November 13, 2012

Today a woman who has been in the group since April let us know that she’s gotten a job that conflicts with our time together, so she will not be able to continue with the group. She spoke about how much she’s enjoyed her time, about how much she’s learned and what it’s meant to her, and she wished everyone success. “I’ll be in the front row at the show!” I made sure to tell her, and everyone else, how much we've always appreciated her positive attitude, dedication, and patience with everyone else in the group. She also mentioned that another participant, who left the group to try new things, has joined another group in which she performs, and the woman leaving today was struck, watching her perform, by what a difference there is in her now from when she began working with Shakespeare. No one could ever have imagined her performing in front of a group and having so much confidence. We finished reading the play, and we discussed it for a bit. The women identify strongly with Prospero’s dwelling on the past at first, and then deciding to let it go and work on himself. They say that this is the key to healing for many prisoners. They also love his epilogue – that, in the end, it’s “just him” on stage, and it’s so simple. We began experimenting with characters and physicalities, but some members of the group were hesitant to explore the play in this way, and several others had to leave early, so we decided to leave our exploration for the next session when we’ll have more people present.

We played a couple of fun circle games to get us thinking quickly and following our instincts. Then we let the woman who is leaving choose the last game, which was another quick thinking game that they love.

At the end, everyone took turns standing in the center of a circle while we all “uplifted” the person in the center – we used our arms to create an upward motion from the ground while saying, “woosh!” It sounds silly, but it is very energizing and positive. We wanted to go out on a really positive note.

People are gravitating toward certain characters, and it will probably be a challenge to settle on casting as a group. The women have been very open and respectful of each other, though, so I think they can meet the challenge and arrive at decisions with which everyone will be happy.

November 9, 2012

We read through Act Three today, which is much shorter than either of the first two acts, so we got through it pretty quickly. The group decided to try to get through Act Four today as well, but to take a break and play some games first. We played a circle game to loosen up and be silly together, and then we played the improv game “Freeze,” which one of them suggested. They did very well with this game – in fact, it’s one of the few times I’ve played it with a group when we didn’t have much to say at the end about how to improve in terms of making the game effective. Nearly everyone participated and showed how imaginative they can be. The comfort level in the group is increasing, with even the participant who is extremely hesitant to take part in activities taking a turn onstage. We then read through Act Four, which is also fairly brief, and so we had a bit of time at the end for discussion. The women were especially impacted by two things. One was Prospero’s speech in which he says “we are such stuff as dreams are made on.” They really liked how human he seems in this moment, as opposed to what has gone before – he seems more vulnerable here, and we talked about how he arrives at that change. It will take much more discussion to arrive at any group conclusion, but they are intrigued.

The other thing that really struck them was the character of Caliban. They feel that Prospero and Miranda don’t understand him, or try to understand him – that he has human emotions, but doesn’t know how to react to situations except with violence or anger. Some of the women brought up that they know fellow prisoners who are in similar situations – these people have been deeply affected by the circumstances in which they have lived, and it’s not always easy to judge how much of what they say or do is really “their fault.” The women hold that there is a “glimmer of good” in Caliban, which most agreed is true of the people they know who remind them of this character. This is also something that we will explore much more, especially since it is hitting home for so many of them.

November 2, 2012

Today as we were settling in, one of the participants shared that she had been so taken by some lines in The Tempest that she had written them in a letter to her daughter. These lines rang true to her because she has felt this way in her own life.  

Miranda:

                                    Alack, what trouble

Was I then to you!

 Prospero:

                                    O, a cherubim

Thou wast that did preserve me! Thou didst smile,

Infuséd with a fortitude from heaven,

When I have decked the sea with drops full salt,

Under my burden groaned; which raised in me

An undergoing stomach, to bear up

Against what should ensue.

We circled up and took our time reading through the second act of the play. The women especially enjoyed the first scene with Stephano, Trinculo and Caliban. They are excited to start exploring it, but decided they want to wait until we’ve read the entire play together before putting anything on its feet.

Some of them are beginning to strongly identify with certain characters, and we talked about that a bit. We ended the day by playing an improv game meant to encourage quick thinking. It was a challenge, but they had a good time with it.

October 26, 2012

Today we began reading The Tempest. We are taking our time, stopping whenever necessary to make sure everyone is following what’s going on, as well as getting details about the characters and their relationships. The women will be trying different roles for a little while until we start to get a good grasp on the characters and decide as a group how we want to cast the show. They are really enjoying it so far. We got through Act One and then felt the need to get up and move. We played an improv game that has to do with a doctor guessing patients’ ailments, and they did a great job and were very imaginative. Many of them made very interesting choices. We’ll definitely revisit this game in the future.

I think this is how it will go for a bit, unless the women decide they want to approach the material differently – we’ll spend most of the meeting time reading through the script and discussing it, and then we’ll get on our feet and explore different skills through improv. This could change, though. I’m always open to their input.

October 23, 2012

A couple of new participants joined the group today. We began by welcoming them and warming up. We then played an improv game that the women who’ve been in the group for awhile really enjoy, and that proved to be a lot of fun. This is a very creative group. The first participant to read showed that she understood the piece, but she said she felt awkward, and like she was reading it. The others commended her on her pace and articulation, but I asked her why she thought she wasn’t connecting to it. She said that she is having trouble with the vulnerability of the first part, and struggling with the anger in the second because anger is the easiest emotion to portray, and she didn’t want to overdo it. I reminded her that her interpretation is hers alone, and it’s all about experimentation – not doing it right. Her second reading was much better – she said she had been directing it, especially the words “hated wretch” to someone she knows. One participant encouraged her, saying that she was definitely making it her own.

The next participant to read showed a huge improvement over her last reading. Everyone applauded, and she said that she had been working on it a lot outside of the group. I asked her how she felt she had done. She said that she felt that she needs to work more on her physicality, but that the words are coming out smoother. One participant asked her to try the first part of the piece again – to try more to “embody” the character. There was a huge change, and I asked her how that happened. She said that she took a pre-beat to think about things she’s lost while she’s been in prison and the death of someone close to her.

Next was a participant who had not yet performed, and who has been fairly quiet and uninvolved. We were all actually a little taken aback when she volunteered, and everyone cheered her on as she took the stage. Though clearly nervous and stumbling over some of the words, she read the entire piece with a  strong voice. When she finished, everyone applauded loudly. I asked her what it was like. She said that she had been waiting to perform until she felt more comfortable with the group, and that she has stage fright. I asked her if it had been as bad as she thought it would be, and she said no. One of the participants remarked how important it was that she had gotten all the way through the piece, and that she had gotten stronger the more she read. Another woman, who knows this participant fairly well, talked about how impressed she was. She said that this woman is an “anti-type of person” whom she’s never seen volunteer for very much; she actually didn’t think she’d stick to this group. She said she was completely surprised when she volunteered, and that this was a huge step. The participant who read declined to read again, but she clearly feels better now that she’s done it once and received so much support. We all cheered and applauded again as she took her seat.

One of the participants who joined today volunteered to go next. She said that she had felt awkward because the words were confusing, but the rest of the group praised her just for getting up in front of all of us on her first day and reading. The other new participant volunteered to go next and had a similar experience. We made very sure to emphasize how much we appreciated their willingness to dive in like that.

The next woman to perform gave a very truthful, emotional reading. She said that she had “just put herself into it.” Others said it looked like she was really feeling it – that it flowed, and she had made it her own. We also applauded her for taking the notes she received last time she performed, when the group thought she had focused too much on anger in the first part of the piece. She took that in, adjusted, but did not do anything that felt false to her. She is still drawing on her own experiences. One of the participants remarked that she did a good job of keeping going when she skipped a line – and the woman who read said that she had actually skipped it on purpose to see if we were paying attention. Of course we were!

The next to read has been in the group since February. She was one of our Emilias in the last performance. She felt that her first reading was “okay,” but that she could have been more clear. She was happy about her pacing, though, and her being okay with taking pauses. I mentioned that at a point when she stood up in anger, it really seemed motivated, and not like she just decided as an actor to do it. She read again, and got much deeper into it, especially when she hit the phrase “untimely fall.” She was completely committed, even when the words didn’t come easily. She said that she felt better about it, and felt that she “hit” more emotion. Still, another participant who’s been with us for a long time said that she needed to commit more to the anger – that she knows she’s got more that she’s holding back.

Then the first participant who read today asked to go again. This reading was completely different – she got so emotional that she actually shook. She said she was trying to express the feelings inside, and by focusing more on hurt than on anger, she was able to do that better.

This was a great day filled with lots of discoveries. Friday we will being working on The Tempest. Everyone is reading and raring to go!