It's the last week of rehearsals before we open on Friday. Life has been a blizzard of theatre, running from one play to another.
Invierno, or Winter, is almost ready. At last performance/ audience beckons.
At which point the director notes something of interest. The limits of rehearsals. There is only so far the actor can go in rehearsal. They can be word-perfect, intention-perfect, clean as a whistle, but without an audience they are now treading water.
This is above all the case for those moments in the play which are dependent on performance. Those where the actor is requested to take the greatest risk, to be the most ridiculous, or dangerous, or absurd. These moments depend on an audience reaction. When the actor pushes him or herself to the limit, they don't know if they're going over the top. Whether the scene really convinces. Without an audience they can never find out, hence there's less impulse to push to achieve these more problematic moments in rehearsal. Where the director is the only judge.
There's one moment in Act 4 of Winter which demands a significant gesture. One that threatens to push the play beyond the boundaries of taste, towards melodrama or kitsch. It's something we have adjusted, searching for our own way of realising the author's intentions.
Does our chosen action succeed or not? Until we get to Friday, we have no way of knowing. Meanwhile, we continue to aim towards technical perfection, knowing that we are now marking time, awaiting the arrival of the others, los de mas.
Invierno, or Winter, is almost ready. At last performance/ audience beckons.
At which point the director notes something of interest. The limits of rehearsals. There is only so far the actor can go in rehearsal. They can be word-perfect, intention-perfect, clean as a whistle, but without an audience they are now treading water.
This is above all the case for those moments in the play which are dependent on performance. Those where the actor is requested to take the greatest risk, to be the most ridiculous, or dangerous, or absurd. These moments depend on an audience reaction. When the actor pushes him or herself to the limit, they don't know if they're going over the top. Whether the scene really convinces. Without an audience they can never find out, hence there's less impulse to push to achieve these more problematic moments in rehearsal. Where the director is the only judge.
There's one moment in Act 4 of Winter which demands a significant gesture. One that threatens to push the play beyond the boundaries of taste, towards melodrama or kitsch. It's something we have adjusted, searching for our own way of realising the author's intentions.
Does our chosen action succeed or not? Until we get to Friday, we have no way of knowing. Meanwhile, we continue to aim towards technical perfection, knowing that we are now marking time, awaiting the arrival of the others, los de mas.
No comments:
Post a Comment