American Shakespeare Center

It's officially my last week here at ASC and to be honest I almost can't believe how much I've learned. This last week I've gotten the chance to learn about taking blocking notes and it has been a really great experience. A great tip for blocking notes is write everything down. For a touring show they have to have multiple blocking options so that they can adjust to different spaces. For example when rehearsing in Tyson (the rehearsal hall) the actors walk through curtains, but when they are in the theatre upstairs where the shows are held during the spring season they have doors and they have to have different plans for different areas. It's been fascinating to do blocking notes because I have gotten the chance to see how movement differs, parallels and shapes different scenes. Blocking tells the story in its own way and it's amazing to watch it do that. For example today we worked on a scene between Mistress Ford and Mistress Page. Falstaff is hidden behind the center curtain in the discovery space in order to avoid Mistress Page seeing him, but Mistress Page knows he is there and is part of the trick that Mistress Ford is playing on him to get him back for trying to woo them. The blocking consists of a lot of back and forth movement around the buck-basket (laundry basket) which is the primary focus of the scene. They are running around trying to get Falstaff to appear out of the curtain so they can hide him in the buck-basket and send him to "Datchet Meade" with the dirty laundry. (What they really do is send him with two servants and dump him in the Thames) The movement of the scene shows the fun the women are having trying to trick him. It gives the audience a glimpse of the characters playfulness as they "act" their way through getting Falstaff into the basket. The women have the plan set up but the plan hasn't exactly been scripted out. It is so much fun to watch, and this is only in act one. I would talk about other blocking but I don't want to give away too many ASC secrets.

This company has been a really amazing company to work with and learn from. They are wonderfully professional and I have learned a lot in working with them. I definitely recommend this company for anyone who desires to work in the Shakespeare world one day. My advice though is this . . . show up to work ready to work. At ASC they put in 8 hours of hard work creating a quality play and everyone who shows up for work is there for a reason and is probably there because they are passionate about it, when you aren't ready or if you don't put a hundred percent into your job, they get behind and that's not good for them since they are extremely limited on time. Also know when to speak up and also how to speak up. If you decide to intern at ASC it's best to talk to your boss about your idea before blurting it out, that's not to say don't come up with ideas or don't talk to anyone about it. I came up with a few ideas talked to my boss and he presented them at the meetings, it's a better way to go as an intern because we have to remember that we are there to learn and observe first and foremost so it's better to lay low and observe how things get done before trying to change them. We have a lot of projects at school that we work on, on our own where we get artistic freedom. My last piece of advice for ASC (and this applies to any internship) is have fun, and don't be afraid to try something different for your internship. I once heard Dennis Quaid say he loved college theatre because it was the place where he could fail and it was okay, unlike in the real world when you do badly in a scene and get your paycheck docked or get fired. I believe that advice applies to internships as well. Internships are our chance to see what's out there, to test what we can do, so why not do that? Shakespeare is something I have loved since I was 9 but I've never really been given the chance to really try it, and to really learn it. Now I've had the chance, and to be honest I'm even more in love with Shakespeare than I was before. I got to talk to directors, stage managers, and actors about Macbeth, Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, and Merry Wives of Windsor. Not to mention I got to watch two different directors and their methods of directing Shakespeare. I have learned a lot in terms of acting techniques, directing techniques, stage management techniques, and proffesionalism. It's been an amazing experience and I absolutely cannot wait to see what next year's internship will bring.