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(Some of ) the play's the thing at King Lear rehearsal
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Stacy Keach as King Lear (shakespearetheatre.org)
At one point during the first of two open rehearsals for The Shakespeare Theatre Company's upcoming production of King Lear, director Robert Falls directed the audience to applaud when a framed photo of the play's star, Stacy Keach, was lowered. We started clapping when we saw the edge of the frame, but as it was lowered, we saw that the frame was empty.
This is a good metaphor for this particular play rehearsal experience. We didn't see as much of Keach (or the rest of the cast) as we would have liked, but what we did see was appreciated. Part of the rehearsal process includes glitches like empty frames and speakers that get in the way of the actors' entrances.
Just as no play is the same, no play rehearsal experience is the same. When I saw a rehearsal for Ion, I went in the evening when the cast, director and crew had been at it all day. There were fewer people in attendance and the director came up to chat and answer questions. This time I went in the afternoon, so they weren't quite in rehearsal mode and it took them a bit to actually start going over the play. "I can't believe all these people came out to see nothing," someone behind me complained. (The theatre told us were were fortunate, as they'd turned away 150 people.)
The director started off joking that he and the cast were coming to watch all of us work on day during the following week. He was clearly ill at ease and made us feel like voyeurs. It reminded me of how it feels if you arrive too early for a party and the hosts are still in their curlers and slippers.
Still, I have to say it was worth feeling a bit like an intruder because we learned quite a bit. It is easy to see why Falls is so well-regarded--he has a great eye for detail. After seeing a run through of a section of a scene, he returned to the actors with very specific instructions. He was able to see the whole picture and zero in on small parts to make sure the details fit his larger vision.
After seeing a party scene, Falls asked the fighting actors to move so that this aspect of the scene would not get lost. A fellow audience member and I realized that we hadn't even noticed the fight. After the direcor made adjustments, the brawl got its proper due with the rest of the merrymaking.
The point of an open rehearsal of course is gshow just enough to make people want to come back, and it worked. How many productions of King Lear have you seen with beatboxing and an anthem in which Lear is referred to as "our Papa?"
And how often do you get to hear this rousing cry in a Shakespearian Theatre: "Bring in the urinal wall!"?
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King Lear
by William Shakespeare
directed by Robert Falls
6/16/2009 - 7/19/2009
610 F Street NW
Washington, DC 20004-2207
Phone: 202.547.1122
For more info: The Shakespeare Theatre CompanyRelated Articles:
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