Rehearsal Journal

Two more shots of some of the greyhounds who’ll be taking part in The Comedy of Errors:

Artistic Director Steve Maler meeting Gill (you may have seen this picture in Friday’s Globe):

And Zelda again:

It Begins…, originally uploaded by rpmaxwell.

So much catching up to do, dear readers.

The truss is assembled on the Common. The lights are cabled and ready for focusing. The deck is being put down. The stage is ready to go up on top of that. And in rehearsal today, we ran the show twice.

Work is continuing on the set and lights throughout the weekend. We’ll be running things again tomorrow in rehearsal.

Everything is coming together so fast and so (knock on wood) well.

Can’t wait to get out there under the lights.

Yesterday, Steve Maler took a break from rehearsal to head to the Common and meet some late additions to the cast of The Comedy of Errors: the first three members of a rotating cast of greyhounds who will be a highlight of the dumbshows between Shakespeare’s acts.

So, internet, meet Ben:

Zelda:

And Gill:

All three of these dogs were adopted after they left racetracks in various parts of the world and come to Commonwealth Shakespeare Company thanks to the interest and efforts of Greyhound Friends in Hopkington, MA.

It Takes Two, originally uploaded by rpmaxwell.

Actors Rebecca Whitehurst and Dan Roach work a tango into Act 4.

Just in case you might be getting the impression that this show is all singing and dancing: Here’s a brief reminder that the production going on behind the scenes is just as big as the one that shows up on stage (Though there is significantly less singing and dancing at production meetings…)

Let’s Face the Music…, originally uploaded by rpmaxwell.

Another week closer to opening. Another day in the hall. Another high-energy, full-company production number.

You might not want to get too attached to your socks, because this production may just knock them off.

Rehearsal moved temporarily to another hall, and it took us a while to get our bearings again with respect to where various parts of the play would happen in the performance space. We all gathered around the model to see if we couldn’t figure it all out.

• Mad Dog’s Tooth - Somewhere in the Florida Keys; great steamers and beer
• Circe’s Cup - Upscale joint where the karaoke night is mostly the Thompson Twins
• The Melancholy Vale - Traditional Irish bar that also serves absinthe and pernod
• The Naked Sword - Let’s just say there are no all-ages shows…
• The Abbey Walls - A real bar-bar in a basement right off the campus of a topflight university

But don’t take our word for it: check out the text yourselves and let us know if you find any others.

Notes Panorama, originally uploaded by rpmaxwell.

Pictured: Artistic Director Steve Maler gives notes to the company of The Comedy of Errors after the first stumble through of the first three acts of the play. (Click through for full-sized and full effect)

Stumble through of Part One was a resounding success. There is still a lot of detail work to be done, and everyone was in a state of shock afterwards: at what we have been able to put together in such a short amount of time. But also energized by the possibilities: what this group has already done is only proof that we are ready and capable of doing so much more…

Which is a good thing, as we are now diving headlong into PART TWO! (MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA)

Racing By, originally uploaded by rpmaxwell.

I feel like I have to start updating this blog twice daily or more: too much happens on any given day to record it all in retrospect.

One week into rehearsal and we are already on the point of assembling and running the first three acts of Shakespeare’s text and the first three dumbshows that precede them.

Today, we had the whole cast (all twenty-seven!) in the room together for the first time. We hammered out many the kinks in the opening number that will establish the setting, set the mood, introduce most of the characters, and provide some major storytelling points… all packed into five minutes… without words… and set to music.

There’s a kind of magic that settles on the room when the music starts and all twenty-seven members of the cast spring into action: jumping, dancing, tumbling, contorting, knocking each other down, and picking each other up, all in a way that is at once tightly choreographed and completely open to individual expression. There’s a mixture of fun, wonder, and joy in watching it all happen that never diminishes, no matter how many times we run through it…

And this is just the opening five minutes of the show! There are so many massive transformative elements to be added: the set, costumes, and lights, and most critically: the audience! Because if this is already an amazing experience to share with a few dozen people, one can only imagine what it’s going to feel like when we are sharing it with five thousand of our closest friends.