"The promise a stallion gives a mare" 1/25 and 1/26 Rehearsals

Tuesdays rehearsal involved the blocking of Act 2 scene 1, in which Abigail and John meet in the woods. Jason started the rehearsal out with reading the scene closing on the stage, not performing it but focusing on the interaction between the characters. This is something that Emily and I work frequently with out of our very brief encounter with Meisners (I really don't have a good understanding of it beyond the basics). Then Jason had us do an excercise where we stood across the stage and overly physicalized every word and action of our lines. I had a bit of a struggle completely letting go of myself and going big enough for what I hoped to achieve, I think mostly because of the nature of Proctors lines in this section as well as his intentions. He's contained and methodical about how he approaches her. Something that came out of the scene once we started putting it on its feet and dealing with it in performance is how detached from reality Abigail has become. I had thought to really attack Abigail personally with the lines "If you can hear, hear this. Can you hear?". I tried this a few times and it didn't feel fresh; it seemed to have the same quality as my assault on Mary Warren in closing of the previous scene. When Emily and I ran the scene yesterday after the practicum meeting, I decided to remain in a sort of terror at the witnessing of a girl who really may be possessed and who really has turned her soul over to the devil. Images of exocrisms came into mind as a priest would aproach the body of someone possessed. The mood of the rehearsal was a it tense for me. I was getting distracted and frustrated easily, and left feeling somewhat uncomfortable about it, but I identified that along with Jason and Emily that it was a result of the emotional state John is in at that point. So my next goal for working that scene is to experience and live in that uncertainty and distractedness, and to search for Johns fight instinct.

The mood of last nights rehearsal was also less focused than had the previous weeks. It felt a bit like the guys in the scene were a bit restless; everyone does a lot of standing or sitting. I expressed to Jason how I was worried this scene would become a lull and drag the arch a bit. I think this is the scene that we could lose student audiences a bit. Jason eased my concerns by encouraging me to indulge in the melodrama, and understand that audiences today aren't used to watching people on stage for a long period of time delivering these beautiful and sincere oratories. I wonder if its a sort of chewing the scenery thats so classic and compelling when done honestly.

I think I asked one of the most technical questions I've asked in this rehearsal process so far about what precise time to move down off of the stage right step. I knew that Jason was going to trust me enough to feel the moment for myself before I even asked it, I really enjoy being given the autonomy to explore, while still trusting that their is some guidance to affirm or ellaborate on.