Following Fran

I don’t know what to write about today. It has been a week at the Globe now, and I fear that my brain is about to explode. There has been so much going on. Not only with the workshops and performances but also just being in an alien city. It is quite draining. Nevertheless I will continue to soak everything in until I’m drenched with wonderful learnings and experineces.

The Rose Theatre was another popular theatre in the Elizabethan era. Only several hundred metres from the Globe, The Rose (or what is left of it) often goes unnoticed. We were lucky to have a tour. Unlike the Globe the Rose hasn’t been reconstructed. What you see are the foundations that were discovered during the excavation of the site. It’s unbelievable to think about the goings on, and what the foundation of the Rose has lived through.

Two rehearsals today. First up we were playing with status. Each of us were given a card, and not allowed to look at it. Walking around the room we have to relate to each based on how high or low the card is. The aim is to figure out what your status is.  Although a fun game, it’s also interesting to see the different ways of conveying status. How much space do you give each other? How do people carry themselves? With status in mind, we created a range of freeze frames for the end of our piece.

Second rehearsal on the Globe stage, at midnight. After some energising warm ups we were ready to rehearse till dawn. We focussed on using the space and running through our piece. One of the most interesting aspects of working on the stage for me is the way the environment is challenging and comforting. Working on a thrust stage and open air theatre is really different. The ‘audience’ almost surrounds you. There are no wings to hide, no roof to protect, which you might say is the challenging aspect. But at the same time, that is what is so comforting. Having the audience so close, they are part of the performance, and the fresh air is refreshing and energising.

By two am we are all ready to hit the sack, and we do.

After a little sleep in, we met Giles Block (head of text).

I think it is the text that people either love or hate about Shakespeare. Love, because it is amazing. Hate, because it’s more difficult to understand. Giles was wonderful in giving us a few pointers that make it easier to both understand and speak Shakespeare’s text. A few little things like: ‘not’ should not be emphasized, the verb before should be. Stress words that are important and help convey meaning. Commas are generally a signal that indicates the previous word’s importance.

One piece of advice that I found particularly helpful was the way Giles discussed the rhythms. There is the wonderful iambic pentameter, but also others. Giles’ key point on rhythm is whatever feels natural and makes the most sense out of the text.

In the heat of the afternoon we went to see King Lear. I now understand how and why people faint in the matinee performances. I was wondering whether a tradegy would be different on stage to a comedy. Apart from the obvious (funny vs. tragic), it was relatively similar. I did really like the way the space was used. At some points there were characters in the yard which really emphasized that feeling of being part of the performance.

Another good old early morning rehearsal. 6am.  It was great to actually run it all on stage and see it taking shape. Everyone is on stage all the time which is really good as there is a lot of energy, but we also have to concentrate and know what is going on. The more time we spend on stage the more comfortable I feel and better about the performance as a whole. It is rather intimidating to to perform at the Globe. We have seen so many of the wonderful performances there, and on top of that the history.

This afternoon was great. We used our rehearsal time to rehearse individually. Andrew and I really worked on developing our scene. As our scene is driven by Hermia’s accusations it was good to find some depth.

To finish the day, a sword workshop. Loads of fun. We learnt all the basics of sword fighting. There is also a lot of history behind the weapons used and the way the style of fighting developed. But ulitmately it was great be able to use the daggers and swords.

A day of contrasts, followed by a night of waiata. We gathered as a company and learnt a waiata and a haka that we would sing after our performance. Two hours of singing brought New Zealand much closer to Southbank than ever before.

It really was crunch time. And our second to last day at the Globe.

Unfortunately we had our workshop with Stuart Pearce that day. Unfortunate because it was our one and only. Stuart is incredible. We did relaxation and breathing. We focussed on finding our note. Our signature note, which is our powerful healing voice. He also related our resonating chambers to the different elements. It is great to keep make new connetions and understandings between things I have learnt while being here. I have never heard of our voice being talked about in that way, I was trying to soak it all up. I left wanting to know more, and learn more.

We then had Glyn for the last time. We did a run through and Glyn was wonderful in tiding up our movement sequences. It was a rather sad occasion when the time came to say goodbye. We had worked with Glyn several times. I really admire her, and feel that I have her workshops have been beneficial in many ways.

After another quick rehearsal with Colin. The time arrived. We were in tip-top shape after having both a voice and movement workshop. A few jittery nervs here and there.

There really are no words to describe what it was like to be up there. It was everything. My heart was racing, my mind thinking way too many thoughts. But at the same time I felt focussed, and calm and (like I said) everything. I feel that the performance went really well. I enjoyed it, and I’m sure the audience did also.

After our performance we sung. We sung to thank the Globe and everyone that worked with us. We sung to Shakespeare and  his buddies. We sung to London.  It was truly special, to be up there representing Aotearoa.

This will be something that I will never forget.