Session Four: Week 36

Tuesday

Today was an exciting session, as we were able to work with props and costumes for the first time. Things seem to work for the most part, and we had a lot of fun trying items on, exchanging things that didn’t fit, and problem solving around items that had been forgotten (and we have a solution for that going forward!).

Several of the women shared new cuts that they had made, and then we began working through the play from the beginning. We made it nearly halfway through with very few lengthy pauses. Some of us are working without scripts, while some are still shaky and holding onto their “blankies,” as one woman put it. That said, success in this program is very individual, and no one feels pressure from anyone but herself to be completely off book when we perform.

Some parts of our play are working extremely well, while others are further from what we envision. All in all, though, we left feeling extremely good about our work, energized by the new materials, and pumped up to power through the end phase of our process.

Thursday

We dedicated most of today’s session to working with our Gremio, who was not satisfied with her work on her “wedding story.” This was a lot of fun, as she has gone from someone with severe stage fright to a performer who seems to have no fear about pushing herself out of her comfort zone, playing her character truthfully while going for as many laughs as possible. Working together, we brought her monologue out into the house, with Tranio and Lucentio following her closely. Our Lucentio made the enormous contribution of giving her physical checkpoints to help her remember her lines, i.e., “You’re here when he gives a cuff, then you move here and the priest falls down.” We had a blast working through it, and our Gremio now feels much more confident.

We spent the remainder of our time working lines in the final scene. Another productive day for everyone present, with great team work all around.

Friday

We finished our first dress run of the play tonight. There were a few more hiccups than we would have liked, but we made it through and are confident that we can get through the whole thing at our next meeting.

Unfortunately, due to our interrupted run, there was a misunderstanding between two of the women about a costume piece that they need to exchange. As I mediated the conflict, it became clear that it was not a personal one, but the type of conflict many seasoned actors might recognize as familiar from past productions – unfortunately our time with props and costumes is limited, it’s a stressful part of the process, and so the miscommunication boiled over more than it probably had to. We figured out what needed to be figured out, though, both women agreed to move past it and find a way to continue to work together, and I think we’ll be okay.

One of the positive outcomes when we have such a conflict is the opportunity to reflect on better ways in which it could have been handled – not sweeping it under the rug or ignoring the issue, but, in this case at least, allowing the other person to finish what she was saying before responding. Part of the reason things got heated is that they weren’t truly listening to one another. Being able to talk that out afterward and offer other options for the future (because none of us can avoid conflict 100% of the time) is what we hope our takeaway can be, and it was this time.

Session Four: Week 35

Tuesday

Tonight was spent continuing to work through underworked and shaky scenes, building confidence in ourselves and our ensemble. The group has full ownership of the material at this point, continuing to make cuts as they solidify what they need and what they don’t, giving each other much-needed boosts of encouragement as we enter the home stretch.

Thursday

We broke into small groups of two and three today to work on lines. This proved to be a very effective way of working, and as more women arrived toward the end, they followed suit.

I worked with the woman playing Gremio, who has expressed many doubts about whether or not she could memorize her lines. This is the same woman who recently cried with excitement during group work on her lines, but she has been having a hard time working on her own. I worked through a scene with her exactly as I would for myself: building it one or two lines at a time, going back to the beginning, pushing forward when ready. The scene includes a monologue about which she was very nervous, but I continued to gently push and encourage her, and she joyfully memorized the whole thing. Now, having worked in this way, she feels she has the tools to memorize the rest on her own, and she is excited to do so!

Friday

Today was an important day for us, as we had an open discussion and anonymous vote to choose the play we’ll explore next. The group’s primary concerns were a) a play that will really engage their audience, b) a great story and c) themes they want to talk about for nine months.

The pros and cons of each play in consideration were discussed, and when the votes were tallied, Othello had been chosen. The themes of rumors, jealousy, trust/mistrust, and poor (or mis-)communication are ones that the group is eager to explore and put before an audience. One woman has major qualms with the possible interpretation that “black men are easily manipulated and violent, and white women are victims.” I assured her that, while the play could be interpreted that way, it’s not my feeling that that’s a correct interpretation, and certainly not a story that we want to tell. The group agreed, although most haven’t read the play, even suggesting that we look at cutting all references to race to be sure that everyone is comfortable with the story we’re telling. Just as we knew that there were elements of misogyny in The Taming of the Shrew that we did not want to embrace or support, we know that the elements of racism in Othello are not where we want our focus to be.

We worked a couple of scenes tonight as well, noting that the more over-the-top we go with our performances, the more engaging they are within the context of this play. We are going to keep pushing beyond our comfort zones as we move into the final phase of the program. Costumes and props come in next week, and we’ll have time (we hope) to run our play three times before we have an audience. It’s a high-stress but invigorating time.

Session Four: Week 34

Tuesday

We decided to dive in tonight and begin “stumbling through” the entire show. This is often done in rehearsal processes and is a great way to identify a show’s strengths and weaknesses while solidifying transitions and firming up lines. Although this was challenging, we had a lot of fun with it – those of us who were working without scripts felt very supported by the rest of the ensemble, taking the pressure off and allowing us to relax about not being perfect. We also made some interesting discoveries this way.

We got more than halfway through the play. Some members of the ensemble feel better about this than others; those of us who have been through this process before reassured the newer members that stumble-throughs often take much longer than the play does in the end, and that they’re supposed to be messy.

Our plan moving forward is to finish staging scenes that have recently been recast and then focus on running the entire play as many times as we can so that everyone has an equal opportunity to work lines on their feet. This isn’t always the best approach in a traditional rehearsal process, but our program isn’t traditional in that sense. It’s most important that all members feel as supported and confident as possible, and this particular ensemble is pretty unanimous that what they need to get there is to just keep running the show once we’ve got the kinks worked out.

Thursday

We began today by working the brief scene between Grumio and Curtis prior to Petruchio and Kate arriving at his house. The woman who was playing Curtis and the Pedant recently got into a program that is taking up a lot of her time, so she gave the role of Curtis to a newer member of the group. That meant that the scene needed to be revisited to catch her up. This went smoothly, and she and I had a lot of fun playing off of each other. I’m excited to see where these characters’ relationship goes!

We then settled in to work lines with one ensemble member who is having a hard time finding time to work on them outside of the group. We made sure she knew that we were there for her, gave her some ideas of how to approach people she lives with to help her, and then worked through a scene that was giving her some trouble. Within a short amount of time, with our encouragement, she had nearly a page memorized. She teared up, saying, “I’m going to cry. You guys are just helping me so much.” She knows now that she is able to memorize; and on top of that, she knows we’re here to do whatever we can to support her.

Although it has been frustrating in some ways that our attendance on Thursday afternoons has been light, it has also allowed for moments like this that have been helpful for the people are have been there. Any opportunity we have to work together on something, we take it. This is a very tenacious ensemble.

Friday

We recently asked if the facility could provide us with additional rehearsal time, and we were thrilled that we were given permission to rehearse the final four Fridays leading up to our first performance. This extra time is not being taken lightly: all but one member of our group were present tonight, ready to work and driven to make the most of the rehearsal.

We addressed the scenes that were shaky or unworked, which happened to be all in a row. We began with Act IV Scene I, after the part of it that was worked on Thursday, and set the stage combat and more refined blocking that we wanted. The women who were not in the scene paid close attention and helped us figure it out. Although I only become a member of the cast to fill gaps left by people who leave the group, in a way it’s a good thing when I’m taken out of the mix as one of the “directors” – with me on stage, asking the ensemble to take the lead on direction, they proved to be extremely insightful, encouraging, and even nit-picky about details they deemed important.

Our Petruchio had some growth tonight, as we servants asked her to give us a reason to be afraid of her! As I wrote earlier in the blog, she approaches Petruchio with a lot of warmth – she comes from the heart – but in this scene, it’s important that she put some of that aside and play his game. She proved willing to do so, and the scene took off. It was very exciting.

We then moved on to the next scene. In this, Lucentio and Bianca had been dancing during some dialogue between Tranio and Hortensio. This, however, proved too distracting, as they were swing dancing and the music would be necessarily loud and fast-paced. We couldn’t focus on the dialogue, which is important. We asked them to adjust their dance to something more “lyrical” and goofy, and we think that that will work.

This added rehearsal was a very productive one. Having this much extra time together is already proving to be a boon to us.

Session Four: Week 33

Tuesday

One of our ensemble members recently wrote a play, which she subsequently was given permission to produce at the prison. Although we facilitators are not able to attend the performance, we were ecstatic to hear that it was very well received last week by its first audience. We were also told that the playwright calmly went on in place of a cast member who couldn’t at the last minute, and that she was wonderful in the role. She was beaming from all of the positive feedback, and so proud. We’re proud of her, too!

We worked on the final two scenes of the play tonight, and we discovered some very fun ways of staging them. Unfortunately we had to stop our work on Act V Scene I before we really wanted to, as a few members of the group had to leave, and, though it wasn’t their fault, it was quite frustrating to the ensemble. We rallied, though, and did some solid work on Act V Scene II.

We still have questions about the best way to stage the scene, but we were able to do some pretty deep character work on Petruchio and Katharina. “My heart feels what my character feels,” said the woman playing Petruchio. It’s a new feeling for some of them to be as vulnerable as they need to make themselves while playing these characters. “We put up walls to protect ourselves,” said one woman, “But we’re really hurting ourselves.” We just keep working to support one another as we take on our individual challenges.

Thursday

As usual, there was light attendance today. We took some time as a smaller group to discuss some ways in which we want to change the group in the fall. Some great ideas were brought up that, pending approval by the facility, should help to strengthen us next year, making for more cohesion of the group early on and helping us to do better, deeper work. That’s what we all want.

We also worked on Petruchio’s post-wedding monologue, in which he asserts his ownership of Katharina. This piece can be interpreted many ways, and our Petruchio is weighing all of her options. She is an actress who approaches everything from the heart, so that’s how her Petruchio is working so far. How much is a game, we wondered together? How much is sincere? How much is a response to her, and how much is a response to the other men? We worked to clarify the meaning of every word and phrase, and now our Petruchio will work to find what rings most true to her.

Session Four: Week 32

Tuesday

Today we were excited to welcome a camera crew to our group. They are filming a project that will be posted online, and you can be sure that I will share it here when it’s ready! Our group, though nervous, really brought it for this meeting – we got a lot accomplished and felt very good about our work.

To begin with, I have to take it back to last Tuesday, and a situation that I did not record in that entry. Our Baptista has been wanting to work on the scene between her character, Bianca, and Katharina for a few weeks, and we’ve kept putting it off for various reasons. Last Tuesday, we were all set to work it when our Bianca raised a concern – with the previous woman who played that role, the blocking was developed to include her being dragged on the floor by her ankles. This woman wanted to work around that part of the scene, as she’d just had her hair done. The other women in the scene (and a few who are not in it) were impatient with this, and the conversation quickly devolved to a place that was not constructive – I would characterize it as bickering. No one wanted that, but the vibe in the room was such that it was better to leave it for the time being and hope to resolve it later.

This Tuesday, our Baptista began the session by stating that she had thought about that situation, and that she realized that she and our Kate had been unfair to our Bianca. “That’s how we did the scene with [the previous actress],” she said, “But we never asked you how you felt about it. Maybe you want to do it a different way.” She apologized for being inconsiderate and jumping on her and asked if they could work the scene, possibly in a new way. This self-started conflict resolution on her part is huge – not only is it a skill we hope to develop together as an ensemble, but it’s something she’s personally been working on since she first joined the group two and a half years ago.

We did exactly that – we reworked the scene in a way that makes our Bianca more comfortable and actually makes the scene funnier and more active. And then we just kept going. It’s a long scene, and we found that we were able to just barrel through it – and it mostly works! And then we kept going after that into the next scene, which we refined and got to a place where it’s working well, too.

The cherry on top was a quite reticent group member stepping in as the servant and completely stealing the scene with just one line. We all dissolved into laughter and applause when that happened. I hope that she can internalize how effective she was and use that experience to give her more confidence going forward – we’ve all known all along how great she is with this material, and we’ve been hoping for a moment like this.

Thursday

Written by Vanessa

It was a special session today, Shakespeare's birthday. Class started with only one person who isn't officially a member of the cast but attends the sessions when she can, though work duties call her away early. I get excited by the idea of someone showing up even if it's only for a few moments to check in - it shows how sacred this program is to this group. Every session I attend I feel the sense of honor and integrity the group brings with them into our rehearsals. It is really remarkable and it continues to humble and inspire me. I am a relatively new facilitator and this is my first blog post. I sometimes feel myself just in awe and not saying much in our sessions. I don't need to! For once I am speechless while I watch this group uncover new ideas and make strong clear choices that make me have a-ha! moments all over the place. It never fails when I ask them, "What just happened in this scene?"... all of them will have their own short and sweet analysis. Hearing their perspective is my favorite part of the day. Using their own words to describe what's going on in each scene shows they are doing their homework and striving toward translating it on the stage for audiences to enjoy. The process of putting up a show is a beautiful thing and they get it. Seeing the ladies progress in getting off book is making it more real that soon they will perform and showcase all the hard work they've put in and I'm ecstatic for them.

I've been told Thursday meetings are lighter because of the daytime schedule and how it corresponds with other activities, and today was one of those lighter days. However, it didn't stop us from diving in and working.   I heard about the success of Tuesday's session - they had blocked and worked up to around page 30! I requested three of the women show me the tail end of Act 2 Scene 1 (rumor had it that some hilarious moments had been born). There was a bit of resistance because they felt they had already worked that scene so much - but of course I begged and they obliged me. Although they weren't quite off book - they knew what they were saying and were comfortable enough to make strong, clear choices that had me laughing from start to finish. The three of them had a great sense of ensemble - one facilitator even said it was reminiscent of the Marx Brothers. Just a few tweaks had to be made for the physical comedy to work smoothly. Once some ideas were tossed around by all team members - they listened and tried it and beautiful magic occurred. A "bit" was born! And now they have a solid scene. Even though they weren't quite excited to work something they had gone over a few times, they knew their hard work paid off.   Once they solidified body placement, some good old slapstick comedy shined through and they learned (and I was also reminded) that repetition equals success and it was beautiful to watch. I can't wait for opening night when they hear the audience roar with laughter.

Curiosity is golden when it comes to Shakespeare and this group is never lacking of that. Someone asked, "Tell me something no one knows about Shakespeare" and a few facilitators gave some facts off the top of their heads - and this is when we had a group tribute of: SHAKESPEARE'S BIRTHDAY – someone led us into song and we all joined in. It was a great moment of thanking the man who brought us all together.

I'm honored that this team let me in so late into their efforts. I learned today that this group has been working on this project since October and I find their dedication to be the most inspiring thing in my life right now. I feel like they have welcomed me with open hearts and minds, which is exactly what good artists do, and that's who they are. I was pretty excited to get my official badge before walking into the session today, to have tangible proof of my being a part of this team. But the truth is, I didn't need a badge for it to be official. From day one, they took me in and we all have been striving toward goals together ever since. I have so much to give to my other projects thanks to the inspiring injections I get from these ladies every week.