January 15, 2013

Today we played a new game that proved to be a lot of fun.  The group then decided to begin work on Act I Scene ii, beginning with Prospero and Miranda. The participants who have been in the group for awhile have clearly been giving this play a lot of thought. When I asked them what the scene looked like in their heads, several of them suggested that everything should be made out of materials salvaged from the boat in which Prospero and Miranda were wrecked – barrels fashioned into chairs, a tent or their roof made of sails. These are great ideas, and we’re going to see what we can do about representing them in our performance.

We went through the scene very slowly to make sure that the participants fully understood all of their lines, and it is a testament to the group that no one got impatient with this approach. We talked about clues in the text – why does Prospero need to ask Miranda to sit down twice? Why does he repeatedly ask her if she’s paying attention? The group tossed around several ideas about this, and the participant playing Miranda is going to try some different things until she finds what works for her.

After going painstakingly through a good portion of the scene this way, one of the participants suggested that we go back and let the women on stage go through what we’d done without interruptions. We did this, and it went very well, but the group was concerned that there wasn’t enough movement and it would be boring for an audience. We talked about ways to incorporate some movement that would still seem natural, and then one participant suggested that perhaps the other actors, dressed as “spirit versions” of the other characters, could act out the story that Prospero tells in a different area of the stage. That way, even audience members who might have trouble following the language could understand what he is talking about. I saw a lot of eyes light up at this suggestion, and mine probably did, too. We are definitely going to use this approach to the scene.

I made sure at this point that everyone knows that any conceptual ideas like that are completely welcome and encouraged. This is their show, and I want them to own it. They are absolutely growing in that direction.

January 11, 2013

We spent a good deal of time today in discussion about various things affecting the group and then moved on to some scene work. The participants decided to work on Act II Scene ii, in which Caliban meets Trinculo and Stephano. We worked a bit with Caliban on her physicality, what immediately precedes the scene and how that affects her character. We also spent some time discussing how, even though one’s character reacts differently depending on the given circumstances, there must always be consistency about who the character is – just like in real life.

The participant playing Trinculo was a little hesitant about her performance, so we talked about the character a bit. I mentioned that he makes a lot of proclamations and is very outspoken. “Do you think he’s maybe a little fruity?” she asked. “Maybe,” I said. “That’s up to you.” The group discussed it for a bit and asked her to give it a try. Changing her physicality and delivery to be more “fruity,” as she interprets it, made the character begin to really come to life – he was much more believable and funny. She liked the approach a lot and is going to stick with it, at least for now.

The participant playing Stephano is newer to the group and doesn’t have as firm of a grasp on the character yet, so we talked a bit about him. She is going to do some more work on her own before approaching the scene again so that she is more comfortable.

January 8, 2012

We finished up casting today, giving one of the new participants a chance to read for Ariel, and then discovering that the rest of the pieces just kind of fell into place. The only “major” role that hasn’t been cast is Antonio, so we are hoping that when we add a few more people, one of them will want to play that part. Everyone is very happy with the results of casting. This took up most of our time, and then they decided to use the remaining time to play some games. This was a lot of fun and got everyone smiling and energized.

We discussed our approach to the material and decided not necessarily to work on scenes in chronological order, but to let our path be determined by who is present and what everyone feels like working on. I think this approach will serve us well.

January 4, 2013

Everyone was very excited to be back today! And very eager to get right into casting, so that’s what we did. We sat in a circle, and I reminded everyone that the goal was not to determine who the “best actors” are, but where each person fits best. I also asked everyone to do her best to stay open-minded and flexible while we talked, and to think of the group as a whole rather than simply “What do I want?”

The first thing we did was to revisit who is interested in each part. Some people have found new characters that they like, so we adjusted our lists. I then suggested that they proceed by casting each other rather than saying, “I want to play this part because…” This proved to be a great strategy because it took the pressure off of individuals and made everything we discussed a group decision. The group cast five characters (Caliban, Miranda, Gonzalo, Prospero and Alonso) with no debate. One person would suggest someone to play the character and give her reasons, someone else would agree, we would discuss it a little more, and then everyone assented.

The rest of the characters proved more difficult to cast because we could all see multiple people fitting each, and multiple people are interested in each. A few of those people are very new, so we decided to give them a few opportunities to read the characters so that we could get to know them better and get a better idea of where these participants fit best. This means that casting will take a little longer than we anticipated, but everyone is okay with that.

One really great thing that happened was when the group got a little quiet, and I suggested that one of them might be a good fit for Antonio. “Not because I think you’re like him personally!” I said, and she smiled. I pointed out that she has a natural charisma, stage presence and intelligence that would work well for a character like him. Everyone else agreed, and she thought about it. But then she said that while she appreciated our votes of confidence, she is at a place in her life where she would really prefer to focus her energy on a more positive character – she is trying to avoid negativity as much as she can in preparation for her release. Several of the women reacted immediately by thanking her for her honesty. She then said that she felt pulled toward Ariel. Another participant suggested that while she would probably be a great Ariel, that’s a pretty sizable role, and if she feels like her focus might be elsewhere, maybe it’s too big of a commitment. The participant thought about that for a moment and said, “Maybe you’re right.” She’s going to give it some more thought, but I was just so impressed by how accepting she was of everyone’s input, and how calmly and respectfully she expressed herself. She has occasionally rubbed others the wrong way with her demeanor, and we’ve talked about it privately a few times because it’s clear to me that she doesn’t mean to give the impression she sometimes does of disregard or even disdain, and her reactions today proved that she is learning better ways of expressing her feelings in the group.

We left feeling very good about the process thus far and excited to continue it in the next session.

December 21, 2012

Today we worked for awhile on the beginning of Act V Scene I – just the part of the scene with Ariel and Prospero alone together. It was very encouraging to see one of the women who has been reticent to participate much volunteer to be one of the first to try out the scene as Ariel. At first she was very sly and still on a bit of the “power trip” that we discussed the character having at earlier times in the play. We talked about whether or not that was working and decided that it wasn’t. “What’s Ariel’s goal here?” I asked. The group decided that the goal was to get Prospero to soften, to see the men’s suffering. The woman changed her goal, and the whole scene changed. It gave the participant playing Prospero much more to work with. We also tried slowing the scene down to give each actress more time to reach conclusions and react to one another. After another pair worked on the scene, the group decided to move to the epilogue. We talked about the parallels of what Prospero says here to their own desires in prison – that he and they are all seeking release, both emotional and physical. After the first participant read, we discussed her physicality, and someone suggested that she find a place to kneel and humble herself. I also suggested that she take her time more. She did both of these things and said that it felt better – she was beginning to find deeper meaning in the words.

Then another participant bounded up on stage, saying she just had to try it because it resonates so deeply with her. She read the piece, and we were all very moved. She said that, to her, it means that he accepts responsibility for his flaws and the wrong things he’s done, but that he’s done his time, and he’s changed, so it’s time to set him free. Everyone agreed with that.

There will be a bit of a break due to difficulties scheduling over the holidays, so the participants agreed to spend time with their scripts and brainstorm about casting not only themselves but the entire group. The next session will likely be devoted largely to casting.