Season Nine: Week 27

“You have really blossomed in this group.”

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Tuesday / February 25 / 2020
Written by Emma

It’s getting to be that time in the season where we need to start figuring out show logistics--chiefly, costumes and props. Maria and I went in with a plan to have one-on-one discussions with each ensemble member about costume ideas. As we circled up, folks seemed enthusiastic about this phase.

One member stated during check-ins that she had two questions for us. “1. What game are we playing? And 2. What are we doing with the lines?” She held up her script. “I want to cut them.” A few other ensemble members said that they, too, would like to spend some time making cuts. Our Horatio, on the other hand, expressed that she wanted to spend some time going over blocking in 1.1 with our Marcellus and Barnardo. By the time we raised the ring, it was settled that we would be breaking into small groups to tackle the multiple tasks we had in mind today.

I was primarily talking to individuals about costumes. Most of them envisioned something simple--plain shirt, pants, and shoes, perhaps a prop or two. The actor playing Lucianus, however, had a really neat idea for her costume. Lucianus is meant to represent Claudius in the play-within-a-play. As such, this ensemble member thought it would be smart to have Lucianus dressed head-to-toe in red (which is Claudius’ family color). A great thought, and very fitting with the over the top nature of the playlet we’ve been envisioning.

While I was busy with that, Maria helped a few ensemble members work through cuts. Folks would propose areas that they felt could be trimmed, and Maria (armed with her wealth of experience) helped determine if they were, indeed, cut-able. Lots of meaty textual discussion happened. And it was awesome.

In the back of the house, Horatio worked hard with her scene partners to sort out blocking. She instructed them on how they could march about the stage as though on guard, with a focused and directed energy. When everything else had slowed down, and we had about twenty minutes of rehearsal left. We decided to see the fruits of their labor and ran 1.1.

Horatio, Marcellus, and Barnardo walked pensively across the stage and through the aisles of the house. Occasionally, Horatio would point or quietly direct her scene partners, but for the most part, everyone seemed to know where they should be. While Horatio was delivering a monologue, the two guards marched back and forth across the stage in front of her. Frustrated, Horatio kept trying to get their attention, following one or the other until she finally stepped between them, bringing them to a stop. It was genius!

Marcellus and Barnardo expressed anxiety that the marching would be distracting. I told them that, actually, with the calm and uniform way they were doing it, it made the scene more interesting. It wasn’t over the top; it was just enough to give the feel of being “on guard,” which is exactly what they were going for. They seemed to be happy to hear that. We ran the scene one more time, decreasing the distance they walked, and voila! It looked amazing.

With that, we were out of time. By breaking into small groups, we were able to tackle three tasks at once tonight. Efficiency may be one of our strongest assets this season!

Friday / February 28 / 2020
Written by Maria

One of the important things about theater is finding the right balance between work and play. We have spent a lot of time over the last few sessions diving into the decision-making of production design, coming up with our overall concept while deciding what props and costumes we need. So today we were overdue for some fun!

One ensemble member is always pushing for us to play improv games, and today she was joined by a few others, joyfully requesting we play something fun with everyone. We started with a game of Questions and then moved on to a round of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Beyonce. In Questions, you sit in a circle and one person turns to either side and asks a question, and that goes on until someone takes too long to respond, says something that isn’t a question, or repeats a question. When one of the women asked, “What’s your problem?” with a little bit of attitude, we all broke down into giggles. Rock, Paper, Scissors, Beyonce is a very energetic game with a lot of over the top gestures as you work your way up and down levels after winning or losing a round of rock, paper, scissors with someone.

After a lot of laughter and warmth from moving quickly around the stage, we decided to dive into scenework. We started with Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” speech in Act 3 Scene 1. “I must be cruel only to be honest,” our Hamlet explained as she attacked Ophelia with her words. She explained that Hamlet is actually trying to save Ophelia, even though she knows that Ophelia is being used by Claudius and Polonius to spy on him. It was a short session with this scene, but it was beautiful and moving.

Our Player Queen then jumped up and asked to work the play-within-a-play. We decided to work on the dumb show since we hadn’t worked on that part of the play since casting those roles. Shakespeare wrote a fantastic blend of comedic and dramatic scenes and monologues in his works no matter what genre the play was. When working on a tragedy like Hamlet, these comedic scenes can feel like a breath of fresh air and a chance to really play with going over the top.

We’ve decided that our Players are going to be “extra,” with bright clothing and big gestures while they are acting. After running the dumb show once, one of the women in the audience pushed for a comedic effect, asking Lucianus, “Can you tiptoe like a villain?” Personally, I’m excited that the ensemble member who is playing the Ghost is also doubling in the role of Lucianus—the poisoner in the play-within-a-play. The contrast of the dramatic plea at the top of the show for vengeance, to the cartoony murder with a giant bottle of posion being done by the same woman, who was so quiet at the beginning of the season, is just thrilling. “This is going to be really good!” our Player Queen exclaimed.

We then moved on to Act 3 Scene 3, with Claudius struggling after seeing the play. Since Claudius begins the speech alone on stage, I asked who she was talking to. “I’m talking to God and myself,” Claudius replied. “Am I gonna die? And if I die, is heaven gonna take me? Is it too late to repent?” “We get a window into Claudius’ inner turmoil,” a perceptive member of the ensemble agreed. We toyed with whether we wanted the curtain closed for this scene to make it feel more intimate and closer to the audience, which reminded me that Claudius was standing right where we just saw the Player King get murdered. It gave our Claudius more to work with as she struggled through her emotions of guilt and greed.

The final scene we worked was Act 4 Scene 5 and Ophelia’s madness, though we were missing our Getrude. The group playfully pressured one woman to stand in for the role, and they were incredibly supportive of her choices. “I like how you did your thing,” the game-loving ensemble member said. The woman playing Ophelia had stark shifts in emotion as she worked her way through her songs, aggressively speaking to the group watching her in fear and sadness with her “I pray you, mark” lines. When Kyle asked how the scene had felt, Ophelia said that she felt the first part went well but the second (with the flowers) felt awkward. “It didn’t look awkward,” our Laertes jumped in.

Needless to say, this is a tricky scene and one we will need to come back to work time and time again but, alas, we were out of time this evening. As we put up the ring, we proudly reflected on how much work we had gotten done while still having a lot of fun. They don’t call it a “play” for nothing.

Season Nine: Week 26

“This is an amazing group of people—we are so solid.”

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Tuesday / February 18 / 2020
Written by Emma

Fair warning, dear blog readers: today’s session was spent talking. It’s that time in the season where we need to start hammering out logistical details including costumes and props, which means a lot of discussion. After quick check-ins and raising the ring, we started talking about themes.

“Can we make it medieval?” a newer member immediately chimed in. When it came to setting, everyone in the group agreed that we should keep it old school—like, 1500s old school. We discussed floppy hats, puffy shirts, and sashes. While thinking about what overall theme we would like the play to have, one woman said, “It’s the unravelling of a family.” Another woman agreed, adding, “Dysfunctional families.”

“A sense of darkness needs to prevail,” added a third. We talked for a while about what this could look like. “Unravelling” can be a very visual descriptor, and the group envisioned a run-down castle with fabric draped in piles. “In all of their lives, everything becomes unravelled,” our Hamlet stated. “They all do.”

Next, we moved on to a discussion of costumes, picking up where we left off with the concept for the Ghost. In a previous session, we had thrown out the idea that the ghost could be wrapped in a type of sheer gauze to symbolize mist. “It’s kinda gotta be like that, don’t it?” the actor playing the Ghost said, “[and] as it changed, [the ghost] would get more comfortable. He doesn’t show his true self until he shows it to Hamlet.” Building off of that idea, someone else suggested that the ghost could have its own sound effect. Similarly, we thought Fortinbras should have his own sound effect to signal the entry and exit of his army. Such audible cues will help the audience follow along with who is doing what, and when.

“We need to decide what scenes are in front of and behind the curtain,” a longtime member said, shifting our discussion to the pragmatic. When should we have our curtain open, and when should we have it closed? A few ensemble members had spent time outside of rehearsal thinking about just this. A woman seated next to me walked me through a detailed idea she had for the first act, stating that she had spent her Sunday conceptualizing what the play could look like.

Next, we spent some time talking about Ophelia and symbolism. Our Ophelia has a conflict and can’t make every session, but she was present this evening, so we were able to get her valuable insights. “I like the symbolism of the flowers,” the woman playing Ophelia said. “[The flowers] could be a present from her father.” We talked about what this could mean. Are flowers inherently comforting? Or would it be better to have her holding a soft object for comfort? “It only needs to be a comfort item to her,” one woman pointed out. Ophelia said that she felt violets best represented the character.

We were quickly running out of time, and excellent ideas were zinging across the circle. Our Osric said of her character, “I wanna be flashy. Extra. Since he’s new money.” She smiled, adding, “Gold lamé, flamboyant.” Others picked color themes that they’d like to have for families. For example, Claudius’ family color is red, and Polonius' family color is blue.

And just like that, two hours of talking had gone by. We had actually almost run out the clock! We were all looking forward to our next rehearsal, armed with some new direction and an overall theme.

Friday / February 21 / 2020
Written by Kyle Fisher-Grant

When I arrived tonight, two different ensemble members came up to me separately and suggested the same plan of action that the facilitators had come up with: to keep check in brief and immediately start on a run of Act 1. I was in no mood to improvise, but even if I had been, I wouldn’t dare mess with the plan created by those women. We still took the time to put the ring up, which was a nice way to start the evening.

Off we went into Act 1 scene 1… and then stopped. Someone was in the wrong spot, and someone else didn’t say their line. The ensemble talked about it for five to ten minutes, and then we restarted the scene.

Off we went! Until we had to stop again a couple minutes later for the same reason. After some more talk, we restarted the scene.

Then we were off again—until we had to stop just a few lines later. This time, a few ensemble members were very visibly and audibly frustrated with the process. I tried to reassure everyone that every production I’ve done—be it in a prison, school, or professional setting—goes pretty similarly. You think you’ve got it down, but putting it all together makes you hit a few snags, and suddenly things are changing. A few of the women were very much attached to the way they had rehearsed the scene previously and had some trouble working in some of the revised blocking. In the end, I told them not to stop again no matter what. We’d watch to see what we thought we could improve and then take another pass at it later.

We moved on to 1.2. The ensemble wanted the scene to open on the royal family finishing a banquet, followed by all the speeches Claudius makes, conducting the official business of the state. This brought up a lot of logistical concerns about how we were going to get the banquet stuff (table, chairs, cups, dishes, silverware, etc.) on and off stage. We talked about the curtain as being a potential tool, and I challenged them to use it only to denote a change in location; furthermore, we should look to the text to find a long enough break to be able to get everything off stage again. For good measure, I added, “A well executed good idea is better than a poorly executed great idea,” a little nod to my directing professor from my college days.

That little phrase actually spurred a larger conversation than I anticipated, and we ended up coming back to it several times before the end of the night. There was a lot of debate; ultimately, I tried to boil down the discussion to three different possibilities, none of which needed to be finalized right that second:

1. Close the curtain at the end of 1.2 and set 1.3 in front of the curtain (which would mean restaging 1.3);

2. Close the curtain after the royal family leaves while Hamlet is in the middle of his soliloquy; or

3. Cut the banquet table.

I suggested that we think about Shakespeare’s original production, which would have been done with almost no set at all, and minimal props. The obstacles are in the text, so that’s where we should look for solutions. With some restaging of the scene, I think we actually covered most of the problems that the banquet was trying to solve, but we will see which way the ensemble wants to go.

In working 1.3, I was much more directorial than is typical of my previous work in SIP. Our goal is to facilitate, not to be directors, and truth be told, it can be difficult at times. I’ve previously described the process as “painfully collaborative,” and, personally, it’s been the hardest balance for me to strike. I am a theatre director at heart, and for my day job I work as a high school teacher—I am very accustomed to calling the shots in the room. Being the only man in the room can also be challenging; taking charge too much could make for a dynamic we need to avoid. So I trod lightly.

There was very little collaboration happening between ensemble members, and I thought that if I could get them started on the scene, they could then take over. I suspected that the group could not see the story unfolding in front of them, and therefore could not contribute. So I kind of took over a bit, set the scene up on solid footing, and explained what I was thinking all along the way so everyone would still be part of the process. I even told a longtime member that she was in charge of telling me if I got too bossy.

So we reworked the scene from the beginning, honing in on staging fundamentals:

• Where are the characters?

• Where have they just come from?

• Where are they going?

• Why is Polonius five minutes behind his children?

• What is each character's objective?

• How can we make that clear on stage?

• What does the text say?

In the end, I felt like my strategy paid off, as the room really opened up to the process. The actors felt more confident, and, with that confidence, started trying new things. Our Polonius IMMEDIATELY jumped into gear and worked out two bits right away. She decided that Polonius was late because he was dealing with Laertes’ bags for travel. She entered in huff—with a bag—and she and the actor playing Laertes began a whole schtick handing the bag back and forth. It was great, but it was also confusing, and ultimately the ensemble told her to cut the bit because it detracted from the scene.

But the goal had been achieved, the actors were taking risks, and the ensemble was collaborating. As we approached the end of the evening, a few ensemble members wanted to run 2.1 instead of finishing Act 1. They seemed very enthusiastic, so we switched gears.

It was Polonius and Ophelia, and their interpretation was that Ophelia was looking to Polonius for attention that he didn’t want to give. She had a set of prop flowers that she was using for comfort, and all of her focus was going into the prop. I asked the reason, and, while it came with a fair amount of explanation, I told them that I found it distracting. The point is to see a character in a state of discomfort, and so a “comfort item” was kind of working against her. We tried it again without the prop, and many talked about how much more animated our Ophelia seemed to be. I explained that her energy was going to her scene partner rather than to a prop, and that it seemed to open everything up.

We’ll see what they decide to go with, but, at the very least, we ended the night with a very high level of engagement. Everyone seemed to have an opinion of the flowers-prop, and we went back and forth until it was time to put the ring up. In the end, I think it was a great night, and I’m excited to get back to work later next week.

Season Nine: Week 25

“That sense of trust just kept bringing me back.”

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Tuesday / February 11 / 2020
Written by Maria

Today we continued our design conversation from last week, briefly going over how to do some script analysis to help determine what props and costumes are called for in the show. We then asked, “Why do we think that Shakespeare didn’t write the Ghost into the final scene?” We’ve been toying with the idea that the Ghost might play a larger role in our performance.

“There’s such an emphasis on the death of Hamlet. The ghost takes away from his death,” one woman said. “Maybe the ghost was a hallucination for [Hamlet],” a woman who is relatively new to the group added. “The ghosts don’t exist in this reality unless they need to,” agreed a third woman. “I just keep thinking of Star Wars VI,” one woman said, laughing, while we all pictured the ghosts congregating around the fire while Ewoks celebrate. Although it’s not exactly the right tone for the end of Hamlet, we understood what she meant, and we decided that when we get to staging the final scene we will try both ways (with and without the Ghost) to see which we like better. This same woman reminded us that “it’s easy to make decisions when we go one scene at a time, [but] maybe when we see the whole thing we’ll feel differently.”

After being seated for so long, Emma asked if anyone wanted to play a game. Some people excitedly agreed, but no one really seemed to know what to play until our wonderful resident “stage manager” chimed in that we had all the people available to do 4.1. We decided to jump ahead and look at that short scene, in which Claudius and Gertrude are talking with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about what to do with Hamlet. He has just killed Polonius, and Gertrude is still reeling from the accusations thrown at her from her son. Our Gertrude was sitting in a chair center stage, frozen, as Claudius circled around her trying to get her to tell him what was wrong.

We finished the scene and asked how it felt, which prompted Claudius to say, “I feel like he should sit down in the end. He’s a little bit more personal.” Kyle then asked Gertrude, “What are you feeling, and what do you want in this scene?” She responded that she’d be in shock, trying to stay calm after her son just killed someone in front of her. “But I would still be on my son’s side. I want to protect [Hamlet].” Now that we had pinpointed Gertrude’s objective, we moved on to Claudius. What did he want in this scene? “To make Gertrude feel better,” Claudius responded. “This is one of the few times Claudius shows his feelings for Gertrude, but then he gets mad.”

“And does either Gertrude or Claudius get what they want?” Kyle asked. “No!” they both energetically replied. With that in mind, we jumped into the scene again. Their opposing desires created dynamic tension. The scene was already so much better!

After the second time through one woman in the audience asked, “How are you playing Getrude?” “I’m in between. I just don’t know who I want to believe, the man I just married or my son,” Gertrude responded. This made us realize that it was really hard to start the scene without the buildup of Hamlet killing Polonius, throwing accusations at Gertrude, and seeing the Ghost, so we doubled back to the last part of the previous scene. We didn’t have our Hamlet at that moment and no one wanted to read the role, so I jumped up. It’s not every day that I get to play the melancholic Dane!

It was clear from the beginning of getting into 4.1 again that Gertrude was conflicted emotionally, and it was also clear how quickly everything moves! Hamlet is dragging the body of Polonius out the door just as Claudius enters from the opposite side of the stage. Poor Gertrude has no time to plan or piece together everything that has just happened to her.

We decided to skip 4.2 since it’s so short, and we moved into 4.3. The text says that Claudius enters with a few attendants, but we tried it with Claudius speaking directly to the audience. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern bring Hamlet to the King to force him to reveal where he stowed Polonius’ body. After we finished the first time, Kyle asked who the most important person in the scene was. A chorus of “Claudius!” rang around the auditorium (I tried not to take it too personally).

Kyle said that we needed to bring Claudius downstage to make him a focal point of the scene. “Actually, I think we wanted to try this scene in front of the curtain,” I said, winking at our stage manager, who had suggested the idea earlier to me. I ran backstage to close the curtain and readied to return again as an obstinate jerk to Claudius.

With the curtain closed, we were forced to enter from the house door with Claudius standing on the stage, already at a higher playing field of power and authority looking down at us. It made it so much more impactful when crossing to Claudius. Instead of just walking over to the King, I got to ascend the steps to completely disrespect him to his face.

“I like it with the curtain closed. I like where for that last part [Hamlet] got on this level,” our Claudius said after we finished the scene. I enthusiastically agreed with her. I loved doing it, too! “It condenses the stage and makes their presences more intimate,” an audience member said. With only a few minutes to spare I turned to the woman playing Fortinbras and commented on how great it will look in the next scene when we open the curtain on her entrance with her army.

Season Nine: Week 24

Friday / February 7 / 2020
Written by Emma

We jumped right in to work tonight. “What scene are we doing?” our Hamlet asked the group after we raised the ring. “1.3,” another ensemble member filled her in. Hamlet responded, “I might not even need my script.” We just cast the show a few sessions ago! If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: these actors don’t mess around!

After considering which actors were actually present, we decided to begin with 1.4 instead. One of our new members bravely jumped in to read for Marcellus, who was absent. Actors took their places and got started. 1.4 is brief, and finds Horatio, Hamlet, and Marcellus encountering the ghost of King Hamlet in the night. Our Horatio has mentioned in the past that she is unsure how to move when she is reading. Tonight, however, she appeared to have no problem! She used her hands to direct attention and accent her lines, at one point consulting an imaginary watch when telling Hamlet the time.

We ran this scene two times before two of our actors had to leave for another required program . Switching gears, we decided to finish casting the play with some of our newest ensemble members. One woman expressed interest in playing Osric but had some apprehensions about memorization. “What if I forget it all?” she asked. “The audience isn’t even gonna know!” another member assured her. “You’ve got this in the bag. I have confidence in you.” That support seemed to do the trick, and she agreed to take on the role.

With casting done, we backed up a bit to work on scene 1.3. This scene is a study in family dynamics and gender roles. In it, we find Ophelia being lectured by both her brother and father about her relationship with Hamlet. Our Ophelia sat politely in a chair in the middle of the stage as Polonius and Laertes took turns circling her. She smoothed her dress, becoming more distressed as the scene went on. Finally, Polonius directed her to follow him offstage. She stood with a lowered head and obliged.

After the scene was done, we talked about how it had felt to our actors. One woman in the audience suggested to the actor playing Polonius that, “whenever there’s a comma, make it more rambly. It’ll make each of those spurts seem even crazier!” Ophelia said she didn’t want to re-run the scene; instead, she wanted to move on to a later scene where Ophelia could “go crazy.”Considering this, we moved on to 2.1.

Ophelia brought the “crazy.” In this scene, Ophelia explains Hamlet’s erratic behavior to Polonius, and hints of her own sanity fleeting begin to show. After the first run, one of the women in the audience said that she imagined Ophelia holding a teddy bear in this scene. She explained that she thought Ophelia wasn’t getting the contact she craved from her father, and that the teddy bear could be used as a kind of comfort object. This led to a discussion about potentially using flowers in lieu of a teddy bear. We ran the scene one more time, emphasizing the lack of contact that Ophelia is grappling with.

With only a few minutes remaining, we changed gears. Tonight was SIP’s 8th birthday (yay!), so we spent some time reflecting on the program and celebrating. “Being here is therapeutic,” one ensemble member said. “Dude!” another exclaimed, “That’s the word I’ve been thinking of!” We raised our ring, grateful for another year and a wonderful ensemble.

Season Nine: Week 23

“This is a ray of light in what can be a very dark place.”

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Tuesday / January 28 / 2020
Written by Maria

As a stage manager, one of my favorite things is to get into the nitty gritty details of logistics. This is one of the magical things about theater that doesn’t really seem glamorous but still takes artistic talent to accomplish. People come together with lots of ideas and experience to make a show happen, and as you whittle away, the concept of the show starts to come into view and something beautiful takes shape.

We started by discussing ideas for the production elements of the play: costumes, props, set design, and sound. So many of the women weren’t around in our first idea sessions that it was good to revisit some of our ideas now that most of the play is cast. For example, many weeks ago when we were first working on the play-within-a-play (Act 3 Scene 2), a whole bunch of ideas for the dumb show were thrown around, with us landing most enthusiastically on using hand puppets. When we brought up the idea again today, the two women who will be playing the Player King and Queen weren’t interested in doing that. Great! We could just as enthusiastically change that idea to something else that will work for this ensemble. We explained to the women that they didn’t have to feel pressured to do something that doesn’t interest them, that we had a lot of great staging ideas for the play-within-a-play with the cuts we have made, and that we could easily cut the dumb show completely if if works better for us.

Having limitations also forces you to think outside the box. When I worked for a theater with a large budget, we could have moving set pieces, traps, and flying scenery and people. In a smaller space, you might be limited by the budget, but then you can take creative license to have things be more representational. In prison, we have other considerations in addition to our budget, from the colors we are allowed to wear to the number of props that we bring through the gate. Keeping all of this in mind, some might be frustrated by all the things we can’t do, but these women look outside the box and think of new ways that we can make it work for us.

“I think the backdrops are going to be major,” one woman said in as we discussed setting this play in a medieval time period. “The [flats] from last year are pretty neutral,” another woman replied, saying that we could reuse them without too much work to change them. Unlike last year’s Twelfth Night, when we were constantly changing location and needed different scenery to help convey each location to the audience, most of Hamlet takes place in the castle. Many of the women who were in the audience last year mentioned how helpful our signs were in understanding what was going on (mainly by indicating the location of each scene). I suggested maybe using signs again, but this time with leading sentences such as, “Hamlet goes to confront his mother.” “Like a silent movie!” Lauren exclaimed.

Some other fun ideas that were floated included foam tombstones in the graveyard, sound cues for the Ghost and to help with the spooky atmosphere in Denmark, and a floral sheet or bush for Act 3 Scene 2 to help convey the garden the Player King sleeps in. One woman reminded the ensemble that “if someone truly doesn’t want to do a part, there’s still enough to do backstage,” which gave me an opportunity to brag about how important crew and stage managers are in keeping things running smoothly (tracking people and props, opening and closing the curtain, and helping with costume changes).

After all the conversation, we knew it was time to get on our feet for a little bit and play a game—the sound game, to be exact. This seems to be a favorite, and it gives us a chance to be really silly. Even though it was a pretty small circle of participants, a few of us (myself in particular) still struggled with identifying who was making the strange sounds. There were a lot of laughs and playful mocking.

We spent the last of our time on the Hamlet/Laertes duel in Act 5 Scene 2. We reminded the ensemble that this is a difficult scene, and that we will come back to it time and time again as we start to connect all the pieces of the puzzle.

Friday / January 31 / 2020
Written by Lauren

We welcomed two new members to the ensemble today! After a brief check in and our ring exercise, we asked the two new members our traditional three questions: what brings you to Shakespeare, what do you hope to get out of Shakespeare, and what gifts do you bring?

New member #1 has been at the facility for a long time and has participated in all sorts of programming. She is looking to try something new! She is hoping to broaden her skills, since she has never acted before. Her gift, she said, is that she is a diligent and hard worker.

New member #2 was in the ensemble a few years ago and was thrilled to make her return! Missing the group is what brought her back, and she is hoping to have another good experience. Finally, she said that her gift is that she is creative, loves acting, and thinks outside of the box.

Before jumping into scene work, the ensemble had a discussion regarding set, props, and costumes. A lot of good ideas were presented, so we’ll see as rehearsals go on what sticks and what gets changed!

We decided to work on the “gravedigger” scene. Our gravedigger really brought her “A-game!” Not only was she off-book, but she had a lot of fun with stand-in props, including “digging” the grave with a spork. One of the new members asked her if she’s been doing this a long time, because she thought she was really good!

Our Horatio felt lost in the scene. She had an idea to hop into the grave with the gravedigger, so the group encouraged her to try it again and follow her acting instincts. Another member suggested that she try getting sick at the sight of the skulls. We ran the scene again. The gravedigger tossed a “skull” at Horatio. It happened to bounce off of her, prompting her to run off stage and get “sick.” Her expressions were perfect! When Horatio returned, she went to lie down in the grave and have a drink.

As the scene continued through the funeral procession, Hamlet separated herself from the rest of the characters, while Laertes was next to the grave. It really showcased how isolated Hamlet feels, and our gravedigger remarked that it shows Laertes’ sense of power. When we ran both parts of the scene together, Laertes’ sense of grief was much stronger, while the gravedigger worked some serious facial expressions!

Members are really starting to get a strong sense of their characters, and it’s coming through on stage beautifully.