Staging Shakespeare: 7 Weeks Until Opening Night?!?
Wednesday, June 18th by Jen
Before I begin my post, I’d like to thank Karen’s Whimsy (http://karenswhimsy.com/taming-of-the-shrew.shtm) for the great public domain pictures she has provided on her website. If you’re looking for pictures from Shakespeare’s plays, or just about anything else for that matter, check her website! It’s a treat to browse! 
As my cast members were told this past week, we only have seven weeks left until opening night of Shrew. I think this may have come as a bit of a shock to all involved, including myself! Having spent 3-1/2 months last summer on Much Ado, only spending a grand total of about 10 weeks on Shrew seems a bit…INSANE!! Particularly when I’ve been feeling as if things were progressing rather slowly, I think I may have hit “panic mode” a bit too soon - which, for me, translates into sleepless nights worrying that the actors won’t get their lines memorized in time!
Then we had our first “real-stage” rehearsal yesterday. The weather finally turned nice enough for us to be outside on the stage that we will use for our performances, and I have to tell you that there is real truth in the idea of “getting Shakespeare off the page and onto the stage!” The actors were more animated, more excited, and definitely ready to be out of my classroom at the school!
And how, pray tell, did this first stage-rehearsal go? Well, it’s still rusty, of course. The actors are still staring at the scripts, even when other actors are giving their lines, which is something I need to really start addressing. It’s important that they be engaged in what other people are saying on stage from the very beginning of the rehearsal period - it helps them stay in character anytime they’re on the stage, and also helps them be in the habit of looking interested in what the other actors are talking about (which gets more and more difficult, the more they hear the play over and over and over again!)! As our Katharina began her long monologue at the end of Act V, several of my actors sank to the ground, heaved exaggerated sighs, and proceeded to look as if they were going to take a nap during her speech! Wrong! I told all of them that they need to begin considering how important this speech is to all of the characters on stage…to Baptista, who is hearing that her daughter’s troubled ways are mended; to Bianca, who is being lectured and upstaged at her own wedding feast; even to the servants on stage who have suffered at the wrath and hands of Katharina in the past! And especially Petruchio, who may be bold and blustering, but who (I believe) is secretly touched by his wife’s newfound dedication to him. At any rate, all of my actors have to start considering this so that they don’t look like zombies while Katharina is giving that beast of a monologue!
If you would like to see how part of our rehearsal went, check out the short clip I posted on You Tube - I hope you enjoy it!
