Wednesday 3 February 2010

Rehearsal report 1

The first meeting of the cast for one third of 'Elephant in the Room' took place yesterday evening.

I ran through 'housekeeping' things, a health and safety induction (i had to risk assess 'falling from standing' and 'falling from chair' believe it or not) and practicalities of the rehearsal space and schedule. I also touched upon the other two thirds of the project, told everyone about the designer we're working with and described the context of each of the platforms where the work will be shown.

Next we did introductions, everyone spoke in depth about their past experience and their working styles. It was good to share this information so that we were all singing from the same hymn sheet regarding our knowledge of each other. It also put everyone at ease. I'm glad that I took the time out to factor this into the session.

So, most of session one was talking and I was concerned that it would drag on, but it didn't. It was engaging and exciting and I now have a handle on the group's expectations of me and the project, and I have an insight into how they might work.

We concluded by looking at a scene that is the germinal idea for the piece, the giving of a birthday gift and the presentation of a cake with candles, and I have asked the cast to come back this evening with a fresh take on the action that is out of the context of an actual birthday. It will be very interesting to see what they come up with.

I am slightly concerned that the work will shift away from the 'elephant in the room' theme. Just a niggle really, but perhaps some of my ideas are too complicated for a ten minute piece. I'm not going to let that bother me too much at this stage though.

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