From the Director's desk: Rehearsals

A lack of post usually indicates a writer's block. Or it could be that there is just no time from rehearsals and production meetings.

We have rehearsals AT LEAST 4 times a week. Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 to 11 pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 6 pm. Looks like the scheduling nightmare has been put to rest. It is especially difficult to get the scheduling right due to the nature of the plays - short plays with actors playing different characters.

I tend to keep rehearsals light, tension free and a brain storming session. After all, we are here to have fun while learning a lot from the process. Needless to say we seem to be having a lot of fun and at the same time we manage to cover the scenes outlined for the session.

The rehearsals have a process to them. This has helped me immensely in the past as an actor. I have often cherished directors who are methodical, have a process and implement it. It was so much easier for me as an actor to follow that. And I have done the same in my directorial venture.

The first rehearsal involved table reading followed by character interpretations. This exercise is immensely important because there can be so many dimensions and interpretations to a character. Each actor or a director could have a pre-conceived notion of a character and this exercise dissolves that notion and opens so many avenues to explore. I have observed that my actors have particularly cherished this. It gives them some control over their character, and they are allowed to experiment unless it completely jars with my vision. Since some of the plays involve intricate plots with heavy climaxes we have also spoken about backgrounds of each of these characters, concocted stories about them from the day they were born, their childhood, living conditions, their relationships and taken it one step ahead to see how they would be after the play. This process of character development is key to consistency on stage.

The second rehearsal involved sub-texting. This exercise is a fun exercise wherein the script is dropped and the actors based on context come up with their own lines. After this exercise actors know that it is important not only to read your lines but also the co-actors lines and even the ones in "italics". Reading a script word for word will have you understand the context much better and the actors will be much more in sync with the director. This is also an exercise which will be revisited later as it is important for an actor to pick up from where another actor dropped off - because he forget his lines, or was late in making an entry or a third actor spoke his lines too soon.

The third rehearsal involved some sense of blocking. Here the actors are told how the stage will look like and what furniture they will be given to play with and how best to use the stage so that it is not too static. Though blocking will change with every production need, a general sense will keep the actors rooted. The scenes here were followed in a chronological manner so the actors remember the context.

Looking ahead, I have so much more fun exercises for my actors. Role-reversals, starting the play from any scene and still taking it to completion, changing the climax etc. etc. Some will catch my actors by surprise, some they will hate and groan through the exercise, some will be painful, some will be hilarious - but we will all walk away having learned a lot and increased our potential as actors. My actors teach me something new everyday, I hope they benefit the same from me.