Dress Rehearsal

We only had time to run until the beginning of Act 3, however with the lighting all sorted, our amazing production crew on the ball and ready to go, the dress rehearsal went incredibly well.
They managed to pick up the pace a fair bit so we weren't over-running as much as we had in previous rehearsals, and my main notes were just small details. Both Abi and I commented that we were now at the point of being really picky with individual movements and tiny changes, rather than large alterations, as all the emotion and meaning was there.
I couldn't have been prouder for the work the actors and production crew have put in this week - it's because of them that we can say we have a show, and it's all come together in a way that I hadn't expected. There have been (so far) no major issues or technical hitches, our actress who may have needed a script has learnt all her lines and has done phenomenally well despite not rehearsing at all last week. All in all, the process has gone very well and I'm proud to say that we have a show.

It's just over an hour until it's curtain up in front of an audience, but I'm not worried. I'm excited and nervous to see it all finally come together, but I know that we've pulled it off, and I'm looking forward to seeing it afresh, without my notebook, so I can enjoy what we've done. According to Jon Whitmore, it is the director's role to "orchestrate and fashion infinitely complex and multifaceted performance experiences"(1) (1994: 206). Whilst Abi and I have been discussing throughout the production process what we would do had we more time, I strongly believe that over the course of three months, eight to ten rehearsals, and no budget, we have managed to produce a play that has meaning, integrity, and creativity. I sincerely hope this comes across to our audience.

(1) Whitmore, J. (1994), Directing Postmodern Theater: Shaping Signification in Performance, University of Michigan Press

Tech Day

So today was tech day - usually a day filled with stress, no food, lots of coffee, and inevitably fallings-out between actors, directors, and technical crew. But today was not like that; amazingly, things seemed to just work as they were meant to, and even the technical hitch or two didn't get in the way of a good day and bright spirits.

I spent the morning in the van with Josh and Freya, driving around Guildford looking for furniture. We were fortunate enough to be given access to an armchair from the Yvonne Arnaud, and sourced the other chair and mattress from Josh's and Freya's homes. Abi had supplied the bed frame, and the studio was being rigged with blacks to create the 2nd wall, and the lights were being tested. There were a couple of crossed and broken extension leads which set us back a little in the schedule, but overall things moved smoothly. The space had the appropriate claustrophobic feel that Abi had wanted, and the set was beginning to look cluttered and lived-in. Seeing everything in its own place definitely made everything that bit more real, but also a lot more tangible as we weren't just working from markings on the floor any more. The space was in front of us, the seating banks were set, so it became clear where the sight-lines were and what needed to be tweaked.

The lighting has been fairly straightforward also, moving from warm 'April' tones, through the various seasons to a slightly colder atmosphere that reflects both the time of year in the play, but also the emotions and tensions onstage. Once everything was rigged and focused, which didn't take as long as I was expecting, the plotting and cues were fairly straightforward. Luckily, Abi and I didn't have any differing opinions about the atmosphere of the lighting, and following a few suggestions from Dave, our acting Stage Manager for the day, we were able to create a full plot within a couple of hours.

I was only able to stay for half of the tech rehearsal due to meetings (a frustration I've been finding throughout the process - clashes of timetabling definitely isn't ideal), but the actors did seem comfortable in the space even just for a cue-to-cue run. Of course, energy was lacking, as was volume, however for a first attempt in the space it was a fair enough run. Tomorrow we've got an early start with a dress rehearsal at 9am to allow the actors to give it one last go over, then we're up at 2pm. I'm again confident that they'll manage well - I only hope my influence as a director has been a good one and they enjoy themselves as much as I hope the audience will.

Lit set, ready for actors!

Run Through #3

Today's run through was the best yet. The energy levels were incredible, and the intimate scenes between Alison and Jimmy were just phenomenal - the notes in my book just read 'WOW!!'. That's a very satisfying feeling as a director when everything clicks in to place.
There are still some issues around pacing - we only managed to cover Acts 1 and 2, both of which ran at just under and hour. But considering everyone was 90% off book, and they'd all remembered the majority of the blocking whilst holding focus, I'm not hugely worried. We've more run throughs next week before and after tech day, so I've no doubts it'll pull back through.

Something we're having to consider even more keenly however is the blocking - certain scenes look great from one angle, but then we have to remember and be aware of the audience on the other side. Whilst not being quite so extreme as working in-the-round, having a reversed traverse stage does have its own limitations, which we're working on throughout the process.

However, the emotional engagement of all the actors was amazing today, and made me really proud of the work we've done over the last few months. It made the dramatic moments even more so, and the contrasts particularly with Jimmy's character more poignant. I'm looking forward to next week, and it'll be great to see it all pull together.

Run Through #2 & Speedbump #3

Yesterday's run through was amazing. Such good commitment and engagement with the actors following a short character warm up that Abi led. I really get the impression that they're connecting more fully with their characters and getting a greater understanding into their onstage worlds. They managed to get through Act 2 to the end in just under 2 hours, which is a vastly improved pace from Monday's rehearsal. Although this still needs tightening, I now feel like they've gathered momentum and, depending on whether or not lines are learnt (which they should) Friday's full run through should go perfectly.

Found myself doing some more hands-on directing too, mainly with the boys' fight-scenes. It felt good to get involved with the actors and demonstrate to them directly how things can be done, as showing something physically often works better than just explaining. Similarly, the very last scene of the play is incredibly emotional and sees the character of Alison collapse during a monologue - our actress was struggling to get this movement looking natural, so between Abi and I we were able to both demonstrate to her how we wanted her to move, but also do some workshopping of movement with Abi pulling her back by her stomach whilst she spoke to create a sensation of falling that can be remembered.

At this stage, I've also asked the actress to revisit that monologue in terms of the words she is saying. Whilst she's memorised them and I know felt the gravity of their meaning at the beginning, we've reached that stage where it has become familiar. In this section, Alison is talking about her miscarriage - this is a devastating event in her life that would definitely  make or break a person, and the sense of failure, guilt, and trauma really needs to come through in order for it to have the impact Osborne intended. Taking a piece like that too lightly could be incredibly offensive, and so it felt right to encourage the actress to go back and look over the words she is saying, and really try and connect with that sense of loss and hopelessness.

With just a week to go until the show comes up, I'm starting to feel nervous again. Some more speedbumps have occurred regarding dress rehearsal clashes with lectures, and with limited time over the bank holiday weekend, it's a bit of a squeeze to rectify the situation. It may be a case of having a dress rehearsal straight after the plot/tech, which will put a bit of pressure on our lighting crew, but is doable. At the end of the day, we have a show, we have actors who have been incredibly committed, we've managed to get a production crew of willing friends, and it'll all be alright on the night!

The final leg - Run Through #1

Today was supposed to be our first day of running through the whole play; however, that is not how it turned out. We knew that one of our actresses wouldn't be attending, and that's a fair enough thing that we expected. What I didn't expect was for it to take an hour and a half to run through the first scene. That's as long as it took the first time we read through. Whilst I understand that it's been around 8 weeks since we covered it, I had (naively?) anticipated the actors to be pretty keen on their lines, so only need prompting on the blocking.

I was unsure of how to respond to this. With the show going up in 10 days, is it unreasonable for me as a director to expect scripts to be far, far away from the stage now? And for the actors to have taken it upon themselves to move where they feel natural, as I've been recommending now over the last week? I found myself disappointed by the run, and uncertain as to what to do next.

Tomorrow, we have another rehearsal booked - three hours, as opposed to what turned into one and a half today due to room booking clashes - and I would like to think that we'll be able to make considerable improvements to the run, with Abi standing in for the absentee. My plan is for Friday's rehearsal to be a proper run-through, with as many props and costumes as we have our hands on, so we've at least gone through it before the official tech and dress next week.

Perhaps it is because I am still getting used to this 'directors' role, but maybe tomorrow I will be a little firmer with expectations should things feel, in my opinion, sub-par again. Whilst I'm not worried about the final performance, I would prefer a bit more productivity in the run-through, and use it as a way of polishing the piece, rather than repeating rehearsals from two months ago.

Speedbump #2

Amazingly, this is only the 2nd issue that I've come across throughout this process - that is incredibly surprising, and not something I'm taking for granted. We've been very lucky with amazing cast and lots of good support.

Last night, one of our actresses got in touch saying she's unexpectedly had to return home for a series of hospital visits this coming week - we'd recently scheduled in two extra rehearsals to make sure everything's polished for the show in 10 days. This of course raises the issue of whether or not she'll be in a position to have memorised her lines and blocking, and the effect this may have on the production as a whole.

However, very quickly I'd decided that we would do whatever we could to accommodate her - whether that be allowing her to have a script in hand for the performance, find someone new, or just support her in her line-learning in a rather more intensive timeframe. At the end of the day, her health is paramount. If this were a professional production, it may call for a very speedy casting of an understudy; however, as a one-night-only assessment, I personally felt it unfair to put added pressure on her at this time. For me, I know that the rest of the cast will help work around it, and that this actress in particular is doing her best to minimise disruption. I can ask for no more as a director, particularly this late in the process.

I would never wish to be a director who my actors are intimidated of - this isn't a good working ethic, and I'd much rather be approachable and face problems head on than have to deal with unhappy people making rash decisions even further down the line. As such, I'm confident that not only will the actress do her utmost to maintain her commitment, but also that whatever the outcome, I'll have continued to learn along the way and how best to handle such situations.

Rehearsal #5 - pages 78-103 (to end)

So yesterday we finished the text - 25 pages, going through some of the most emotional scenes throughout the whole play. I was slightly concerned that after a 4 week break, it'd take some time to get into the flow of the story again, but I needn't have worried. The cast are very close to being off-book, which is impressive as it's a very wordy play, with complicated cues and lines. As always, they remembered the blocking almost instantly, and worked their way through the trickiest sections with confidence and relative ease.

Dr. Matt Wagner, my supervisor for the project, sat in on the rehearsal, and it was good to get an outsider's perspective for the first time. I realised as we walked into the room that no-one outside of the production had seen even a small portion of the play, so it felt good to be able to get some feedback. As I've eased into the role of the director now, it was less nerve-wracking as I knew what I was doing in the space and how I was able to communicate with the actors. One comment that was given was to be sure not to 'micro-direct' - this is something I've been attempting for the last few rehearsals anyway, giving the actors the freedom to see where their character takes them, rather than dictating movement. This allows a more natural flow on stage, and means that every action has a purpose and a drive, rather than just static movement.

We've now reached the point where it's all about runs, and so from next week it'll be scripts down, running the play as smoothly and frequently as possible. It'll be a chance for the actors to get the feel of the riding emotion throughout the chronology of the story, as well as allowing Abi and I to fine tune blocking now that we have measurements confirmed for our space. I'm keen to let the actors continue to move fairly freely with the work, having learnt the blocking quickly and getting a greater understanding of the words. However, I am definitely not afraid of pushing them further when it is necessary - I want this to not only be a good learning process for me in terms of the module, but also an incredible performance filled with meaning and emotion for the audience to get stuck into.

 Actors playing Boal's 'Wooden Swords of Paris' game, exploring body awareness and anticipation between one another.