Day 2

And so, the first full day of rehearsals was upon us!

We started the day in the rehearsal room, whilst the tech team were busy in the studio finishing the set. The decision was made to work through the script in order, as there are lots of little scenes and scene changes. We use dialogue from Macbeth interspersed with text written by Mark (our director), highlighting themes or ideas that have come from that Shakespearean unit, making our audience think about the questions we ask them. This performance will be useful for any student about to sit an exam about Macbeth, or indeed any Shakespearean play, as we put forward ideas that help them to understand the text, and perform scenes in different ways in order to gain a more broad understanding of what is being said.

The aim is to make Shakespeare less daunting for the students who are introduced to him for the first time in a classroom. They will hopefully gain a far different perspective of the piece by watching it, rather than struggling to read the ancient language placed in front of them.

After break we moved into the studio (where we will be performing). The tech team had finished, and the set is impressive. A set of steps Upstage Left with a huge door at the top can be used to symbolise status and as a different entrance, whilst the rest of the stage is bare, with spears on stands that can be brought in and out for dramatic effect during different scenes.

I found rehearsing in this space really valuable, because the layout of the theatre made us all heighten our performances, and play out. The theatre is very intimate, with the audience on three sides, and a gallery above, meaning the audience will be part of the action, and very much involved. Rehearsing in here also expanded our staging suggestions, because we could see exactly what would work in the space.

Today we blocked half of the play, which we will finish tomorrow. Once the whole play has been blocked, we will start to run from beginning to end, tweaking and polishing until it is ready for performance- with our first show a week today!

Suzanne