Tuesday / November 26 / 2019
Written by Lauren

We started out with a check-in. One woman was very excited about Thanksgiving this week and the opportunity to decorate the Christmas tree that will be going up in her unit. Another woman had some of her drawings accepted into an art show! Good news all around.

After the Ring exercise, we played some games. We had a couple of fast and furious rounds of “Zip, Zap, Zop” and “Wah.” Since we were in the auditorium, the ensemble was anxious to jump into the material and get a feel for performing on the stage. They are starting to think about what characters they might audition for, so this was a good opportunity to try acting out some of those out.

The first scene we worked was Act 3 Scene 4. One woman commented that it was a lot more fun acting on the actual stage than in the classroom. The woman playing the Ghost does not typically read or act out scenes, but was feeling adventurous tonight. After running the scene, she had ideas for the Ghost that she wanted to try out during another run. A woman who was not in the scene added that she liked some of the choices the woman playing Ghost had made, such as taking Hamlet’s sword. The woman playing Gertrude enjoyed the dynamic between her, Hamlet, and the Ghost, most notably seeing Hamlet’s reactions to the ghost while Gertrude could not see it. The woman who played Hamlet commented on how many emotions Hamlet has in the scene.

We ran the scene again. Some women chose to stick with their characters, while some new actors stepped into others. A different woman played Gertrude this time, and there were comments on how “there” her emotions were. She said that the character’s emotions were easy to pinpoint. The woman playing the Ghost tried her idea of entering from the back of the house, and the reactions to that choice were positive. We talked a little bit about staging this scene, and the overall agreement was that there should be somewhere to sit—possibly a vanity type set-up—for Gertrude.

Next, we ran the end of Act 5, Scene 2. One woman who hasn’t performed much really enjoyed getting up on the stage. It felt good to her. The woman who played Horatio told us that she is considering auditioning for that part. She struggles a bit with pinpointing characters’ emotions, and Horatio has become a character whose emotions are clearer to her than the rest.

We moved on to the end of Act 1 Scene 2. The woman playing Hamlet really liked this scene and felt her own emotions coming out in the character. She said she felt like she was asking the questions about the Ghost herself, not as Hamlet. The woman playing Horatio (previously mentioned as being interested in the part) understood the scene and the character more after having the chance to act it out. One woman responded to her with a short analysis of the character. She commented on how Horatio is so in-tune. She said she thought that Horatio does not know that the king was killed, but definitely feels that he was. He is loyal to Hamlet and shows that loyalty by going to Hamlet about the Ghost instead of to the guards. He never doubts Hamlet—he is “empathically connected to him,” she said. He never judges Hamlet or turns his back. Even in Hamlet’s death, Horatio does not have anything bad to say, sings his praises, and tells his story to Fortinbras.

Finally, we moved on to the end of Act 3, Scene 3. One woman commented that playing Claudius in this scene is like waiting for Hamlet to pounce, but he never does. We started talking about staging, and one woman suggested that the Ghost could be behind Hamlet, and that his presence could symbolize Hamlet’s conscience, since Hamlet considers killing Claudius but chooses not to in that moment. Another woman made the comment that there are a lot of inmates who are there at WHV for a long time, and that those women have seen our shows before will be seeing many more in the future. She suggested having tie-ins such as Zannis (Twelfth Night) to connect the shows from year to year, as well as to provide some comedic relief in such a dark play. This is something that the ensemble is interested in exploring further as we continue working on the play.

Friday / November 29 / 2019
Written by Maria

“I have an idea for a game!” one woman said, jumping up enthusiastically. I should have called her a “thought burglar” because when she suggested playing Bombs and Shields, I said that I had been thinking of the same thing earlier that afternoon. Someone else suggested charades since it’s a typical party game that one plays with the family at Thanksgiving.

We cleared the stage of all the chairs and everyone who wanted to play got into a circle as we explained how to play Bombs and Shields. Each person silently picks someone in the circle to be her bomb (who she will want to stay away from) and another person to be her shield (who she will want to keep between her and her bomb). We played this a couple times, and we were all giggling as we dashed around the stage in small circles of people trying to hide or escape from their bombs. “What did we learn from this?” we asked once we had all settled down. “Getting comfortable with the stage,” one woman replied, “and it’s okay to have fun.” We agreed and also briefly discussed objectives and spatial awareness, which will definitely come into play when we start staging. We then played one round of Party Quirks with five party guests, Lauren as the hostess, and the rest of us in the audience shouting out guesses about each party guest.

After more laughter, we eagerly jumped into some scenework. Two of the women wanted to look at a scene with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, so we started with their introduction to Hamlet in Act 2 Scene 2. When we asked how the scene had gone, the woman playing Hamlet replied, “He’s got some funny lines, but sometimes you just want to pinch him. He’s very wordy.” Rosencrantz had crossed down to sit on the stairs at one point in the scene, but we ran into some challenges, as the light is dimmer around the edge of the stage and our Hamlet was having trouble seeing the words in her script.

The second time we ran the scene, we added some chairs and a table to play with upstage of the curtain line where the lights are brighter. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern played off each other amazingly, with Guildenstern copying Rosencrantz’s mannerisms and facial expressions. “I understood the scene more this time,” Guildenstern said. “I was proud of [Guildenstern] because she came out of her shell more and followed her instincts.” our Rosencrantz shared.

One woman said that she really wanted to look at Hamlet with the gravedigger in Act 5 Scene 1. There was some whispering as the two women playing the gravediggers dug around (pun intended) backstage to find a way to create the grave. They ended up rolling the chalkboard over and grabbing some drumstick “shovels,” and the scene was on its way. “I want more skulls!” our Hamlet lamented after the scene was over. She also said that she wanted Yorrick’s skull jaw to flap as she played with it. It’s so great when we can start to look past understanding what’s going on in the scene and start to play with design elements, comedic relationships and connecting with other people on the stage. “She played Horatio good,” our gravedigger commented after we finished the scene for the first time. “I felt like I was playing ping pong listening to the two of them,” our Horatio replied, shaking her head back and forth. We replied that it worked for both her character and the scene.

We then ran the scene a second time, with each of the women playing a different character. Our new gravedigger created a shallower grave from a tipped over table, and our new Hamlet added two chairs. In both renditions of the scene, I burst into laughter as the gravedigger popped up with enthusiasm and pride, shouting, “Mine sir!” to Hamlet when he asked whose grave this was.

“This scene has to stay in! It’s a good comedic scene to break things up,” one woman insisted as we asked the audience for their thoughts on the scene we had just watched. “It kept us tuned in and was entertaining to watch,” another woman jumped in. There was so much silliness and energy that the time flew by, and before we were able to run the scene again, it was time to go.