Post by Queen Mab on Aug 12, 2010 11:48:04 GMT
Some of you may be unaware of this, but Friends of the RSC get the chance to attend special events, ranging from talks by actors, pre/post show meet & greets and technical rehearsals. Tickets are usually a small amount, £5 or so. Events are different each season, with some running in Stratford, Newcastle and London.
Prior to each show's first preview, the actors and crew run a technical rehearsal (usually lasting a few days), going over every minute detail of the show. Entrances, lighting cues, automation, everything is run over & checked that it works when making the transition from rehearsal room to stage. When a show comes back after a long hiatus, like this one, another rehearsal needs to be done. There may be new technical staff, or the director may have made changes during rehearsal that require looking at. Often, the actors need their memories refreshing too!
Titania and I were lucky enough to be at the recent technical rehearsal, and I wrote a comment in my blog about the days events. I thought you might be interested.
For ease...
Michael (Boyd): Director
Richard (Katz): Touchstone
Jonjo (O'Neill): Orlando
Peter S(horey): Adam
Katy (Stephens): Rosalind
Minnie (Gale): Celia
Geoff (Freshwater): Corin
Forbes (Masson): Jaques
James H(oward): Forest Lord
James T(raherne): Forest Lord
Jimmy (Tucker): Court Attendant
Dharmesh (Patel): Amiens
Dyfan (Dwyfor): Forest Lord
Peter P(everely): Forest Lord/Jacques
Carence (Smith): Duke Ferdinand
Sandy (Neilson); Duke Senior
David (Carr): Charles
Charlie (Aitken): Oliver
Oh Em Gee. It was so fun. We were up in the circle (stalls were full of the creatives & various computer terminals). They basically ran the play through (in costume), stopping and starting when something needed to be changed, or when the lighting needed to be altered and whatnot. Then they'd start the scene again.
We started at Act 2.
Act 2, Scene 1
Forest lords are all on stage. Trap doors are already open, then they run through when they can slam the doors shut so that it wont interfere with dialogue. One of the poor techies had to climb through the warren underneath the stage to open them up again every time they ran the scene.
Act 2, Scene 3
Jonjo and Peter S. ran the scene where they run away a few times. One time they were playing with the spotlights and Jonjo read his line "O good old man, how well in thee appears in spotlights" or something. They ran it a few times and he kept going "O good old, old OLD man".
Peter S. had some trouble with the trapdoor too. First time he couldnt find the trapdoor and was all "... where... I dont..." and they were going "LEFT, LEFT". "... was it always here?" lol. Once he got it open he has to hold it by the short rope. Mid line he went "this rope is too short!" and one of the techies called out "8 inches not enough for you Peter?" and he mock gasped, looked up at all of us and went "I am so sorry. You just can't get the staff."
Act 2, Scene 4
Richard enters through doors in the back wall, surrounded by big ball of twine/twigs/tree stuff. Says his line "Now I am in Arden", trips up & pulls himself out of the mess, spreading it everywhere. Michael asked them to run it again. Richard was not happy! "I've spent 20 minutes holding that lot."
They cleared up the twigs, while all the actors sat around waiting. Then ran it again. His line was now "Now I am in Arden.... again." You should have seen his face when they said they wanted to run it for the 3rd time. This time it was just "Here we go again!" He threw the twigs everywhere.
Katy and Geoff did their scene and Michael asked them to move further downstage. They said they were trying to avoid the twigs. Richard stepped forward and went "Er its not usually so far up stage... sorry."
Between running it, it took about 5 minutes to clear up the twigs and start it again. Richard was beckoned to go through the double doors, and they shut them behind him. Then he walked around from the stage (to stage left), in front of the wall, and smiled at us. Opened the doors, and went through. And then he did it again. And then again. Then he did it from the stage right! I was in hysterics.
Act 2, Scene 5
Katy is pulling the cart off stage, following Minnie & Geoff. Richard climbs in the cart. Forbes enters playing the guitar. Is interrupted when Katy crashes the cart. "She's trying to kill me!" shouted Richard. Forbes keeps playing the guitar as he turns around and walks back the way he came lol (in fact, during most of the down time on stage, Forbes continued strumming on the guitar).
As Forbes starts singing, 5 forest lords (James H., James T., Dharmesh, Dyfan & Peter P.) creep onto stage behind the back wall, climb up the ladders behind it, open panels in the back wall, spot him and climb down the other side.
Michael: "You're coming in too late. Is there anyway you can get through earlier and quicker?"
James H.: "Yes... if we come through earlier and quicker."
They run through the song a few times and on the 3rd run, when Forbes goes "More? you want more?" a bunch of people went "No!"
As Forbes takes his many many bows, Dharmesh and Dyfan were behind him bowing too.
They had to change the order of folk climbing up the wall each time, trying to figure out how to get the panels down without making too much noise during Forbes' song. They were also, for some reason, bringing on a smaller hand-held ball of twigs. Michael asked who was bringing "the bush on" and there was lots of smirking, especially from Dyfan.
Act 2, Scene 6
Jonjo carries Peter S. in and lays him down to rest on the twigs. He stopped for a second, "Is this... erm I remember this being softer!" ... and pulls out a brown jug from the mess. Turns out the jug was smuggled in during an the previous scene by the forest lords, and hidden there ready for the next one (to let Peter S. have a drink). To solve it, Michael just went "... can you bring it on in that scene instead?" Seems simple enough lol
Act 2, Scene 7
Clarence & his lords enter from the main doors. Mid sentence, Clarence stops.
Clarence: "I feel too late, have I come in too late? I used to come in from the side and I could see him leaving, it was a visual cue. Now I have to wait to hear them leaving, so I'm late."
Michael: "Do you want a cue light?"
Clarence (to techie): "Can I have a cue light?"
He goes back behind the doors while the techie flashes the light, and someone shows him where it is.
They run it again. James H. starts the bbq panel up, begins cooking the food on sticks. Get to the bit when Forbes sneaks in with his guitar in hand. As the scene continues, Forbes stands there looking confused. They all look at him. "I'm trying to figure out where I should put this. I need to put this somewhere." Much discussion whether he should carry it or put it down, and if so, where. Michael suggests they run it, and if he sees an opportunity, then discard it. Eventually they ran the scene again with him depositing it on the step in front of the main doors. (I dont like it, we'll see if it stays).
Jonjo enters, grabbing Dyfan by the throat with his knife. They run the scene and Jonjo says the line "In the which hope I blush, and hide my sword", Dharmesh (behind Jonjo, gun raised) makes a move towards him and Clarence warns him off, at which point Jonjo turns around and sees the gun pointed at him. Michael Boyd decides that after Dyfan is let go, he wants Dharmesh to disarm him. Could tell Jonjo wasn't that keen on the idea, he looked very confused. Adorable. Much discussion on how, does he take the knife out of his pocket again? Or does he keep it out after the "hide my sword" line? Anyway, they ran it again and this time after hiding it, Clarence shifts his eyeline to Dharmesh (instead of verbally chastising him for taking a step forward) and Jonjo turns around. Seeing him, he unbuckles the belt around his waist and passes the belt & attached knife to Dharmesh.
They run the scene through Forbes' Seven Ages (during one of the breaks he jokes to Jonjo about the "seven ages of an actor"). Jonjo brings in Peter S. and lays him down. Food is passed around etc. During one of the breaks someone passes some to Forbes and I hear one of them go "tofu" and he takes a step back. I'm sure he said "I'm a meat eater" but I'm not certain. By the time they'd run this scene the food was well and truly cremated.
Clarence delivers the line "I will not question you as yet to question... I will not question you as..." and looks very confused. "Trouble." says Jonjo, from his seated position he didnt even look up. "Thankyou. I will not trouble you as yet to question..."
Now the biggest change, and one which changed my whole perception of the scene. They're all sat around eating, Clarence picks up the much-discussed guitar, hits Forbes in the chest with it and tells him to sing a song. He starts singing. Then he walks around the fire, has a word in Peter P's ear, and walks off stage. Shortly after Peter points at Jonjo, and beckons him to follow. About 30 seconds later, Clarence stomps back on stage, circles the fire, and Jonjo reenters the stage.
They stopped and Michael said he wanted Clarence to leave the stage earlier, leaving a bigger gap between him leaving and reentering. They do it again, and when he comes to have a word with Peter P., he finds he is still downstage left. Peter P. wanders across the stage during the scene, but when Clarence was in his position, Peter P. was still the opposite side of the stage, because hadn't made it there yet. So now he has to have a word with him before he crosses the stage, just after he tells Forbes to sing. Michael also says to leave before the last "sing". As though Forbes is reluctant to sing, so he tells him again. They run it again.
He smacks Forbes with the guitar, tells him to sing. Turns to Peter and whispers to him. Walks to opposite corner of the stage. Stops, turns around. "Sing!" then leaves. Forbes starts. Peter crosses the stage, beckons Jonjo, and he leaves the stage. Time now for Forbes to finish his song, and then Clarence reenters.
Now they ran it this way, it suddenly occurred to me that Clarence had created a distraction by having Forbes sing, so that he could get Jonjo on his own to have a private word. Before, when he left while Forbes was singing, I couldn't figure out what he was doing. I'd somehow decided that he'd wandered off to use the bathroom in the woods! Having also missed Peter P.'s interaction with Jonjo, I wondered why Jonjo was then following him!! Works much better this way, I think.
Act 3, Scene 1
Charlie is in the next scene (confrontation between Sandy and him, with Jimmy & David on stage too). Charlie still has big curly hair, but not as big as it was in Lear. The beard is still there. During down time, Charlie and David played with their swords (steady), seeing who can draw fastest. They ran the scene twice, the second time starting right at the end, after Sandy has left (for light purposes). Jimmy left the stage, but Sandy remained. He was stood there & Michael went "Sandy, you're not here, you've left." He was all "oh crap" and scampered off through the back doors lol
Act 3, Scene 2
Jonjo singing yay. He comes on from the upper doors, and starts strumming his guitar and singing. He has a very nice voice. They ran it once I think, playing with the spotlights while he was doing it. Then he jumps down from the doors and runs off stage, marking the end of the first half.
And then they made us leave. I was very glad I got to see him sing! We contemplated hiding in the gallery to watch the rest of the tech.
Afterwards we were by the box office sorting out tickets when Jonjo walked passed us, in his running gear. We saw him outside talking to someone just after, and he waved. I waved back. Then we had a Duck dinner om nomnom.
Prior to each show's first preview, the actors and crew run a technical rehearsal (usually lasting a few days), going over every minute detail of the show. Entrances, lighting cues, automation, everything is run over & checked that it works when making the transition from rehearsal room to stage. When a show comes back after a long hiatus, like this one, another rehearsal needs to be done. There may be new technical staff, or the director may have made changes during rehearsal that require looking at. Often, the actors need their memories refreshing too!
Titania and I were lucky enough to be at the recent technical rehearsal, and I wrote a comment in my blog about the days events. I thought you might be interested.
For ease...
Michael (Boyd): Director
Richard (Katz): Touchstone
Jonjo (O'Neill): Orlando
Peter S(horey): Adam
Katy (Stephens): Rosalind
Minnie (Gale): Celia
Geoff (Freshwater): Corin
Forbes (Masson): Jaques
James H(oward): Forest Lord
James T(raherne): Forest Lord
Jimmy (Tucker): Court Attendant
Dharmesh (Patel): Amiens
Dyfan (Dwyfor): Forest Lord
Peter P(everely): Forest Lord/Jacques
Carence (Smith): Duke Ferdinand
Sandy (Neilson); Duke Senior
David (Carr): Charles
Charlie (Aitken): Oliver
Oh Em Gee. It was so fun. We were up in the circle (stalls were full of the creatives & various computer terminals). They basically ran the play through (in costume), stopping and starting when something needed to be changed, or when the lighting needed to be altered and whatnot. Then they'd start the scene again.
We started at Act 2.
Act 2, Scene 1
Forest lords are all on stage. Trap doors are already open, then they run through when they can slam the doors shut so that it wont interfere with dialogue. One of the poor techies had to climb through the warren underneath the stage to open them up again every time they ran the scene.
Act 2, Scene 3
Jonjo and Peter S. ran the scene where they run away a few times. One time they were playing with the spotlights and Jonjo read his line "O good old man, how well in thee appears in spotlights" or something. They ran it a few times and he kept going "O good old, old OLD man".
Peter S. had some trouble with the trapdoor too. First time he couldnt find the trapdoor and was all "... where... I dont..." and they were going "LEFT, LEFT". "... was it always here?" lol. Once he got it open he has to hold it by the short rope. Mid line he went "this rope is too short!" and one of the techies called out "8 inches not enough for you Peter?" and he mock gasped, looked up at all of us and went "I am so sorry. You just can't get the staff."
Act 2, Scene 4
Richard enters through doors in the back wall, surrounded by big ball of twine/twigs/tree stuff. Says his line "Now I am in Arden", trips up & pulls himself out of the mess, spreading it everywhere. Michael asked them to run it again. Richard was not happy! "I've spent 20 minutes holding that lot."
They cleared up the twigs, while all the actors sat around waiting. Then ran it again. His line was now "Now I am in Arden.... again." You should have seen his face when they said they wanted to run it for the 3rd time. This time it was just "Here we go again!" He threw the twigs everywhere.
Katy and Geoff did their scene and Michael asked them to move further downstage. They said they were trying to avoid the twigs. Richard stepped forward and went "Er its not usually so far up stage... sorry."
Between running it, it took about 5 minutes to clear up the twigs and start it again. Richard was beckoned to go through the double doors, and they shut them behind him. Then he walked around from the stage (to stage left), in front of the wall, and smiled at us. Opened the doors, and went through. And then he did it again. And then again. Then he did it from the stage right! I was in hysterics.
Act 2, Scene 5
Katy is pulling the cart off stage, following Minnie & Geoff. Richard climbs in the cart. Forbes enters playing the guitar. Is interrupted when Katy crashes the cart. "She's trying to kill me!" shouted Richard. Forbes keeps playing the guitar as he turns around and walks back the way he came lol (in fact, during most of the down time on stage, Forbes continued strumming on the guitar).
As Forbes starts singing, 5 forest lords (James H., James T., Dharmesh, Dyfan & Peter P.) creep onto stage behind the back wall, climb up the ladders behind it, open panels in the back wall, spot him and climb down the other side.
Michael: "You're coming in too late. Is there anyway you can get through earlier and quicker?"
James H.: "Yes... if we come through earlier and quicker."
They run through the song a few times and on the 3rd run, when Forbes goes "More? you want more?" a bunch of people went "No!"
As Forbes takes his many many bows, Dharmesh and Dyfan were behind him bowing too.
They had to change the order of folk climbing up the wall each time, trying to figure out how to get the panels down without making too much noise during Forbes' song. They were also, for some reason, bringing on a smaller hand-held ball of twigs. Michael asked who was bringing "the bush on" and there was lots of smirking, especially from Dyfan.
Act 2, Scene 6
Jonjo carries Peter S. in and lays him down to rest on the twigs. He stopped for a second, "Is this... erm I remember this being softer!" ... and pulls out a brown jug from the mess. Turns out the jug was smuggled in during an the previous scene by the forest lords, and hidden there ready for the next one (to let Peter S. have a drink). To solve it, Michael just went "... can you bring it on in that scene instead?" Seems simple enough lol
Act 2, Scene 7
Clarence & his lords enter from the main doors. Mid sentence, Clarence stops.
Clarence: "I feel too late, have I come in too late? I used to come in from the side and I could see him leaving, it was a visual cue. Now I have to wait to hear them leaving, so I'm late."
Michael: "Do you want a cue light?"
Clarence (to techie): "Can I have a cue light?"
He goes back behind the doors while the techie flashes the light, and someone shows him where it is.
They run it again. James H. starts the bbq panel up, begins cooking the food on sticks. Get to the bit when Forbes sneaks in with his guitar in hand. As the scene continues, Forbes stands there looking confused. They all look at him. "I'm trying to figure out where I should put this. I need to put this somewhere." Much discussion whether he should carry it or put it down, and if so, where. Michael suggests they run it, and if he sees an opportunity, then discard it. Eventually they ran the scene again with him depositing it on the step in front of the main doors. (I dont like it, we'll see if it stays).
Jonjo enters, grabbing Dyfan by the throat with his knife. They run the scene and Jonjo says the line "In the which hope I blush, and hide my sword", Dharmesh (behind Jonjo, gun raised) makes a move towards him and Clarence warns him off, at which point Jonjo turns around and sees the gun pointed at him. Michael Boyd decides that after Dyfan is let go, he wants Dharmesh to disarm him. Could tell Jonjo wasn't that keen on the idea, he looked very confused. Adorable. Much discussion on how, does he take the knife out of his pocket again? Or does he keep it out after the "hide my sword" line? Anyway, they ran it again and this time after hiding it, Clarence shifts his eyeline to Dharmesh (instead of verbally chastising him for taking a step forward) and Jonjo turns around. Seeing him, he unbuckles the belt around his waist and passes the belt & attached knife to Dharmesh.
They run the scene through Forbes' Seven Ages (during one of the breaks he jokes to Jonjo about the "seven ages of an actor"). Jonjo brings in Peter S. and lays him down. Food is passed around etc. During one of the breaks someone passes some to Forbes and I hear one of them go "tofu" and he takes a step back. I'm sure he said "I'm a meat eater" but I'm not certain. By the time they'd run this scene the food was well and truly cremated.
Clarence delivers the line "I will not question you as yet to question... I will not question you as..." and looks very confused. "Trouble." says Jonjo, from his seated position he didnt even look up. "Thankyou. I will not trouble you as yet to question..."
Now the biggest change, and one which changed my whole perception of the scene. They're all sat around eating, Clarence picks up the much-discussed guitar, hits Forbes in the chest with it and tells him to sing a song. He starts singing. Then he walks around the fire, has a word in Peter P's ear, and walks off stage. Shortly after Peter points at Jonjo, and beckons him to follow. About 30 seconds later, Clarence stomps back on stage, circles the fire, and Jonjo reenters the stage.
They stopped and Michael said he wanted Clarence to leave the stage earlier, leaving a bigger gap between him leaving and reentering. They do it again, and when he comes to have a word with Peter P., he finds he is still downstage left. Peter P. wanders across the stage during the scene, but when Clarence was in his position, Peter P. was still the opposite side of the stage, because hadn't made it there yet. So now he has to have a word with him before he crosses the stage, just after he tells Forbes to sing. Michael also says to leave before the last "sing". As though Forbes is reluctant to sing, so he tells him again. They run it again.
He smacks Forbes with the guitar, tells him to sing. Turns to Peter and whispers to him. Walks to opposite corner of the stage. Stops, turns around. "Sing!" then leaves. Forbes starts. Peter crosses the stage, beckons Jonjo, and he leaves the stage. Time now for Forbes to finish his song, and then Clarence reenters.
Now they ran it this way, it suddenly occurred to me that Clarence had created a distraction by having Forbes sing, so that he could get Jonjo on his own to have a private word. Before, when he left while Forbes was singing, I couldn't figure out what he was doing. I'd somehow decided that he'd wandered off to use the bathroom in the woods! Having also missed Peter P.'s interaction with Jonjo, I wondered why Jonjo was then following him!! Works much better this way, I think.
Act 3, Scene 1
Charlie is in the next scene (confrontation between Sandy and him, with Jimmy & David on stage too). Charlie still has big curly hair, but not as big as it was in Lear. The beard is still there. During down time, Charlie and David played with their swords (steady), seeing who can draw fastest. They ran the scene twice, the second time starting right at the end, after Sandy has left (for light purposes). Jimmy left the stage, but Sandy remained. He was stood there & Michael went "Sandy, you're not here, you've left." He was all "oh crap" and scampered off through the back doors lol
Act 3, Scene 2
Jonjo singing yay. He comes on from the upper doors, and starts strumming his guitar and singing. He has a very nice voice. They ran it once I think, playing with the spotlights while he was doing it. Then he jumps down from the doors and runs off stage, marking the end of the first half.
And then they made us leave. I was very glad I got to see him sing! We contemplated hiding in the gallery to watch the rest of the tech.
Afterwards we were by the box office sorting out tickets when Jonjo walked passed us, in his running gear. We saw him outside talking to someone just after, and he waved. I waved back. Then we had a Duck dinner om nomnom.
