Blocked and Loaded

All of last week, we blocked the play. (With the exception of two scenes at the end, which still need to be blocked, because of absences last week.) I didn't post about each night, because as usual, I don't find blocking rehearsals to be of much general interest.

The term itself is a bit of a misnomer, isn't it? We call it a "blocking rehearsal" sometimes, but most of the time a cast isn't rehearsing anything; they are receiving instructions as to their movements for the first time in any given scene. Often they will run through the newly given blocking once before moving on to the next scene, which I suppose makes it a sort of instant rehearsal. But truly, nothing is getting practiced. It's getting learned.

So of course, I write little about it. The truth, as I have often written here on this blog, is that I'm not a fan of blocking rehearsals, necessary though they may be.

I will mention that there is a lot of extra blocking for a non-musical. A large door on wheels is a part of nearly every scene, and getting that in place is a particular challenge. (One the actors don't generally have to deal with, though we have no running crew as of yet.) There are also scenes that verge somewhat on a "dance" even though there is no music. A certain stylistic vision of the movements of the characters that naturally springs from the nature of the piece.

This week, there has been only one rehearsal so far, on Monday. (I write this on Wednesday.) That didn't go as planned, because of two unexpected absences. The director had a family emergency. One of the actresses was missing for unknown reasons at the time. So we were short one director and one actress.

The stage manager ran rehearsal. We ran the aforementioned blocking for both acts, and though there was some remaining confusing, between the director's notes and such, we were able to cover a great deal of ground, even if we couldn't run every scene.

We all like a linear rehearsal process as the ideal. But it;s ideal because it's not always possible. But when a rehearsal time is filled with running something that must be perfected eventually, it isn't wasted time to me. The more any given section of a play is run, the better it will be, and the more time is made available to run other parts that are not as far along.  So even when things go a bit haywire, as described above, so long as the two hours are put to use practicing, I'm pretty much satisfied it was time well spent.

Tonight we rehearse again, though I don't know what is on the agenda, what with the various derailments of the week. I'd assume we'd block the final few scenes, and run those, if the director is able to return. If she is not, than I suppose we will do very much what we did on Monday, and only progress will result from hitting those scenes again. Heaven knows I could use as much practice as I can get. Lot's of lines for me in this one.

I think my stage English is improving as time goes on. Not becoming authentic, truly, but improving, and getting closer to easing the audience's suspension of disbelief. That's probably a fair goal to shoot for in the time we have. I run lines at home with the accent as well.

Some setbacks and a sluggish beginning to this one, but I have zero worries about this show at this time. Rehearsals that are mostly quiet, as these are, without too much BS can make all the difference.

Topping Things Off

Our final non-tech week rehearsal was tonight. Difficult to believe we are there already, but I have to remind myself that we only had four weeks total for this show in the first place.

There's some work to do next week. It's a bit rough in places, though not as rough as it was on Wednesday night, during our previous rehearsal. (Though we had someone missing for each of the last two rehearsals.)

I myself made two or three errors. One or two others times I choked a bit on lines, but improved my way through to the right cues. But the rough spots for me personally are specific enough that focused review between now and Monday should be enough to fix things up.

My character with the fewest lines is Topper, who is a guest at Fred's (Scrooge's nephew) party during the shadows of Christmas Present. He is mentioned in the original book, and often, but not always shows up for a throw away line or two in most stage versions of the tale. I have played him in more than one version, myself, including this one. There's always a word game of some kind involved in the scene. I actually have less to say in this show than I have in previous incarnations of Topper, but I enjoy the scene nonetheless.

In fact, the scene for me was a highlight of tonight's rehearsal in some ways. I work hard of course on Cratchit, and I like bringing something a bit new to the Ghost of Christmas Past, (the director is pleased with my take), but that tiny scene with Topper and his few lines just felt so natural tonight, (other than one actress being absent today.)

I get to play around with Topper, and, as I have before in other shows, make him a bit rogue-like , though mostly harmless. I described him tonight as a "watered down Lord Byron." Probably a bit drunk in the scene. Probably a bit drunk all the time...but not useless. I feel I play off of the actor playing Fred quite well in my brief few lines, which I play up for all they are worth (and perhaps more). I don't think I'm scene chewing. I hope I'm not. But the whole short scene feels alive with character and relationship, even though everyone but Fred is a minor, one-off presence in the show.

That's the stage for you. Sometimes it is the smaller roles that allow a bit more freedom. With more freedom comes more creativity, and more creativity brings life to a role, and makes it one the audience will remember. That is of course the goal of all of my parts, and I don't for a minute mean to suggest that I lack freedom in my other roles. I have plenty. But there is more weight to Cratchit. People come to see any version of this show with a keen sense of watching Cratchit. That's partially true with Christmas Past as well. But someone like Topper, who in many ways is just there, for whom the audience generally lacks expectations, the process can feel much more natural in much less time.

If Topper were a main character would I feel the same way? I might, if I could play him like this. But because of the brevity of his presence, I can try things, (which the director allows) that I might not otherwise be able to try, if he were a main character. Things that may or may not wear thin in a greater quantity than are present now. I have some more work to do with Cratchit in the final week, and to a lesser extent Christmas Past. But I could perform Topper as is tomorrow if I had to.

Remember, that's acting too. It's all acting. If we ignore the smaller moments, we might as well ignore the larger, because you can never be sure what moment might speak to you as an actor, or to the audience. Not every line of every role you have will be a gem, but always go for it.

Add Ons and Take Aways

Sunday's rehearsal was a bit tricky. But not as problematic as it might have been.

For starters, two actors were missing. That always makes the earliest rehearsals more difficult. As a director, I always prefer people to miss rehearsals at the halfway mark or beyond, if they have to miss any at all. Things cannot solidify until everyone is at least familiar with the basic blocking and prop usage. That solidity is delayed when there are a lot of absences in the early weeks. (I think A Thurber Carnival suffered from this problem.) However I don't think this play is paying the price of it just yet. Both actors are expected to return for Thursday. (Though a different will be out that night.)

In addition, more set pieces, props and costume pieces were added to the mix last night. (My favorite being a toilet seat through which Marley's face will appear when opened. Don't worry, it has never been used.)

I like having those things a bit earlier than most people. The outfit for my one scene as the Ghost of Christmas Future is wild. A black mesh over my face and body, in addition to a white hockey mask. Simple, but effective.

Old Joe will have a beat up stove pipe hat, and an eye patch. I don't know which eye it should go on yet, but probably the left, given that for most of that scene I am addressing a character that sits to my right. That would make some degree of eye contact easier.

There were also some new set change assignments. I will have a whole lot to do from a "tech crew" standpoint, with little time in which to do it, in Act Two. That is because I am rarely off the stage for more than 60 seconds or so during the second half of the play. This play will involve much back stage shuffling and quick movements. We took things slow yesterday so it is difficult to determine how much time I actually will have for some of the actions, but I gather I will have just enough time in most cases.

I'm declaring myself off book for the shorter Act One. I have some work to do in the coming days to get off for the second act, but as I was reviewing yesterday before rehearsal, it won't be as daunting as I initially thought. Half of the long scene at Fred's house, (which I felt would give me the most trouble) consists of a word game. I remember how tedious it was to memorize that the last time I was in this production, but I did forget one thing; as Fred this year, as opposed to one of the guests, most of my lines in this section are "Yes" or "no." It will take a lot of repetition to get it between now and Sunday, but perhaps not as much as I thought at first.

Really, that, and the Old Joe scene represent most of my lines. They just happen to be two longer scenes. My lines as Peter Cratchit are few and far between, and as Frederick Dickens I say only two things in the entire act. One line at the top of the half, one line near the very end. So I have work to do, but not quite as much as I had thought a week ago, before I delved into Act Two in earnest.

Being familiar with both the Dickens text, and this script from two years ago doesn't hurt either.

I feel characterizations starting to emerge from my characters, despite still being on book in many places. I look forward to running Act One on Wednesday without the book, so I can take the roles out for a true spin.

Hard to believe we open in just over four weeks. Or that Christmas itself is just over eight weeks away for that matter.