Session Four: Weeks 15 and 16

Week 15

We began work today on Act II Scene I, focusing on the first part of the scene that includes Katherina, Bianca, and Baptista. There was some debate about where this scene should be set – some of the women feel the scene should take place in Baptista’s house, while others feel it will work better in the “town square” setting with which we begin the play, mainly due to the latter part of the scene that includes Petruchio wooing Katherina. Due to an eagerness to explore the relationships in the scene before key actors left for another mandatory group, we decided to table the discussion and stay open to all possibilities as we work through this very long scene.

Our exploration of this part of the scene led to more debate, as there are several different interpretations of the characters and relationships that are being discussed. Ultimately, they are all rooted in the text, so they are all valid as far as our group is concerned, and, as with the setting, we need to stay open as we continue to explore. Ultimately, these decisions will be made by the people portraying the characters, and the rest of us need to accept what may be different ideas than our own and support those women in their work.

After a number of the women had to leave, the rest of us took some time to brainstorm about our set. Many of the women in the group are set on the idea of having a fountain of some kind in our town square. I introduced the idea that perhaps this fountain could be on a small, rotating platform with another set piece or flat on its reverse side. If this is not possible, one of the women mentioned that there is a dry erase board on wheels in the auditorium, and we could hang pictures on either side of it to achieve a similar effect. The brainstorming continues!

I asked what the group wanted to do with the time we had left, and they settled on an acting exercise. Since we’ve been talking about characters’ walks as being important to their exploration, I asked if they would like to analyze their own walks (this is part of a Stanislavksy exercise that I’ve always found enlightening). They agreed, and one woman who was a part of the first session of Shakespeare in Prison excitedly recollected how, when we did this exercise in 2012, it gave her a new perspective on how her walk communicated to other people, and she’s been conscious of things like keeping her eyes off the ground ever since.

We each took turns walking across the stage, and the group discussed where we were relaxed, where our points of tension were, and what we were communicating in walking the way we did. Several of the women were nervous to participate, fearing being “psychoanalyzed”, but I reminded them that, while the way we walk MAY communicate things about us that are true and make us vulnerable, it may also communicate things we would rather not have people think about us – for example, the women from Session One was surprised to hear that she was constantly looking at the ground and that it took away from her otherwise confident, jaunty walk. We will continue with this exercise in the future, as we’re making useful discoveries with it.

Week 16

We moved on to the second part of Act II Scene I today, opting for a “staged reading” of the scene rather than a circle reading, which is what we have usually done. As we analyzed the scene line by line, we came back to a familiar theme in this group. The woman playing Petruchio said that she was uncomfortable playing him as a jerk, which led to a discussion about how we can only tell this story effectively if we resist the temptation to judge the characters whom we are playing. So, no, I said, you don’t want to play him as a jerk – but you can understand that he is confident, maybe over-confident, and in a hurry to get this wooing going so he can marry rich quickly, which makes him come off as rude. She liked that better – just altering the language we use about these characters can be very helpful, and learning to speak this way about Petruchio aids us in learning to speak more constructively about people in our lives outside the group as well. One of the women in the group pointed out, too, that Petruchio coming across “cold” at this point in the play allows for a greater transformation if he is not, in fact, a bad guy.

As most of the players in this scene then had to leave (an unfortunately consistent theme of our Tuesday meetings), we moved on to Act IV Scene I, giving Grumio and Curtis some time to explore. We found that the scene is pretty straightforward and will require some time from us to figure out the best possible staging and physicality to get across everything we want to.

The woman playing Grumio feels challenged by her longer speeches in this scene, which are very descriptive. I introduced the concept of “inner-moving pictures” – images that an actor sees in his or her head, in great detail, that aid in “painting pictures with words” for another actor and the audience. She is going to work on developing detailed images of these stories for herself, and then we’ll revisit the scene.

I had an interesting moment during this discussion of inner-moving pictures, as I was trying to describe the process without using that term, thinking it was so esoteric and “acting school” that the women might not respond to it. When I did use the phrase, it was met with that familiar look of things clicking or light bulbs turning on – it doesn’t matter where it comes from, that’s the phrase that made the whole concept make sense for the women in the group. While I’ve always been hesitant to lead the group too far into “acting class” territory, and nervous that certain phrases and techniques would alienate people, I need to always remind myself to give these women more credit – they are there for many reasons, but one of those is to effectively act and tell a story, and they often respond very well to the same ideas to which I respond as an actor, even when they seem a little goofy.

Session Four: Week 14

Tuesday

We stuck to our plan today, moving on to Act II Scene I. But first, the woman who has been cast as Grumio let us know that she will be released earlier than she expected and will go home in January. This is, of course, great news! It does leave a casting gap, and we decided not to make any decisions today – to give ourselves until Thursday to think over our options. In the meantime, the woman who has been cast as Pedant volunteered to read in for the day, since she is interested in the role (and several others are interested in casting her there).

We began to introduce some storytelling concepts today that are also basic acting concepts. The woman playing Gremio asked right off the bat “how she should play her character” – as she put it, she’s not sure right now whether he is “cocky or soft.” I shared the idea of “given circumstances” in the play, suggesting she focus not on “how” to play Gremio, but on what is evident about him in the script that can inform her interpretation. I suggested that, since her instincts right now are not leading her in one particular direction, she comb through the play to see what Gremio says about himself and what others say about him. Off the top of our heads, we know that he is old and rich, and that people poke fun at him a lot. Looking into this in more detail may give her some solid ideas of where she wants to go.

Another thing that came up is the importance of how we walk. We specifically talked about Petruchio’s walk – we know from the text that he is very sure of himself, that he is physically fit (at least enough to frequently smack others around), and that he may be somewhat self-centered. So how is this reflected in his walk? A long, swift, sure stride seems key, and posture will also contribute to our audience knowing immediately what kind of person this is. We didn’t dwell too long on this, since we had a substitute Petruchio, but everyone is now thinking about her character’s walk, and we’ll be able to move forward from here, having established the idea.

Our Hortensio had a lot of fun playing contrasts in this scene – from alarm initially about the fight between Grumio and Petruchio to asking how they are doing and welcoming them – to baiting Petruchio about Kate until he bites and then quickly reeling him in. This was an absolute delight to watch and gave us some great ideas for how to enhance our story. Another great discovery, since the group is enthusiastic about breaking the fourth wall and engaging their audience, is how well it works to have Grumio retreat into the audience and heckle Petruchio from out there for most of the rest of the scene.

We’re talking constantly about clues in the text that inform our staging, encouraging each other to speak up with creative ideas for telling our story the way we want to tell it, and the work today was fun and exciting. It was a good session.

Thursday

Attendance today was low, and the energy was kind of down as well. This is a very hard time of year for everyone, so the facilitators didn’t push anyone who clearly needed a little space.

The people who were present decided, after a brief discussion, to cast the woman who read Grumio at our last meeting permanently in the role. She is ecstatic, as she fell in love with the character during that reading. She’s a very good fit there.

We plugged in a couple of people to Act I Scene II who were absent when we last worked on it. We are not yet “done” with the scene, in terms of basic staging, due to the large number of absences, but we decided to leave it for now and return when more people are present. Otherwise we will have to review it again and again, which has proved frustrating in the past.

We plugged in our Biondello to the end of Act I Scene I, as she was not there the last time we worked on it, and then we moved on to the issue of the Pedant, as this role is now vacant. There is a newer member of the group who is currently cast as the servant Peter, and we asked if perhaps she would be interested in reading the part to see how she felt about it. She agreed to try it, and as we worked the Pedant’s scene, she seemed to grow more comfortable and enthusiastic. She has great energy and seems to fit the part very well. She is going to look over it in more detail before committing for sure.

Due to the holidays, we are only meeting once each of the next two weeks, so this blog may be a little quiet through the new year. Things should pick up in January, after we get through a season that is very rough on many of the women in our group.

Session Four: Week 13

Tuesday

Written by Dominique

Definitive progress made tonight, but it is a messy business, theatre, and we are learning to move forward with some growing pains. The group has gotten much larger - a very good thing but a very different thing and different ways of working are being discovered. Learning curve.

We began with a somewhat scattered physical warm up. Most of the 20 or so women were on time. All but 3 or 4 women circled up, and, midway through, a few in the group asked that these women join us. Most did, but a straggler or two refused.

To continue expanding the depth of the ensemble/acting work we do, an exercise a Viola Spolin improv known as "Building and Using the Where" was tried. First a "where" was built - suggested by the group. A location where the improv would take place. Then 4 or 5 objects were placed in the space spontaneously by group members to define it, to help visually "see" the space. Then 2 volunteer actors were given a "who" and a "what" or "why" - who they were and why they were in the space, what they were doing there.

Some interesting things came up. For instance, in a New York scenario, one of the actors onstage, playing Prince William, suggested that a "dog" walking by (one actor walking another as a dog character) be shot. However, the dog didn't respond, and the improv carried on. When we insisted that the dog be shot as the character suggested, the improv evolved in a much more interesting way! It became clear how important it was to honor the truth of your fellow actors onstage rather than ignore it - an improv technique known as "Yes And…" The idea is you never say no to what another character is saying, you always agree with it and hopefully take it one step further.

We also noticed that it was simpler to make the location more specific - rather than "New York" a "bank" was easier to visualize and populate. Also we learned that in dressing the space it was generally better to stick to objects rather than people - people naturally complicated the exercise. It would be an interesting way to evolve it, however, and this was noted.

The importance of specifics became very clear in choosing the "who" and "what or why". Instead of "bank robbers" the scene evolved much more naturally when we chose "valley girls" robbing a bank. The comedy didn't have to be forced, no one onstage had to be a playwright on the fly to make the scene work. It evolved naturally through the who doing the what in the space we clearly defined.

Afterwards people commented that it was nice to see the space they were in; so much of the work we do with Shakespeare is focused on the text it is sometimes difficult to see beyond your own nose. Especially with the broad type of comedy that this group seems to be growing out of this text interacting with the space and the specifics can be useful ideas.

Unfortunately, though there was time left, at this point many of the group started to leave - various call outs, med lines, etc. Those that were left voted that we should do a circle read through of the text before putting it on its feet, though there was a significant call for just getting going. As we circled up to read and a few more people left, it became really obvious that we need to start with working the Shakespeare and end with ensemble games and work. There was discussion as to whether we work the text in chronological order or jump around depending on who is available. Although it seems we had already made the decision to work chronologically, we revisited this based on the lack of actors cast for the parts we were going to read. Frannie made the point that working chronologically also allows us to make a rehearsal schedule, which is an idea a lot of people seemed on board with. Group members also asked that deadlines be set for line memorization.

It was also brought up that unfortunately there is some unwanted tension in the group. It was decided that the people involved could not be discussed without being part of the discussion, so it was noted but tabled. A couple other concerns were also raised - notably that people should not be allowed to sit in the audience during circle and warm up, that this contributes to the lack of group cohesion.

We read through the scene, had a brief chat about what was going on, set the scene, and got it on its feet. Part of it, anyway. Time ran out on us, and we weren't able to finish. However some good work was done with the comedy of Hortensio's entrance and the beating of Grumio by his master. It always is a huge difference to put Shakespeare on its feet - things happen that never ever do when reading it in a chair.

There is a general itchiness among the group to get the thing up and moving, coupled with the concern over negativity from some of the members. Of course it is going to be more difficult to engender closeness among a larger group. But as we go through these trials, trudge through the trenches of theatre work together, that cohesion will begin to fall into place naturally. The more work we do on the actual text the more the play can become the focus rather than the players.

Thursday

Written by Frannie

After today’s warm up and an update about our new “schedule” (Shakespeare first, exercises second), we engaged in the group discussion that the women requested on Tuesday to address the tension in the group. Although we are fatigued by several such recent discussions, we agreed to resolve it all today and know that this would be the last one (at least for awhile; things do come up for discussion, but usually not so often). Every woman in the group had an opportunity to express how she was feeling, and it was a very constructive conversation. We identified several ways to improve how things are working (i.e., from now on participation in warm ups is not optional), achieved a new level of honesty, and we feel we can move forward from here.

I would like to note here, since I’m often asked what participants in this group get out of it, that several longtime members actively used the conflict resolution skills they’ve learned in Shakespeare throughout the discussion in ways they were not able to when I met them two years ago. One in particular responded to a woman who had been directing some negative criticism toward her by first thanking her for being honest, putting what she had said in her own words to show she understood while responding to it, giving details of what has made her feel the way she does, and then asking the other woman to meet her halfway. Having been part of a number of tense conversations with this woman in our group, it was really exciting and inspiring to me to observe how calm, respectful, and constructive she was with no coaching at all. This is a skill that is going to benefit her for the rest of her life, and I’m so happy for her that she seems to have mastered it.

We returned to Act I Scene I after this, focusing on catching up a few people who were absent when we worked it previously. We found that our main concern in this first scene is to set up the characters’ relationships, and we made some great discoveries to that end, including a moment when Bianca sat down next to Kate, they looked at each other, and then instinctively scooted apart. The women are beginning to connect to their characters and the text. There was a great moment at the end of the scene when Tranio, who had been sluggishly carrying heavy bags at the top, energetically handed the luggage to Lucentio (since they’ve “changed places”) and bounced off the stage. Lucentio then shuffled off slowly under the weight of the bags, referencing them with her line ending in “good and weighty.” The whole group exploded with laughter and applause at that moment. I look forward to many more of them as we get deeper and deeper into the play.

Session Four: Week 12

After today’s warm up, the facilitators asked the ensemble if they would be interested in trying some different types of exercises – we always learn and have fun with our usual theatre games and improv, but our thought was that, since the group dynamic this year is more “buckle down and do the work” than in sessions past, they might enjoy more challenging activities. They opted to try this approach and see how they felt about it. Today’s exercise was one in which two people sit face to face, and both tell stories (and listen) simultaneously. It’s a great exercise for developing listening, clear communication, eye contact, and multi-tasking. While no one found it to be an easy exercise, and many found it to be very difficult, the feedback overall was that the group enjoyed it and would like to do more things of this sort. They feel that as they explore activities like this, they will improve, overcoming whatever social “training” is making it challenging for them.

We then moved on to script work. After some discussion about the play in general – how it should be staged, how it should look, etc. – it seems that the group is moving in the direction of staging it in the style of a farce or broad comedy. Since some ensemble members are nervous about how to work with the play’s themes of abuse and misogyny, it seems that our approach will be to use our staging to comment on those things. This could well change, but the ideas are flowing in that direction. Several of the women feel strongly about breaking the fourth wall and using the entire theatre as playing space (even more so than we have in the past). The idea was also floated of having a “Vanna White” type character who doesn’t speak, but moves in and out of scene changes with signs to tell the audience what’s going on or where we are. I’m very excited to see how these first ideas evolve as we move through our process.

We began work, then, on Act I Scene i. The concept of “pre-beat” – or, what characters are doing just before they enter a scene – is one we need to continue to explore, as many characters enter in the midst of conversation or activity, and it influences how the scenes will be played. We are already making good progress.

Session Four: Weeks 10 and 11

Tomorrow is #GivingTuesday, folks! It's a great opportunity for you to hop on the giving bandwagon and get in a donation to Shakespeare in Prison before the year is over. We would be so appreciative of your support this holiday season. And if your wallet is already feeling the holiday pinch, please consider sharing this blog with a friend (... or several hundred on social media!). Many thanks, and enjoy the rest of the post!

Week 10

After welcoming and orienting two new members, the ensemble set about casting The Taming of the Shrew. Our process for the past two sessions has been to do this in an open group discussion and vote whenever need be.

Perhaps because the group decided to cast earlier than usual this session, with less exploration time than we usually have (and this was a vote by a large majority of the women), there was more discussion and voting than there usually is, and the process wasn’t quite as smooth. After some discussion amongst the facilitators, we believe the biggest reasons for this are, as stated, the earlier casting time (which didn’t allow for as much to “fall into place” organically), the new dynamic of having a larger number of women returning to the group (which is a really good thing!), and having a larger number of women in the group (which is also a really, really good thing!). These differences led to changes in the way our usual process worked that we didn’t anticipate, and we need to adapt for the future.

In any case, after a lengthy discussion and voting process amongst the ensemble, most of the roles are cast, and we are left with some open roles and some women who do not yet have roles. In order to make sure everyone is on the same page about what worked about our casting process and what needs to be improved, the facilitators have decided to invite the group to have an open, honest, constructive conversation about it when we meet next. I firmly believe in what Curt Tofteland, the founder of Shakespeare Behind Bars (our inspiration and model) has always said, which is that any issues can and should be solved by the circle. We facilitators are there to do just that – facilitate. The ensemble will work together to figure this out.

Week 11

We began tonight’s session with a really solid Ring exercise to prepare us to work as a team and be constructive during our discussion of the casting process.

It turned out that we facilitators were not the only ones who perceived that our process had some issues, although opinions were mixed on how “big” these issues truly were. Some people felt that their input had been misinterpreted and needed to be further explained. Others felt that that there were no true “problems,” and we should just move on. In short, this is how things were resolved (for the moment, anyway):

• It needs to be clear from the get-go if there is going to be any kind of preference given to women who have been in the group longer (similar to most educational theatre programs), and, if past proof of commitment gives that kind of casting preference, there need to be more opportunities for new members to show their commitment before we cast. We’ve dealt many times with ensemble members leaving the group prior to performance, and returning members (and some new) are skittish about casting new members in roles like Katherina and Petruchio, for example (we went through three Calibans in 2012; in 2013 many roles ended up filled by facilitators). Most of the group wants to keep casting in November rather than December, so this means that we need to find a way to do both our ensemble building and get through our play exploration more quickly. This is something we need to explore.
   
• If we feel the need to cast before the entire play has been explored on its feet (as we did this year; but I hope we can avoid this), we will have “auditions” of some kind so that we can see everyone who feels connected to a character exploring that character.
   
• Rather than having a “blind vote” by show of hands with eyes closed, we will vote by anonymous written ballot, and a facilitator will tally the votes and report back on how the play has been cast.

We then decided to table the rest of casting for now and focus on ensemble building for the rest of the day. We played theatre games and did some improv, and it eased the tension that was in the room.

As always in this program, we are taking our “mistakes” in stride and learning from them rather than getting bogged down by them. Both the facilitators and the inmates made decisions that contributed to this process being rockier than usual, but I believe this is a growing pain as our program gets stronger – as stated above, we have more returning members than ever and our largest group yet, so we are bound to have to change some things as we go. We are all learning together.