Getting Personal by Philip Lopate

Getting Personal by Philip Lopate

Author:Philip Lopate [PHILLIP LOPATE]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 2011-12-26T16:00:00+00:00


7

“The weather is charming, the little birds sing, we all live in this world in harmony—what more could we have! [Accepting a glass of tea] Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.”

—Waffles, Act I

Full-cast rehearsals always carried the risk of discipline problems—a dozen kids to control. Duets and solos, on the other hand, were parts I could rehearse over and over: I’d pull a couple of kids out of class and we’d work on tiny details in a relaxed atmosphere. I particularly loved the beautiful two-women scenes, like the one in which Sonia and Elena make up and pledge their friendship. The feeling of comradeship in that scene, as Mylan and Rebecca or Lisa did it, was very strong and touching. I found myself having them redo it on occasion, not only to perfect some little detail but just to see it again. Those girls could take direction. What a thrill to tell your actors to change their approach and then actually watch them execute things according to your instructions! These small, closed rehearsals also gave each actor the chance to take risks, to experiment, without trying the group’s patience.

One day, Lisa started twirling around as she was saying her lines about Astrov to Mylan. She thought her waltzing was a goof, and half expected me to get annoyed, but I was enchanted. It gave a nice lilting feeling to the scene. I encouraged them all to move whenever and wherever the spirit took them. Rather than blocking their movements in advance with chalk marks, which I thought would make them too self-conscious, I urged them to pay attention to the impulses in their bodies that told them to stand up or sit down or carry out a verbal phrase with a gesture.

This opened up a whole new play for them. They began wandering, pacing, retreating when their character was embarrassed, working off their nervous childenergy with spontaneous strolls. Angus showed genius at this, though sometimes he went too far, and one day while circling in his stockinged feet he made me seriously dizzy.

I had to tread a fine line between wanting them to be serious about rehearsing and encouraging them to “play” with the material, even if that was done in the spirit of sabotage. Some of these subversions were hilarious. There was their Robot Uncle Vanya, in which they surprised me by moving and talking like mechanical men. There was Horsey Uncle Vanya—Mylan had perfected a neigh and delivered all her lines whinnying. David and Angus had worked up a Donald Duck voice for the fight between Vanya and the Professor: “Quack quack you have quruined my life!” They had also rewritten the ending to their satisfaction: Elena is shot, Sonia marries Astrov, the Professor marries the Nurse, and all go off to Africa.

Perhaps the most satisfying rehearsals were the line readings, when I told them they didn’t have to “act” but merely to recite the lines as a memory test. As they were speaking their lines,



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