Casting
…was a snap. The other directors and I had been talking throughout the process so we each knew who the others “needed” for their play to work and when it came time to decide the remainder of the casts, each fell into place quite nicely. I think this had something to do with the fact that there was one not-very-assertive member of the bunch who kind of got stuck with the left-overs. It was funny, once the other female director got her cast figured out she said to him, “It’s okay. You gotta stand up for yourself! Tell us who you need.” Totally after the fact. It was like forgetting to invite someone to a party and then telling him afterward he should have been there. I thought it was kind of funny.
First Rehearsal
The next class session it was time for me to reveal the entirety of my script to my cast and so I showed it to Kelly, a good friend of mine, the night before who very kindly pointed out to me its blandness. Thanks to Kelly, I realized that if my play were an earthquake, in terms of plot and motivation, it couldn’t be felt if you were standing on the fault line. I’m still amazed Kelly managed to put her words gently, and so thankful I had an honest friend with whom I could comfortably share it at this most formative stage.
After a very early morning of rewrites I made it to class on time for my first rehearsal period. Before heading outside to rehearse, the cast and I met in the theater to introduce ourselves and exchange contact info. After this was finished, I handed out the scripts. The next five mintures were agony, watching my cast read the scripts. I wanted to so badly to know what they were thinking! Unfortunately, only one of them knows me well enough to give his opinion.
For our first day we rehearsed outside (the directors take turns getting to use the stage), and it was rather windy. My cast kept asking questions about the yoga aspect of the play and little intricacies–okay, big technicalities–that I hadn’t thought through. I was hoping that some of the transitional scenes could be improv’ed but that’s not going to work. I didn’t realize how much of the play still needed to be figured out. Towards the end of rehearsal I was pretty flustered; I really wanted for the cast to just run through the script a few times, as written, so I could see what their take on it was, in other words with very little direction from me, but they kept asking questions. I suppose I could have said, “I just want you to run through it a few times, as best you can, so that everyone has their bearings.” But, I didn’t.
On the bright side, it was really cool watching them rehearse the parts that did run smoothly. With all other forms of writing, the author doesn’t get a chance to see the work come to life, separate from her own performance. But with drama, you get a chance to see it happen, to release your creation, to let it walk on its own two feet.
Second Rehearsal
I went into it with a completely different attitude. It was our turn to the have the stage and I laid out my goals for the day right at the beginning of class. I wanted to work on the transitions between scenes. There are several scenes that have six people on stage and I have to block out (blocking=where the actors are on the stage) and script the entrances and exits in a way that looks both natural and clean. I also wanted to begin giving the cast more information about how I want the feel of each scene to be. Finally, I wanted to see where everyone was at in terms of yoga—which by the way at this point does not look good. I sort of forgot what it was like to do yoga for the first time. Some of the poses that feel as simple as standing up or sitting down to me, due to muscle memory, are like learning to walk for them. We’ll see how it goes as things progress.
You might think that directing a play of your own craftsmanship might be easier than directing one written by someone else because the vision is yours and yours alone. In fact what this does is leave no one else to point the finger at. The success of this play is entirely up to me, as I’m confident in my actor’s abilities. The pressure is definitely on.
Reflections
I’m having this very odd experience that is analogous to an animal that’s been encaged for a long period of time…once the door is opened, it hesitates to leave its familiar confinements. For a long time I’ve been subduing my leadership tendencies—not to the extent that I’m being untrue to myself, I’m still always pegged as unofficial leader in group project scenarios in the classroom—but enough so that others don’t feel pushed around by me. As a child one of my earliest memories of having my feelings hurt by a peer was because I had been called bossy. I don’t actually remember the conversation I had with my mom but I know she explained to me what the word meant, and somehow managed to both encourage my natural leadership abilities, while also letting me know that I needed to ask my playmates if they wanted to do the same thing that I did, not just come over and tell them what it was we were going to do. Now, I’m in this situation where bossiness is not only acceptable, it’s expected of me and I’m hesitating. The idea that I have a place to express this leadership, that there’s a scenario in which I get the final say, bar none, is extremely exciting, but it’s hard for me to absorb the expanse of such a freedom.
By Monday, I need to have a complete list of everything we need in terms of props and setting; I need to have a final script, complete with highly detailed stage direction for all entrances and exits and one added scene to build up the conflict; I need to have a good idea of where I want to go with music and start trying some of it out this week to see if it sounds right; and finally, I need to have a packet of pictures of the yoga poses that are in the play, complete with hand written tips for alignment. Not to mention homework for my other classes and preparation for rush day (club day) on Wednesday. Oy vey!
But it’s all very exciting. I talked to Laurie and Lisa, co-owners of Cosmic Dog Yoga, and they said it would be okay for me to invite my cast to the studio for some additional yoga practice after my shift is over on Saturdays. I’m finding that directing the play and teaching yoga at the same time is not a workable combination. I’m really hoping that my cast will view this as a fun and unique opportunity, and not as a drag. I definitely plan to make it fun; we’ll have the place to ourselves and I’ll play good music. I don’t know that I even want to run the script there, mainly I just want to teach them yoga. Which means also that I have to teach my first yoga class…the thought is exciting beyond words and also more than a bit intimidating.
I feel blessed that Cosmic Dog is supporting my efforts in this play…they’re also letting me borrow mats for my cast to use in our on campus rehearsals. Well, more to come later.
More soon on this subject I’m sure…
Kathryn Muat, Director
