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!