By foolery thrive! Blocking Rehearsal 1-3
After a mere three days of blocking rehearsal in a cheery but chilly basement, there's a rough shape for half of the play. It's very intriguing, in only a rehearsals, what themes are beginning to thread through. At the start of the show, the large circle that forms the playing space is bisected by two poles hung with banners; the area downstage becomes what a real estate agent would call "cozy". While some of the company joked their blocking would be simple to remember as there wasn't much room, the effect is actually the opposite. With a smaller playing area, even small movements become significant from an audience perspective. And as the company begins to balance the circle unconciously (figuratively, not literally, no see-saw set here), some really interesting and telling stage pictures happen.
The other balance growing in the play is between its dark and the light moments. Unlike other Shakespeare works that blend the comic and the tragic, All's Well That Ends Well doesn't have a turning point; it swings back and forth between the two. Helena's rejection by Betram in front of a full court is followed immediately by a scene in which spry Count Lafeu gives poor Parolles "most egregious indignity" in all manner of ways. Ben and the cast have really embraced this duality (which is also highlighted in the show's music); abandoned lovers share the stage with banana peels. It's really fun watching the development of a vaudeville bit, as each cast member in a scene adds his or her layer. Does it need to be done in threes? How many times can you step over the peel? Does a peel lose its power once someone picks it up? The answers are: not always, not as many times as Ben would like, and without a doubt.
Caitlin Lowans
in Notes from the Rehearsal Room
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