FREEDOM IN STRUCTURE: MERIAH SAGE

This week at rehearsal - in rooms all over NE Ohio - we started to shift from playing and exploring to blocking, solidifying our location and business.

Specific blocking was set for the large group scenes, especially. This might seem a bit restrictive from the outside, but the structure gives great frames to really play boldly in. In the scenes where our characters are rehearsing The Recruiting Officer, I found new relationships with different characters, in part because of my new proximity to them. When the characters clashed together on stage: How do they interact? What is their comfort level with each other? Do they have a similar viewpoint? What do they need from each other? The dynamics started to expand and the relationships became complex, specific, and felt more truthful. 

In the scenes with just a few characters, we continued to play, but set given circumstances and solidified what happens right before the scene begins. We also are starting to get our noses out of our scripts. When playing without the full text, we are free to explore and play. When we pick up our scripts, and start to memorize, the words become dominant. I found this to be especially true with the multiple characters, accents/dialects we have for this show. 

When I’m learning my lines, it’s really difficult to think of anything other than lines/words/vowels and consonants. I use mainly Cockney in the show- something new to me. Chuck (our dialect coach) has been amazing to work with- and yet, it’s still a slow journey. At one point I told Chuck “I know I’m talking, but it doesn’t sound like my voice. I feel disembodied.” For me it’s two steps: remembering the words (and what they mean in context) and then translating them into Cockney. 

This week, though, THIS week in my “boat scene” something amazing happened. I finally stopped seeing the words and cataloguing the given circumstances in my mind. This week: I saw the water. I felt the boat move and the sun on my face. I started to listen and interact with Harry (the character) more than my scene partner James. Liberating…and so fun. 

Cheers to more of that.