Wading Through 3.2
This morning I think we figured out that Act 3, Scene 2 is equal to about 1/5th or more of the entire play. In our production, this scene will fall just before we take our intermission.
There’s a lot going on: We see Orlando tacking his poems to the trees of Arden, Corin and Touchstone spend a while debating the virtues of country life vs. city life (cue the Green Acres theme), Rosalind enters having discovered Orlando’s verses, Celia teases Rosalind at length before revealing that they’re from Orlando, the girls hide while Jaques takes some digs at Orlando’s lovesick behavior, and finally Rosalind (in disguise) presents herself to Orlando and tells him that she (or he) will cure him of his passion by pretending to be none other than… Rosalind.
That’s the end of the scene. And from this point on things get a little more confusing and hard to explain. Rosalind is dressed as a young man and pretends to be named Ganymede. Then as Ganymede she pretends to be Rosalind so that Orlando can woo her. Wha?
It’s taken a while not only to clarify the storytelling, but also to deepen our understanding of why Rosalind decides to keep up her facade with Orlando. Is she scared? Does she want to toy with him? Is it just fun to play? Maybe all of the above. This question alone makes the scene a puzzle. Not to mention everything else that’s spinning around, the emotional life, all the “business” and (dare I type it?) comedy.
We spent a few hours this morning starting to clarify and polish the action and physical life of the scene, and we have another couple of hours to continue work this afternoon.
The scene’s kind of a monster and difficult for us to wrap our heads around. But it’s been my experience that the most challenging scenes are usually the best way into the heart of a play. Sometimes embracing and wading around in the mystery leads to revelation. I find that comforting. It won’t happen right away, but the more time we spend together living through and exploring the writing, and as long as we remember to stay open to surprises, something remarkable might happen. And there’s a great chance that what we discover will transform the way we see the piece as a whole. As You Like It’s a fantastic play and these are great actors. I have a hunch that together we might crack this nut.
-Karl