Sound and music

With the conclusion of my involvement in Double Trouble, I have regained some of my time, so was able to attend an afternoon rehearsal with Vikash and his music team at the College. We ran through all of the cues, though some were still not available yet, because they had not been loaded onto the computer (the sound is to be a combination of live music – drumbox, sitar, tabla, violin, harmonium and keyboard – and recorded effects.) Not everything was there, but enough was to enable the musicians to accompany the action; we were doing another run-through.

Of course, at this late stage, there were other matters also to be considered. Props are arriving, but not all are suitable, because of communication misunderstandings. Costumes are being put together at a very late stage; this too needed to be addressed. All of these matters took time, and I was desperate to get the play started. But everyone was as efficient as they could be, and we were able to start at about 6.50. It looked unlikely to me that we would be able to finish on time, what with the additional issue of telling the actors about sound cues. I warned everyone; we had to continue on to the end.

It was not helpful that we had two members of the cast missing. One was Aastha, one of the Ariels; the others were well able to cover for her. More importantly, and without explanation, so far as I knew, we were without Naman, playing Alonso, the King of Naples. Rohit read in for him, but did not know the cues, the movement. But actually, despite these problems, the tun-through was far more successful, with some scenes quite superb. I am very pleased with Kushagar and Lavanya, playing Ferdinand and Miranda, both very sweet, very convincing, utterly charming. For their kiss, we have used again the palm to palm that figured so prominently in Romeo 4 Juliet in Nepal, and it works even better this time. But again, the scene that stands out was the second scene with Caliban and the fools. We had spent some time yesterday working on this, and it was terrifically funny. I was particularly pleased with Harsh, playing Stephano, whose performance really complemented the other three.

We finished almost on time, and I was extremely pleased with it. It had been eminently watchable. And the sound and music, however imperfect, really added to the atmosphere and flow. I often reach a stage, late on in productions, when I am suddenly sure all will be well, and with luck will produce a great production. I have rea ched that point with The Tempest now.