AYLI, rehearsal 10: BANISHMENT (1.3), et al.

Another good rehearsal!

Started off with BANISHMENT (1.3): no problems there, short scene, clear intentions, no ambiguities or 400-year-old jokes to deal with. Did a little blocking, which at this point (still on-book, no set) I tend to ignore or avoid, but I had a vision.

Next, ARDEN ARRIVAL (2.4). Chas — whom most cast members have not had a chance to get to know — is a theater virgin, but his Sylvius is solid and (much like Chas himself) endearing. Alexander is an old pro, and his meticulous approach to Corin works. Did some more blocking…

One thing I’m looking forward to when the set is built is that it will take up so much of the stage that the actors won’t be able to do their upstage migration thing. COME DOWNSTAGE AND SHARE WITH THE AUDIENCE YOU COWARDS.

Hey, did I see glimmers of Touchstone’s stand-up persona peeking out? Well done, Amanda!

Again, not a real subtle scene, so we moved on and slipped in PHOEBE (3.5), since Julia missed the earlier scheduled rehearsal of that scene because I’m an idiot.

As a director I generally do not do readthroughs at the first rehearsal, especially not with Shakespeare: it’s like being back in 9th-grade lit and it’s not productive. However, I’ve found that for individual scenes where there’s a lot going on, it helps to sit down and read through it in a relaxed setting, then get on our feet and work.

One amazing thing about AYLI is how the women just take over the stage. Mostly this is because the only real “conflict” in the show (after we get into the TAZ) is when a female character is engaged with getting what she wants or avoiding what she doesn’t want. Touchstone just makes jokes; Jaques just makes speeches; Orlando just hangs around.

At any rate, the give and take between Rosalind and Phoebe is delicious. Sorry, Celia, I’ll watch you next time.

(I am a little amused that, given my thoughts on using Southern yokel accents for the yokels in the Forest, I seem to have cast two actors in Sylvius and Phoebe for whom Southern is not their native tongue. Oh well.)

We wrapped up with ORLANDO IS GROSS (3.4) and didn’t really have time to explore it fully. (Note to Celia: I think the word I was looking for last night is “humoring”: Celia is humoring Rosalind, just agreeing with whatever she’s said. She’s doing it consciously, though, acknowledging Rosalind’s whirligig emotions.)