It's been amazing to see Begin/End change week by week at each of my rehearsal visits, and watch the layers of the production build little by little. Two weeks ago the scenes were being scrutinised in some detail; there were long conversation about single pages of script, thinking associatively alongside the actors, director and stage manager to draw up images, stories, and experiences that might parallel the journeys of the characters and help the performers access what Yaz and Lili are going through. Loose improvations of each section of the play were also being developed, which you can really see in the way the two performers now relate to one another physically and emothionally on stage; it's underpinned with that playful, spirited and imaginative impro work that's helped them (from my perspective at least) to take ownership of the text.
Then a week ago, the work in rehearsal was obviously getting more specific: longer sections were being built upon with movement and sound, emphasis on lines and exchanges being pinned down, and as the writer I began to take a back seat and just watch them focus on their own craft, rather than worry so much about mine. This is a lovely experinece for a writer, as you start to believe in the foundations that the script is providing and allow yourself to be surprised with where they take it. However I was soon collared by Angela to run through some of the teenage language in the piece; the actors had been on a reseach trip on a local school and spoken to the youth theatre at Half Moon, and there's been some essential updating of the vocabulary! This ear-to-the-ground stuff is great as you know you'll be giving a young audience something they recognise with a high level of detail.
And then this morning, just over three weeks in, I've been to a 'stagger-through' and the whole piece has lifted again: it flows around the space and the music, movement and performances have reached a new level - even though the actors told me there'd been several slips and director Angela had lots of notes, it was beginning to look like a complete production. The digital / video work has yet to be included, so the dress rehearsal will be the first time I see all the elements of the project combine. Seeing the play as a whole three-dimensional thing also means that little snippets of text start to stand out as not quite right; lines start to get trimmed as the silences between the actors, the space and the audience begin to speak louder than the text. This fine-tuning requires a different way of watching and listening - with earlier drafts, the overall structure and shape is what you're grappling with, wheras now you want everthing to be as precise as possible. You learn more about writing too, so this is all development time for my own practice as well.
Next time I see Begin/End will be the day before the play opens, and from what I've seen so far I think it's going to be an incredibly exciting production.
Then a week ago, the work in rehearsal was obviously getting more specific: longer sections were being built upon with movement and sound, emphasis on lines and exchanges being pinned down, and as the writer I began to take a back seat and just watch them focus on their own craft, rather than worry so much about mine. This is a lovely experinece for a writer, as you start to believe in the foundations that the script is providing and allow yourself to be surprised with where they take it. However I was soon collared by Angela to run through some of the teenage language in the piece; the actors had been on a reseach trip on a local school and spoken to the youth theatre at Half Moon, and there's been some essential updating of the vocabulary! This ear-to-the-ground stuff is great as you know you'll be giving a young audience something they recognise with a high level of detail.
And then this morning, just over three weeks in, I've been to a 'stagger-through' and the whole piece has lifted again: it flows around the space and the music, movement and performances have reached a new level - even though the actors told me there'd been several slips and director Angela had lots of notes, it was beginning to look like a complete production. The digital / video work has yet to be included, so the dress rehearsal will be the first time I see all the elements of the project combine. Seeing the play as a whole three-dimensional thing also means that little snippets of text start to stand out as not quite right; lines start to get trimmed as the silences between the actors, the space and the audience begin to speak louder than the text. This fine-tuning requires a different way of watching and listening - with earlier drafts, the overall structure and shape is what you're grappling with, wheras now you want everthing to be as precise as possible. You learn more about writing too, so this is all development time for my own practice as well.
Next time I see Begin/End will be the day before the play opens, and from what I've seen so far I think it's going to be an incredibly exciting production.
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