What we're dealing with: Concepts & Themes in The Sonneteer We've completed Week One of our rehearsals at the serenely secluded Vinters Studios, tucked away in Streatham, behind a hidden driveway, along which we're greeted daily by a tiny bamboo 'forest' (with, indeed, some tiny pandas) and it's been an amazing week of discovery, enquiry and learning.
Ros Philips, our director, has introduced us to Open Space 'Technology', which we both took to like ducks to water: it structures our day, gets any 'issues' right off our minds onto a wall in the form of post-it notes and organises our days into chunks of work that we can immerse ourselves in without having to worry about any of the rest or the clutter for the time being. Stupendous.
After 'checking in', we start our day with the somatic methodology developed by Feldenkrais, a man who has apparently mastered both the art and science of how the human anatomy and its central nervous system relate to each other and whose gentle but thorough exercises bring you right in touch with the body you inhabit without strain or danger. Then we move on to contact improvisation which eases us into exploring the physicality both of ourselves and our characters, and after that, text analysis: going through the script - including the sonnets, of course - in fine detail, identifying just what exactly it is that is happening in the play, in the sonnets, and between our characters, from moment to moment.
Next week: coming off the book and putting the play on its feet, from the page to the stage. Couldn't be more excited!...
Ros Philips, our director, has introduced us to Open Space 'Technology', which we both took to like ducks to water: it structures our day, gets any 'issues' right off our minds onto a wall in the form of post-it notes and organises our days into chunks of work that we can immerse ourselves in without having to worry about any of the rest or the clutter for the time being. Stupendous.
After 'checking in', we start our day with the somatic methodology developed by Feldenkrais, a man who has apparently mastered both the art and science of how the human anatomy and its central nervous system relate to each other and whose gentle but thorough exercises bring you right in touch with the body you inhabit without strain or danger. Then we move on to contact improvisation which eases us into exploring the physicality both of ourselves and our characters, and after that, text analysis: going through the script - including the sonnets, of course - in fine detail, identifying just what exactly it is that is happening in the play, in the sonnets, and between our characters, from moment to moment.
Next week: coming off the book and putting the play on its feet, from the page to the stage. Couldn't be more excited!...
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