This evening’s rehearsal did not begin well. To begin with, I was late, which is something I hate. I get irritated when people quote “Indian time” at me (and two years ago it was “Nepali time”) as though that is some sort of fixed entity, passed downwards through the class system. Punctuality is the politeness of kings, is a mantra I quote back at them. Anyway…
But in Lucknow, I have no control over such matters, am at the mercy of others, who arrange/provide my transport. And Tuesday evening was particularly bad, as it was 6.30 or so before I arrived at Mobi studio. Only to discover, through some misunderstanding, we were not rehearsing the scene I thought we were – the shipwreck scene – but the comic relief: Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano. And since I already knew Trinculo (Kuber) was unable to attend, we would never be able to have that scene done and dusted. Fortunately, once we started rehearsing with those who were there – Nooryab and Nitesh playing Cali and Ban, and Harsh as Stephano, the drunken butler – things (and my mood) picked up. Our split Caliban was really good. In the Youth Theatre version in Romania, when I had used the same idea, I had had the pair radically different in shape and size, and I had thought to use the same pairing. However, at the initial workshop, Nooryab and Nitesh had made their selection inevitable; both had been prepared to use their physicality and voices in extraordinary ways. They are of a very similar build, and both strong enough physically to support the other, making for some exciting possibilities.
Harsh proved the link between this rehearsal and the one the following night, when he played opposite Kuber; as I had strongly suspected. Nitesh and Nooryab were not able to attend two nights running, especially with no notice. This was actually fine, as it enabled me to spend more time with Kuber, finding a physicality and voice to fit the character. Kuber is a fine actor, but demanding of time. thirsty for attention. In the end, I was very pleased with the characters that both he and Harsh were able to create. Which means that all we need to do now is put the two halves together – it will be a very funny scene.
All good, but we do need to accelerate: time is creeping on, and we have only blocked three scenes.
