Session Four: Weeks 10 and 11

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Week 10

After welcoming and orienting two new members, the ensemble set about casting The Taming of the Shrew. Our process for the past two sessions has been to do this in an open group discussion and vote whenever need be.

Perhaps because the group decided to cast earlier than usual this session, with less exploration time than we usually have (and this was a vote by a large majority of the women), there was more discussion and voting than there usually is, and the process wasn’t quite as smooth. After some discussion amongst the facilitators, we believe the biggest reasons for this are, as stated, the earlier casting time (which didn’t allow for as much to “fall into place” organically), the new dynamic of having a larger number of women returning to the group (which is a really good thing!), and having a larger number of women in the group (which is also a really, really good thing!). These differences led to changes in the way our usual process worked that we didn’t anticipate, and we need to adapt for the future.

In any case, after a lengthy discussion and voting process amongst the ensemble, most of the roles are cast, and we are left with some open roles and some women who do not yet have roles. In order to make sure everyone is on the same page about what worked about our casting process and what needs to be improved, the facilitators have decided to invite the group to have an open, honest, constructive conversation about it when we meet next. I firmly believe in what Curt Tofteland, the founder of Shakespeare Behind Bars (our inspiration and model) has always said, which is that any issues can and should be solved by the circle. We facilitators are there to do just that – facilitate. The ensemble will work together to figure this out.

Week 11

We began tonight’s session with a really solid Ring exercise to prepare us to work as a team and be constructive during our discussion of the casting process.

It turned out that we facilitators were not the only ones who perceived that our process had some issues, although opinions were mixed on how “big” these issues truly were. Some people felt that their input had been misinterpreted and needed to be further explained. Others felt that that there were no true “problems,” and we should just move on. In short, this is how things were resolved (for the moment, anyway):

  • It needs to be clear from the get-go if there is going to be any kind of preference given to women who have been in the group longer (similar to most educational theatre programs), and, if past proof of commitment gives that kind of casting preference, there need to be more opportunities for new members to show their commitment before we cast. We’ve dealt many times with ensemble members leaving the group prior to performance, and returning members (and some new) are skittish about casting new members in roles like Katherina and Petruchio, for example (we went through three Calibans in 2012; in 2013 many roles ended up filled by facilitators). Most of the group wants to keep casting in November rather than December, so this means that we need to find a way to do both our ensemble building and get through our play exploration more quickly. This is something we need to explore.
     
  • If we feel the need to cast before the entire play has been explored on its feet (as we did this year; but I hope we can avoid this), we will have “auditions” of some kind so that we can see everyone who feels connected to a character exploring that character.
     
  • Rather than having a “blind vote” by show of hands with eyes closed, we will vote by anonymous written ballot, and a facilitator will tally the votes and report back on how the play has been cast.

We then decided to table the rest of casting for now and focus on ensemble building for the rest of the day. We played theatre games and did some improv, and it eased the tension that was in the room.

As always in this program, we are taking our “mistakes” in stride and learning from them rather than getting bogged down by them. Both the facilitators and the inmates made decisions that contributed to this process being rockier than usual, but I believe this is a growing pain as our program gets stronger – as stated above, we have more returning members than ever and our largest group yet, so we are bound to have to change some things as we go. We are all learning together.

Session Four: Week 9

Thursday

Today we moved ahead with our plan to read through the rest of the play, and we did exactly that. A few of the women had done this on their own ahead of time, and they were pretty upset by how “sexist” some aspects (some would argue, all aspects) of the play are. After we read through the play as a group, having brief discussions along the way, there was still some discomfort from some of the women, but others thought that Kate had been “tamed” or “broken” only in as much as she’d finally learned how to play the game. It’s going to make for some great debate as we move forward in our process. There are differing opinions on Petruchio’s true nature as well.

The ensemble then voted on whether to continue with review or move ahead with casting on Tuesday, and a large majority voted to do the latter. We have always done this in the past sitting in a circle, leaving every casting decision open to group discussion and voting if necessary. This ensemble is made up of a lot of team players, so I’m hopeful that it will go pretty smoothly. I’m looking forward to it.

Session Four: Week 8

Tuesday

The ensemble welcomed several new members today, including one woman returning from our last session. Generally, we have begun with introductions/orientation, but this time the seasoned members suggested that we begin with warm ups and a game. This proved to be a much better way of doing things, and my guess is we’ll stick with it in the future. The game itself was suggested by one of the women, who learned it in her PCAP drama workshop, and it was a lot of fun.

During our orientation, one member who joined at the beginning of this session shared that she finds the group to be very therapeutic – she can be herself here, and that’s not necessarily the case elsewhere in the prison. She had very bad stage fright eight weeks ago, but her confidence has already grown by leaps and bounds, and the ensemble has been loving her gusto and sense of humor on stage.

We continued our work on Act II Scene I, casting it for the day and putting it on its feet. Once we had Bianca’s and Kate’s objectives in the beginning of the scene established, it proved to be a lot of fun. After working more with the Kate/Petruchio “sparring match,” we find we have more questions than answers: Does Kate really like Petruchio? Is she making him fight for her? Is she happy for this challenge? One of our new members, coming into the material totally fresh, thinks that Kate’s behavior is all an act – that she’s not really a shrew at all. It’s going to be an invigorating process as we explore all of these questions and ideas.

Some members of the ensemble are beginning to take ownership of the material and think of staging ideas already; specifically, several of the women think our “theme song” should be Love is a Battlefield.

Thursday

Before we began today, as people were arriving, I checked in with several of the newer members of the group to see how they think it’s going. They are enthusiastic - one of the women mentioned that she was in Taming of the Shrew in high school, but she didn’t really understand it. She thought she wouldn’t last long in this group, but she is understanding it better now and having a lot of fun.

After a brief warm up, we cast the first three scenes of the play and began to work them. Not only did we get through the material with very few stops, but we are beginning to find some specific moments of comedy and/or clarity, as well as defining characteristics of some of the people in the play. The group was excited – this isn’t something that we’ve been able to do so early in the past, and they are thrilled with each other’s work on the script and on stage. They felt good; when asked why, one woman said she used to think about others’ perceptions of her performance, but now she doesn’t – she just focuses on what’s happening on stage.

At this point, several of the women stated that they feel ready to cast the play and begin working with set characters. After a bit of a discussion, during which I reminded those seeking to move quickly that others might need more time with the material, it was decided by the group that we would alter our plan and leave it a bit open ended: on Tuesday, we will try to read through the rest of the play. We will review and clarify what we’ve read on Thursday, and check in with the entire ensemble to see how everyone feels. Then, if the entire group is on board, we will cast the play a month before we planned on doing so. The last thing we want is to move slowly if we don’t have to – this obviously can cause boredom – but we also don’t want to leave anyone behind.

If it works better to move more quickly, that’s what we’ll do. A handful of women have expressed strong connections to certain characters that likely won’t be altered by reading the rest of the script. It’s a more straightforward text than the last two with which we’ve worked, so it makes sense that we would move faster through the initial phase of analysis. We’ll see how things go next week.

Session Four: Week 7

Tuesday  

After our warm up today, the group decided to move right into Act I Scene ii and make sure we really got it. We discussed the need for a “rehearsal schedule” moving forward, as our deadline to cast the play in December is getting closer, and we have a lot of work to do to make sure we understand the story and characters. We broke down the scene bit by bit together, and then we put it on its feet.

Almost immediately, one of the women, who is newer to the group, leaned over to me. “Why is she (the woman playing Petruchio) pointing at the door? Grumio can’t be confused if she’s being so obvious about it.” I stopped the action so that this woman could give that very constructive note and encouraged everyone to do the same if they had feedback. More people entered the scene, and this same woman whispered to me again, “It don’t look right.” I asked her what would make it look better, and she responded, “It just don’t look like a conversation. They shouldn’t stand like that.”

“Do you see in your head how they should be standing?” I asked. She nodded. I called another hold and encouraged her to go ahead and direct the scene, which she did. This was a really exciting moment, as this woman spends a good deal of time talking herself down (I can’t read, I shouldn’t be on stage, etc.), but here we seem to have stumbled upon a strength – and that is being able to identify how actors’ physicality affects our ability to tell this story. She’s got director’s instincts (not to mention the fact that she CAN read and is great on stage!). The group encouraged her to continue giving direction in a constructive manner, as not everyone has this ability. I’m hopeful that she will gain confidence in more areas than just this, as she’s now feeling empowered to give feedback from this perspective and knows that it will be appreciated and honored.

Another participant showed a great affinity for Grumio, as she consistently and hilariously “threw shade” throughout the scene after her “ear wringing” from Petruchio. “I LIKE this guy,” she laughed. We were all thrilled to see her connect in that way.

We seem to have a good grip on Act I Scene ii now and will move forward now, hopefully efficiently enough to meet the casting deadline we set for ourselves.

 

Thursday

We began work today on Act II Scene I. We read it through without stopping, then went back to break down and analyze it. The women have some great insight into the characters already.

The first thing the group wanted to discuss was Petruchio’s and Kate’s instant chemistry. They interpret Kate as being very intelligent, and feeling that finally she’s met someone who can keep up with her. “Some people who are incredibly intelligent have no social skills,” said one woman. In terms of their behavior, one woman said, “Maybe they’re both shrews that need taming.” They see Petruchio as being potentially just as rough as Kate in terms of his behavior. One woman introduced the idea that Kate’s shrewish behavior is a defense mechanism to protect herself because she’s so intelligent. Likewise, several of the women believe that, on one hand, Kate behaves the way she does to protect Bianca from marrying the wrong man, and, on the other hand, that she may be resentful of her little sister getting more romantic interest than her. One woman talked about her discomfort knowing she was being pitied by relatives at her younger sister’s wedding.

At this point, many of the women had left because of mandatory scheduling conflicts, and those of us who were still there decided to explore the beginning of the scene with Kate, Bianca, and Baptista, leaving the meat of the scene to explore with a larger number of people. This dynamic is proving to be one to which many of us can relate. Some of the women feel that the “abuse” from Kate to Bianca is playful, while others do not. We all feel that Baptista is a “big powerful presence” that changes that dynamic when he enters. But, as one woman said, “He loves the crap out of Kate.”

We began a brief exploration of the scene between Petruchio and Kate, which we determined needs a lot of movement. We’re all looking forward to exploring it more!