Bits and Bobs

Howdy! Ok, I've got lots of little bits of information to distribute...

Wednesday's Rehearsal
This went very well, we did a warm-up, watched people's scenes and worked on them. I think we generated a lot of good ideas and everyone was really focused.

One of the ideas I am excited about is the 'ripples of gesture' idea. We were talking about how to incorporate more gestures into the piece and came up with the idea that while other people/groups are doing their scenes, and a moment of homesickness is felt/spoken about, or one of the actors does the homesickness gesture, the rest of the perfomers can choose to do the gesture as well, so that it ripples about the space. This shouldn't be compulsory or synchronised, as some people will think certain moments epitomise homesickness, whereas others will not. Also, I keep thinking about gesture sequences - perhaps all the performers have 2 or 3 homesickness gestures that they can put together to form gesture sequences? A new gesture that we were using in connection to travelling which worked really well was 'the back-pack' (pretending you're hitching a back-pack up that's on your shoulder). We were also discussing the idea that Phillipa is the only performer who doesn't gesture becuase she is the liar. I'm not sure if this is too obvious a move for SC, but I think it would be interesting to play around with. Perhaps she has a gesture that demonstrates lying...

We gave individual feedback about the scenes on Wednesday, but one thing I will say is that in general everyone was too familiar and warm. The characters don't know each other, they're in a liminal space. While they're friendly and chatty, the reality is that there's this awkwardness, tension, uncertainty. The audience need to feel slightly on edge, so we need more awkward pauses, slower dialogue, nervous gestures. Also, I hope that some did their homework (!) and started a conversation with a stranger in a liminal space this weekend - useful AND amusing!

Rehearsal spaces and times for next week are:

Monday 6th, 5-7 Mirror Room.
Wednesday 8th, 5-7 Noh Theatre.
Thursday 9th, 3:30-5 Mirror Room.
Saturday 11th, 9-11 Studio Theatre. It is ESSENTIAL that EVERYONE attend this rehearsal. This is the only chance we will have to rehearse in the studio theatre and have a full tech run-through.

A final reminder that everyone should know their lines for Monday (for the individual scenes) and bring their slinkies if they have them.

Thanks guys!

Alice Hansen