redfern
Mary Ure	Alison Porter

It then transferred to America on the 1st October, 1957, at the Lyceum Theatre in New York, and ran for 5 months. It moved to the John Golden Theatre in March 1958 where it played for a further 6 months. It racked up a total of 407 performances, and was nominated for three Tony Awards in 1958: Best Play, Best Actress (Mary Ure), and Best Costume (Motley).

Over the last 50 years, there have been many revivals of the play, being received by many audience demographics and ages, and producing different effects. 2005 saw a touring production based from the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh, with David Tennant as Jimmy. Rather than finding it to be an 'old generation' play, Thelma Good saw that "Jimmy Porter's angst echoes uncomfortably in our modern souls"(2); this is something I hope to get across in the production too. The way in which something seemingly so long-past can reflect on our current lives is a powerful thing in the theatre.

The 2009 production at the Northern Stage theatre in Newcastle was seen by Alfred Hickling to be a difficult one to watch - LBiA relies fairly heavily on the context of the generation in which it was written. The angry youth, misogynistic Jimmy, and lost lives aren't quite translatable to a modern audience, Hickling decided(3). The reception of such a play is therefore difficult to gauge as some audience members will reflect upon their own lives in the mid-1950s, whilst others see it as a 'good story' of the lost generations.

In their 2011/2012 season, the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York put on LBiA directed by Sam Gold. It received mixed reviews, a New York audience struggling with the "ultra-British"(4) nature of the play, however people were still encouraged to go and see if for themselves, experiencing the ever-present anger still rife on stage.

I want to stay true to Osbourne's text in reflecting the desperation and depression of his characters, whilst not tying it to the 1950s. Therefore, the play will be in an almost 'timeless' setting, influenced slightly by the 1980s and the form of social anxiety during the miner's strikes, but remaining ambiguous enough for any and all spectators to be able to relate to it.




(1) Tyan, K. (1956) on Royal Court Theatre archive, available at: http://www.royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/look-back-in-anger/?tab=4
(2) Good, T. (2005) 'Look Back in Anger', Edinburgh Guide, 15 January, Theatre: Reviews, [online] Available at: http://www.edinburghguide.com/aande/theatre/reviews_05/l/look_back_in_anger_rtl.shtml, [accessed: 19 March 2013]
(3) Hickling, A. (2009) 'Look Back in Anger', The Guardian, 12 March, Stage: John Osbourne, [online] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/mar/12/look-back-in-anger-review, [accessed: 19 March 2013]
(4) Teachout, T. (2012) 'Still Angry After All These Years', The Wall Street Journal, 3 February, Theater, [online] Available at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204652904577191591501380790.html, [accessed: 19 March 2013]

Rehearsal #3 - Pages 33-50

Yet another very good rehearsal - having willing and talented actors does definitely help the process. I am however once again feeling rather overwhelmed. Coming into the hall I felt terribly inadequate, and though the run went perfectly, the blocking looked great, and the emotions were strong, I still couldn't shake a feeling of doubt. This is an aspect of directing I had not expected to come across.
Following the rehearsal, Abi led a character workshop. Getting the actors to lie on the floor, close their eyes, and imagine the characters taking over, whilst summoning various emotions and memories is a classic technique for characterisation. After this, Abi played various pieces of music and asked the actors to respond physically in character - this was a very insightful exercise for me to watch as it started to uncover layers of emotion that really help to build the play. But I wasn't sure I'd be able to run such a workshop - the ideas appeared so obvious once they had been said, but I had little creativity to make them up myself. This is something I am definitely going to work on.
It's no use if the director feels uncertain or self-conscious - they must lead the actors and help draw the play. So next week, I'm going to go into the rehearsal room with confidence that it is developing as I had hoped (which it is), and shake off this feeling of doubt.

Music character work

I am considering extending the project to include a dramaturgical study of Look Back in Anger, exploring past productions of the text and the reception they received. This will be confirmed following a meeting with my supervisor, but I will start looking into past shows over the Easter break.

Rehearsal #2 - Act One

I was very nervous for this rehearsal - it was my first experience of being a director. Me, in charge of actors, telling them what to do in order to get across a playwrights' words and intentions. Intimidating to say the least - my major obstacle I'm facing throughout this process is self-doubt. I don't see myself as authoratitive, have never thought myself as a theatrical creative, so suddenly wondered why on earth I'd decided to take control of an entire play.

The start of the rehearsal was rather shakey - one actor was half an hour late, and I wasn't sure how to begin the session. With only three characters involved in Act One, I couldn't think of a suitable workshop or warmup to do, nor did I have the confidence to take charge straight away. We spent the first half hour (whilst waiting for the other actor) looking through Abi's set designs and getting a bit of a feel for how the stage will be laid out. This did help me ease into the session, and I know that next week I'll be able to walk in with more confidence and awareness of what I'm doing. This is something I definitely need to work on - the reassurance of myself in the role of director, and an awareness of my ability.

The rehearsal went as well as I could have hoped. I'd planned to cover the first 33 pages - quite an ambitious feat, ending just a few pages shy of curtain down. Yet as soon as the actors stepped onto our minimally laid out space, I knew exactly where I wanted them and what I wanted them to do. Once they were in front of me, the script came alive and I could see it as the final production already. Straight away, I felt more able to direct them - I had no hesitations about stopping them mid-sentence and rearranging them, moving their heads, altering the emotions. And, what impressed me most, was that they responded and dutifully continued according to my direction. I know that is what an actor is supposed to do, but when presented with coursemates I'd had some reservations again about my authority. I needn't have worried as they're all working as professionals, and were able to take on board my directions without question.

We got through all 33 pages, and were even able to do a dry-run at the end of the session. Seeing my ideas combined with the beginnings of Abi's set was very encouraging; it worked, it flowed, and it had the emotional intensity that the script requires. The speedbump of my own doubt is almost cleared, and next week is set to be promising too.

Why direct LBiA?

I'd never read the play before the summer, when Abi expressed her love for it as a text. I dutifully bought myself a copy, and read it in almost one train ride to London. I thought it was fantastic - the wealth of words, the action, and simplicity of living, the reality of people. This was a play about life, without being cheesy. It was gritty, set at a difficult time, but easily transferable to current day. And it appeared straightforward - extensive stage directions mean the scene is set in your  minds-eye whether or not you see it translated on stage.

Director Richard Baron spoke of this in an interview with Alison Reeves, Educational Officer of the Royal Lyceum Theatre in 2005. Baron stated that "It’s a three act piece with good curtain lines and full of pregnant moments. It will be about relishing the theatricality of it as well as the exuberance of it"1, expressing the way in which the play is theatrical within itself, not requiring much additional direction.

This theatricality comes out in the way in which the production "replac[es] stage-sets of Belgravia mansions with a drab Midlands flat, and smart upper-class remarks with the angry anti-establishment rants of its hero, Jimmy Porter."2  (Lawson 2006). By harnessing the historical importance of the play's creation, regardless of the current age or manner in which it is being produced, a director can remind the audience of the importance of Jimmy's words, the anger and frustration within him, and the lack of compassion from society at large.

The importance of the setting of LBiA is being taken up by Abi for her project - focusing on her response to the space, and the way in which she is interpreting it. Through her research into the origins of the word 'anger', she found that it derived from the Norse word for 'narrow', and thus began creating a narrow stage set. Katie Mitchell wrote that "Building a complete picture of the place or places in which the action of the play occurs helps the actor enter and believe in the world in which their character exists."3 (2008, p.20), and in our case also allows the actors to feel physically a sense of confinement and frustration within close proximity to one another.

There is a lot involved in directing a play, especially one as complex and psychological as Look Back in Anger. However, Abi and I work well together - she being the very creative one, myself being more academic in my approach - and so compliment one another. I know that in a few weeks' time I will lead a workshop and she will take notes, so we make sure we're trying out each other's strengths and building on our weaknesses. It's going to be a good learning experience, and hopefully a successful production.






(1) Lyceum Education Department (2005) Look Back in Anger: Resource Pack, Edinburgh: Royal Lyceum Theatre Company [Available at: http://site.iugaza.edu.ps/ahallaq/files/2011/03/Look-Back-in-Anger-Resource-Pack.pdf]

(2) Lawson, M. (2006) 'Fifty Years of Anger', The Guardian, 31 March, [online] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2006/mar/31/theatre2 (accessed: 4 March 2013)

(3) Mitchell, K. (2008) The Director's Craft: A Handbook for the Theatre, Routledge

Jimmy's emotions

This clip from the 1989 television version sees Kenneth Brannagh as Jimmy, in probably his most vulnerable speech. Whilst in my production I'm looking for a colder, darker, more angry response, you cannot fault Brannagh's depths of emotions that grow throughout the monologue. It is important in this scene to see Jimmy once again as that vulnerable little boy. However, I feel it becomes more powerful if he is almost unable to fully express his emotions, and rather maintains that bitter, twisted nature that his past has created in him.

Rehearsal Schedule

Currently looking very neat and organised - I've no doubt that soon there will be scribbles and changes to it. But for now, I can see the process mapped out, and it looks good.