That's it! We've had our last rehearsal before get-in. And a very productive evening it was too. We concentrated on Act 2, which needed a little more practice, and ran a few bits and pieces over again until everyone was happy with them.
Next time we run the play it will be in the theatre, on Sunday night, on an unfinished set and with partial lights and sound. The time after that is the dress rehearsal on Tuesday. I can't believe we're so close to performance week...
I'm nervous, excited, scared, apprehensive and delighted, all at the same time. I know it's going to be a great show, but I worry about how it will be received. Ah, well. There's not much I can do anymore. The show is in the hands of the actors and they will do a superb job with it, I know.
Showing posts with label Rehearsals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rehearsals. Show all posts
Friday, 23 May 2008
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
Nearly There
18 days have zoomed past since I last wrote. Last Sunday we had a full 6 hours of rehearsal, complete with full costume and most props. It was a very valuable process. Not the most fluent of run-throughs, but that was probably due to working in a different environment, with unfamiliar clothing.
One concern I do have is that, though books were put down weeks ago, there are still some actors who are having trouble with their words in places. I'm sure it will all come good before next week, but it's a little frustrating as I'd hoped to be having smooth rehearsals by now and would be able to concentrate more on the pacing of each scene (and thence the encompasing dynamic of the show).
Overall though, it was very encouraging. I know that all the actors have a good handle on their characters - some of them maybe need to relax into them a little more - but they are all bringing a huge amount of talent, insight and humour to the production.
Now - all we need is for people to buy tickets!!
One concern I do have is that, though books were put down weeks ago, there are still some actors who are having trouble with their words in places. I'm sure it will all come good before next week, but it's a little frustrating as I'd hoped to be having smooth rehearsals by now and would be able to concentrate more on the pacing of each scene (and thence the encompasing dynamic of the show).
Overall though, it was very encouraging. I know that all the actors have a good handle on their characters - some of them maybe need to relax into them a little more - but they are all bringing a huge amount of talent, insight and humour to the production.
Now - all we need is for people to buy tickets!!
Friday, 2 May 2008
Home Stretch
We've now had a "stagger" run through each half of the show. Most of the cast are now off-book, some more confidently than others, though that's not a concern to me. Once books are down, actors soon find that they know their lines better than they thought they did and confidence soon takes an upturn.
Apart from a couple of tweaks which I had known about, but left until I'd known what I wanted to do with them, the whole structure of the play is hanging together well. I know that when we get into the theatre I'm going to want to adjust the blocking slightly - mainly we'll bring most of the action more downstage to use the Rhoda's generous apron area. In our rehearsal rooms, the floor area is nowehere near as deep as the actual stage, so some adjustment is always necessary.
At this stage I start giving more and more notes. I think I mentioned before that the better rehearsals go, the more notes I give, and so as time passes we come up with more ways to improve the action and more ideas to make the whole production interesting. I hope the cast are getting used to this... I do have doubts in the back of my mind that I don't give enough praise (and specific praise) to each actor. When I'm happy with what they're doing I just sit back and enjoy the performance! I think that most of them have worked with me enough to know this though. At least, I hope so.
My only concerns now are with other aspects of the production. I really need to get started with putting the show's programme together - we're going to take head-shots and publicity photos on Sunday, so that should get me kick-started.
There's also lots of work still to do on the set. Though now my designer and set-builder are back from their family holiday, this has now got back into gear; and our redoubtable team of old reliables were happy getting on with various bits and pieces in their absence. We're keeping fingers crossed for good weather this weekend as we can only paint outside and there are about 6 12-foot flats which need a good coating of Chelsea Green.
All that is in hand at least, so all we can do now is hope that people want to come along and see our production. Apparently sales are quite a bit ahead of where they usually are at this stage, but we need to ensure that this doesn't slacken off. Nearly time to send off press-releases...
Apart from a couple of tweaks which I had known about, but left until I'd known what I wanted to do with them, the whole structure of the play is hanging together well. I know that when we get into the theatre I'm going to want to adjust the blocking slightly - mainly we'll bring most of the action more downstage to use the Rhoda's generous apron area. In our rehearsal rooms, the floor area is nowehere near as deep as the actual stage, so some adjustment is always necessary.
At this stage I start giving more and more notes. I think I mentioned before that the better rehearsals go, the more notes I give, and so as time passes we come up with more ways to improve the action and more ideas to make the whole production interesting. I hope the cast are getting used to this... I do have doubts in the back of my mind that I don't give enough praise (and specific praise) to each actor. When I'm happy with what they're doing I just sit back and enjoy the performance! I think that most of them have worked with me enough to know this though. At least, I hope so.
My only concerns now are with other aspects of the production. I really need to get started with putting the show's programme together - we're going to take head-shots and publicity photos on Sunday, so that should get me kick-started.
There's also lots of work still to do on the set. Though now my designer and set-builder are back from their family holiday, this has now got back into gear; and our redoubtable team of old reliables were happy getting on with various bits and pieces in their absence. We're keeping fingers crossed for good weather this weekend as we can only paint outside and there are about 6 12-foot flats which need a good coating of Chelsea Green.
All that is in hand at least, so all we can do now is hope that people want to come along and see our production. Apparently sales are quite a bit ahead of where they usually are at this stage, but we need to ensure that this doesn't slacken off. Nearly time to send off press-releases...
Monday, 21 April 2008
Building It Up
Now that the actors are starting to deal with their moves and lines with confidence (books down in 6 days now!) the play is really starting to take on a life of its own.
Despite my optimism of my last post (2 whole weeks ago?!?) the next 2 or 3 rehearsals were a bit flatter than I'd hoped for and I found myself unable to find ways to inject enthusiasm and dynamism into the performances.
I think that it's unsurprising in retrospect. The actors were still all very much 'on book' and struggling to remember their moves, juggle their props (sometimes literally) and handle their scripts all at once. And my higher than usual workload has meant that most evenings I'm feeling a bit drained and finding it difficult to raise my energy levels and enthusiasm for rehearsals. Not that I'm disliking the process, and I definitely think that we're heading in the right direction, but I am definitely conscious that, as Director, I need to take a lead in ensuring that the production and the actors' performances are vital and exciting.
Last night was a real turning point. We rehearsed the first section of the 2nd-half of the play. This is the point at which the pace turns up a notch and the play should become an exciting farce, rather than a gentle drawing-room comedy. This coincided with our actors finding a new confidence in acting without their scripts in hand, and delivering their lines at a good pace. Over the course of the evening we reduced the run-time for this section from 35 mins to 24 mins. Even allowing for a certain amount of starting and stopping, this is good progress.
We had a couple of people present for rehearsal for the first time and they were able to bring fresh eyes and ears to the work in progress. Their comments have pointed up some areas which we need to examine very soon. But their overall comments are along the lines of "I can't wait to see the completed show" - which is very encouraging!
The whole cast is also committed to finding and fixing problem areas in the blocking and the dialogue. And in the post-pub production meeting (attendees: the stop-out-late cast and crew reprobates club) we talked about many aspects of the production and solved at least two problems which had concerned me for some time.
I've come away from the past weekend with a renewed enthusiasm for this work.
Despite my optimism of my last post (2 whole weeks ago?!?) the next 2 or 3 rehearsals were a bit flatter than I'd hoped for and I found myself unable to find ways to inject enthusiasm and dynamism into the performances.
I think that it's unsurprising in retrospect. The actors were still all very much 'on book' and struggling to remember their moves, juggle their props (sometimes literally) and handle their scripts all at once. And my higher than usual workload has meant that most evenings I'm feeling a bit drained and finding it difficult to raise my energy levels and enthusiasm for rehearsals. Not that I'm disliking the process, and I definitely think that we're heading in the right direction, but I am definitely conscious that, as Director, I need to take a lead in ensuring that the production and the actors' performances are vital and exciting.
Last night was a real turning point. We rehearsed the first section of the 2nd-half of the play. This is the point at which the pace turns up a notch and the play should become an exciting farce, rather than a gentle drawing-room comedy. This coincided with our actors finding a new confidence in acting without their scripts in hand, and delivering their lines at a good pace. Over the course of the evening we reduced the run-time for this section from 35 mins to 24 mins. Even allowing for a certain amount of starting and stopping, this is good progress.
We had a couple of people present for rehearsal for the first time and they were able to bring fresh eyes and ears to the work in progress. Their comments have pointed up some areas which we need to examine very soon. But their overall comments are along the lines of "I can't wait to see the completed show" - which is very encouraging!
The whole cast is also committed to finding and fixing problem areas in the blocking and the dialogue. And in the post-pub production meeting (attendees: the stop-out-late cast and crew reprobates club) we talked about many aspects of the production and solved at least two problems which had concerned me for some time.
I've come away from the past weekend with a renewed enthusiasm for this work.
Monday, 7 April 2008
Consolidation
We're in a period of consolidating the work we did during blocking rehearsals. Now that the actors have started learning their lines and should know the general shape of the action, we spend each rehearsal evening running sections of the play, around 10 pages at a time. This gives us a chance to make sure that the action works as blocked. It's a very valuable time, as now we discover (and re-work) places where the moves we've previously decided upon look clumsy and need changing.
It's also the time to start building in bits of 'business' and experimenting with characterisations. A couple of examples:
We'd already decided that the maid, Nellie, is attracted to all the male characters and, while we won't always see it, we know that she will flirt with them given the opportunity. So, at a point where Lord Arthur and his butler were sharing a private moment alone - one that could be misconstrued by an outsider - it was a great opportunity for Nellie to act outraged and jealous: a great performance by Jill. For all of us in the room it was a truly funny moment - and got better with repeats. Moments like this, when you know you've found a dramatic and comic moment through real character interaction, rather than slapstick, or farce, are when you know that the play should be a success (up until that point, it's just a hope, based upon expectations of the script and the fine actors that you are working with).
In another scene, things were looking a little flat. Lord Arthur was worried about having to commit a murder and sought the advice of his butler, Baines. The scene was a bit flat and lifeless until we realised that Arthur could easily be looking forward to performing his crime. With that knowledge, Arthur's actions and Baines reactions both sprung into life and gave the scene a zip which was previously missing.
The blocking rehearsals are always a bit depressing for me. It's 2 weeks of mechanical drudgery - or that's how it feels - but wholly necessary - and you wonder if the actors will spend the whole 11 weeks dropping their props and saying "errr, which line/page/scene are we on?". This week was like emerging from that dark tunnel into the bright light, knowing that rehearsals in future are going to be fun. And that, after all, is what it's all about!
It's also the time to start building in bits of 'business' and experimenting with characterisations. A couple of examples:
We'd already decided that the maid, Nellie, is attracted to all the male characters and, while we won't always see it, we know that she will flirt with them given the opportunity. So, at a point where Lord Arthur and his butler were sharing a private moment alone - one that could be misconstrued by an outsider - it was a great opportunity for Nellie to act outraged and jealous: a great performance by Jill. For all of us in the room it was a truly funny moment - and got better with repeats. Moments like this, when you know you've found a dramatic and comic moment through real character interaction, rather than slapstick, or farce, are when you know that the play should be a success (up until that point, it's just a hope, based upon expectations of the script and the fine actors that you are working with).
In another scene, things were looking a little flat. Lord Arthur was worried about having to commit a murder and sought the advice of his butler, Baines. The scene was a bit flat and lifeless until we realised that Arthur could easily be looking forward to performing his crime. With that knowledge, Arthur's actions and Baines reactions both sprung into life and gave the scene a zip which was previously missing.
The blocking rehearsals are always a bit depressing for me. It's 2 weeks of mechanical drudgery - or that's how it feels - but wholly necessary - and you wonder if the actors will spend the whole 11 weeks dropping their props and saying "errr, which line/page/scene are we on?". This week was like emerging from that dark tunnel into the bright light, knowing that rehearsals in future are going to be fun. And that, after all, is what it's all about!
Wednesday, 26 March 2008
Blocking
When you first rehearse a play, in the am-dram world, at least, the main task is to complete the "blocking". In general terms, this means getting the basic shape of the play ironed out, so that the actors know more or less where they will be standing at any particular time, which entrances and exits they will use, etc.
Professional companies nowadays tend, I believe, to let the blocking emerge in a gradual basis over the first half of the rehearsal period, as an organic outcome from each character's actions. Each time I direct a play, I think that I will start trying to push our little amateur company in the same sort of direction, but I never quite manage it. Apart from the time factor (we have two rehearsals a week, 2.5 hours on Tuesday and 3 hours on Sunday, whereas professional companies have a 37 or 40 hour week!) there's also an understandable reluctance on the part of amateur actors to approach rehearsals from that direction.
[One day I'd like to persuade a handful of people to take a whole week off work and we'll prepare a one-act play in that time... One day...]
So, now we've finished blocking the action for our little escapade and we have an overall structure which I think will work successfully. Now we'll spend the next 2 or 3 weeks consolidating what we've done and polishing sections (around 10 pages at a time). I'm hoping that this is where the exciting things happen. It's now that we start to put in business and really start building the characters.
Professional companies nowadays tend, I believe, to let the blocking emerge in a gradual basis over the first half of the rehearsal period, as an organic outcome from each character's actions. Each time I direct a play, I think that I will start trying to push our little amateur company in the same sort of direction, but I never quite manage it. Apart from the time factor (we have two rehearsals a week, 2.5 hours on Tuesday and 3 hours on Sunday, whereas professional companies have a 37 or 40 hour week!) there's also an understandable reluctance on the part of amateur actors to approach rehearsals from that direction.
[One day I'd like to persuade a handful of people to take a whole week off work and we'll prepare a one-act play in that time... One day...]
So, now we've finished blocking the action for our little escapade and we have an overall structure which I think will work successfully. Now we'll spend the next 2 or 3 weeks consolidating what we've done and polishing sections (around 10 pages at a time). I'm hoping that this is where the exciting things happen. It's now that we start to put in business and really start building the characters.
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