February 13th Rehearsal

Expect to see a bio here on the blog next week for our new Director Marie. Marie is working on Scapino for the Springville Playhouse but has generously taken on directing our group as well. She is a professional and knows how to keep us moving from where Carob and others have brought us. At our rehearsal Saturday she worked blocking exercises for several scenes where some physical comedy will bring smiles and laughter... She had some great ideas for our live statues who will show some actions and emotions to mirror and interact with characters and audience. Anyone else have a skinned knee? After Carob loosened us up with some animal impersonation exercises and Darin shared oranges and bananas, most of us were ready to let loose. 'Bigger' was the most frequently put advice. I heard a 'less feminine' in there more than once. So men, man up and ladies and gentlemen get more physically emotional, energetic and powerful. Since we are at a distance from much of the audience, facial expressions, while essential in helping us feel the emotion and convey emotion in our voice, will be hard to see. Since much of the language is unfamiliar to our modern audience, expressions in physical and audible emotion are our best tools for telling this story. My first experience with Shakespeare I was fascinated by and found respect for the playwright because I felt a shared humanity in a 400 year old story. The human emotional range of the characters while lifelike and believable as played by some great actors, was also 'big' and obvious. Once we understand the emotional content of our lines, we can start thinking about 'big' physical ways to convey how our character feels. Carob's assignment for us this week was to watch Fame. This is drama!