The intention this week was to work our way through the entire play, somehow. Not so much a run-through as a stagger-through, which is just about the most we can hope for. Originally, it had been meant to be partly for the benefit of Gianluca, the musician that Cristina and Chiara know and have worked with in the past, so that he could assess what music might be suitable, but now it has been decided that he can do this remotely, using music he already has. But the huge plus is that he has also agreed to provide the SFX, or sound effects, for the production. In particular, this includes the most difficult scene in the play, the channel crossing in a small boat. I think it needs a soundtrack to bring out the danger involved. Fingers crossed that this works.
We had virtually the whole cast with us, with just J missing because of a personal issue. And though we started at 6.50, and had not quite finished when we stopped at 8.30, we very nearly had, just missing the final scene in the classroom. But there were many stops and starts, so I am fairly confident we can manage it in an acceptable time: say, 75 minutes.
Rather more concerning was the fact that we are still struggling with lines (including me.) Hamed has an almighty task, as he is on stage throughout. But he needs to work on more accuracy with his lines; as soon as he starts to struggle, he goes round and round – the improvised version is nowhere near as powerful. He has written a superb script, but is not yet delivering it.
But we are making progress, and still have a month to go. Which sounds like a lot, until one reduces that to just four rehearsals. There is certainly no room for complacency, but my instinct is that it will be fine. Fine is not quite good enough, of course – we want it to be wonderful – but I have learne4d to relax a little. We are doing the best that we can.
