December 4, 2012

We continued to explore Act I Scene I today, again rotating through everyone present to give everyone a chance to perform. We finished the first part of the scene with Prospero and Miranda, talking more about the special moment between them but deciding not to dwell on it. Then we moved on to Ariel’s entrance. We began by discussing what we already knew about the relationship between Prospero and Ariel. The participants volunteered that while there is love between them, it’s definitely a servant/master relationship, and Prospero can be kind of a bully. One asked if maybe Prospero abuses Ariel and Caliban because he was abused by the others in Naples. The others liked that idea, since they’ve seen it in their lives (i.e., “hurt people hurt people). Another said that maybe he is so controlling of everything and everyone on the island because things in Naples had gotten so out of his control. They all thought that was a good idea.

As we worked the scene, what we wound up focusing on was the shift between the beginning, when Ariel relates how he terrorized the ship and was in control, and the end, when Ariel asks for his liberty and completely gives up that feeling of power. We discussed the change that physically and emotionally needed to happen.

The second pair to work this scene approached it a bit differently than the first. The one playing Ariel began by constantly circling Prospero. She became still when asking for her liberty, and then the participant playing Prospero began circling her aggressively. While the constant circling proved problematic from a staging standpoint, I asked the group what they thought of what the movements communicated on a basic level, and they agreed that the change definitely tells of a shift in power. I suggested some different ways of moving to the women – not turning upstage when circling, but also using more of the stage and playing off of each other’s energy. They took these directions beautifully, and the scene really took off.

We are hoping to add more people soon, and then the women would like to choose their characters by the end of this month. As they gain a deeper understanding of these characters and see each other experimenting with them, I think group casting will come fairly easily. They have been very supportive of each other thus far.

November 30, 2012

In beginning our exploration of Prospero, the women decided that the best place to start would be with his relationship with Miranda. So we spent today on Act I Scene I, cycling through different pairs of actors every now and again so that everyone who wanted to could get on stage. The first participant to read Prospero moved pretty quickly through the text without a lot of emotion. We paused the scene, and I asked the group if they thought that this story is an easy one for Prospero to tell. We talked about how, even though he and Miranda were victimized in being banished from Milan, the whole thing began when he gave some of his responsibilities to his brother, and so, in a way, he is at fault, too. At the very least, the telling of this story reveals that he is not perfect. One of the women volunteered that this reminded her of when she had to talk to her children about her crime. She said that the decision to tell them the truth was immediate, but that didn’t make it easy to do it.

We also talked about Prospero’s built up anger – how emotional it would have to be to relive the betrayal and trauma, especially since he hasn’t talked about it for twelve years. They particularly relished his line, “Twelve year since, Miranda, twelve year since…” The fact that he says it twice spoke to them about how long that twelve years must feel isolated as he is.

Then the woman who, weeks ago, told us how she had sent some of Prospero’s lines to her daughter because they resonated so deeply for her stepped up to read his part. I didn’t realize it, and I don’t think she did either, but she stepped in just before those lines, which are:

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.

When the participant came to those lines, she paused, and she began to cry. But she didn’t stop – she kept reading the lines to her scene partner, with all of her real emotion behind them. The rest of the participants were rapt and respectful, and when she reached the end of those lines, she stopped, and we all thanked her for her truthfulness. She apologized for crying, and we all reinforced how amazing it was that she shared that with us. One said, “Remember how you said the characters might pick us? I think Prospero just picked her.” The others also said that the tears seemed completely appropriate to the character to them, and that it brought their understanding of him to a new level. They said that if Prospero shows some emotion here, early in the play, it will make more sense later when he softens.

We also discussed Miranda’s reaction to Prospero’s emotion, which is to immediately recall him to his story. “What does that tell you?” I asked them. They think it means that she is uncomfortable with that level of emotion from him, which tells us a lot about their relationship. We talked about different ways of interpreting and playing that moment.

Everyone left, again, feeling good about the discoveries they’d made. They decided that they want to keep exploring this scene on Tuesday.

November 27, 2012

The group decided they wanted to explore the characters of Miranda and Ferdinand today. One of them suggested that we begin with Act III Scene I, in which the two profess their love for one another. The first read gave the participants a deeper understanding of the characters and the scene immediately. The one playing Ferdinand realized that he is a “fool in love.” The participant who played Miranda said that she was too, and we talked about how silly this scene with these “stupid teenagers” is. One participant said that she realized that Miranda goes into this scene with a plan to get Ferdinand to marry her and needs his assurance that he really loves her. We decided to read it again with this group, and I encouraged them to go further, and for the two playing the teenagers to make themselves younger. This time the participant playing Miranda became very, very “cute” – something another participant said she didn’t realize she could do. Everyone was very impressed by the change. The participant playing Ferdinand said this reading made her more aware of Ferdinand’s “princely qualities” – that he’s not just a normal teenager, but carries himself with a lot of confidence, and maybe that’s part of what blows Miranda away.

We switched up the parts then, and it was during this reading that the women made a huge discovery. They’d been wondering at what point in the play Prospero shifts from a desire for revenge to that for forgiveness, and what makes him change. They think they have found it in this scene, and the first thing that tipped them off is the difference between the two speeches he makes. One participant remembered what we discussed regarding punctuation, and noted the exclamation points in his last speech of the scene. She said that meant he was excited, and she said it seemed different to her from what had gone before. They discussed that he puts Ferdinand through a trial, partly because he wants to hold him hostage to torment Alonso – and perhaps seeing his daughter fall in love, and Ferdinand behave so honorably, begins to change his mind about what he really wants. “It sets the tone for everything he does after this,” said one. “Love is more important than revenge, and this is where he gets that,” said another.

We talked about how different actors might play Prospero in this scene – how there could be many interpretations, even amongst actors who agree that this is a huge moment for the character. “Shakespeare brings the actor or actress out of you,” said one. She was amazed at how differently people can play one character, and still be “right.”

Nearly everyone left today feeling especially enthused because of their breakthrough with Prospero. They want to focus exclusively on him in the next session. I am ecstatic that they are so excited about a discovery they made as a group, putting a scene on its feet and then discussing it, and with really no input from me. They are taking ownership of the material, working as a team, and enjoying putting together the pieces of the puzzle.

November 20, 2012

Today we decided to begin some exploratory scene work. I asked the group where they wanted to start, and they chose Act III Scene ii, in which Caliban convinces Stephano to murder Prospero and rule the island. There is a lot of funny stuff in this scene, and it’s a general favorite, so I’m glad this is the one they chose. For the purposes of this entry, I will assign each participant a letter, since they rotated between parts.

We began with A playing Stephano, B playing Trinculo, C playing Caliban and D playing Ariel. They decided to begin by walking through the scene to see what would happen. This proved to be beneficial, as they began to have a deeper understanding of exactly what is going on as soon as they put it on its feet. They read with intention for the most part and had a good time. We discussed it afterward and decided that what was needed was more distinct physicality, more precise movement and deeper understanding of the characters. Of course, all of this will come in time. We began by working on movement and speech more consistent with the amount the characters have had to drink before the scene begins, and this informed much of what they were doing immediately. We also stopped and started to discuss why each character says what he says, and what clues in the text give us direction. They made some great progress.

We began to discuss Stephano’s character a bit more in depth. How does he react to Caliban’s suggestion and detailed plan? We know what the text says, but what else is going on, and what does that say about his character? A was intrigued by the idea that although Caliban has obviously thought about this long and hard, this might be the first time Stephano has contemplated murder. How does he make the decision to do it? How much of that has to do with his being intoxicated?

We switched it up then. A played Caliban, E played Stephano, F played Trinculo, and G played Ariel. They took the discoveries the first group made and ran with them, while at the same time putting their own spins on the characters. One of the participants commented that after running the scene a few times, she realized that Stephano holds his liquor better than Trinculo, and that will impact how the scene is played

The women were particularly taken with Caliban’s monologue in this scene, so we decided to take the remainder of our time to explore it a bit. B was the first to read. She showed that she understood it, but she wasn’t very connected. I asked her how she felt, and she said she was preoccupied with how she should look while she performed. I suggested that that is a common way in which actors trap themselves. I reminded her to focus on the objective – what Caliban wants – and how to get it.

This sparked something in E, who jumped up and asked if she could try. Her take was extremely manipulative, which was excellent. One of the other participants suggested that she should “act out” the plan more, perhaps getting an actual book when referencing Prospero’s book. E became visibly frustrated as the other participant elaborated on what she meant, as E was trying to express her opinion but couldn’t seem to find an opening, only able to get out, “But they’re in the woods.” I stepped in, suggesting that the other participant’s idea of being more demonstrative is a good one – I’ve seen actors draw a map in the dirt during the piece, for example – but E was probably right that Caliban wouldn’t have a book in a random place on the island. That seemed to calm everyone down, but we will definitely have to talk more about giving and receiving constructive criticism, since things got kind of tense for a minute.

As we were leaving, one of the women came up to me and said that she had been trying to find things to be thankful for, this time of year being an especially difficult time to be away from family and in prison, and that she wanted me to know that she is very thankful for the program and what we do twice a week. Another participant overheard the conversation and chimed in that she feels the same way. I am very glad that the program is making a positive impact on their lives, and very grateful that they are sharing their experience with me.

November 16, 2012

A couple of new participants joined us today, so we spent some time going over the group guidelines, what we’ve been up to, what we hope to do, and what the “newbies” hope to get out of and bring to the group. Throughout the day, they were very willing to participate in what we were doing, putting their initial shyness aside to have fun and offer opinions and ideas. We began with warm ups, a favorite quick-thinking game, and a very silly circle game to get everyone loosened up and show the new people that it’s okay to be goofy. It was great.

The group then decided to read through the contemporary English summary of The Tempest that I provided them to catch up the new participants. They added details as we went through it.

Then they decided that they wanted to begin casting the show, since many of them already have favorite characters, rather than having everyone experiment with different characters. I prefer to let decisions like this be made by group consensus, especially when they all agree, and they did in this case. So we began to list which person is interested in each character. Some people chose only one, while others left themselves open to fill in anywhere. One woman does not feel drawn to any characters yet. I asked them all to spend some more time with the play and see if they could find at least three characters with which they would be happy. I also asked them to start thinking about how they would cast the play as a whole, since there are multiple people interested in certain characters, and we’ll need to make some decisions as a group.

We’ve been doing a lot of talking lately, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but I know that many of them are itching to get back on their feet. I hope that we’ll be able to do that in the next session.