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.