Using Your Senses

First things first:

• MND reviews are due Monday. Late reviews lose 1/2 a letter grade per day. Writing instructions here.
  
• Rehearsals last week were grueling but profitable. Try to take a break between school and rehearsals -- we're all more exhausted as the week drags on, and those breaks are vital.
  
• Two words: LINE REHEARSALS Everybody needs to do them. We've got a little over a month till opening night. You're all making good progress, but you'll hit a wall until your lines are solidly learned.
• Work on learning your cues. It's not enough to know your speeches ... you have to know where they go. How do you learn cues? Line rehearsals ...
  
• You guys really ARE progressing well with your characterization. Pretty soon we'll be rehearsing in C-108 so you can memorize the blocking.
  

**fairies**
Plan on having a music rehearsal w/ Mr Speer on Thursday 2/2 to work on the fairy song


Your Body Knows . . .
Have you taken time to think about how the physical setting of MND affects your character?


For example, Theseus' court is regal and richly furnished (even if only in our imaginations :). It's bright and spacious. Majestic. An impressive space for an impressive man. That kind of space can be intimidating to people who aren't used to hanging out there -- like the mechanicals. Or a worried daughter who's getting dragged before the duke.

Let's think about the woods:
What are woods like at night? What can you see (or not see)?... feel on your skin? .... how cold or warm is it to run around in the middle of the night? ... what kinds of sounds do you hear? ... what kind of surfaces are you walking on?
etc

Now, how does that affect how you walk? stand? react?

For example:
How well can you see other people in the woods at night?
Not very well ... so if you're looking for someone (like the 2 guys chasing each other at the end of their fight), you have to show us that you're peering through foliage & darkness.

How do you react to being cold?
The woods are chilly after the sun goes down. Nearly everyone in the play is in the woods at night (except for a few of the Athenians). The fairies live there, so they're quite happy with it - at home, at ease. The humans (mechanicals & lovers) are the intruders--not as comfortable or happy about being out in the woods at night.

So, humans, remember that you might be a bit chilled .... or maybe you're the kind of person who loves to sleep with the house at 50 degrees ... ? And are you afraid of things that go bump in the night? Or do you whip out your trusty weapon and slash away at branches?


Your turn:
Consider how the physical setting affects your character's movement. It's your character, so as long as your choices are reasonable, be as imaginative and distinctive as you'd like. This is the fun part -- here's what makes your [Helena, Egeus, Quince, Snout, Titania . . . ] so distinct from other actors' portrayals.

Post a comment here with some ideas about physical movement that you'd like to try in rehearsal this week.