February 19, 2013

As we were waiting for people to arrive today, one of the participants shared with me that, as a result of being in this group, she is enjoying television and movies in a different way – she is becoming more analytical of the actors, and she’s really enjoying that. She likes trying to figure out how they make the choices they do, and what she would do in those situations. We began by working on Act II Scene I, since our Gonzalo has been absent when we’ve worked it before. That participant is very intuitive about where she should move and when, which is great. We did have to stop and figure out to whom each person is talking at certain points, but most of the participants are gaining skill at finding these clues in the text, so each pause takes less time. One really wonderful moment was when the participant playing Alonso delivered her lines, “You cram these words into my ear…” She connected very deeply to what she was saying, so much so that the entire group stopped and applauded her, with several people even saying, “Wow.” I asked her what caused the change, since this is the first time we’ve bought what she has done in this scene, and she said, “I just really put myself into the character for the first time.” It was really inspiring.

We then spent some time talking about Trinculo and Stephano, since we have a new participant who has stepped into the role of Stephano, and we want to get her caught up. The participant playing Trinculo had an idea that, at first, she was afraid to say, but we encouraged her to open up. She believes that Trinculo has a crush on Stephano but is hiding it; she wants to play with being very “fruity” when Stephano isn’t around, and then trying to be more macho when he is. She feels that this “crush” will motivate Trinculo’s jealousy of and behavior toward Caliban. No one in the group has a problem with this interpretation, so we are going to play with it.

The women playing these roles then moved on to talking about the characters’ drunkenness, and how stupid it makes them – how unable to achieve their goals. They volunteered that their own experiences with substance abuse illuminate how these characters operate. I made very clear that if they ever feel uncomfortable portraying characters who abuse substances, they are absolutely free to call a hold and take a break, and even to stop playing the characters altogether; however, the women feel that it will be a testament to their own strengths to play these roles without feeling tempted to go to that place, and they are looking forward to how it will make them feel. We then had a brief discussion about how to play these characters truthfully without judging them, even though we might be tempted to do so – that they are more likely to make their point that drunkenness is harmful by playing it honestly than by showing the audience how they personally feel throughout their performances.

It is wonderful when the participants feel comfortable enough to open up about personal experiences that shape what we are doing in the group. That’s a big part of what this is all about. Playing these characters whose issues are familiar to them will, hopefully, enable them to take another look at their own experiences and learn from what they are doing now.

February 15, 2012

Today began with some housekeeping. I brought up to the women that, while we’re not exactly down to the wire, with our performances being tentatively scheduled for early June, we should probably decide on some deadlines. I pointed out that the women in the last session did not feel that they gave themselves long enough to work without their scripts, and asked the group how much time they thought they would need. At first, the deadline of May 1 was suggested, but then some others decided that an extra two weeks would be ideal, so we settled on April 15. I then brought up that we haven’t finished cutting the script yet – I made a few cuts before giving it to them, but wanted to give them the opportunity to make decisions about excising material as a group. They decided on a deadline of March 15 for that, so that they would have a month with the script in its final form while working on memorizing their lines. I think these are reasonable deadlines, and I’m glad the group came up with them so easily together. We worked first on the scene in which Antonio convinces Sebastian to kill Alonso and Gonzalo. We chose to do this because our Antonio has only worked once, and she was working with a stand-in because our Sebastian was not present. The participant playing Antonio is still reading very fast, so we did an exercise in which I called out “stop” and “go” to give her ideas of where good places are to pause. “Take time to really know what you’re saying,” offered one participant. “You have to manipulate her,” said another. “Mold her like she’s made of clay,” said another. All of these things helped a bit, but the participant is still having a really hard time slowing down and embracing the language. Not once, however, did anyone express frustration with her – there was nothing coming at her but support. I suggested that she speak her lines out loud as much as possible, even the ones of which she is unsure of the meaning, just to gain comfort with the language. One participant who lives in her unit offered to help her with this outside of class. Everyone praised the participant for making strides today, even though she is still struggling.

We then worked Ariel’s monologue some more. The participant playing the part asked if we could cut any of it. “What do you think?” I said. She said she really wasn’t sure – it all seemed important to her, but she is intimidated by how long the piece is. I opened it up to the group, and, after some discussion, we found only one line we were comfortable cutting – and not everyone agreed. They feel that every part of the monologue is important to the character and the story, and that to take any of it out will diminish the power of the scene. The participant playing Ariel agreed. I reassured her that she has plenty of time to memorize it, and, having used this piece often myself, I let her know that I was able to memorize it very quickly, and that it stuck, since it has such a great flow to it. I then asked her to read it in character. She was nervous to do so, but everyone encouraged her, reassuring her that we all knew it wouldn’t be perfect, and she shouldn’t feel any pressure.

February 12, 2013

Today we decided to take a break from scene work and focus on a couple of monologues. The first one we decided to work was Ariel’s “You are three men of sin…” monologue. We haven’t seen the participant playing Ariel on stage nearly enough, and she was game, so we began work on this. She read it through out loud once, and I asked her what she had gotten out of it. “I don’t get it,” she said. I reassured her that that was fine, not to understand every word, but did she get anything out of it? Finally she said, “Is she pretty much saying that this will be the worst thing ever.” “Yes!” I said. “So you did get something out of it!” We then broke it down, bit by bit, so that she could understand the details. We also talked about what’s going on with the character here – she (the participant is playing Ariel as female) is very complex. She has a desire to be free and a dedication to Prospero, which motivates her to do her job well, but we feel that she may be on a bit of a power trip, too. Some of the participants drew a parallel to their own experience – there are times in prison when they have felt empowered, but they usually have not. They get upset when they have to do things they don’t agree with, but the love for their families drives them to comply with all of the restrictions. This is a very good parallel to draw when working on Ariel. One of them also pointed out that even with the purest motives, it is possible to get carried away when in a position of power.

We then moved on to Prospero’s “Ye elves…” monologue, in which he decides to give up his powers. This gets to the crux of Prospero’s transformation, so I asked them what makes him give it all up? Our discussion led to his physically giving up the books, which have been the most important thing to him – they led to his downfall, but they also have brought him significant power since he’s been on the island. But what they believe is that he’s discovered that what really matters is not in the books, and it’s not revenge – it’s forgiveness and love. He’s learned that by watching Ferdinand and Miranda, and through his interactions with Ariel. The group discovered here a parallel to someone with a substance addiction – the addiction becomes a part of the addict, and an important one. Here, Prospero is addicted to power, but he realizes he must give it up – and it’s not easy. One of the participants said, “It’s a death.” And she’s absolutely right – Shakespeare is very specific about Prospero’s feelings that this is a death, as he “buries” his staff and “drowns” his book.

Everyone was really struck by the discoveries that we made today, especially that last one. Things clearly began clicking into place for the women playing those characters, and everyone else was very engaged in the conversation.

February 5, 2013

Today we decided to work on the scene in which Antonio convinces Sebastian to kill Alonso and Gonzalo, even though the participant playing Sebastian was not present. The woman who is playing Antonio is fairly new to the group and hasn’t had many opportunities to perform, so we all felt it was important to get her on stage. One thing that was really great in this session was that one of the participants brought a copy of the No Fear Shakespeare “Tempest” with her. She actually does this every day, but she usually doesn’t use it. She used it today, however, after she called it “cheating” and I reassured her that it absolutely isn’t – it’s using a tool she has at her disposal.

We talked a lot about why Antonio is motivated to manipulate Sebastian into killing his brother. What does he get out of it? One of our new participants volunteered that maybe this is only part of the plan – maybe Antonio is setting up Sebastian to take the throne so that he can, in turn, kill Sebastian and take all of the power for himself. Everyone seemed to really like this idea, including the participant playing Antonio.

The participant playing Antonio is having some difficulty with the language, but her main issue is that she reads aloud very quickly. She kept stopping and expressing her frustration, and the rest of the group kept reassuring her that all she needs to do is slow down, read it aloud more often, and it will get easier. There was no judgment or frustration coming from everyone. Just support.

February 1, 2013

Today we worked mainly on Act III Scene I, in which Miranda interrupts Ferdinand while he is working. As we worked through the scene, breaking down the meaning of each line, we all noted how beautifully the participant playing Ferdinand takes suggestions and modifies her performance as she better understands the material. She is clearly having a blast with the character, and we are all having a great time watching her work. I was impressed again by some of the conceptual work the women are coming up with as we delve deeper into the play. The participant whom some of us call “director” (for those of you who have been reading this blog for a long time) made the excellent suggestion of having Prospero enter from a doorway that is actually downstage of the actual stage and stay to the side as he observes the scene. She believes this will make it clear that he is hovering nearby, protecting his daughter, but is not active in the scene. And she is right.

This idea sparked another for one of the participants – to decorate those doors on either side of the stage with foliage to make it clear that they are entrances from the “woods” or “jungle.” This is an excellent idea, and if we can do it, we definitely will.