Beautiful Day!

King Lear: Blocking Day 7

It was the fist real day of spring, though the calendar had indicated it several weeks ago. The Sun brought a warm blanket of golden light that bathed the entire Champlain Valley in its welcome glow. As I drove into town to pick up Dan, I was met with the lake’s surface awash in a sea of white light, reflecting the suns efforts from minutes before, millions of miles away. What a day for a revelation.

“You must bring joy to every role you play,” spoke our king, Donald Grody. Todd Lawson and I listened as the seasoned veteran gave us a little tidbit about the craft. “Even in a death scene, there must be joy or you will lose your audience.” I thought about this long and hard and wondered what he could mean. If our job is to reflect our emotions, from a character, to the audience, how could one be truthful by having joy in a death scene? Perhaps my character is masochistic.

As we began our run-through, I had an overwhelming sense of pride about the show. Not only because it is my first show back in the swing, but that it’s such a good show. Also, it is one of the classics, which portends all the history and legacy of our craft. I always get excited to think of all the actors that have performed this show and what they were thinking when they did so. I also like to think about where they may have come from or when they may have lived? How different were their lives than mine? Had they made some of the same realizations I have? Did they think of who may play their part in the future? Maybe they were thinking of me!

As we ran through several of the scenes I found myself having trouble staying focused and I was missing lines. Most likely, I was too busy worrying about everything but my character. It’s amazing how fast it leaves if you are out of context. I found myself a bit frustrated as we came to our dinner break.

After dinner I settled in a bit and began work with Dan on our behavior during Scene III in Act I. We have been crafting pertinent behavior for the show and are still trying to feel out what works and what distracts from the overall action. I again felt myself getting frustrated when we were asked to tone it down so that the other actors could give their lines. I wasn’t so much upset because of the directors choice but because I wasn’t melting into the scene. Too much in my head and not enough in the scene.

Paul Schnabel (Kent) and I were on the schedule for the final time slot of the evening. We got a chance to work our scenes together and iron out a few directorial choices. I found myself still a bit resistant to Mark’s direction as he made adjustments. I kept fighting to get out of my head and tried to break out of some of my preconceptions of the scene. Usually, I try to find a motivation or a cause that informs the behavior but I decided to go for results, so I intensified the volume and rushed the timing, on Mark’s suggestion. What I found was a whole new meaning to the scene and a completely new motivation behind my character’s actions. We finished with a strong run-through of the scene and Paul and I felt good about our handle on it. I realized that what I miss so much about the craft is the investigative work that goes in to a scene, and how you can continually find different ways to play it. I think I know what Donald was talking about when he said, “You have to bring joy to every scene.” I realized I was having a great time and that gave me permission to go anywhere, whether I thought it would work or not. I think this may be what separates those that do what they love and those that don’t; joy of craft. Love what you do and you can’t help but express that joy to everyone around you.