So the answer to my casting angst is:
No. We do not know which roles we are playing in Pericles...yet.
The co-directors have many ideas about how things might go. Does that sound vague enough for you? Hah!
It's true: when an actor hears that "They went in a different direction" feedback after an audition, they would do well to just accept that at face value. Right now, the casting for our show can go down several different bunny trails -- each would lend a different flavor to the show. So what will it be? Chocolate chip or Rocky Road? Casting a role can be a bit like standing in front of the counter at 31 Flavors and only being allowed to choose ONE.
Upon charting out of several options ("Cast A would look like this...or Cast B could look like this...then again, what do you think if we tweaked this and this?"), the co-directors decided to call us all in for another work session instead of officially setting the cast list at this time.
Last night's rehearsal was less of the group exercises (although you know we did that blasted "zip, schwartz, svigliano" for, like, 20 minutes. Oh. Serenity now, y'all.)
We spent most of our time playing with scenes from the show. We had seven actors in attendance and we rotated the casting every time we ran a scene to keep things fresh and to add new ideas as they popped up.
For example, our work with the fisherman scene in Act II moved swiftly last night as the directors called out some inspirations as they watched the "big picture" from the audience. At one point, had our own little "Occupy the Wharf" protest going on with our three fisherman: two were drumming the floor while another got up on a chair to preach about the great chasm between the rich and the poor:
Fisherman 1: Alas, poor souls, it grieved my heart to hear what pitiful cries they made to us to help them, when, well-a-day, we could scarce help ourselves.
Fisherman 2: Nay, master, said not I as much when I saw the porpus how he bounced and tumbled? they say they're half fish, half flesh: a plague on them, they ne'er come but I look to be washed. Master, I marvel how the fishes live in the sea.
Fisherman 1: Why, as men do a-land; the great ones eat up the little ones: I can compare our rich misers to nothing so fitly as to a whale; a' plays and tumbles, driving the poor fry before him, and at last devours them all at a mouthful: such whales have I heard on o' the land, who never leave gaping till they've swallowed the whole parish, church, steeple, bells, and all.
What a fun little Shakespearean wink to modern life. I was one of the performers who happened to be onstage when one of the directors yelled "Occupy!" right before we started the scene. The energy immediately picked up and we all got a little twinkle in our eyes. I can't speak for the others, but for me...? It was so much fun to act out all the Occupy Wall Street data that my actor brain has been absorbing for the last six weeks.
I feel like we gave ourselves a good first stab at listening to the fishermen and figuring out what they are about, even though they aren't leading roles. Our exercise may or may not make it into the final show, but it was an exploration of circumstances. The fishermen only appear in one brief scene, but their point of view represents "the masses" and requires a response by a few major characters throughout the play. So, I think it's a good idea to work at this kind of stuff and not just say, "Oh, they're only fishermen"-- they matter just as much as any other part.
(In fact, some of my favorite roles have been nameless Messengers, Soldiers, Lords or Ladies-in-waiting. There's freedom in not having to answer to a long list of given circumstances in the script.)
And so the ensemble work continues apace. I have seen growth in others and I am able to name areas of growth in myself. That's good stuff! Earlier this week, I was introduced to a quote that speaks to me right now. Allow me to share:
"We become who we are in conjunction with other people becoming who they are."
-- David Brooks, The Social Animal
Play ON!
Lily and Bryan delve into a scene from Pericles, Prince of Tyre
