Rehearsal Notes, November 27th

Having received our lines the previous day, the class was ready to get going on blocking the play. Half of the morning was taken up preparing for and performing our political protests so we had only a short amount of time to get the piece up on its feet.

As the class already had a vision of how the piece was going to be embodied, it was relatively easy to get to grips with the blocking. I play CHILD and the first two pages of script are heavy on my part. I instigate a human microphone ‘mic check’ as well as play a part in establishing the relationship between the PARENT and the CHILD.

In rehearsal it is very important that we all keep a script and a pen at hand so we can mark down the blocking and extra changes to line distribution.

The piece begins with the growing of each protest on either side of the raised platform outside the canteen. On the left, the children gradually put up their tents, erect signs, decorate their lairs, whilst the parents set up a clean living room space, a complete contrast to the crazy nature of the child’s temporary abode. Once all the props are in place (i.e. pop-up tents, fairy lights, protest banners and signs) this will look extremely realistic, and provides an effective pre-show atmosphere for the audience to witness and ease them in to the action.

There is a lot of choral speaking in the opening stages of the play and this is challenging, especially with the given performance space. We discovered the importance of expression, pronunciation and strong breath, even when rehearsing inside the building. Outside, especially at this time of year, sound is instantly lost in the open air space and so all of these attributes are of upmost importance. The opening of the piece also includes a lot of repetition and human microphone, a common Occupy protest technique to spread messages, to make sure messages are put across to the audience as best as is possible. Large sections of text are said as a group, broken down in the form of a ‘mic check’ and then repeated a third time by one individual to make the message clear and reiterate its importance.

I am feeling really excited about next week’s rehearsal and I have already begun to put together my sign. One side reads “WILL WORK FOR MONEY” and the other “WE ARE THE 99%”, two slogans I found when researching common ones in use during the Occupy protests. I deliberately made the sign look rather make-shift and shabby, the words being in black pen over cardboard, as this reflected the message of austerity the children are trying to convey. After questioning my parents about the matter, I have also discovered that we own a very modest little pink spotty pop-up tent, which will be of much use when creating the protest in the pre-show.