Two rehearsals to report on. In both cases, we had to deal with absences, but still managed to make good progress. Roji has had to move to Sheffield, and so has not been able to attend the last few rehearsals, and Hamed was also away for the first of these, having visited his mother and family in Armenia. We cover for these, of course (all the more so since Hamed is in every scene – Cristina again covered for Roji (and if needs be would cover the role in performance), while I was Hamed.
We focused on the bits where Hamed had a more limited contribution – the scene in the lorry, dominated by the smuggler; and then the transition to the pub scene which follows. Jesus is the smuggler – there’s a line I never thought to write – but at present is struggling with lines, pronunciation… But I was pleased enough with what we had done; it needed time and attention, and we were able to give it that.
The following week, Hamed was back with us, so we were able to concentrate upon a couple of scenes we have not yet tackled – the journey, the explosion, and the scenes between with the officer and doctor. They were fairly basically marked out, though with nothing like the precision it will need in time. And my concern is that this will mean it is not yet sufficiently fixed in the actors’ heads. But I need to keep things moving on, for that is my approach. And if that means we need to revisit and even re-stage sections, so be it.
In terms of organisation too, things are moving on well, with another performance booked, on the Friday, and this time in a studio. It does mean that I will n ot be there, having already moved on to my next project (of which more later) which had been organised some time ago. Instead, I have asked Sam Alexander, a friend and ex-student, if he will cover for me for that performance, and he has agreed – a rreal RSC actor in the company!
I should probably be more worried than I am, for we are encountering some pretty hefty difficulties: an inexperienced cast, actors missing, problems with learning lines… But I remain quietly confident. There does have to be a pretty steep learning curve when it comes to the transition from rehearsal to performance, but that is in the very nature of theatre.
