Session Four: Week 27

Tuesday

Tonight was spent working through scenes involving Tranio, as the woman playing this role is newer to the group, and we wanted to give her some stage time to really get into the role. She was able to clarify her character’s objectives and the strategies he uses to accomplish them. She is having a lot of fun with the role.

The group is working well together to flesh out scenes, now that our cuts are complete, and their understanding of the text is clearly very deep. The ebb and flow of ideas between them is respectful and confident, and their solutions to challenges are often quite creative.

Our main set piece, which we are grateful to have been provided with by the facility’s Building Trades program, arrived in the theatre today. It is a revolving platform with a fountain on one side and a fireplace on another. It is really beautiful, and it was invigorating and exciting to begin to work with it today.

We’ve set April 20 as our off book date. We know we won’t be perfectly memorized by then, but this should give us ample time to work without scripts in hand so we’re confident by the time we share our play with an audience.

Thursday

Today began on a bittersweet note, as a longtime member of the group let us know that she will not be continuing, and we said goodbye to her, at least for now. This left another role vacant, so the ensemble decided to shift the woman who had been playing Grumio to this newly-available role of Bianca; they then cast Lauren as Biondello and me as Grumio. There is a general sense of relief at finally being completely cast.

We decided to spend the day catching up our new Bianca. She fell into the role immediately, making decisions that were different than the ones the previous actress had made, but that are textually based and ring true nonetheless. The ensemble was very encouraging and supportive of her as she found her way through and into the scenes, and she clearly feels good in the role.

Again today, the ensemble worked beautifully together to adjust staging as needed and give each other constructive criticism. The scenes we worked are beginning to have their own life and momentum, which is thrilling.

One of the women and I noted that we were more invested in the scenes when the women’s energy was higher. We began to discuss whether we should fully commit to our “cartoonish” staging – staying truthful in terms of our objectives, tactics, and interpretations, but letting our presentation be more stylized. “Can we go that big?” asked one woman. Another quickly replied, “It’s either go big or go home. We can’t go home, so let’s go big!”

We discussed ways in which this could work. We decided to each come back with the “poses” in which we would draw or sculpt our characters. This is sometimes referred to as a psychological gesture, and I think it will come in handy as we work on fully committing to our “go big because we can’t go home” approach.

Session Four: Week 26

Tuesday + Thursday

This week was productive and invigorating, as we buckled down to read through our script, making cuts as we went. There was lively debate about several potential cuts, but the deeper we got into the process, the more excited people got about cutting “unnecessary” material – I believe this is because it is evidence of how well we know the play at this point. We own the material; it doesn’t own us.

There was a fairly intense debate about whether or not we should cut the scene in which Petruchio rejects clothing made for Katherina, almost in its entirety. Some of us think that the relationship clues in this scene are established elsewhere, while some of us disagree with that. Others don’t want to lose the scene because it’s so funny; some, however, pointed out that we have a limited time in which to perform, and we need to be “ruthless” with our cuts. It was decided that we should table the decision until next week, when we’ll set aside time to work with the scene and determine its function better.

In other news, one of our new members has agreed to play Grumio. This leaves the role of Biondello vacant, and since we’re in the final third of our program and don’t want to add more inmates to the ensemble until the fall, it was decided that Lauren and I should audition for the role (we are the only two facilitators who can guarantee attendance at every performance, or we would ALL be auditioning!).

So next week’s plan is to finish reading and cutting, explore the scene referenced above, and cast Biondello. We hope to be able to move forward solidifying the way in which we’re telling this story – its interpretation, staging, and all of the other details that still need to be worked out.

Session Four: Week 25

Thursday

We spent some time today discussing our set. We have some flats that we’ve used as backdrops for the past two performances, and after some talk we decided to use last year’s, if possible, painting both sides so they can be flipped and used as two different locations.

We welcomed our new facilitator, Vanessa Sawson, to the group, and then decided to tackle Act IV Scene I, of which we’ve only worked the very beginning. The group decided, after reading through it once, to cut two of the servants from the scene and redistribute lines a bit. The woman who is playing the Widow agreed to play one of the remaining servants.

We all worked together to figure out how to interpret and stage the scene. Who is on stage and what times, and what are they doing? We determined that Petruchio does not usually behave toward his servants the way he does in this scene, and that this will give us “a glimpse of his humanity,” as one woman put it.

We also read through Act IV Scene IV once to get a feel for it. Our plan for the next session is to read through the entire play, make sure everyone is caught up, and make whatever cuts we feel are necessary. I’ll then be printing new scripts for the group to work with, and everyone will really get down to memorizing their lines.

Session Four: Weeks 23 and 24

Week 23: Tuesday  

We spent this entire session working on Act V Scene I, in which all of Lucentio’s and Tranio’s plotting is revealed. The going was on the slower side, with starts and stops as people needed to leave early for other programs and appointments. The ensemble stuck with it, though, bringing newer members into the mix and catching them up with a great deal of compassion for the challenge each of them was taking on. In the end, we managed to muddle through this very long and complicated scene, to take stock and realize that with so many of the players gone by the end, it would mostly need to be “redone” in the future.

Rather than getting bogged down in this, though, we focused on how well the women worked together to get through the scene. We applauded our “newbies” on diving in when they still don’t know the material very well and being willing to just go with it. The group as a whole worked well as a team, too, figuring out the placement of set pieces and some of the blocking that we need in order to make the scene make sense. These are all wonderful takeaways, even if the “work” will need to be done over.

One of the women brought up how uncomfortable it is to get a general framework for a scene and then leave it. We talked about how this is usually part of the process of rehearsing a play – we get an idea of the gist of it and how we want it to work on its feet, an then we revisit the scene to find more nuance. It’s a long-term process that requires participants to be comfortable making “mistakes” as we explore, and that is a huge challenge to many people, incarcerated or not.

Week 24: Tuesday

Written by Dominique

As the group began to collect, people began to tell me about last Thursday's challenges. As sometimes happens, the facilitators were delayed getting through the gate, so the women discussed what to do and decided to move forward with the reading of the entire script. There was a lot of pride in their problem solving and their ability to take control of the situation quickly. They jumped in when parts needed to be read that weren't there and watched out for their own parts overlapping something else they were reading (getting someone else to take over so they could focus on the part they were cast in). They read quite a bit before they dispersed. They were working together and working together well, there was pride in this, and there was a strong sense of camaraderie developed for most of the group.

After "ringing up" we discussed how to approach the evening - whether to continue reading the script as they had begun. It was mentioned that we still don't have new people cast with any finality. After some debate it was decided we would read scenes with Grumio, Tranio, and Biondello (the uncast parts) and give new members a chance to really try them on. We chose Act 1 scene 2 since it gave the most opportunity for these characters to work.

The reading was lackluster and didn't show much. Both new women began to ask questions about their characters. One woman, who joined the group in November, really took charge then. She explained their questions, and suggested they put the scene "on its feet." She gave them basic blocking that had been worked out and explained motivation as well as physical comedy that had already been worked. As the scene begins with Grumio, this woman started explaining her part in the scene, her entrance, action, the scenario etc… It was FABULOUS to see her work, and both newbies felt plugged in and comfortable with their new roles. All the actors contributed as they worked, gently reminding each other to turn out to the audience, not block each other, watch their spacing. Such wonderful ensemble spirit.

As people needed to leave early, the women asked that we play games for the remainder of the evening. As it turned out it was a good way to give the newbies a chance to feel comfortable. We played the place scenario, giving everyone a chance to work, and then Party Quirks, which was great fun.

I thought about how wonderful the camaraderie is among these core people. They really enjoy the work and working with each other. There was real joy there. Someone had mentioned at the beginning of the evening that it's important we remember to keep the drama on the stage. I told her there were professional actors that needed to be told that occasionally but she was absolutely right. It steals focus from the wonderful work at hand.

Week 24: Thursday

After a circle discussion to resolve some dynamic issues within the group, which seemed to have a good outcome, we decided to work Act III Scene ii, as we haven’t yet put the whole thing on its feet. Many of the players were absent, but luckily those who were present were game to fill in, so we were able to make some great discoveries.

The most important of these was what we determined is going on with Baptista in this scene. The woman playing him said she was torn about how he must feel. After some discussion and our active exploration of the scene, she settled on him being at first pretty miffed about Petruchio’s behavior, but understanding his strategy (giving Kate a taste of her own medicine) by the end and being okay with it.

Petruchio has a very interesting monologue in this scene, too, regarding his “ownership” of Kate. Without the woman who plays Petruchio there, of course we didn’t settle on an interpretation, but we talked about the variety of ways in which it could be played. This is something that we have all come to appreciate about The Taming of the Shrew – we always seem to have several reasonable ways of interpreting whatever it is we’re discussing, but we also always seem to be able to land on something that makes everyone happy.

We’re already in discussions about next year’s play. The group is definitely interested in a tragedy or a history, so we’ll be looking at some of those over the next couple of months as we continue our work on Shrew. The general consensus is that we would like to alter our process so that the play for next year is chosen prior to this year’s performance, and those who are staying in the group will be able to study it over the summer. Our thought is that, in this way, we can better accomplish the mentor/mentee relationship we desire between returning and new members of the group right from the get-go. This may not work, but we’ve learned that even if we try something new and it “fails,” we learn something valuable moving forward. And that’s really what it’s about.

Session Four: Week 22

Tuesday

Tonight found us exploring Act IV Scene V, in which Katharina and Petruchio come to an understanding on the way to Baptista’s house. We began to get the humor in the scene just from its first walk through, and we decided to hone in on more details of what’s going on, beginning with movement.

I asked Petruchio to try stopping when he verbally “puts his foot down” about Katharina needing to agree with whatever he says, no matter how ridiculous, and to make her come to him. This was beginning to work, although our Katharina has a tendency to move very quickly that we needed to find a way to alleviate – the scene was not doing what we wanted it to do yet. The lines here are:

KATHARINA

Forward, I pray, since we have come so far,

And be it moon, or sun, or what you please:

An if you please to call it a rush-candle,

Henceforth I vow it shall be so for me.

PETRUCHIO

I say it is the moon.

KATHARINA

I know it is the moon.

PETRUCHIO

Nay, then you lie: it is the blessèd sun.

KATHARINA

Then, God be bless'd, it is the blessèd sun:

But sun it is not, when you say it is not;

And the moon changes even as your mind.

What you will have it named, even that it is;

And so it shall be so for Katharina.

Since both of these women have been committed to the idea that Kate and Petruchio truly love each other and are not awful people, and since we all realized that this might be the most important scene in the play because it’s where they can establish this very firmly, I asked them to try this scene as if the lines were wedding vows – as if this were the real wedding, as opposed to the one in which Petruchio acted out.

This approach proved to be one that the entire ensemble loved. “I like it because Kate has a choice,” said one woman. “It’s the real-est acting there’s been in this group yet,” said another. What this comes down to is that in order to tell this story honestly in the way that they’ve interpreted it, Petruchio and Kate needed to make themselves very vulnerable here. Even with a stand-in Petruchio (the woman playing the role had to go to another group midway through ours), this is paying off.

The ensemble worked together beautifully to stage the rest of the scene, discussing ideas, objectives, obstacles, and the overall effect they want to get out of the interaction with Vincentio. When one woman had an idea for staging that seemed too difficult to some of us, the women in the scene tried it anyway to see if it would work. The majority thought it really didn’t after all, but the whole situation was handled with such respect that it didn’t become a conflict.

It was a really productive night, and we all left feeling good about the work that was done. Those sessions are the ones that help us get through the more challenging ones.

Thursday

Although we were missing our Katharina and Hortensio, we decided to ride our momentum from the other night and plug in our Petruchio and Vincentio (who had had to leave early) to Act IV Scene iii.

Our first challenge was in repeating the blocking we had come up with the other night, but we found that when we focused on the characters’ objectives rather than the exact staging, it happened organically. That was a relief! We worked through the interaction with Vincentio and determined that it is a game that Kate and Petruchio are playing now that they have come to an understanding – their relationship has changed, and so has everything else for them.

After we ran through the scene with our new understanding of it, one woman had an epiphany: “I don’t think the taming of the shrew is a bad thing,” she said, “It’s about calming down and working as a team.” She explained that there is give and take in any relationship, and that is now what she sees in Kate and Petruchio rather than the breaking of a woman’s spirit. We are all inclined to agree with her.

We began reading Act V Scene I and looking to clarify anything that is confusing, but we decided not to put it on its feet because we were missing too many people who are in the scene.

We set a goal to read through the entire play in order as a group by the end of February and see where the holes are – which scenes haven’t been staged or have been recast since we staged them – and a nice byproduct of this will be that our new members will be nicely caught up. We did this last year and liked the way it worked, although we weren’t ready to do it until March or April last year. Even when we feel like we’re spinning our wheels, we have to remind ourselves that it’s part of the process, and we still have plenty of time left to accomplish our goals.