Technical Rehearsal

Today we had our first technical rehearsal in the new theatre. This was the first time we had run the play in the new theatre with full costume, lighting, sound, props and set and I think it went pretty well. Before the run through we all thought about what we wanted to achieve from the run. I personally wanted to focus on my exists and entrances and also on the set barbecue it was the first time we had ever been able to play around with it. We all agreed that our vocals and energy needed to be the main focus today and getting a feel of the shape of the piece. 

As this rehearsal was for the production team we all needed to be on our ques and our lines which thankfully we all were. This rehearsal really helped me to see our piece as a performance that people have paid to come and see and also as a whole play. I had to change certain movements due to the set and the three sided seating. For example after Celia fake marries Orlando and Rosalind, I used to go lean against the tree, but as we didn't have it in rehearsals I wasn't aware that The tree was on wheels and would therefore move. Jack then changed this to me sitting on the large log stage right and facing out to the right sided audience so that they got my reactions. In the first scene I say 'Let us sit' and then Poppy and I sat, but there aren't any chairs for us to sit on, so Jack changed the line to 'Let us stand' instead. 

This rehearsal's utility was enormous and it helped us all realise the energy we need and how vocally loud we have to be. Although it was very exciting to be on the stage using the set and props, I felt as if some of our entrances and exits were very sloppy and brought down the energy of the piece. I think we all need to wok on this and organising our props to suit us so that we don't miss an entrance. A positive that came from today was how well the piece looks and flows when we are on our ques and lines. If we all give the maximum amount of energy then I think our performance this week will be a joy to watch.