Yesterday we rehearsed in Gina's living room. We started with discussions of the given circumstances... all that lead to the question "what could have happened prior to the opening scene." Part of what we were trying to figure out was why Rebecca chooses that particular time to tell Devlin about her lover. Then we moved to the discussions of the characters. We tried to come up with the specifics, to give flesh to them. The names Devlin and Rebecca caught our attention, though we didn't talk about them in depth except that obviously they couldn't be random. Devlin... Devil-in. And that biblical Rebecca was barren for 20 years - can't be just a coincidence because "the baby" is one crucial element of the play.
Next thing was reading the play. I asked Brian and Gina to try several different ways to deliver their lines. I also asked to pay close attention to the shifts of strategies the characters do - what motivates them and to what purpose. Now and then we stopped when we found something curious from the text, like for instance, the police siren. What it means, and what Rebecca is trying to say to Devlin by means of police sirens. This particular unit captures Devlin's softer side, in which he tries hard to make sense of what she says and, knowing that she is deeply troubled by this, soothes her.
The unit about the pen was another thing we rehearsed over and over. We all knew this part was funny, but hell, it was so damn difficult to resist the temptation of indicating (=showing, instead of doing) and to keep up with the rhythm. The part was still 'bumpy' so we need to put that into focus next time.
OK... plan for the next rehearsal... Brian brought up the idea of doing it at his place, then going out for a drink after that. Cool...
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