Season Nine: Week 20

“In Shakespeare, no one is invisible.”

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Tuesday / January 7 / 2020
Written by Emma

It's good to be back! Due to the holidays, Kyle G, Maria, and I had not been present at a session for a few weeks. We were greeted by a full ensemble, brimming with excited energy. One woman even danced her way to the ring, doing an impression of Farley’s Maniac from “Tommy Boy”. Everyone was ready to put the pedal to the metal.

During check-ins, one longtime member suggested that we begin our discussion of casting tonight! Her idea was seconded by another returning member, and then a host of newbies. It seemed like everyone was on board to at least begin working towards casting.

After raising the ring, Kyle asked the ensemble what they would like to do first. “Acting!” a new member blurted out. There you have it! We picked up where the group left off on Friday, with Act III scene 2. This scene is the notorious play-within-a-play scene, in which Hamlet orchestrates a performance depicting the mysterious circumstances surrounding King Hamlet’s death. Outside of the micro play, this scene has a rather heavy emotional load. Claudius and Gertrude are confronted with the reality of their actions, and Hamlet comes to the conclusion that his suspicions about his “daddy-uncle” are correct.

In the interest of sanity, Kyle suggested that we break the scene down into more digestible, bite-sized parts. This would prove important as we made our way through the freshly cut script. Facilitators and ensemble members alike were stumbling through lines, flipping pages urgently to keep up with one another. “Holy crap, I need a highlighter!” one woman exclaimed. Even our most fastidious returning member admitted she was having a difficult time following along. Still, we assigned roles and got working on the scene.

Before actors took their places, one returning member buzzed about the stage, arranging chairs and other set pieces in preparation for the scene. You wouldn’t know it to see her now, but last season, this ensemble member was reserved in her suggestions for staging and blocking. Now, she is an integral force in the staging process.

After walking through the first chunk of the scene, we took a break to regroup. Kyle suggested that we try reading the new, cut version of the scene in its entirety before we went back to put it on its feet. We arranged ourselves in a circle in front of the stage and powered our way through the text, top-to-bottom.

Next, we spent some time discussing potential sets and blocking. One woman had the idea that the play-within-a-play could be enacted using sock puppets that are color coordinated with the king and queen they are meant to portray. Another woman offered some practical ideas for timing in the dialogue when the curtain could be drawn (at the line “Lights, lights, lights!”, to be exact). At one point, one ensemble member asked the actor playing Hamlet, “What would Hamlet be doing here?” The actor paused for a moment, thinking. “I feel like he’s being devious,” she said. “So, what would he be doing?” the other woman responded, encouraging her to dive into her instincts.

What happened next was, in effect, a mess. Trying to navigate the cuts while keeping emotions, diction, and blocking in mind would be enough to make seasoned professionals frazzled. However, our ensemble handled it with grace. They corrected one another when needed, got each other back on track, and made their way through the scene. It is worth noting that this could have easily been a frustrating process, but in reality, it was anything but. In fact, our group was jovial about their mistakes.

When we finally finished 3.2, we had about 35 minutes left. We spent the remainder of the session discussing casting. We went around the circle and had each ensemble member state the “top 3-ish” characters they were interested in. We were happy to find at the end that there was very little, if any, overlap in interest. We decided to hold off on official casting for another day, but it seems like we should have no issue getting all parts happily assigned.

Things are picking up, and this ensemble is very ready to go!

Season Nine: Week 18

Friday / January 3 / 2020
Written by Lauren

We began the session with a chat about cuts to the script. A couple of women had concerns regarding some proposed cuts, so as a group we discussed those and how they would or would not be missed in the final script. Since this can be difficult work, we followed it by playing a couple of games.

The first game was new to us, and suggested by an ensemble member. It’s number game called Buzz and was very fun! After that we played a group favorite: WAH! Even a certain member who “does not play games” joined in for that one.

We moved on to Act 3 Scene 1. The discussion about Ophelia started out with one ensemble member describing her as a “ditz.” The more we spoke about Ophelia, the clearer the sadness of her life became. After clarifying that she is often spoken about right in front of her, one woman commented, “No wonder she jumped.”

We then focused specifically on Hamlet’s famous “To be or not to be” speech—its being spoken in front of Ophelia, and what that could mean for her interpretation of Hamlet’s words. One woman suggested that when Ophelia is on stage but being ignored, she could sit in a chair with her back to the audience, almost as if being placed in time out.

Unfortunately, our session came to an end not long after that, but I am looking forward to seeing how the group decides to work with these ideas!

Season Nine: Week 16

“Shakespeare is the place where I feel like I can truly, truly be myself.”

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Tuesday / December 17 / 2019
Written by Maria

Today we tackled the lengthy Act 2 Scene 2, breaking it into smaller chunks to work through. “This is half the play!” one woman said as we all flipped through the long scene we were about to undertake. Kyle G. proceeded to give us a quick synopsis of the scene before we dove in with the entrance of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and Polonius discussing Hamlet’s madness with the king and queen.

The woman who was playing Polonius has a great understanding of playing comedic moments and physicality, clearing her throat before reading Hamlet’s note to Ophelia—and clearly not impressed with his attempts at sonnet writing. “Was Polonius the old King Hamlet’s right hand man?” a woman asked. I responded that I had just assumed that the man came with the job, but another woman responded that Polonius has a disdain for Hamlet that doesn’t fit for him if he was the old king’s right hand man. “Maybe Polonius was there because he was so loyal to Claudius. He could also be there to be the fall guy,” the woman who asked the question said. “Literally,” another woman agreed.

“I get lost in my own conversation,” the woman playing Polonius observed. We then discussed why Shakespeare wrote this fuddy duddy character that we are not meant to take seriously. Is it just for comedic effect, or is there something else at play? Kyle G. said that each person in the court represents a part of the court that Hamlet hates. When we asked how the scene had gone, one woman in the audience praised the actors’ work but wanted more movement in the scene. She suggested that they move the action closer to the audience. Since we were discussing the roles of the court, that also brought up the status of each character—how could we make that clear to the audience, physically? We have these great steps between the stage and the house that we can use to have a person literally stand above someone of lower status, or to show a power shift in their interaction.

Keeping all of these ideas in mind the second time through, the scene moved further downstage, sparking Polonius to ask if it was too far. We all enthusiastically assured her that it was great and that we loved it. She also said that she had gotten a little in Claudius’ face, hoping that the king would put her in her place. Kyle G. suggested that Polonius make good use of the steps, crossing back and forth as she reads the letter, and our resident stage manager reminded us that we could set the king’s and queen’s thrones upstage to help give power to those in charge. Everyone already felt a lot better about the scene and looked forward to pushing through to the next bit.

The third time through, we continued into Hamlet’s entrance, and we added thrones for the king and queen. “It’s hard to grasp the emotions when trying to read,” our Hamlet confessed. A supportive veteran pushed Hamlet to be more aggressive with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. “Hamlet is getting madder and madder. You should move toward them when you’re asking why they are here.” We also suggested using some chairs so Hamlet could force Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to sit for her interrogation. “[Rosencrantz and Guildenstern] look busted with their tail between their legs,” one woman said, smiling, when the two were caught out by Hamlet.

One woman suggested that Hamlet enter from the house to give time for a shift in the scene (the royals to hide for eavesdropping), and everyone got ready to tackle this section of the scene again. We stopped a few times to give Hamlet some suggestions to go bigger and really push for answers from her friends, and for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to show us their fear of Hamlet’s questioning.

As we got into the scene more, I stopped taking notes and just enjoyed watching the interaction unfold before me. Hamlet, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern did a great job of taking our suggestions and pushing the scene into something funny and connected. The two friends squirmed as Hamlet pushed for the real reason that they were there. Rosencrantz took the note of being more physical, scooching her chair to be closer to Guildenstern, and even falling to the floor in an attempt to lean away from Hamlet’s pointing finger. We were all laughing, and when Hamlet pointed at the chair for them to sit, there was a lot of power in that small gesture. After coming to our stopping point, we asked how the scene had felt, and our Hamlet responded, “I appreciate not just the facilitators’ input, but the other ensemble members as well: you’re the ones watching it.”

“It made it more understandable from an audience perspective. To see you [Hamlet] toying and playing with them. I like when Rosencrantz fell out of the chair.” a woman from the audience shared. Another women praised Hamlet for always staying open to the audience. Even though she doesn’t have performance experience, this makes it a lot easier for us to understand both what she is saying and the intention behind it. Kyle S. praised the teamwork of the entire ensemble, saying that they made each other’s gestures work.

Before we could run the scene again or get into the entrance of the Players, it was time to raise the ring and say goodbye. “I haven’t laughed and smiled this much in ages—my face hurts from smiling,” one woman told a facilitator as we were leaving for the evening. It was a pretty great way to end our last Tuesday before the holiday break.

Season Nine: Week 15

“This is an awesome play for prisoners. 100% of us have felt like Hamlet.”

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Tuesday / December 10 / 2019
Written by Emma

One of our newer members piped up almost immediately after lowering our ring, suggesting that we “start from the beginning [of the play.]” Nodding heads around the circle seconded her idea, as one of our returning members began strategizing how we should go about doing that. She remarked that last season, “we ran the scenes three times--it was the magic number!” She smiled and added, “but for me, it’s two.”

Facilitators didn’t even have to ask the group what we would like to do today--it seemed they already knew! We started at the very beginning (which, as Lauren pointed out, is “a very good place to start”) with 1.1. Our goal was to run the scene once, collaborate on blocking, then run it again with some new ideas. Before we even got started, one woman hopped up and began strategically setting chairs, tables, and even artificial plants across the stage. “What are you setting up?” another woman asked. The first woman stopped, thought for a moment, and said, “When there’s more objects, there’s more to do!” When she finished, we got some actors onstage and began our run.

The tone of this run was, surprisingly, rather comedic. In this scene, we find guards on watch duty discussing the odd goings on in the kingdom, and they encounter a ghost who looks just like the recently-deceased King Hamlet. The actors playing the guards delivered their lines with an almost machine-like quality: upright and stoic. That is, until the ghost came onstage. One of our guards scurried behind a fake plant in fear, which elicited laughter from the entire ensemble. Even our ghost, who had held a chilled expression, began to crack a smile.

One big highlight of the run was watching one of our first-season members read for Horatio. At multiple points this season, she has expressed discomfort with acting, saying she wasn’t sure what to do when she was onstage. Facilitators and ensemble members alike have spent the past few months giving her time, space, and support to help ease her stress. It seemed like it all paid off as she confidently walked around the stage. At one point, she even realized that she was upstaging her scene partner, so she repositioned herself to open up the stage. A real pro move!

“You already know what I’m going to ask!” Lauren remarked as the scene came to a close. The question, of course, was how that scene had felt for the actors. We talked about how we liked the comedic undertones and strategized on how we could re-stage and block in order to ham it up a bit more. We imagined where the guard tower could go (using a music stand as a marker), and after some rearranging, we were ready to run it again. The second run immediately looked better. One actor stood at attention behind the music stand/guard tower, scanning the horizon for any signs of disturbances. Two more guards marched back and forth across the stage, turning on their heels in unison, as Horatio struggled to get them to listen. It was much more apparent what was going on in the scene, and we got some new blocking ideas.

The group was ready to move on to 1.2. This scene is significantly longer than the previous one and provides much of the background information needed to understand the events of the play. One of our new members volunteered to read for Clauduis, who more or less talks at everyone else in the scene for a few straight pages. Realizing what she had gotten herself into, she didn’t shy away from the task. Instead, she let everyone know that she struggles with pronunciation but to not correct her if she made mistakes. We all agreed, and the scene got started.

“Really, who isn’t in this scene?” I wondered as almost our entire ensemble took the stage. Claudius took a strong stance in the center of the stage, and the other actors fanned out behind her in a way that visually emphasized the relationships between the king and his people. Claudius carefully made her way through the challenging text, taking her time with phrases and occasionally substituting words to maintain a flow.

After a few minutes, we took a break to re-strategize. Where should people be standing? What should actors who aren’t speaking be doing to keep the energy high? The facilitators pointed out that much of the text will be getting trimmed down for performances, but it’s still a good idea to start thinking about ways to block this scene.

After tossing around a few blocking ideas, Claudius piped up to say that she was having difficulty understanding her character. She said that she was feeling more connected to Hamlet in this scene, what he was saying and doing. Lauren gave her some more ideas of what Claudius may be thinking based on where he’s at in the play, which seemed to put her at ease.

Before we could run the scene again, our time was up. We raised the ring, having made some excellent progress on serious blocking!

Season Nine: Week 14

Tuesday / December 3 / 2019
Written by Maria

What with the PCAP art show and winter sickness working its way through the facilitators, it was a small group of us today. The energy seemed a little subdued, as is wont to happen around the holidays, and no one was really interested in playing a game.

We did start to get into the nitty gritty of things though, like how to cut this monster of a play down and what roles people are starting to be interested in playing. A couple of women said that they were interested in playing Ophelia but didn’t want to sing. I assured them that if that was the only thing holding them back from considering that role, to go for it, as there are plenty of ways to get around the singing noted in the script. Another woman, who was originally only interested in pulling the curtain, said that she is considering playing Fortinbras or the Ghost. This made one of our veterans very happy, and she noted that this woman’s consistency and dedication are what’s needed to make the play a success.

We hopped around the play a bit, looking at cuts to Hamlet’s speech in Act 4 Scene 4 after meeting the captain and seeing Fortinbras for the first time. Then we jumped to the last scene of the play so we could have a little fun with the sword fight. Our Hamlet got a bit overzealous with the fighting, and I had to jump in a few times to pause the bout, as there was important dialogue between King Claudius and Queen Gertrude, and poor Laertes was trying to both follow the story and defend herself.

It seemed to lift our spirits, though, as almost all of us hopped onto the stage or called out a line or two from the audience during the play’s final scene. We left the theatre eager to start working with a trimmed down script, and with a renewed focus on working towards casting the play.