Post date: Apr 15, 2015 9:30:51 PM
A lot happened today, I felt like we made a lot of progress. This was the first day everyone was there and completely off book. The first time we ran the scene we got about halfway then it was very stop and go because Sara was really struggling to remember her lines. I think what happened was that once she stumbled over a few lines she got really flustered which kept her from being able to remember the rest. When we finished I had her read over her script while Kelly and I reset our props and the second time we ran through the scene it was much better and she only had to ask for her line once.
Today we actually had the Lab space to work in and it actually felt very different than the classrooms. It's larger, obviously, but the acoustics are also very different, so while the girls were speaking their lines the same way they have been, it sounded really quiet in the Lab even though I'd always been able to hear them just fine in the classrooms. The other thing that was different today was that they seemed to completely loose their pace. The second run of the scene dragged painfully slowly. I really wanted to stop them in the middle, but I stopped myself because I thought it was more important to let them get through the whole thing for the sake of solidifying their lines. Also, Rebecca came in time to see the second run so I wanted to let her see the whole thing since no one has seen any of the scene yet.
Rebecca had some very helpful feedback. The four of us discussed what each of the characters wants in the scene. We decided that Mrs. Peters just wants out of the house but is too proper to just leave before her husband comes back for her, and the Mrs. Hale at first wants to find out what happened, then once she does she wants to protect/help Minnie Foster because she feels guilty for not doing so before something so awful happened. Then they did the beginning of the scene again and I immediately saw the difference that made to their performance and choices in delivering their lines. It also led to some changes in blocking, which were good because the allow Sara in particular to use the space more and have more things to do.
Rebecca also reminded me to find places in the scene where the two women can play opposites in order to bring more conflict and interest into it. I felt like her advice was very helpful and it led us in a direction I like but hadn't even thought of.