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Reviving The Margaret Ghost - Resurrecting the Past
You can also read this series at Brown Paper Tickets. Just click on "See More About This Producer" at the left to access the blog.
In early April we have a table read of the script. Usually this is the actors' first chance to read together and serves as an introduction to the cast and a kick-off of the rehearsal period. But in this case, we all know each other and, in many cases, have worked together on subsequent shows. So this time it's an opportunity to remind ourselves of how this play works and to see what's still lurking in all our memories of our original production.
Amazingly, much of it is still there. Having recently watched a video that was taken of the 2006 show, it is funny to hear the same lines spoken with the same inflections, to recognize the characters that were developed four years ago rising up to take control again. It's clear that if we wanted simply to re-create that production in every detail, it would be relatively simple.
But this is not the same production. For one thing, we're going to be in a much bigger space, without structural poles dead center stage. So much of the blocking will change and the intimate feeling--to put the most positive spin on it--of that space will be replaced with the more professional feel of the gorgeous theatre at The First Church in Belmont. The technical team, led by our intrepid Technical Director, Jo Guthrie, is chomping at the bit to showcase our play on a grander scale.
For me and for the actors, it's more than a matter of scale. With so much of our original work rising back to the surface, it is a chance to take what we had made together and move on from there. We are all a little older with more experience in theatre and in life to bring to this play. So we start from where we ended and build from there.
Carole Braverman, the playwright, has continued to refine the script, as well. There are new lines that give more background to Fuller's "Conversations," which began as events for women, but did include men in later sessions, as they do in Act I. The beginning of Act III is also modified to add more context to the Hawthornes' visit to Italy. These changes give us more information, more material to chew on as we develop this production.
As I meet with each of my actors over the course of several weeks between the first table read and the start of rehearsals, new insights are shared and a pattern emerges as to how we will approach this second chance. They are busy learning their lines and exploring new ideas about their characters and I work with each of them to align the changes and consider how that will affect their connections with the others. In between these meetings, I'm using what we're discussing to inform how I block the show, how the actors will move in relation to each other, their lines and the set itself.
Soon, we'll start rehearsing and see how all these individual performances will fit together. That's where my job really gets fun!
In early April we have a table read of the script. Usually this is the actors' first chance to read together and serves as an introduction to the cast and a kick-off of the rehearsal period. But in this case, we all know each other and, in many cases, have worked together on subsequent shows. So this time it's an opportunity to remind ourselves of how this play works and to see what's still lurking in all our memories of our original production.
Amazingly, much of it is still there. Having recently watched a video that was taken of the 2006 show, it is funny to hear the same lines spoken with the same inflections, to recognize the characters that were developed four years ago rising up to take control again. It's clear that if we wanted simply to re-create that production in every detail, it would be relatively simple.
But this is not the same production. For one thing, we're going to be in a much bigger space, without structural poles dead center stage. So much of the blocking will change and the intimate feeling--to put the most positive spin on it--of that space will be replaced with the more professional feel of the gorgeous theatre at The First Church in Belmont. The technical team, led by our intrepid Technical Director, Jo Guthrie, is chomping at the bit to showcase our play on a grander scale.
For me and for the actors, it's more than a matter of scale. With so much of our original work rising back to the surface, it is a chance to take what we had made together and move on from there. We are all a little older with more experience in theatre and in life to bring to this play. So we start from where we ended and build from there.
Carole Braverman, the playwright, has continued to refine the script, as well. There are new lines that give more background to Fuller's "Conversations," which began as events for women, but did include men in later sessions, as they do in Act I. The beginning of Act III is also modified to add more context to the Hawthornes' visit to Italy. These changes give us more information, more material to chew on as we develop this production.
As I meet with each of my actors over the course of several weeks between the first table read and the start of rehearsals, new insights are shared and a pattern emerges as to how we will approach this second chance. They are busy learning their lines and exploring new ideas about their characters and I work with each of them to align the changes and consider how that will affect their connections with the others. In between these meetings, I'm using what we're discussing to inform how I block the show, how the actors will move in relation to each other, their lines and the set itself.
Soon, we'll start rehearsing and see how all these individual performances will fit together. That's where my job really gets fun!