Rehearsals have been few and far between for Much Ado on my end as of late, which is why I haven't written sooner. I literally didn't have a rehearsal for over a week. But things are still going smoothly and the play is coming together. However, the flooding in Iowa City has not helped! A week ago Wednesday, rehearsal was cancelled because our director and a cast member were trying to get water out of their basement. So it's been something of a wild ride, but I think we're finally pulling everything back together.
We've been working on some staging the last two rehearsals I've been to. Angie isn't really giving us directions like "move downstage left", but she is guiding our movements. It's hard to actually stage this until we are in the space. No one really knows exactly what it's going to be like. The production will be done outside in the back yard of a house on Melrose St. One of the doctors at the University hospital has kindly allowed us to use his home and yard. I think it will be a really neat venue. From what we've discussed, the set will be extremely simple. Platforms will give actors elevation as well as places to sit. The audience will be seated in the grass, facing the back of the house.
In rehearsal, Angie has given some really good ideas and direction with the characters and scenes. She called me out on driving my energy into the ground with some hand movements, then encouraged me to try different things with the scene. She's also constantly asking what is going on in the scene. We're coming up with back stories that the audience won't really get in the end, but it helps with character development.
I'm been a little frustrated with myself lately. It's been too easy to revert back to some old habits in acting. Maybe I'm trying to analyze my character more often than discovering her. I haven't been playing as much with "is this working or not" as I should be. I guess that's one problem with working up a back story is that I have something of a mold that I have to fit in now. At the same time, that doesn't mean I can't explore within the realm and boundaries of my character. Letting go and loosening up - it's so hard to do!
Today I'm meeting up with Angie and Rachel (another one of the theatre members) to go over costumes. We're setting the show in 1960, so I've been researching late 50's to 1960 fashion and regular clothing. I'll also be getting measurements from as much of the cast as I can today at rehearsal. Today is a big day, but it should be really good.
Until next time,
~ Noel
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