"If it wasn’t for the people who came in late, we wouldn’t have been saved.”
March 11
After check-in, we discussed the SIP website update and what the friends and family page should include. Members gave the following ideas:
Photos from last year
Videos
Clips doing the ring
Links to the play
Mentions of characters in the blog instead of names
Direct quotes from the ensemble – testimonial style
Overview of a session
Description of teaching
Galleries
Links to the movie
Other Shakespeare programs
One participant mentioned that their loved ones had checked out the website and it was a big help in determining where we go next.
We briefly discussed costumes and props, realizing that we needed to solidify them soon. A participant suggested a flag for the soldiers. Another participant needed to get her measurements taken.
We picked up with staging at the top of the wedding scene. We restaged it to bring everyone down after a suggestion from a participant to have traditional wedding staging. Another participant suggested wedding music at the top of the scene. There were several other suggestions, particularly from participants about specific characters. As we moved through the scene, one participant reminded another to cheat out. “I did, I did,” the participant retorted. “You can’t, you can’t,” the other joked back.
A participant did great with the energy of Claudio during the scene. We worked it a couple of ways. A participant did a scissor hand motion to Fisher-Grant during the Friar’s monologue. I agreed we could cut it a bit. A participant did well filling in for the Friar. Two participants had a strong scene with lots of movement. Another participant brought it as Dogberry. We finished all of Act Four. A participant suggested ribbon for a no-contact arrest. The group also suggested choir gowns, pen and paper, medals, and vests with hats.
We discussed the missing parts: Seacole, Friar, Balthasar, and Messenger. We voted on opening the callout. Ten said yes, and three said no but were open to it. We agreed to discuss it more on Thursday.
March 13
After everyone had arrived, we brought down the ring and proceeded with check-ins. It was a light night for check-ins. Fisher-Grant suggested to the group that before we got into blocking, we should make a decision about opening up the callout. He reminded the group that Tejada and I would both be absent for our performances, emphasizing that if we wanted to have a full cast, we could only count on two facilitators as backups. We then took a quick informal vote, and it was immediately clear that a majority of the ensemble wanted to open up the callout. The conversation then shifted to how many new members we should let in and when. We discussed for a bit, and most members were able to share their thoughts, although a couple of participants were the most vocal. One participant remarked, “My only con is starting over again, catching them up.” Some others agreed, and Tejada and I both emphasized that this might be a difficult point in the process to add new members. However, most members disagreed, saying that we should add people as soon as possible. Another participant remarked, “If it wasn’t for the people who came in late [last year], we wouldn’t have been saved,” which most older members seemed to agree with.
The group then moved on to discussing how many people we should let in. Different members offered different numbers, but most ranged from five to ten. As a group, we counted the five roles currently missing actors and discussed how we could potentially double up or expand roles if needed. Tejada and I confirmed that almost all of the remaining roles, except Friar Francis, could be doubled. Most members still maintained that we should let in at least five members, citing the many other tasks that we would need help with during show week. One participant joked, “We always need someone reliable on music,” taking a dig at me for having missed some of the cues during Midsummer. Another participant also suggested we could have more ladies-in-waiting and more watchmen. We finally decided that we would like to open it up to six more people, and Fisher-Grant told the group that he would send an email about it tomorrow. Another participant was also a team player and was willing to give up one of her doubled roles if we ended up with too many ensemble members for the roles remaining.
We then moved on to blocking for the evening. As we cleaned up the chairs, someone suggested that we do a warmup since we had been sitting for a while. One participant led the group in Crazy 8s and some stretching. We started blocking again on page 79 with Act V, Scene I. Since we didn’t have an actor for Antonio, one participant offered to step in for the beginning. The group was very chatty today, but everyone seemed to be in a good mood. While the actors continued blocking, there were conversations and laughter on the side. The participants on stage also seemed to be very engaged with the material today. We spent quite a bit of time on the first two sections of the scene, getting into the motivation and talking about potential cuts. When we got to the end of the scene with Dogberry, different members had lots of suggestions about the staging. One participant asked for some money or an empty bag she could use as a prop to pay Dogberry, and another suggested that we craft paper shackles for Borachio and Conrade. More than one participant also joined in with another on her final “hee-haw” in this scene—it is quickly becoming a group favorite.
While this blocking was taking place, Tejada was also able to take one participant’s measurements, which are laid out in the handwritten notes. Tejada also spoke with another participant about finding potential opportunities to make cuts to some of Benedick’s lines. She gladly accepted this challenge and even offered a cut later that evening.
After spending quite a while really digging into that first scene, we moved pretty quickly through the next two. During Act V, Scene II, one participant offered to walk through another’s staging as Margaret while the latter read the lines from her seat in the house. The rest of the scene moved smoothly, and the group really seemed to be in the swing of things. Everyone was in a good mood and having lots of fun, but we still seemed to be very productive. When we got to Act V, Scene III, Tejada suggested that we cut it, and another participant quickly agreed, saying, “It’s clearly pointless, I had no one to talk to.”
We kept this momentum going and got through quite a bit of the final scene in the show. We had to end only two pages before the final curtain because we had run all the way until 8:00. The group still seemed to have high energy and spirits by the end of the day, and we brought up the ring to end the session.