Monday. 1st class rehearsal (after the first read) for the second section (are you keeping up?) of The Pillowman with K. Wow, it was free, moment-to-moment and neither of us got hung up on the words. We bounced the moments around but we could both follow each other and we knew where to go next. T said it was excellent work and that we could bring in the scene next week! Whoa! First read, one class rehearsal and then the scene! I think this is the way to rehearse - work on the relationship so much that it's second-nature to you (and you don't have to 'play' it), understand and really live the imaginary circumstances you are in, don't get hung up on the words, just know what the scene is about and what each moment means - REALLY know what each moment means. That way, you can be open and available to your partner without having to think about the words which, after all, is the last thing the writer thought about having built his characters, their spines, the arc of the play etc.,etc. I'm not saying disregard the words (as they are, of course, what the writer wrote), I'm saying learn the moments, how you feel about them, the circumstances you are in, the relationship with your partner and the words will follow. Seriously, all you 'wordies' out there - if you give yourself permission to not have to say the words verbatim in your rehearsals and, instead, work o everything else, you will experience an understanding of the scene you're doing beyond what you thought possible.
Case in point was another couple doing another scene in the class, they were SO paranoid about the words, their scene became a line run with no relationship.
They'd been doing it for about 4 weeks straight and had totally lost the meaning of the whole thing, the moments, the relationship, the focus, the whole point of the scene, etc. They need to totally drop the script for a few weeks and just work through the moments in their own words. Really know what the moments are, what they mean and focus on what the other person is REALLY saying and really let it affect them. Back to basics. It really helps sometimes.
10405:5.40