"Part, sirs!"

That was an ad-libbed line I came up with in a crowd scene we ran today. This was, sadly, really the only thing I did during tonight's rehearsal, because all of the major players with whom I have a seen were absent from rehearsal tonight.

The scene in question is after the deaths of Tybalt and Mercutio, after Romeo has fled. The prince, followed by various others, (The Friar included, in our version) enter, and observe the aftermath of the killings. The prince passing judgment on Romeo, and, momentarily, and outbreak of pandemonium among those assembled.

As a matter of background story I am, up until that point, nervous about Romeo's fate, as well as angered, saddened, and disappointed that such a thing has occurred, and that Romeo has done it. Not to mention to monkey wrench thrown into an already difficult set if circumstances through which the Friar must navigate.

Near the end of the scene, the director had everyone shout...something. As I said, she wanted pandemonium. This actually took more than one would think, because everyone was initially too timid to just start yelling. (Go figure.) Eventually it improved, and two actors near me decided to ad-lib a small fracas between the two of them. As the Friar, I opted to step in between them to prevent further bloodshed, as it were.

It felt natural enough. Good choice by them. Gave me something to do, other than pray, during the scene. The next time we ran it, I added, "Part, sirs", in order to add to the cacophony. (Which still could use some boosting, but is getting better.)

I am mostly off book for most of my scenes, but still working on a few. Even being off book, it is a whole other thing when I try to perform without the script for the first time, and the few times I have tried it I have stumbled a bit. Still, I am sure I will be mostly ready tomorrow or Monday at the latest.

I am happy to report that after two solid nights of working on just the one long, boring, exposition speech I am, for all intents and purposes, off book for that nightmare. I try to run it in my head several times a day, however, just to keep it there. But boy, what a speech.

Rehearsal again tonight at 7. To beat traffic, I will come early, as I hear some people will be there early.