What A Difference A Difference Makes!

It's not exactly all change yet it isn't exactly the same...nor should it be. Whether this difference comes from the choice of play this year or the way it's being presented or the choice of the director to rehearse in a different way or the more intimate involvement of external practitioners...or, perhaps, a subtle mix of all of the above...things are, well, different!

The decision to present The Shrew in Commedia Dell'arte style was either a stroke of genius or the kiss of a death. Turns out it's genius!
Very few of the company as it stands have had experience of this style, other than the peripheral influence of shows like The Fast Show or The Simpsons...and even they are on the edge of pure Commedia...and it is more than likely that they had no idea that they were watching something influenced, however indirectly, by Commedia.
So there's the first difference: new style.

In previous years we have got our scripts, looked through them, marked our parts and then, generally, blocked each scene; entrance, exit, move here, move there. General guide-lines that shift and evolve as the play progresses and the characters come to life in the actors' minds; as they shift and evolve. Not so this year, at least not straight away; although this will happen but not in such a rigid, formative way.
Jane has chosen key scenes that feature all the characters and worked in very close proximity with those actors, honing each scene, getting a feel for the play as a whole and, pivotally, letting the actors get a feel for their characters; even to the point where many of the players have been asked to imagine their character's back-story, write it down and share it with whom they interact on stage. 
We're moving towards the blocking, but the journey there has been very different from that of previous years...and, dare I say it, hugely more interesting and enjoyable for it.
Second difference: new technique...for us anyway.

Gareth, Jane and Michael. Ballyn, King and Corbidge; not a firm of injury solicitors but a group of people who have come in and given us an insight into the difference a difference makes!

Getting a feel for masked performance: and it really does free up the body when you think you can't be 'seen'!

Gareth has been part of the company in the past, playing a wonderfully predatory Tybalt in the 2006 production of 'Romeo and Juliet', and he came back earlier in the year wearing his teacher's hat. During the day we spent in his company, we learned a little of the stock characters in Commedia (and how much there actually was to learn), how it feels to turn your body into a character that uses only action and movement, how the characters move. Although Commedia embraces spontaneity and ad-lib, the companies that practiced this style of theatre in the past were incredibly disciplined and had hundreds, if not thousands, if set-pieces and scripts to which they had to stick. Even the ad-libs, it would seem, were carefully rehearsed and dropped in at a moments notice. The performers knew each other and the routines so well, it was seamless.

We learnt a huge amount to help us on our way to getting into Commedia and turning our characters in The Shrew into something that felt Commedia but remained inherently Shakespeare.

Jane King is steeped in theatre, mime, Commedia, movement and those traditions. A fascinating few hours were spent in her company, scratching the surface of Le Coq, Stanislavki and how we connect with thing by movement. Those involved used the Commedia masks and improvised movement pieces, the better to understand not only their characters in Shrew but they way they interpreted those characters through the chosen Commedia characters.

Last but by no means least, we started a series of workshops with Michael Corbidge from the RSC. What this man hasn't done in the field of text work and interpretation (and those with whom he has done it) aren't worth mentioning. A seriously talented bloke...and great fun to work with to boot.

This first session wasn't about understanding what Shakespeare was saying but learning to feel happy with the words; how sheer enthusiasm for the text itself will communicate that enthusiasm, and understanding, to the audience. I guess you had to be there...

Actioning, rhetoric, shadowing...and, once again, we've merely scratched the surface. We get more 'Shrew specific' in following couple of months.

Third difference: learning new ways of doing things and letting them help you to improve your performance and the production as a whole.

Things may be different, yet they remain, in some ways, very much the same. We're a happy bunch of people, doing what we love to do but this time around there's the added bonus of all this difference!!

I know people use the phrase 'it's so exciting!' to the point of nerve-jangling annoyance, but...it really is hugely exciting to be involved in this production. Massively so. 

Don't miss it.

The next instalment(s) of character/actor blogs will be happening soon (nudge nudge!) and we also hope to be able to bring some pictures of rehearsals up the castle - they start on 4th June - and some of the workshops with Michael.

Here's a random picture with which to finish.

Oo, Oo, me Sir! I know the answer!!

Captions for this in the comments box on the blog...keep it (fairly) clean!