Dream Groups

More text work and actioning. A lot of work with Fola and Annalaura. It's not enough just to know the actioning verbs you've chosen. You have to carry them out 100%. If Egeus's first tactic to get Theseus's support is to CHARM him, then a scowly charm will not do. Fola cannot afford to say the words 'full of vexation come I' with vexation in his voice. The vexation needs dressing in charm.

Similarly, though we may have decided that this isn't the first time Egeus has 'gone off on one' and that, in truth, the last thing Theseus needs to be sorting out on the eve of his wedding is a big family problem, the poor old Duke of Athens (with his objective of RESOLVING CONFLICTS WITHIN THE STATE, say,) would no doubt want to WELCOME Egeus.

Later he may need to PLACATE, to WARM, to MOLLIFY, to SOOTHE, to COMPLIMENT, to REMIND and to COAX. But he may also need to WARN. And even to THREATEN in order to get the two (four?) sides in the dispute to come to their senses.

And as we began to discover, by taking the time to decide the units and assign action verbs to them, we are beginning to analyse and understand the underlying structure of the scene. An understanding that benefits all concerned.

We then begin to have a shared Architecture of the Scene. And by Architecture, is meant not just the ground-plan, but everything right up to the roof-top into which may be accommodated every fixture and fitting. This may be one:

Egeus enters to CHARM his Duke. Theseus, already alert to the implications of Egeus's arrival, nonetheless, WELCOMES him. Egeus then FLATTERS his daughter and ENTHUSES Theseus with Demetrius's qualities which Hermia BLOCKS. The Duke SOOTHES Hermia's worries, but WARNS her not to defy the law etc etc.

This gives the actors a frame on which to hang the scene. It's not rigid. It can be adapted. It can be completely changed. But in the very act of doing it we are beginning to understand the scene. To make sense of it together. To de-mystify it. And, hopefully, to build a good foundation on which the scene will work when, finally, we put it on its feet.

The scene also begins its journey from the page to the space. The actors begin to study the map. To plan a route. If we were singers, it would be our score. If dancers the dance itself.

This is all as Stanislavsky and Max Stafford-Clark would have intended.

But this is not the only work that needs to be done. We all need to ask questions about, for example, why Hermia is on stage in the first place. Why didn't she say to Egeus: " You go to Court if you want. I'm not having my dirty linen aired in public."

It raises questions of her power in the society we create in the play. Of her need not to get on the wrong side of her father. Of her duty to her father. Her love for him. Of her need to appear the wronged one in the eyes of public opinion.

* * *

We also did work on Being Men. Walking and following. Copying models. We started with Fola - as he's the only man in the group - but we were soon being men like everyone else.

We then had a little go at being girly before we split into two groups and were male and female lovers. Walking. Embracing. Proposing. Giving lover's presents to one another.

We also had a thought about costume for the performance. Rebecca, it seems, may be able to meet many of our needs....