AYLI, rehearsal 13: BANISHMENT, etc.

At the Train Depot to avoid making noise during a performance of Farndale… Macbeth. We were startled to see it set up for a wedding reception tomorrow, but not a problem. We don’t require a lot of room, and of course we Left No Trace.

We welcomed Gary Pitts to the cast, who came to check out the role of Adam and left as Amiens, complete with all the songs.

BANISHMENT (1.3)

I asked Mariel to try letting Rosalind panic at her banishment and to maintain the stricken mood until her “Rosalind brain” kicks in and she decides to disguise herself as Ganymede. It worked, in keeping with our view of the Court as the A1 in our Hero’s Journey structure.

My revelation of the evening: Celia’s line “Wilt thou change fathers? I will give thee mine” never made much sense to me, until I realized tonight it was an attempt at humor; she’s trying to cheer Rosalind up.

This scene was already in good shape when it took an electrifying turn: John moved to strike Mariel after “My father was no traitor,” Embree grabbed his arm to stop him and was thrown to the ground next to Mariel. Heavens! Suddenly the Court was truly dangerous.

We went into a quick stage combat training mode, slow-mo, etc. Turn turn kick turn — yes, it will work! We’ll revisit it at fight training on Sunday.

GONE GIRLS (2.2)

Julia has assumed the role of Second Lord in this scene, and mercy is she scary! (We’re playing the two lords as players in the Court intrigue, and after First Lord’s namby-pamby lack of intel, Second Lord ups the ante with specific (if erroneous) info.)

John seems to spend a lot of time entering and exiting while ranting.

ORLANDO FLEES (2.3), ADAM FAINTS (2.6), only not

There were multiple ironies tonight. I had scheduled these scenes for late in the “first workthrough” sequence — indeed, we’ve already begun “second workthrough” on some scenes — because I figured it would take us this long to find an Adam. When no Adam had been found, I opened it up for Actor’s Choice. Then Gary appeared on the horizon (as well as a second Gary, whom I am still working on), so we had an Adam.

But then it transpired that Gary is a musician (fiddle, guitar, vocals), and his natural persona was more in tune with Amiens, so I switched gears and cast him there. The hunt for Adam continues.