TWO GUNS, Rehearsal number one

       

Mariah Notini and Steven Drury directed by Sarah Carlson

 Today during M/X (approximately 10:25 a.m.), Mariah, Steve, and I met for an introduction session/read-through. We sat outside on the terrace (hallelujah to nice days!) and I talk to them first about what staging and initial concepts I see in the play. Staging will be simple- they’ll face each other with guns the entire time, deciding once to sit down. On stage will be a table, two chairs, and a bowl with fruit in it.

After reading, I’ve realized that going forward, I think we need to work on motivation- why are the characters saying what they are saying? This leads to a homework assignment I gave them: sketch out your character and truly think about who your person is. Look at what he or she says throughout the show and understand intention behind everything- read the subtext. Next, and slightly related, is how I asked them to think about what the individual lines mean within context and try to understand how their character came up with what he or she said. People do not read off papers all the time in real life- they come up with ideas on the spot, make up their phrases and think about what they’re trying to convey. One job of an actor is to ‘come up’ with the words in which they already know. This is extremely hard to do, but I know that, with practice, Steve and Mariah will be great.

Looking to next session, I’m eager to see what they’ve come up with in terms of characters and intention. I’m hoping to begin with some theater games (I’ll have to think of which ones) and start staging. I’m psyched and I hope they are too, because I know this play is going to be great!