Nuns are frequently the subject of ridicule, both by those of the Catholic faith and non-members. In fact, when searching for a picture to accompany this blog, it was difficult to find one that did not depict nuns doing decidedly un-nun-like things: smoking, riding motorcycles, giving obscene gestures, wearing lingerie, etc. I suppose the idea of nuns is so serious that people cannot help but find the humor in them.

When I initially saw an article entitled “Shakespeare’s Sister,” I did not think of a member of a religious order; instead, I braced myself for yet another book or play that imagined the life of Will from Stratford as told by someone close to him. I’ve recently blogged about re-imagined histories from his wife and dog, so anything is possible. When I found out the article was a memory piece about a young girl’s education in Ireland, I readied myself for some played-out nun stereotypes.

Instead, this lovely memory piece was less about the sisterhood and more about teaching and inspiration. The nun in question had a passion for Shakespeare and riveted her students with her own interpretation of the title role in Hamlet. She even took her students to a professional production, and the experience clearly galvanized the writer of the article. I’m not saying nuns can’t be funny. This one certainly was, among many other things that helped inspire her students to love Shakespeare.

Nope, not doing Hamlet either! The title of this post was inspired by the fact that several cast and crew members, families and friends, all went to see the Idaho Repertory Theatre’s production of Twelfth Night yesterday. What an amazing show it was! Set in the 1980s, which was MY decade of adolescence, the IRT included tons of great 80s music, hairstyles, clothes (including the IZOD alligator on boatloads of polo shirts), and even Duke Orsino holding a boom box up at Olivia, a great reminder of John Cusack/Lloyd Dobler in Say Anything!

Considering the fact that I prefer Shakespeare set in more “traditional” times and places (yes, I know that “traditional” has a billion different meanings when it comes to adapting Shakespeare, so it’s not really necessary to correct me or tell me that when Shakespeare was around, plays weren’t set in “traditional” settings either. I’m just saying what I prefer - you know, my opinion!), some of my students and even my husband were all surprised that I enjoyed this “painfully 80s” version of Twelfth Night. I’m sure a lot of my enjoyment came simply from the fact that it was a walk down memory lane for me. Had it been set in the 60s or 70s, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it nearly as much - those decades don’t mean anything to me, personally.

But beyond the setting, what I enjoyed about it is that the actors had a wonderful grasp of the language, which was something my actors needed to hear for themselves. I can tell them, over and over again, to slow their lines down, enunciate more clearly, project, play up the antithesis and imagery, etc., etc., but what was more meaningful for them was to watch a professional group of actors speaking Shakespeare…and doing it really well!

In addition, the IRT company of players makes Shakespeare FUN! How can a female Feste, dressed as a cross between Madonna and Cyndi Lauper not be fun, especially when she’s partying with Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew Aguecheek (who, remarkably, did his entire character with a hilarious Ricky Ricardo Cuban accent, wavy blonde hair, and made his first entrance onto the stage on a motor scooter!) to tunes like “We’re Not Gonna Take It”! I realize that everything I just wrote sounds oddly heretical, and I hope the Bard isn’t rolling over in his grave (honestly, I suspect Will would have encouraged the insanity, saying, “Couldn’t he ride the motor scooter through the audience instead? That would be awesome!”). But wouldn’t Shakespeare want his plays to be enjoyed by teenagers in the 21st century, rather than dreaded? I know that when the younger kids that saw the play get to our 11th grade World Literature class and “have to” read Twelfth Night, they will say, “That was great - remember when Malvolio came out in yellow cross-gartered parachute pants, dancing like Michael Jackson???” They’ll actually know the plot and the characters because the IRT did such a great job of showing them that Shakespeare can be fun.

So if you decide to direct a play someday, whether it be Shakespeare or another playwright, try to arrange a trip to a local theater to see a play. Maybe you won’t luck out and get to see the exact same play that you’re directing (last year we saw Much Ado…the same summer we did Much Ado…talk about perfect timing!), but it really doesn’t matter. What’s important for your cast is that they get the chance to see professional actors (or good amateurs) doing what they themselves are trying to do. Talk to your cast after the show or at your next rehearsal and ask them what they noticed about the performance. All of my cast noticed what amazing projection Sir Toby had - good heavens, I think people across town probably heard him! And he wasn’t screaming or yelling…he was projecting. There’s a big difference, and it’s hard to teach, so look for opportunities to show rather than talk about it. The other thing that is helpful for them to see is comic timing. Good timing in comedy is essential, and the IRT actors were amazing, particularly in the scene where Sir Andrew is supposed to be challenging Cesario/Viola to a duel, but he doesn’t want to fight anymore than she does. I wish everyone out there could see that scene - it was hilarious and it was such a great example of awesome comic timing.

Good DVDs of the plays are the next best thing…but not necessarily the movie versions. I adore all of Branagh’s films, as well as other Shakespearean plays that have been turned into major motion pictures, but the problem with those is that they aren’t stage plays. They’re good and exciting and fun to watch, but you’re trying to get your cast to think like stage actors, not film actors, and there is a difference, particularly when dealing with Shakespeare. So look for the Plays of William Shakespeare series, or the BBC-Time-Life Films series, The Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare. Those are excellent substitutes if you don’t have a local university, college, or community theater available. No matter what, though, make it fun for your kids…show them that Shakespeare is still considered amazing and great for a reason!

I’m such a moron…I just have to say this because I did not do the one thing I said was critical to any director’s sanity and well-being…I did NOT procure a stage manager. But, come on…how bad can it be? I mean, good grief, what exactly is a stage manager?

Well, according to theater.about.com, a stage manager is “the director’s right-hand man prior to performance. They keep track of rehearsal schedules, scripts, props, and actors during the rehearsal process. Once the run of the show has begun, the Stage Manager is in control of everything that happens backstage or onstage.” As Will Smith would say, “I gotta get me one of those!” Unfortunately, three weeks before opening night is not the time to be shopping for a stage manager!

I think I suffer from a rather typical female attitude that “I can just do it myself.” I really hate to put anyone out, so I’ll just go ahead and handle it…how bad can it be, really? I also think that, prior to the last couple of rehearsals, I had forgotten what last year was like, as we neared the end of the rehearsal stage. I had forgotten how much information has to be written down and given to the cast and crew; meetings that need to occur; music that needs to be decided on; props and set furniture that need to be purchased or borrowed…now it’s all hit me in the face and I’m kind of reeling from the stupidity that caused me to decide, back in May or June, that I could handle it again without an SM.

So…what am I going to do? Well, to be honest, I don’t think there’s anything much I can do. A stage manager needs to work with the director from the start, in order to have a real understanding of the director’s vision. He or she needs to have kept careful track of all the entrances and exits, the movements on stage, in a special copy of the script called a prompt book. Using that prompt book, the SM then “calls the show,” or manages the production from backstage during the entire run of the play…while the director sits in the audience and calmly watches her baby (the production, or…the 24 babies in the cast that have grown up over 10 weeks) do it all on their own.

So, is there any good news in this particular post?  Actually, yes, there is.  I have two parents who have volunteered to be backstage managers during the performances, so as long as I have a clear script for them to follow (a prompt book that I’m going to try to create from the jumble of notes in my own script), they will do a wonderful job of keeping everything moving. One of these kind ladies managed backstage last year for me, and the other did the same for her husband’s production of And Then There Were None that our troupe did this past spring.  I know the show is in capable hands!

In addition, I have a responsible props crew, ready and willing to do my bidding with regards to transporting, setting up, organizing, packing up, etc., etc., all the props and furniture we’ll be using in the show. And did you see the picture I put in at the beginning of this post? This gorgeous photo was taken by Petruchio’s dad, a former professional photographer, who is doing all of our photography this year for free (yes, he does have a vested interest in this production, with two sons in the show, but he would have done it anyway, I’m sure!).

Today we had our first run-through of the entire play with no scripts…everyone had to be off-book.  It was scary and stressful for us all, and was a good way to light a fire under the kids who simply are not ready yet (that would be most of them, by the way).  But as the kids were stumbling through their lines, one of my backstage managers was there, giving them needed line-prompts, through the entire three-hour rehearsal.  My point is that despite the fact that I made a big mistake by not getting an SM for this production, I do know that it will all work out.  Yes, it will be a more stressful three weeks for me than it needed to be, but I definitely think I’ve learned my lesson.  And the wonderful thing is that I know the parents are there for me, ready and willing to help all they can to make this a successful experience for their kids and for the school.

I have always been a movie buff, from the time I was a little kid. I remember my mom taking me to see Disney’s Robin Hood at the theater (you know, the one where Robin Hood and Marian are foxes, and Prince John is a thumb-sucking lion…PJ? PJ! Oh, I like that…Hiss, put it on my luggage!). And I remember going to my first drive-in movie with my brother - Young Frankenstein.  Probably not the best movie for a 6-year-old to watch - I believe a lot of the humor was lost on me until later years!

But movies have always been important to me and played a big part in my life…especially historical epics!  Oh, my…that year that both Braveheart and Rob Roy came out?!?!  I thought I’d died and gone to historical cinema heaven! And, of course, being a huge Shakespeare/Elizabethan buff, I adore movies like Elizabeth and Shakespeare in Love.

But what on earth does this have to do with Staging Shakespeare? Well, one thing that has been very helpful, not only to my cast but also to the students in my English classes, is to teach Shakespeare’s plays utilizing good film versions of the plays. Of course, when I teach Henry V to my 8th graders, we watch the Branagh film - read one act, watch the act; read the next act, watch that act, etc. When I teach Hamlet, we watch bits of both the Gibson and the Branagh films, and when I teach Macbeth, I’ve found that I prefer the BBC version of the play with Nicol Williamson (remember him as Merlin in Excalibur?) over the Ian McKellen/Judi Dench play, although I like to show scenes from both. (Speaking of Excalibur - Here’s some trivia for you - Cherie Lunghi, who played Guenevere, also did a fabulous Beatrice in the BBC’s Much Ado About Nothing! Kind of cool that two Excalibur cast members also did some mean Shakespeare!)

So back in May and June, when the weather here was icky and we couldn’t start rehearsing outside, our cast spent a great deal of time working on the text - reading parts aloud; figuring out what various words and phrases meant; determining what their characters might be thinking and feeling at any given moment. Once we were finished, we would watch whatever scenes we had worked on that day from the BBC version of Shrew, with John Cleese as Petruchio. Talk about a HOOT! John Cleese is just a great actor anyway, but seeing him come in for his wedding to Katharina, dressed in some hideous burlap-type vest, no shirt on underneath, but an enormous yellow sunflower stuck to the vest…and a hat with the longest feathers sticking out in front of it…I could go on…I won’t…except to mention that Grumio had some weird face painted on his bare belly, under a very similar ensemble as that of Petruchio’s! The kids loved it, and they saw some really outstanding acting in the process. We also watched the Richard Burton/Elizabeth Taylor film version, which is such an enjoyable movie, especially when you consider that Burton and Taylor were married at the time they made the movie…it definitely created quite the dynamic for their performances!

Using film versions of the plays seems almost like a no-brainer, really. In this day and age of audio and visual technology, why wouldn’t a teacher or director want to use film to help their students really get into Shakespeare? The only downside I can see is that you don’t ever want your actors to feel like they have to play a part exactly like some famous actor did it. I was hesitant about showing the Branagh Much Ado last year, simply because I didn’t want anyone to feel like there was only one way to play these characters. But I also showed them the BBC version (the one with Cherie Lunghi as Beatrice) in order to demonstrate that there are definitely different ways of approaching the characters, the scenery, the costumes, the everything of putting together a stage production…as long as you don’t deviate from Shakespeare’s text!

Just a suggestion, too, concerning those BBC plays - If you look for them on Amazon or other commercial websites, you’ll probably only find them available to purchase as sets - all of the comedies, all of the histories, or even all 37 plays in one huge bundle. If you are interested in buying them individually, go to the Folger Library website - www.folger.edu - and you can purchase them through their gift shop, one at a time. I’ve slowly been building my collection this way, purchasing the ones I need for school or for whatever plays I am considering directing in the future.

And finally…a little ritual that I started last summer as our production neared completion and we were almost to Opening Night. When I start to worry about the play coming together, actors learning their lines, costumes being finished, sets being painted, but I know I’ve done everything I can do and it’s up to the kids, I pop in my copy of Shakespeare in Love.  If I have time, I’ll watch the whole film, but sometimes I’m just too tired to stay up and watch it after my children are in bed, so instead, I will skip to the scene where Will’s Romeo and Juliet is about to start.  Henslowe’s tailor, playing the Chorus, is stuttering backstage, and Will looks like he would rather slit his wrists than let the play go on.  Then the Chorus gets pushed out onto the stage, and it almost appears that he won’t be able to get the words out…but suddenly, his voice is perfect, exclaiming, “Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona where we lay our scene….” I absolutely love that entire part of the movie, where they show what it might have been like the very first time R&J was on the stage…except, of course, where a gorgeous Gwyneth Paltrow saves the day! And then, when the play is over, and the audience just sits there, like they didn’t know what hit them…until finally, thunderous applause and ovations! Ah, yes…it helps me sleep better that night!

My two set designers/artists extraordinaire got our stage design planned out a few weeks ago, measured our stage space, and decided that because we have such a large area to cover, it would be easiest for them (and probably better for the group, financially) to paint our backdrops on muslin material and hang them from the roof of the stage.  So I looked on the Internet, found a theater supply place where I could order huge quantities of muslin material (10 yards x 140″ wide - Rose Brand is the name of the company), and we got the material last week.  The boys know they need to have it finished by July 20th, at the very latest, because Opening Night is July 29th (but to avoid my blood pressure shooting through the top of my head, I suggested that, perhaps, they could try for July 15th - they thought that was a good idea!).

Last year, I panicked a bit…the painting of the backdrops wasn’t progressing as quickly as I might have liked it to, so I actually ordered the large, canvas backdrop that you can see in the picture above (to the left of Hero, in her wedding dress).  But it wasn’t long enough to cover our entire backstage area, so our artists continued the painting from the backdrop on to side panels made out of foam board - they even gave me the little chapel you can see above, behind evil Don John, all in black! In the picture below, you can see the extension to the left of the backdrop, behind our Sexton, sitting at her table, taking Dogberry’s testimony.

This year, I know that my artists will get the job done.  One of them is actually acting in the play this year, and so I know he definitely does not want to be performing in front of a half-finished backdrop!  However, even if he weren’t in the play, I’ve come to trust these two young men, much as I’m learning to trust my actors - I know they will get the job done.

I’m really excited to see what they do with the design, though.  This year, rather than just a straight, flat backdrop behind the actors, they are having to be more creative because of the need for windows (the Pedant looks out of a window in Act IV, and Petruchio and Grumio also show up at Hortensio’s house in Act II - I’d like it to look somewhat like a real house, with a door for him to enter through). There is also the issue of the frame story - a troupe of traveling actors show up in front of a tavern, ready to put on a play for the Noble Lord (in our case, Lady) and the tricked tinker, Christopher Sly. So I believe the plan is to have one set of drapes, painted with the outside of a tavern, but then have those drapes pull back to reveal the set for Shrew.

Once they have it painted and hanging from the stage roof, I will take tons of pictures and post them on our website…in the meantime, you’re going to have to trust me that it is going to be AMAZING!

As I believe I’ve said before, I don’t know what I would have done last summer if it hadn’t been for the plethora of outstanding books out there on directing plays, especially those that are specifically about directing Shakespearean plays.  Ultimately, I would have been up a creek without the proverbial paddle as I would not have had a clue where to start, how to continue, nor how to finish up a production.  One of the most important aspects of any play is blocking, and prior to reading said books, the term “blocking” only had something to do with felt-making or other textile arts, in the back of my very fuzzy memory banks!

The kind of blocking that a director has to be concerned about is the movement and positioning of actors on the stage that will facilitate the performance of the play (thanks, Wikipedia, for that definition!). Sometimes, as one is watching a play, it may seem that the actors are just moving where it feels natural, or where the mood strikes them at the time. Nope…Just about everything you see on stage has already been choreographed by the director and rehearsed that way by the actors. The goal is to have it look as natural as possible - as if they are just doing it on the spur of the moment.

One thing I learned in my Shakespeare-directing books is that you don’t necessarily want to create the blocking too early in the rehearsal process. Because of the importance of your cast understanding the language so they can communicate that understanding to the audience, you want to wait until they really know what they’re saying so that they can help figure out the blocking along the way…and they can understand why you might not want a certain character to be downstage during a key moment when that character would naturally be lurking somewhere else.  The beauty of directing and acting Shakespeare is that Will was an actor, before he ever wrote any plays, and so when he did take up the quill, he knew what to have the actors say in their lines in order to ”facilitate the performance of the play” - blocking!

One book in particular that I’ve been re-reading for ideas and suggestions is Mastering Shakespeare: An Acting Class in Seven Scenes, by Scott Kaiser.  In this book, Mr. Kaiser (or Mr. Kay) teaches seven different important aspects of acting Shakespeare to a fictional class of actors.  The book is written like a play, with dialogue between the students and the teacher.  This approach makes the book an interesting read, as well as incredibly helpful to anyone preparing to act or direct Shakespeare.  The one aspect that I’m particularly interested in right now is the idea of the speech measure, or the chunk of text that communicates a single idea to the audience.  It can be as brief as “O!” or as long as “How art thou out of breath when thou hast breath/To say to me that thou art out of breath”?  This particular concept is super important for actors to be aware of as they need to make sure each speech measure is clear to the audience before continuing on to the next…and successful blocking can help the actors do just that!

Last year, I felt like one of our best scenes in Much Ado was Act III, scene 2, specifically the part where Don John is telling Claudio that Hero has been unfaithful to him.  One of the reasons this was such an effective scene was the fact that we blocked Claudio actually punching Don John when he is told that Hero is “every man’s Hero.”  But even before that very cool bit of blocking (that my actors figured out on their own…awesome!), Don John managed to convey a great deal of information to the audience through his clear speech measures.  I had people come to me afterward and say, “I totally got what he was saying with, ‘I know not that, when he knows what I know.’”  It was because our Don John didn’t rush through his words, or the ideas being conveyed, just to get the dialogue finished.  And recent rehearsals have shown that this same actor (Gremio this time around) is doing this, seemingly naturally as I haven’t mentioned this idea since our initial read-throughs.

Funny how I just realized that I keep talking about text issues - speech measures, meaning - but the post is supposed to be about blocking.  I just can’t help but talk about the text - It’s so important for understanding Shakespeare that it has to go hand in hand with anything else you do!  Otherwise you can have a ton of great blocking…and an audience who doesn’t have a clue what’s going on!  Not good!!

For some very funny theater definitions - especially the ones for “blocking” and “blocking rehearsal” - check the link below - Enjoy!

http://www.communitytheater.org/humor/dictionary.htm

Not to make light of what Thomas Paine was writing about, but this quote is what first popped into my mind tonight as I contemplated what to write about the last two rehearsals.  What?!? All is not sweetness, light, and perfection in the world of theatre?!? How shocking, I know! Time for a bit of catharsis for myself, and hopefully, some good advice for would-be directors out there!

As our school’s principal is constantly reminding me, I’m working with teenagers (and a few 11 and 12-year-olds), not adults. Pre-teens and teens have their own views on life, responsibility, priorities…and as surprising as it may be, learning Shakespearean lines during their summer vacation just doesn’t strike the same chord with them as it might to me (bear in mind that I’m not even the one having to learn the lines!!!). There are times that I find myself truly expecting them to act like adults…maybe it’s the fact that most of them are rapidly growing taller than I ever will, and so I just assume that with height comes maturity. WRONG!  So if the shoes come off the feet and begin flying at wasps’ nests, or as in the case of today, I have to tell people to stop trying to impale their scripts with the swords (and quit touching props if they’re not your props…oh my goodness, when will that particular lesson ever be learned???), should I really be surprised or upset?  No, because they’re kids…teenagers…who have chosen to give up a good chunk of their summer vacation to do Shakespeare.  Yeah…weird!

Now, does that mean that I don’t have the right to expect them to behave, listen, and do their darndest to learn those lines?  Of course I do!  They all signed on to this project, of their own free will (even though my Gremio will claim that he only did this because I said I’d give him a donut if he would be in the play…yeah, well, he just needs to learn to not be sucked in by pastries!), and 90% of them were in last year’s play.  They knew what to expect and what I would expect. But if I can’t forgive them and love them through it all, then I have no business directing a play for kids…or, in my opinion, for anyone.

One of my students gave me an amazing book this past Christmas called King of Shadows. I won’t describe the plot in detail, as I don’t want to give any of it away (if you have any interest at all in Shakespeare or the theatre, I highly recommend it!), but it is about an American theatre troupe made up entirely of boys that goes to London to perform at the Globe. The story describes the troupe as a family, and it is emphasized to all of the players that they have to develop trust in one another as a family does.  Does that mean that a family is perfect, or that members of said family won’t screw up from time to time and need to be forgiven?  All of us know the answer to that question!  A family is going to mess up and hurt one another, but you work through it and go on and just try harder the next day.  That is what I want for my Highland Players…to know that, no matter what happens, they will be loved and appreciated.  I might want to throttle them in the process, and I might have to bark at them if they’re goofing off with the swords (leave the squirrels alone, Grumio!), but that won’t ever change how much I love them all.

So, potential directors reading this, what do I recommend on the days when it feels like nothing is going right, there are only 28 days until opening night (but who’s counting?), your actors were all supposed to have Acts I-III memorized and it is clear that they all don’t?  Be honest with them.  I had to make my actors reaffirm their choice to be in the play today - I told them to go meet in a group and decide if we were even going to continue with this project, because at that point, I was ready to go home and not come back.  I even had to tell my framework story actors that I could very easily take the framework completely out of the play if they didn’t step up and learn their lines and their cues - that I was not about to let the framework ruin the rest of the play. You may have to yell to get their attention, but be careful what words you choose - don’t say anything that could be truly damaging to individual people - try to remember what it’s like to be a teenager.

But once you’ve yelled, scolded, chided, and cried (which I almost did today), remember what they’ve done that is good. Once my players said they were sorry and still wanted to do the play, we started the rehearsal over again, from the very beginning of the play, rather than trying to do Act III again.  I wanted them to have a feeling of success after the scolding they received, and so I went back to what I figured would make them feel the most comfortable.  Was it perfect? Of course not, but I wasn’t expecting perfection. I could see substantial improvement in these scenes since the last time we worked on them (last week), and I was especially impressed with the level of understanding that was coming through their lines today - yesterday I told them that they needed to start making these lines conversational, rather than rote recitations, and by golly, that’s what they did.

Just remember that they really do listen to you…they really do care…or they wouldn’t be there. Sometimes it just takes some raw emotion on your part to make them demonstrate it in a tangible way.  They have to know that you care, not only about the play, but most importantly, about them.

Okay…I have to admit that this blog post is a pick-me-up for myself, so honestly…feel free to stop reading at any point!

Now that we’ve had some on-stage rehearsals, I can begin to see the “light at the end of the tunnel,” so to speak.  I am starting to get those cool visions of what the end-product might look like…what I’m pretty sure it’s going to look like…and my cast is getting excited to see the same vision.  Yesterday I was able to explain more about the framework story, and we could all see how the story being watched by Christopher Sly and the Noble is mirrored by Petruchio and Katharina watching the same story for part of a scene.  Of course, I got so excited that I was gesticulating wildly, doing my “Excited About Shakespeare” dance that the kids have come to recognize…as my Biondello pointed out, “And Mrs. Bogut is going insane…”

So, as I begin to feel that adrenaline - as I recognize that we’ve hit the point where the momentum is building toward a completed product - I began to remember what rehearsals last summer were like.  I remembered one rehearsal in particular, as we were nearing completion and opening night was only about a week away.  Because the days were getting shorter as we approached September, it felt like our rehearsals were running later and later.  I think we were all getting tired, and working at the park after dark was taking its toll.  Now, because our shows were starting at 6:00 and ending around 9:00, we had to get used to the sun going down and the effects of stage lighting, so it was necessary to be there after dark.  But one night in particular seemed especially trying.  I was having difficulty with my Beatrice, who had the habit of turning her head to speak to Benedick in Act IV, scene 1, rather than facing the audience as I had been directing her to do.  Part of the problem was that it was simply habit, but another difficulty was that Benedick was not coming far enough downstage (as he had been directed to do) for her to see him.  It is odd having a conversation with someone you can’t see, so I can understand why this was hard.  But I needed to see them do it correctly, so I made them go through it one more time.

I believe I started them at Benedick’s line, “Lady Beatrice, have you wept all this while?”, after Hero and the rest of the wedding party have left the stage.  Now, this is the part in the Branagh/Thompson film that always chokes me up…Beatrice’s frustration at not being able to do something about Claudio’s horrible treatment of her cousin, simply because she’s a woman…her agony over Hero’s ruined reputation (and life, back in those days)…but thus far in our rehearsals, I hadn’t hit that emotional point with what my actors were doing.  Not that they weren’t doing well - my goodness, I was amazed all the time over how well they were doing!  But there were always little bugs to work out along the way, so my attention was usually diverted by what I wanted to tell them to tweak later.  Not this time, though…This time, Benedick moved downstage where he needed to be, Beatrice looked at him and the audience (I never saw the back of her head!)…but even that wasn’t the clencher!  It was the fact that they both somehow connected…not only with one another, which was difficult at times (these two actors were buddies in real life, not romantically interested in one another, and it was a stretch to play these characters at this point in the play), but they connected with their characters and the scene and the emotions like I hadn’t seen yet.  Quite simply, the way they did that scene told me with certainty that our production would be amazing…not just some amateur theatrical attempt, but a real success.  I know that probably sounds far-fetched, but I just knew it in my gut.  I was so choked up, I couldn’t even give direction when they got done.  I had to just sit there with tears in my eyes and tell them how wonderful they were.

I’ve posted this clip from our second night’s performance…I hope you enjoy it as much as I still do, every time I watch it!

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!

There are times, even in the most serious of life’s events, that one wishes desperately that one had a blooper reel. A running tape of all of the insane accidents, funny mistakes, and crazy antics of life…or, in the case of an acting troupe, a remembrance on film of just how bizarre and hilarious rehearsals can end up being!

How I wish I had a blooper reel from last summer! What would be on it, you ask, if I had had a camera magically rolling at every ridiculous moment? Hmmm…at one point, if you were watching said blooper reel from Much Ado rehearsals of 2007, you would see a group of excited teenage boys, pulling their shoes off as they ran across the park to a tree where a big wasps’ nest had just been spotted. Then you would see shoes flying through the air at the nest, angry wasps coming out of the nest, and the same teenage boys running around saying, “That was AWESOME!” (Miraculously, no one was injured in the filming of this…oh, yeah, there was no filming…drat!)

You would also hear line after line after line from Monty Python and the Holy Grail being quoted, usually after I made the mistake of saying how much I would like more shrubberies on the set (”a nice one…not too expensive!”).  And probably not funny to me at the time, but would be funny later on a blooper reel, was when I dumped out a prop pitcher, full of what I thought was water onto our stage…only to discover that someone had poured root beer into the pitcher so that the actors could have a little treat during rehearsal.  I’m sure the look on my face was classic…just ask the students that got chewed out for it!

What made me think of a blooper reel was yesterday’s rehearsal of a couple of scenes in Act IV of Shrew. We were working on scene 3, where Katharina is begging Grumio to give her just a little something to eat, and Grumio is teasing Katharina and doing exactly what Petruchio would want him to do. Our Grumio asked if he could sit on the dining table, like the actor in the BBC version that we’ve been watching does, and I said sure. Our Katharina asked if she could then push Grumio off the table, so of course, I said yes! So Grumio is up there, giving Katharina a bad time, and when she gives her line - “Go, get thee gone, thou false deluding slave…” - she shoves him off the table, he rolls and lands with a huge thud, and then Katharina can’t stop laughing…and neither could I!  Between Katharina, Baptista (who also couldn’t stop giggling) and the director, the rest of the rehearsal was pretty much just one big laugh-riot!

As I mentioned in my last post, I was beginning to wonder why these rehearsals were feeling so stale…so blah…and I was worrying that this wasn’t going to have the magic that last summer had. I asked a couple of my actors how I could improve the rehearsals, and they reminded me how much better it got once we started blocking and moving around on the stage, even if the lines weren’t down yet. I think they’re right - I think I spent too much time, trying to make us do book work at the table, when the magic that happens in a production happens on the stage. It’s the blooper-reel moments that bring these plays to life, and give the actors energy and enthusiasm to work with as they begin to understand their characters. Even though the book work has to be done for them to understand the text, it should be interspersed with moments on a stage, any stage (even if it’s just the parking lot outside of the school), moving around and getting to know themselves and the characters/actors they will be interacting with.

So, let the blooper-reel moments happen…get your actors off the page and onto a stage…try to keep them away from wasps’ nests, and do explain the importance of only having water on the stage (root beer + hot summer weather = more wasps building nests!!!!!)…Help them understand the text, but also help them understand how much fun this whole, crazy adventure in theatre can be!