6-3-12 Three weeks until rehearsals begin

Three weeks from today is the first rehearsal.  I'm happy where I am so far. 

If I go back to the data that I typed out at the beginning of the process, all of the scenes in bold I have now memorized pretty well.

ACT - SCENE - NUMBER OF LINES FOR CASSIO

Act 1 - Scene 2 - 6 lines
Act 2 - Scene 1 - 14 lines
Act 2 - Scene 3 - 35 lines (this scene has stage combat)

Act 3 - Scene 1 - 8 lines
Act 3 - Scene 3 - 4 lines
Act 3 - Scene 4 - 9 lines
Act 4 - Scene 1 - 12 lines
Act 5 - Scene 1 - 12 lines (this scene has stage combat)
Act 5 - Scene 2 - 5 lines

The scenes in Act 5 are decent but still need another day or two to sink in.  Then I'll jump back to Act 2 and work on that. 

It's nice to get this kind of a jump on lines for two reasons.  First, it means I can learn my lines at a leisurely pace.  Cramming lines under pressure is never fun.  Second, it means that I can let lines sink in all that much more.  Actors often talk about having their lines sink in.  Another way actors sometimes describe this is that the lines are no longer in the actor's head... they are in the actor's body.  They have sunk in.  I guess what this really means is that you know your lines so well that you don't have to think about them in order to say them.  They are ready to be used when I want to use them and I don't need to struggle to search for every word.  The five scenes that I put in bold are really starting to sink in, which is nice. I can go for a run and recite my lines, amid my huffing and puffing, with minimal effort from my brain...   they are in my body.

This can be a dangerous time though.  It is very easy to accidentally learn a wrong word here or there and then lock it in thinking that it is the correct word.  This is why now, I will really start trying to run these five "bold" scenes with people on a regular basis.  As I have said before, it isn't good enough to kind of know my lines...  I have to be word perfect.  There seems to always be someone in the audience of an outdoor Shakespeare play that brings along the script and reads along as the actor says their lines.  I don't want to take this person out of the play by saying the wrong words.  Also, when you do Shakespeare, there is always a decent possibility that someone in the audience, or a fellow cast-member played your role at some point in their life, or that was in a production of the show, or directed the show etc.  You definitely don't want to say incorrect words if that person is there. 

Thankfully I've got a couple of people who I can bounce lines off over the next few weeks.  If I get this blog done soon enough, I'll try to get some line work in with my wife before we watch Mad Men.  haha    I will also continue to look at my script at times while I work these scenes... just to make sure I am saying the right words.

Meanwhile...

I have encountered a new trap while I have been learning Act 5 Scene 1.  This is one of the two scenes where Cassio gets into a fight.  It's going to be a tough scene.  I get attacked at the beginning of the scene... my leg gets slashed open... then I hang out on stage nearly bleeding to death for 5 or 10 minutes.  Maybe not 10... but definitely 5+ minutes.

Along the way I say things like...

"I am maim'd for ever! Help, ho!  Murder!  Murder!"

and

"My leg is cut in two."

Shakespeare always does that.  He writes lines like "Oh I am slain" and things like that.  I am finding that I am already trying to craft the entire scene in my head while I learn these lines.  I keep having to remind myself to stop that... just learn the damn words.  The worst thing I could possible do is to already start to impose some crappy independent acting on what will be an emotionally charged melee of a scene.  I have no idea how this scene will shape up so I need to stop thinking about it while I learn these lines.  It does feel dumb to say "I am maim'd for ever" with very little energy or intention or inflection right now, but I have to trust that it is better than imposing some forced acting to the words right now.... forced acting that could become habit and stick.  BLEH!  It's hard enough to pretend that your "leg is cut in two."  It is even harder to do it in your living room by yourself when you haven't even rehearsed the scene with other actors ONCE.  So I need to stop that.

Bad Chris...  haha

Lines then Mad Men!   Thanks for reading.  Shout out of the day goes to my wife who just got cast in a production of Godspell. 


Hatch