Understanding the Character Outside of the Text

Today was particularly inspiring. This morning began with production meetings for Rotation 3, while the afternoon was filled with rehearsals for Rotation 2. I'm currently directing Act 1 and 2 of “References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot” by Jose Rivera. I asked the actors to prepare and bring in specific "moments" pertaining to their characters. The moments I asked for from each character were a moment of Rage, Happiness, Prayer, Isolation/Sadness, Hunger and Ecstasy. They were free to use each other, the elements, and any prop they desired. The only rules were that nothing could be mimed and that you had to begin each moment by stating "I begin" and close each moment with "I end." I asked the actors to perform this exercise because it helps enable a marriage between how I believe the characters behave and what the actors have already begun to internally inhabit.

What came out of this exercise gave richness to the story; it helped further develop behavior, and allowed the actors to explore the emotional and physical layers of who their character really is. I was able to see what the actors were thinking by watching them show me how their character would explore those moments. For instance, for her moment of prayer, an actor took out her guitar, began playing and singing while the actor playing the coyote howled along to the tune. I was able to help the actors understand the life that exists in their characters between the text, between the words spoken. This in turn helped them understand how to better enrich the gorgeous and haunting words they are saying as well as gain a better understanding of where things needed to be shaped. Rather than just telling, this allows me to show them, because they've already begun showing themselves. It was an incredible rehearsal and out of these moments, we were able to stage the beginning of the play in a way that only collaboration could help come to fruition.