Session Four: Week 29

Tuesday

Tonight, we began watching a film version of The Taming of the Shrew, chosen specifically because its approach is similar to the ensemble’s. We did not get through the entire film and will finish it next Tuesday (since more people are usually present on Tuesdays).

It was a lot of fun to watch. In particular, we all loved the physicality, the energy, the big and humorous performances, the touches like leaning every time someone said Pisa, or sighing every time the name Bianca was spoken.  We are definitely going to want to find those moments and that vocabulary for our Shrew.

Thursday

We did some solid scene work today on Act III Scene I, in which Lucentio and Hortensio tag time their wooing of Bianca. As a team, we worked out a very humorous and effective entrance (absolutely rooted in our interpretations of these characters), and we clarified what each person in the scene wants.

Our Bianca (who is newer to the role) was hesitant to “do” very much in the scene because she wasn’t sure how her character felt about Hortensio. She felt torn: is Bianca even slightly interested, or is she already in love with Lucentio? I encouraged her to make a decision either way, for the sake of rehearsal, and to embrace the possibility that it might not work. We need to allow ourselves to make mistakes in rehearsal so that we can find the things that do work. With that, she decided to try the scene as if she were not interested in Hortensio at all, and she found that this is a comfortable approach for her.

We then spent some time just running lines, which may be what the bulk of our remaining Thursdays will be used for – school and work commitments often make for low attendance. Several individuals are making good progress toward having their lines memorized, while others are feeling more challenged. We went over some tips and made sure to encourage and uplift those who are a bit overwhelmed.

Session Four: Week 28

Tuesday Written by Kyle

Tonight was my first night working as a facilitator; I went through the orientation and so missed the opening/warm-up aspect of the session. I wondered whether I was going to jump right in or hang back and observe. The former won out in short order! When I arrived the company was warm, welcoming and eager to know about me. We went through what I came to realize are the questions that all new company members are asked. What brings you to Shakespeare? Why do you want to do Shakespeare? What do you hope to get out of this experience? etc. Simple questions all, but questions I could talk about for hours. I was as eager to answer as they seemed to ask, and it felt like a nice sort of initiation to get the ball rolling.

The group set out working Act 1 scene 2; it’s a long scene with lots of entrances, exits, shtick, and lots of people on the stage. It can get a little messy with the staging and so the company had to stop and discuss many times just how we wanted to make it work. I suggested that we bring the most important elements of the scene downstage center. This prompted many more questions of the company that seemed to lead into one another: How were we going to use staging to highlight the important part of the scene? What was the important part of the scene? Why? All good critical questions that as they unravel can give the distinct impression that the scene is unraveling. They hung with it though, and took direction well. One of the newer members in the company who has a smaller part had the benefit of watching the whole scene, and she was able to voice some great ideas about staging. We were able to take those ideas and build on them in a really wonderful way. At one point they used the steps on the stage to express one character’s dominance over another; it was a really wonderful idea that utilized the space in a really organic way- it would have been a good idea in any playhouse! By the end everyone was tired, but morale seemed high for all who stayed to the end.

On a personal note, as it is my first time working with the company, and I wondered how the night would go… It was humbling, exciting and most importantly, I found the experience a little common place in the most wonderful way. Very quickly we become people doing theatre, the same as I have done my whole life. It not as if you can ever forget where you are, and frankly, it would be inappropriate to try. The point is however, that for most of the night the prison was not downstage center- it was the backdrop of the show at best. What was up front for me was the fact that there were the same hopes, fears, company archetypes, and the willingness to make something out of nothing that has been the spirit of all my experiences in the theatre- in short, I’m hooked.

Thursday

Written by Frannie

Attendance was light today, but this enabled us to give a lot of attention to a couple of scenes that really needed it.

Most of our work was done on Act IV Scene I – just the first part of the scene when Grumio enters and has a conversation with Curtis. The woman playing Curtis has been patient as we’ve rotated through Grumios, but at a certain point she was not eager to continue working this scene with stand-ins, so we let it alone for awhile. Now that I’m in the role, we decided to really dig in to make it easier to for her to learn the lines.

We made a lot of discoveries together – she proved to be very flexible and a great improviser as we tried different things. We discovered that Curtis and Grumio are rivals of sorts – they needle each other throughout the scene. We found that the scene worked best when Curtis repeatedly interrupted Grumio, pushing him and getting under his skin.

Something else that has been very striking lately, but was especially in focus today, is the growing confidence of one of our ensemble members, who is playing Vincentio. She joined the group well after its start date last year, and, despite extreme stage fright and shyness, pushed through her one scene with lines as Balthasar and emerged with a new feeling that maybe speaking in front of people is something she can actually do – and do well. This year, she rolled with the punches on casting, ending up with Vincentio and deciding that it was meant to be – that she was meant to take on this role, which, for her, is quite “large.”

Since then, she has been a constant and constructive voice in the group. She’s become a self-professed “Shakespeare nerd,” reading about him outside of our group and bringing us pertinent ideas that she’s come across. She’s also emerged as an insightful and compassionate director, guiding scenes and actors to find better ways of working with our material. This has been a truly exciting change to witness, and I can’t wait to see where she is on the other side of our performances. She’s always been a great asset to the group, but her recent emergence in such a positive leadership role is remarkable and inspiring.

Session Four: Week 27

Tuesday

Tonight was spent working through scenes involving Tranio, as the woman playing this role is newer to the group, and we wanted to give her some stage time to really get into the role. She was able to clarify her character’s objectives and the strategies he uses to accomplish them. She is having a lot of fun with the role.

The group is working well together to flesh out scenes, now that our cuts are complete, and their understanding of the text is clearly very deep. The ebb and flow of ideas between them is respectful and confident, and their solutions to challenges are often quite creative.

Our main set piece, which we are grateful to have been provided with by the facility’s Building Trades program, arrived in the theatre today. It is a revolving platform with a fountain on one side and a fireplace on another. It is really beautiful, and it was invigorating and exciting to begin to work with it today.

We’ve set April 20 as our off book date. We know we won’t be perfectly memorized by then, but this should give us ample time to work without scripts in hand so we’re confident by the time we share our play with an audience.

Thursday

Today began on a bittersweet note, as a longtime member of the group let us know that she will not be continuing, and we said goodbye to her, at least for now. This left another role vacant, so the ensemble decided to shift the woman who had been playing Grumio to this newly-available role of Bianca; they then cast Lauren as Biondello and me as Grumio. There is a general sense of relief at finally being completely cast.

We decided to spend the day catching up our new Bianca. She fell into the role immediately, making decisions that were different than the ones the previous actress had made, but that are textually based and ring true nonetheless. The ensemble was very encouraging and supportive of her as she found her way through and into the scenes, and she clearly feels good in the role.

Again today, the ensemble worked beautifully together to adjust staging as needed and give each other constructive criticism. The scenes we worked are beginning to have their own life and momentum, which is thrilling.

One of the women and I noted that we were more invested in the scenes when the women’s energy was higher. We began to discuss whether we should fully commit to our “cartoonish” staging – staying truthful in terms of our objectives, tactics, and interpretations, but letting our presentation be more stylized. “Can we go that big?” asked one woman. Another quickly replied, “It’s either go big or go home. We can’t go home, so let’s go big!”

We discussed ways in which this could work. We decided to each come back with the “poses” in which we would draw or sculpt our characters. This is sometimes referred to as a psychological gesture, and I think it will come in handy as we work on fully committing to our “go big because we can’t go home” approach.

Session Four: Week 26

Tuesday + Thursday

This week was productive and invigorating, as we buckled down to read through our script, making cuts as we went. There was lively debate about several potential cuts, but the deeper we got into the process, the more excited people got about cutting “unnecessary” material – I believe this is because it is evidence of how well we know the play at this point. We own the material; it doesn’t own us.

There was a fairly intense debate about whether or not we should cut the scene in which Petruchio rejects clothing made for Katherina, almost in its entirety. Some of us think that the relationship clues in this scene are established elsewhere, while some of us disagree with that. Others don’t want to lose the scene because it’s so funny; some, however, pointed out that we have a limited time in which to perform, and we need to be “ruthless” with our cuts. It was decided that we should table the decision until next week, when we’ll set aside time to work with the scene and determine its function better.

In other news, one of our new members has agreed to play Grumio. This leaves the role of Biondello vacant, and since we’re in the final third of our program and don’t want to add more inmates to the ensemble until the fall, it was decided that Lauren and I should audition for the role (we are the only two facilitators who can guarantee attendance at every performance, or we would ALL be auditioning!).

So next week’s plan is to finish reading and cutting, explore the scene referenced above, and cast Biondello. We hope to be able to move forward solidifying the way in which we’re telling this story – its interpretation, staging, and all of the other details that still need to be worked out.

Session Four: Week 25

Thursday

We spent some time today discussing our set. We have some flats that we’ve used as backdrops for the past two performances, and after some talk we decided to use last year’s, if possible, painting both sides so they can be flipped and used as two different locations.

We welcomed our new facilitator, Vanessa Sawson, to the group, and then decided to tackle Act IV Scene I, of which we’ve only worked the very beginning. The group decided, after reading through it once, to cut two of the servants from the scene and redistribute lines a bit. The woman who is playing the Widow agreed to play one of the remaining servants.

We all worked together to figure out how to interpret and stage the scene. Who is on stage and what times, and what are they doing? We determined that Petruchio does not usually behave toward his servants the way he does in this scene, and that this will give us “a glimpse of his humanity,” as one woman put it.

We also read through Act IV Scene IV once to get a feel for it. Our plan for the next session is to read through the entire play, make sure everyone is caught up, and make whatever cuts we feel are necessary. I’ll then be printing new scripts for the group to work with, and everyone will really get down to memorizing their lines.