Recap of Rehearsal Week One

By 2:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, the cast and I finished the large brush strokes of staging Act I. It's quite remarkable how staging a show, putting the action on the stage, can happen in so many ways. With this play, given the amount of preparation and thought I have given to the many images and events the occur, there is a lovely amount of play and freedom occurring in the rehearsal room. I like to think that this is because of the way I have structured the first week, but I know there are many more ingredients involved. The circular space invites movement and unusual relationships. The number of scenes instill a charged pace and a keen awareness to what has just happened and what comes next. The remarkable strengths of the team of actors to work as an ensemble. The individual strengths each actors brings to the floor. The absolute communal understanding that we are all telling this story together and it is the same story. And so, I feel relaxed and playful and proud of the work the actors are doing even so early in the game.

On the third rehearsal, we continued our reading of the play while charting the cardiogram of the story we are telling. We were finally able to articulate that journey of ups and downs in relation to Maggie's sense of self-worth, her ability to live freely vs. the opposite. Interestingly, Ali really locked into this idea as an a way to hook into the story of the witch. having this huge cardiogram on the wall will prove very helpful as we begin to work moments of the play. Seeing the story in front of us will keep us all on the same page. Most exciting this night, however, was the big surprise of doll-making. In this exercise, Brian diligently sewed together 15 dolls so that the actors could create dolls of their characters using mostly materials of the world. It was an opportunity to think about the characters. And we will use these dolls in rehearsal (and maybe some of them in the show!) But mostly, it was an opportunity to allow the cast to use their hands. I am interested in constantly creating series of surprises. I am interested in bringing out the whole artist in each of them. There are no limits and there are no set identities. They have thousands of possibilities. Daily, i wish to wake them up.

On the next night, we explored the relationship between the cello and movement. In order to create a dialogue between the actors and the cello, we must speak the same language. And so, the actors spent some time listening, then moving freely, eventually interacting, exploring ideas of tension, intimacy, elements etc... What we created was not just a response from actors, but it evolved into a dialogue. The cello responded to the actors and the ball was tossed back and forth. Ali said after the exercise, "that was the best score I ever played to." And then we began staging. I was nervous, I'll admit. After a year of a play begin in your head and on paper, getting up on our feet is a huge milestone. But because I have this wonderful giving and brave team of actors, they LEAPED onto the stage.

The idea of building an ensemble is quite different when the actors have all worked together before. And particularly when they have all trained together. I take pleasure in learning from them. I can see where their communal strengths lie, and I can harness their individual strengths so that they is a constant movement within them. What I intend to create is a world inside the rehearsal room. They are already an ensemble. They are becoming a culture.

At this morning's rehearsal, after our daily few minutes of dialect review, I left the room with SM and the AD and asked the actors to put on a show. They could use anything in the room and the show could be anything they wanted. And they had 15 minutes. It is so clear to me that they have caught the bug of the show. What I saw began from the moment the door opened. They filled the room with a new world, they established rules, they told a story, the used elements of costume, prop, set, sound, lighting. They know how to play and they have fun. And, luckily, so do I. This exercise was more like a warm-up, was meant to wake up our imaginations. And I needed to say nothing when it was over. I am learning how much more powerful actions can be.

The rehearsals have been slightly schizophrenic. I simply mean that I do ten things in a rehearsal instead of just one. I am happy to stop the stream of motion to tell a story. I want to be open to what they bring and respond as necessary. While we make these large staging brush strokes, new ideas for costumes and scenic and lighting pop up. This is when the process begins to grow exponentially. i know the designers see the rehearsal report at the end of each night and wonder what brought on some of these new ideas and also what causes changes to old ideas. They will will to embrace this new phase and I will do my best to articulate what happens in the room when they cannot be there. Now is when trust and collaboration is most important. I predict that within the next week, the show moves from two groups of collaborators with director in the middle, to one giant production.

This plan for this week is to continue giant brush strokes of Act II, allow for play, explore relationships, begin moment to moment work telling one story, begin looking at some of the combat and probably throw in a very rough stumble thru for the designers to see. I will remind myself of my old saying that Allegra Libonati taught me: "slowly, slowly and you will go far."

I will practice trust in myself and in the power of the story.