where to begin..

Day one, and we’re back in the room. Its been a long three weeks off and Bex and I have come to some decisions but also left a few things open to determine suring our (short) rehearsal period. The coat stands not only trees but also need to be used as designed; to store costume, but also need to represent trees in the wood and pillars in the city. We have also given each of the actors a suitcase to enter with to house excess luggage, but also to double up as a step/ seat/ drum.

Due to the amount of costume changes in our piece it means that Bex and I needed to sit down and “choreograph” the journey of not only the actors but also their characters costumes; ready for our first rehearsal.

We started off  the day with Bex giving a design brief about the show and set up the room to the dimesnions that the Zion would be. We are trying to base our other two performances around this one; whilst taking into account the fact that we will only have 2 x levels in each of the others and they will be outside.

I was dubious about plotting through just entrances and exits with actors because it is a lot of information to take in at once. I tried it this way and stopped after a few scenes. We stopped and started from the beginning of the play, started walking and talking them through and went through all of the scenes on the first day.

Due to the nature of the play, the actors mentioned that they were happier doing this than tackling scenes straight away. It gave them an over view of the play and a structure to work within.

We finished off the day by looking at some of the songs. During the afternoon with people lagging and taking in a lot of information it is nice to change things up. Laura and Hannah had found two folk sings that they wanted to contribute and both fit in well at different places in the play.

We are looking at starting the piece with an up beat melodic tune, using a  more chilled out folk song in the forest at the banquet and then another song for the wedding which will be hummed under Rosalinds’ epilogue and sung in full as the troupe leave the stage. We were goin to rely a lot on instruments but have whittled it down to a ukele / accordion/ clarinet and only at specific parts. Where possible we will utilise voice/ harmony and percussion as drums. It sounded very earthy this way and the building of different voices and melodies sounded really rich- but also was able to change eaily to a drone giving a completely different feel.

 

Kickstarting

Kickstarting

We have stared a kickstarter page to raise funds for our project. Please check it out below and support us if you can.

RND2

Trust exercises

RND 2

Michael Chekhov approach to getting the actors to awaken the intstrument.

RND1 – Notes from the Director

Wednesday 29th May

Cast and creatives met today for the first time since the auditions at the start of May. There has been a long build up to this RND week and there was a general sense that everyone had been looking forward to getting going with the project.

We wanted to use these three intensive days to allow the cast to become really familiar with how we wanted to work and also with each other. Our focus’ will be :

1. ENSEMBLE
2. STORY TELLING
3. PLAY

The cast is a healthy mixture of people that we have worked with/ never worked with before. I have learnt that this is the nicest way to go (if possible), as the new actors bring fresh things to the table and the actors you are familiar with, are familiar with you and will help speed up the process.

Jon lead the initial hour at the start which was dedicated to exercises which promoted ensemble work. We warmed up and then set up some trust – tasks which meant that actors had to get close quickly. Some of these were:

• Jumping at the same time
• Clapping at the same time
• Group knotting and untying yourselves
• Group knotting and then moving across the room

Our table read through then lasted took up most of the session. Im not a huge fan of read throughs, especially if the text is not something that everyone finds accessible. So in order to keep it productive we did it scene by scene and then recapped the story/ major themes and discussed any character developments and decisions.

As the actors will never be “off-stage” and mutli-role, we wanted them to get a sense of how quick these changes were. We decided that when you were “acting” in the scene you were sat at the table; otherwise you would be standing and contribute by listening. We gave each character their own chair to provide clarity as to who was involved.

This session was hugely helpful. We had not heard a full run through of the lines and discussed sections which needed editting. We have managed to cut the character of LE BEAU out by delivering his news in the form of a letter which Celia reads. Touchstone will then give Le Beau’s warning to Orlando to leave (after the wrestling match). The decision to do this was so that we keep the story flowing and not to allow any opportunity to confuse the audience.

 

 

 

Meet our DESIGNER

Bex is Set and Costume Designer who trained at Central School of Speech and Drama in London. Her design credits include Scenes From The Big Picture (2012), Variations on the Death of Trotsky (2012), The Common Chorus (2011), and Seventh Continent (2010). She has also assisted Miriam Buether and Tim Hatley on various productions.

Most recently Bex was assistant designer to Keith Orton, on the Salisbury Playhouse pantomime, Sleeping Beauty in 2012.

After only graduating from CSSD in 2012 she’s destined for big things and will be on board for “As You Like It”.

Check out her page:

http://www.bexkemp.com

Marketing ideas

The Forest of Arden?

Bristol Shakespeare Festival

It’s official! We are returning to where it all began last year. Ripped Script will be taking their production of As You Like It to Bristol Shakespeare Festival 2013.

After searching high and low we have confirmed the most idyllic space at the Zion Community Centre in Bristol.

http://www.zionbristol.co.uk/

What makes it so special is that it is unique in style, and provides lots of levels and opportunities for our actors to play. As well as a balcony that circles over the top of the actors, we have a central balcony and a lower one, a small raised stage and 4 entrances!!!

Our production will be developed on an immersive thrust stage. So, basically our 5 actors are going to be playing everywhere, throughout the audience.

We have secured the 6th-7th July 2013 for our performances, so put it in your calendar now!