WEEK SEVENTEEN
Tuesday / May 9 / 2023
Written by Kyle
Tonight we tried a traditional SIP exercise that was completely new to this ensemble: the Six Directions, which is part of Michael Chekhov’s acting technique. It is a very physical exercise, and is really helpful for engaging the body. It requires commitment and doesn’t leave much room for half measures, which was tough for some ensemble members. After we completed the exercise, we debriefed a bit, and the ensemble had some good things to say. One member said this would be helpful in “those really physical scenes. I really wanted to cling to the chair, but I got to fill the whole space.”
We moved on to reading Hamlet, heading toward the very end and the climax of the play. Tonight, we read the “gravedigger scene,” in which Hamlet discovers that Ophelia has died, and then comes to blows with Laertes. The scene starts with some much needed comic relief. “Hamlet is really killing the vibe … He’s an overthinker!” said one member. The scene then takes a metaphysical turn, with Hamlet delivering the famous “Alas, poor Yorick…” speech. It struck one member, who said, “No matter how great you are, you live, you die, and you’re buried and you’re back to dust. Alexander the Great is on the bottom of your shoe…” Another member said, “He’s just being dime-store philosophical. There are way better things to think about than your childhood babysitter. Maybe wonder WHY Ophelia killed herself!” The scene includes a funeral and calls pretty specifically for a trap door to be used for the burial plot. We talked a bit about how we might stage this in the WHV auditorium, with no trap door. There were a lot of really good ideas, and it was exciting to brainstorm about Hamlet as a real theatrical performance performed by the ensemble, and not just words on a page that we talk about.
Friday / May 12 / 2023
Written by Maria
It was ladies’ night tonight! Since most of the facilitators were busy with the Unabashed Ask for Cash Bash at Detroit Public Theatre, it was just me and a small group of ensemble members. There were some great conversations and discoveries that happened on Tuesday that I needed to experience for myself.
One of the women was so excited talking about character choices for the gravediggers in Act 5 Scene 1 that I insisted they read the scene. The first Gravedigger got out two or three words before I burst into laughter—her accent was so funny! She said that she was inspired by the two old guys from the Muppets after seeing photos of Robin Williams and Billy Crystal in one of her Shakespeare editions. They excitedly told me that these two gravediggers were drunk and had silly accents that made the scene funny. The rest of the ensemble agreed that it was one that everyone really enjoyed. The group unanimously decided that the two women have to continue to develop those characters and accents, finding time to slow down so the audience can understand what’s going on in the scene. Once they get up on their feet and play with some of the physicality of the gravediggers, the scene will get that much better and easier to follow.
We also continued brainstorming ideas for staging the rest of the scene in a way that the whole audience could see what’s going on. There were concerns about being on the floor bent over, and about how to represent the dead Ophelia. Although we didn’t come to any conclusions tonight, it was great to see them work through the staging challenges that every director must consider.
We closed out our session with some discussion about some of the roles they are drawn to. There weren’t too many surprises! When one said, “I don’t want to say too soon, but maybe Claudius,” another jumped in with, “Yeah, that’s your person,” since she has routinely volunteered to read for Claudius in scenes. It’s hard to believe that we’re almost done reading the play, but I can tell that they are all ready to begin the next phase of things as we play with staging and dive into embodying the characters. The next few weeks are going to be very exciting!
WEEK EIGHTEEN
Tuesday / May 16 / 2023
Written by Kyle
This was a really positive night, and I’m glad we took an evening to get on the same page as an ensemble. Last Friday was a smaller group, and I had been at the DPT Unabashed Ask for Cash Bash, so there was a little bit of catching up that we needed to do. Additionally, we were quickly approaching the end of the play, and we needed to discuss expectations and goals for the next phase of the season. “This is SIP 2.0,” I said, and explained that in previous years we worked from September to June, and that after finishing the play it was full speed ahead toward performances. That isn’t the case this time around, so we have more time to devote to exploring the play. We also needed to open the waiting list and add members to the group, as some members have left the ensemble and a few members will be paroled over the summer.
Adding ensemble members is not always as easy as it might seem. It takes at least two sessions to go through orientation and our traditional three questions (What brings you to Shakespeare? What do you hope to get out of the experience? What is the gift that you bring?). Great care is taken to establish a culture of respect, community, vulnerability, and safety, and the thought of new members who don’t know the ensemble’s established culture can be anxiety-inducing for the group. So it was necessary to take an evening to talk a bit about what we could expect, what we wanted to look out for, and how exactly we should incorporate the new members. I reminded them that at the outset of this season, there was only one member who had been in the group before, and the culture was still established with our current ensemble—and this time around, there will be almost ten more people who will be able to establish our safe space. As one member put it: “I feel comfortable with everyone here. People who take the time to think about things other than prison… When I have a terrible day, I realize it's a Shakespeare day and I’m like, ‘Thank you, Jesus!’”
After that discussion, we turned our attention to loosely planning our work over the summer. I said that we have not worked during the summer in a long time at this facility, and we have the time to continue to explore the play. Some members expressed relief that we have so much time before performing; one said, “It takes me a while to learn the lines, and I don’t want to look like an idiot.” We will perform when we feel like we are ready to perform. We decided that we would work through the text with the new members, mostly on our feet, and that we would bring in new members the Tuesday after we finish the play.
We finished the night reading the first part of Act 5, Scene 2. This the the final scene, and the one in which ninety percent of the action takes place. We read all of the text up to the big finale and readied ourselves to finish the play on Friday.
Friday / May 19 / 2023
Written by KFG
One decision that came out of Tuesday’s discussion was to have the current ensemble finish the play before we bring in new members. This was not totally a logistical decision. There is just something about completing the play—the journey of Hamlet that we all began together—as an ensemble that has always been meaningful, and definitely is for this ensemble. I didn’t really realize that would be the case, but it absolutely was one of the group’s most important stipulations. So there was a real sense of impending calamity for all the characters that we couldn’t wait to see through—together.
As mentioned in an earlier post, there is a group of ensemble members who do not read ahead, only during our sessions, and it was a special joy to see their reactions to the climax and resolution of the play. There were gasps, and some “no way”s when each character met their demise. One member said of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, “I’m a little sad about [them]. I’ve got attached to them!” Another member said, “They just kill these people, and that’s the play?!?” Another remarked, “How many times is Hamlet going to say that he’s dying?”
A big topic of the night was the reconciliation of Laertes and Hamlet right before their deaths. One member said that it was a reversal of the whole play for her: “King Hamlet was never free of it, and so he had to haunt the castle. Laertes is saying, ‘I have no hard feelings with you, you have no hard feelings with me.’” And so these two characters get to experience a freedom the older generation never does. This discussion led to a round of storytelling from the ensemble about reconciliations they had tried to make, have made, have yet to make, or cannot make. It was a really vulnerable night for many of the members. One remarked, “Since [a loved one] died, it's a whole new life. Now I’m playing a different role, and I’m able to put on new shoes in my life. … Every day I’m sober, I’m making amends.” Another member responded, “I’m not good at making amends. I need to make amends to myself.”
The other big topics of the evening were Horatio and Fortinbras. “I think it's so funny that everyone is dead, and Fortinbras just walks in,” said one. Another followed up with, “Horatio should kill Fortinbras and become king—there’s still some poison left!” We ended with some ideas about staging, the predominant one being that Hamlet join his father as a ghost to finish the play.
We finished the night with a sense of accomplishment, and we all gave each other a round of applause. There was a real feeling that we had completed something, and a real pride for our ensemble.