It was really good to see how much you had retained, given that some scenes hadn’t been worked on for a week or even two, and I feel we’re on course to give our colleagues a fun performamnce in a week’s time.
Going through the scenes, one by one, here are my notes:
Witches etc. Good. Everything retained, lifting Emma good. Sarah Jane’s timing to get to the other side good. Putting Emma down, good and safe. Up on the table from G and S-J good. Gemma just need to use your centre a little more and be more flexible loose around the hips/waist….
How far is called to Forress? Shouting/echo is great. Lots of fun. The punters will like that…. Juan and Lee, once you see the witches don’t shuffle your feet….keep them planted as if you’re stuck in quicksand …if you do move them at all, it only draws attention to how near they are to you.
Juan – you need just a little more of a ‘start’ of surprise for Lee to be able to say that line about ‘why do you start?’. Start means to react with surprise, don’t forget…
Gemma – you need to slither off the table sooner. last time you were still moving when you were supposed to have ‘gone’.
Lee and Juan. Jump down good. Make sure it’s absolutely together and don’t ‘bounce’. Land cleanly and in one movement. And neither of you look back under the table once you have. I think one of you did and it was distracting. And tends to focus on the fact that they’re still ‘there’. Just look side to side. Or forward towards the audience.
Sarah Jane starting to read the letter was a little bit late. It needs to be a cross-fade with the boys sinking to the ground.
Letter-reading good. Emma's Messenger. Late.
S-J, the little girl thing before Juan 'comes on' is good now, but make a bigger change – have a different energy for when you turn round and Mabeth has ‘come in' the room. Maybe it needs a sound. (Ahhh!...?) Before you begin to say the lines again.. Let’s see on Tuesday.. ask me about it or show me something in a spare moment..
All the stuff on the floor, good. Don’t know how you’re going to do the unzipping of the jacket when you’re in blacks. Maybe S-J have some black vest (bra?) on under a black zip-top or something…
Lee/Chanatelle. This is really coming on. Lee, the cut I’m suggesting is from 16.5 (‘Besides, this Duncan’) to ‘That tears shall drown the Wind’. Begin again with ‘I have no spur’ etc. This may need a little bit more rehearsal because, if we do such a cut, I think you will only have just got the chair and sat down on it before Lady M arrives with the cake. We’ll have to see. Write me back here on the blog if you think this is all ‘doable’ or if you have a better idea or a neater cut….
With this new blocking, the witches were now ‘in the way’ so we will do some work on the scene to sort it out on Tuesday (see the schedule)… It’s just a question of getting them out from under Lee and Chant’s feet and stopping it looking clunky…
Chantelle, about your performance in general, continue to build on this. Lose any residual of tentativeness that remains. Or physical stiffness. It's going better and better.
Remember when Lee tells you to bring forth nothing but males, lay back on the floor in laughing triumph. Then when he talks of the plan to smear the grooms, sit up to say: 'who will receive it other? Notice how its the two words 'receive' that are the pivotal ones in both their speeches. It's about how it LOOKS to everyone else...
Juan and Emma .. nice…. Just to say that note again to you Juan not to over-energise. You have a strong and powerful stage presence so you don’t have to ‘push’ vocally or energy-wise. You weren’t doing it on Friday’s run-through, but I just want to keep reminding you not to do it, in case you’re tempted to fall back into old habits… It’s a question of trusting yourself and trusting that what you’ve discovered in rehearsal is going to ‘stick’ and work for you…..
Emma. Good. Two things: Make even more of a change than you’re doing at present between ‘wash this water from your hands’ and ‘why did you bring the daggers?’ etc. We need to think: oh, she’s being really nice to him, then be shocked at the steel in her voice for ‘daggers’. The other thing: I could still do with more weight and centre when you go for the knives. Look at the two rehearsal pictures of you.
This one with you looking forwards, you’re centre of gravity is low and good.
With the knives picture, you’re still a bit ‘high’. As if you could be easily knocked off your feet. Less steady. Less ‘planted’. Less sure of yourself. More ‘infirm of purpose’. And that is exactly what Lady M is NOT at this point in the play.
I also noted that occasionally you have a bit of a sticking out bottom when you’re right up close to Macbeth. Get comfortable around each other. Sticky out bottoms drawer attention to the actor, and make the audience uncomfortable. Again, it’s a low centre of gravity thang….
We also need someone to do the knocking for the Emma/Juan scene at the end. I guess Lee. Lee, can you just check that out, please. Sorry you’ve got landed with that. Also, do you think you could get a wooden mallet or a gavel?
Paul/Porter. Scottish very good. As I said, keep going with that, it’s great. We will do some work on the scene to reblock it as I said. I think we can do a much more fun – and visible – on it than we’ve got already. It’s all too much behind the table… my fault
Chanatelle good Macduff/Lord, but don’t forget to play it off the audience. Look at the audience. Don’t forget, she’s playing: go on! you’re obviously going to tell me this joke about urine … so get on with it. It might even be with a bit of a sigh… States of Intesity Out-Breath (Lowest state)…
Lee you forgot to knock over the table. You also need to be up and near it so we don’t telegraph what’s going to happen. (so that the audience don’t see it coming and it shocks them).
Can we all learn which lines we have for Murder Murder. Then this will need properly blocking. We’ve never done it. That’s my call…
Banquet. Well, it just need some work. We haven’t really done so much on it. The first thing to say is that the table needs to be up again so that we’re back to one long table.
The next thing is I want everyone sitting at the table in a very regular way. All of you kneeling on the floor doesn’t work.
It looks unimaginative and a bit naff. I’ve got a couple of ideas. One is that you ‘sit’ on invisible stools. It will require the ‘lords’ to hold that position for a little while. It shouldn’t be too long because there’s quite a lot of standing and sitting for the lords. They’re not sitting all the time… We’ll have to test out how long and how good it looks on Tuesday… The other thought is. That each of you really sits on the left knee of the person to your right. Now the person on the extreme right can a. either sit on a real chair to support the extra weight or b. just carry the weight of the person to their left on their knee. If you can do some testers with a few of your flatmates before Tuesday, all the better.The other things to say: we need to decide on a ‘Banquo’. I think we should have one. And s/he should have some actions etc. But, of course, only Macbeth sees them…
Kendra; ‘My former speeches have but hit your thoughts’. This, as I said to you, let’s try as a Mark Anthony/ ‘Friends, Romans, Countrymen’ moment, delivered off a table. The others – witches – are just a crowd at the front, just in front of the punters, on the floor etc listening to your speech. But they are very nervous in case they are caught listening to this (bomb in the room) and keep looking round nervously as if Macbeth’s secret police might walk in at any moment… and punctuate Kendra’s speech with ‘Shhhsh’s’. I’m suggesting at the following points:
strangely borne (line 3) ….. Shhhhhsh
marry he was dead (line 4) …. Shhhsh
Men must not walk too late (line 5) … Shhhhsh
damned fact (line 10) …Shhsh
deny it (line 16) … Shhsh
Please everyone can you look at that speech and be ready to do the Shhhsh’s
Abi and Gemma. That scene is nice and has got a very clear shape now. We just have to make sure we know how the hairbrush gets on the table…
Abi, hope you saw my comment on your post today, suggesting you take over Lennox/Lord etc in Banquet. In general of your performance, you’ve taken on board that note to make Lady Macduff less prim and proper. It's really good now and I think the scene is really strong. Just keep going along that road, strengthen it and don’t fall back into any old habits. Once or twice, I’ve noticed a tendency occasionally to do a little shimmy with your head with one or two of the lines. It looks somehow modern and – I don’t know why – American. Just trust in being YOU, walking and talking. Extra movements are just in danger of being distracting or even counterproductive.
The Egg murder moment is unexpected and quite shocking now. And so is the menace of the two murderers closing in on Lady Duff at the end. Gemma make sure you don’t fall behind the table. We want you in view, but not too near Juan so he can advance on Abi and she’s still got somewhere to go to ‘run away’…
Sleepwalking Scene. Doctor and Lady, much better now. Much freer and yet clearer for climbing up on the table. Keep reminding yourself of the story though. Don’t’ fall back into any generalisation of thought. Kate know the moment you let S-J know that you DO believe her. Kendra very good. Look at the rehearsal picture. Low centre of gravity. Animalistic. And you also took the note well about not pushing the first section. Just keep playing it in that strange/neutral and it will be very effective and disturbing. That work we did on Tuesday seems really to have paid off. Good. Just get more and more confident. And have fun. Oh, one thing you might have a BIT more fun with is The Thane of Fife. You sort of half turned away from the front when you did it. Do it full-on to the audience. Slow. Languorous. Siren-like. ‘Sell’ it. Don’t apologise for it. If you do, we WILL feel wrongly-uncomfortable….
The end of the performance. To finish, I think we need to do the witches version of the battle at the end of the play, everybody getting up and doing cod-swordfighting with a plastic or an old (blunt) metal knife – or an even an old metal spoon would be good too. Maybe even a fork… And fight and die and then get up again and fight a bit more and then die … over-the-top dramatically - it should be funny - until finally, someone (Abi?) says: “ “Behold … the usurper’s cursed head!!” (Act 5, Sc 9, Line 20)
Now I’ve had some ideas for this. But none from you lot yet. A cabbage? A coconut? A real pig's head which has been at the front of the stage in a sack all along? And which Abi takes out and holds up for all to see. 'Blackout'.
Anyone know a good butcher? I’m asking this seriously.
Scene Schedule for Tuesday:
• Speed Run lines.
• Banquet – Half an Hour.
• Lee and Chanatelle and now integrating the Witches. 15 minutes
• Kendra - My former Speeches + ‘crowd’ 15 minutes
• Porter – Reblock – 15 minutes
Don't bring any props/costumes etc on Tuesday, BUT PLEASE ASSEMBLE THEM IN GOOD TIME. MAKE A LITTLE SPACE AT HOME WHERE THEY ARE AND THINK ABOUT OTHER POSSIBILITIES AND FUN THINGS TO DO. Here's the general list again, by the way:
Props List:
- Pilot's thumb
- Two Cups or Mugs for Banqueting Scene (for M and Lady M)
- Mallet or Shoe or Gavel or Something to do good Knock Knocks with.
- Cloth or Cloth handkerchief for Porter. Red?
- Muffin or Slice of Cake for Lady M on a paper plate (Chanatelle) to be holding when she starts 'Know you not he hath asked for you?' Scene etc..
- Letter that Lady M reads
- Daggers - two plastic knives from the canteen?
- Blood - tomato ketchup, ditto,
- Towel to wipe your hand after
- Candle for Lady M - sleepwalking (this can just be one of the T-lights already there)
- Doctor's notebook and pen. Or slate and chalk. Anyone got?
- Swords for Battle Scene at end - one for each actor. Plastic Knives?
- Sword for M in Banquet. Plastic Knife again?
- Brush, Jacket for Lady Duff and Child
- Candles (T-lights from IKEA) - I WILL BRING THESE TOMORROW
- As many torches, maglites, penlights as we can find. Even those big ones you have in the boot of your car in case of breakdowns... Lighters too.
- Something for 'Behold the Head of a Tyrant'. Any ideas? Cabbage, Coconut, PH?
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