It's the last day before the first preview. The morning is for technical 'fix-ups,' with the actors arriving at 1.30pm again today.
The mood is relaxed. Yesterday's technical issues have mostly been worked out to everybody's satisfaction. Tomorrow's dress rehearsal will make it clear whether the solutions are working properly or not.
It has taken the entire afternoon and evening to finish the tech with the actors. Although the actors weren't performing at high energy, there have been a number of really important breakthroughs during the day. The lights, the sound, the set have all done their job in informing the actors how scenes are supposed to work in performance. You can feel pennies dropping all over the place, and connections being made that have previously been understood in an intellectual way, but not 'felt' by the actors.
Though they haven't run the play since last Tuesday, it feels as though it has come a long way during the last couple of days. The 'unknowns' have dimished significantly in the last couple of days in respect of their physical environment, and what they will experience on the stage, and that confidence is already being displayed as they 'run' scenes in the tech.
Chris says he expects tomorrow's dress rehearsal to be a bit rough. The actors will really have to conserve their energy through the dress rehearsal so they can hit the first preview with the energy it needs.
Although there is an audience tonight, previews are previews, and Chris expects the piece to develop significantly through the previews and through the season as well. The difference between previews and the season is that the cast are scheduled for rehearsal until opening night. If moments need fixing there is time to run them and work them. Once you get into performance the director has time to give notes, but no time to do any re-working of moments in a rehearsal context. This is a huge difference. There are times when notes cannot shift or reveal a moment; it can only be done in a rehearsal environment.
Further to that, a director usually wants the actors to 'own' their parts. It's part of the confidence a director wants their actors to have that allows them to grow and soar in their performance. Constant changes can sometimes undermine this confidence, depending on the actor and their relationhsip with the director. The energy the actors have once a show is in performance is for the show; this is a different kind of energy to the energy they use to explore the work in rehearsal. This can also sometimes make it difficult to shift something once a show has opened.
That's not to say that the show won't change. Chris makes the point that the show will inevitably change. The show will 'settle' and the actors will more deeply understand certain things as a product of the repetition. Also, it will change as a product of different audiences coming in to see the show each night. The actors are keenly aware of the things that work or don't work, and the show evolves in microscopic ways to this nightly dialogue. Sometimes a series of microscopic changes in a particular direction eventuate in significant changes to the show. Other times, it's a process of moments moving back and forth as different audiences respond differently, and more importantly, how the actors 'test' a moment in different ways to feel how it works best.
Tomorrow is the first dress rehearsal, and the first preview. The countdown has ticked over the zero days, and is now in the hours, minutes and seconds only. Right now the atmosphere is relaxed and confident, with a hint of expected apprehension. But we'll see whether that changes tomorrow.
Especially for Friday I'll be posting again between the dress run and the first preview, SO COME BACK FOR THAT!
The mood is relaxed. Yesterday's technical issues have mostly been worked out to everybody's satisfaction. Tomorrow's dress rehearsal will make it clear whether the solutions are working properly or not.
It has taken the entire afternoon and evening to finish the tech with the actors. Although the actors weren't performing at high energy, there have been a number of really important breakthroughs during the day. The lights, the sound, the set have all done their job in informing the actors how scenes are supposed to work in performance. You can feel pennies dropping all over the place, and connections being made that have previously been understood in an intellectual way, but not 'felt' by the actors.
Though they haven't run the play since last Tuesday, it feels as though it has come a long way during the last couple of days. The 'unknowns' have dimished significantly in the last couple of days in respect of their physical environment, and what they will experience on the stage, and that confidence is already being displayed as they 'run' scenes in the tech.
Chris says he expects tomorrow's dress rehearsal to be a bit rough. The actors will really have to conserve their energy through the dress rehearsal so they can hit the first preview with the energy it needs.
Although there is an audience tonight, previews are previews, and Chris expects the piece to develop significantly through the previews and through the season as well. The difference between previews and the season is that the cast are scheduled for rehearsal until opening night. If moments need fixing there is time to run them and work them. Once you get into performance the director has time to give notes, but no time to do any re-working of moments in a rehearsal context. This is a huge difference. There are times when notes cannot shift or reveal a moment; it can only be done in a rehearsal environment.
Further to that, a director usually wants the actors to 'own' their parts. It's part of the confidence a director wants their actors to have that allows them to grow and soar in their performance. Constant changes can sometimes undermine this confidence, depending on the actor and their relationhsip with the director. The energy the actors have once a show is in performance is for the show; this is a different kind of energy to the energy they use to explore the work in rehearsal. This can also sometimes make it difficult to shift something once a show has opened.
That's not to say that the show won't change. Chris makes the point that the show will inevitably change. The show will 'settle' and the actors will more deeply understand certain things as a product of the repetition. Also, it will change as a product of different audiences coming in to see the show each night. The actors are keenly aware of the things that work or don't work, and the show evolves in microscopic ways to this nightly dialogue. Sometimes a series of microscopic changes in a particular direction eventuate in significant changes to the show. Other times, it's a process of moments moving back and forth as different audiences respond differently, and more importantly, how the actors 'test' a moment in different ways to feel how it works best.
Tomorrow is the first dress rehearsal, and the first preview. The countdown has ticked over the zero days, and is now in the hours, minutes and seconds only. Right now the atmosphere is relaxed and confident, with a hint of expected apprehension. But we'll see whether that changes tomorrow.
Especially for Friday I'll be posting again between the dress run and the first preview, SO COME BACK FOR THAT!
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