It's The Little Things, Part Two...

Sometimes it's not unlike having very young children...only a proud parent notices those tiny little changes: s/he doesn't stagger quite so much when taking those first, practice steps; that tooth is slightly larger than it was yesterday and it's taking her/him less time to hammer the square plastic peg into that very triangular hole!
Such it is, I have to admit (and with no embarrassment whatsoever), with me and King Lear. I see those little steps, that larger tooth and the ease with which people are sliding into that aperture that they will inhabit completely by the end of July.

You want us to do what?!!?

Above you can see our Lynne, who is this year choreographing the Bedlam Beggars during one of the less conventional scenes we've (actually,I've) decided to put into the play. Now being the busy lady that she is, this rehearsal (11/6/13) was one of the first that she has come to since we've been at the castle...I seem to recall her coming to one of the initial blocking sessions in April...and, with it having been such a time, I got the impression that she was, quite frankly, amazed at what we had achieved. She noticed the differences that I see, but she saw them on a larger scale; I see them week on week. It is rather a strange feeling, but one that I love.

Like this?

The books are starting to disappear even more rapidly now and people are becoming more physical, starting to incorporate actions with the words. For those with larger roles - and there are very few parts in this play that are what could be termed small! -  it's a bit of an ask; like poor ol' Sam up there, looking askance at Lynne and thinking 'This and swords and madness and more swords...what the hell am I doing?' But, like everybody else, he smiles and gets on with it. We do actually have a laugh, as you've seen. But here's more proof, as if it were needed!

Case in point, with regards to the physicality thing: coaxing Lear to the Hovel was something that was going to be difficult to stage without it being mawkish or too downbeat...but the clue's in the writing and what Will put at the close of that scene...a lovely little song, that some may just remember from Twelfth Night. A sequence of Keith's pictures gives you an idea of how we solved the small (in the greater scheme of things) problem of getting his lordship out of the rain!

All problems, or perceived problems, can have a simple resolution...it's just a matter of looking hard enough or actually opening your eyes, in this case, and seeing what the guy wrote in the first place.

And so we move on. It gets better, it gets more complicated, it's getting to the point, for me at least, where we can start running the whole together in longer and longer sections, giving us all a better feeling for what the play is. 

All those long-suffering people, standing stoically in the rain, waiting for their entrance and to say their piece. Marvellous, every last one of 'em. And yes, we do get rain.

But it dampens nothing but the hats...and there's a wonderful selection of those to be seen wandering round the car park!