6-26-12 Act II

I'm beat. 

Today was a big rehearsal day for me.  I knew it was going to be.  We worked all of Act II today which, if I have 110 lines, about 50 of them are in Act II.   Act II scene iii is the drunk scene which is a bear. 

So, I got to the theatre space about an hour and fifteen minutes early to prepare.  We rehearse outside at this small little ampitheatre as much as possible.  But...  we're on concrete, in the evening sun.  So, it can take it out of you a little quicker than it does indoors. 

Funny thing was... I started to think about how the first scene of Act II might be laid out.  I started kind of walking through potential choices... thinking about that potential layout... where the "sea" might be, etc.  Then, when we started rehearsing the scene, the director had the layout the exact opposite way.  hahaha  And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I warn against trying to craft a performance too much on your own.  hahaha

So it was hot... and the sea was behind us instead of in front of us (which makes COMPLETE sense by the way because there is a giant river right behind the actual stage we'll be on... so it will actually be really cool.)  With all that said, it was a really good day of rehearsal.  The director said of Act II scene iii,  "that was really good for the first.... DAY."  I was happy to hear that because, for me, that's one of my harder scenes.  It's still got a lot of work that needs to be done, but it was a real good start.

It's so nice to lock eyes with another good actor and really start to DO something. 

There was an interesting moment of rehearsal today that I think my students will appreciate.  After we read through the first scene that we were working on today, the actress playing Emilia said... "I'm trying to figure out my status."  As early as my Acting One class I am trying to get my students to think about status in their acting and I thought it was great to hear this actress express the importance of knowing her status for her work.  In real life we constantly make choices based on our status in a given situation.  If you are around your boss, you will probably make different choices than if you are around your friends and will again make different choices if you are around your kids.  You hold a different status in all three scenarios.  There is a lot of higher and lower rank situations in this play so it is important for us to figure out and keep track of our status throughout the piece and make choices with that in mind. 

Side note:  There was a freaking TACO TRUCK in the hotel parking lot today.  I was going for a run and didn't take advantage of the opportunity but, next Tuesday, I will definitely be looking for the taco truck.

Shout out to Indonesia.  That's right... someone checked in from Indonesia.  That makes, I think, 10 different countries that have checked in so far.