Ruth and Sarah Lou are with me on a Saturday afternoon to rehearse Mother and I . We begin with a lines run which panics me as Ruth and Sarah Lou seem to struggle with their lines. For a moment I feel like the piece has taken a step backwards! I must remember that a lines run is for lines only, not for character and emotional intensity.
We begin to work on the scene in the space and my concerns dissolve as the characters and emotional intensity really come alive. We ‘fix’ any blocking problems, really firming up and finalising the stage action.
Ruth expresses frustration about being limited in her interaction with Sarah Lou by the table that they sit around. I consult Hannah, our designer, who is present about how we might re arrange the set to allow for greater interaction. We reset the table etc. on a diagonal and this really helps, though Sarah Lou has to adjust how she moves upstage and down stage to accommodate. I realise that having seating and tables can be restrictive and that moving the Nature Nurture team up and away from the table could also help them feel more free.
Once the blocking is fixed the scene really starts to move and flow and the performers really get into their stride. It’s exhilarating to see how far we’ve come with the piece.
Rather than stop and start the performers I let them enjoy a few runs as I can see their on stage rapport developing and I want this to continue building.
We have one more session together where we can look at finer detail.
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