Its not that we forgive him,
Because we can’t,
We can’t do that.
But I’m fed up with him
Having this power,
This power over us. (Sc. 9, pg. 36)
As with any
new production this first week has been about getting to know each other, the
characters, the stage-space and the rules of the world of the play (an
explanation of what I mean by this will follow). It has been a week of line by
line read-throughs, walk-throughs and discussions about intentions and meaning,
and how these affect the play as a whole. One line said differently can change
the whole meaning of a scene, or explain just one aspect of a character, but
each and every nuance is important to the narrative. It has been a week filled
with intense Four Square battles and gentle dance warm-ups, neither of which have
directly affected our interpretation of the play, but nevertheless were very
fun.
Despite only
having three people on stage at the most, this play has presented its
challenges when it comes to blocking (where the actors move and when) and
staging (where the set moves and when). The transitions between scenes are something
which are particularly challenging due to the quick changes in subject matter,
and the potential for an emotional ending of one scene to be under-mined by the
relatively jovial start of the next. One way to get around this is to have
moments, or beats, between each scene change where the characters, actors and
audience have a small chance to digest and process the action, and to
metaphorically wipe the slate clean for a whole new scene. To coincide with
this, the set is “reset” to its original position at the start of the play, to
visually signify a definitive ending and an upcoming change of space.
Aside from the three main characters who appear onstage, After the Accident
also contains a few unseen characters, in particular the looming presence of Mr.
Casey, the restorative counsellor. What we have been working on this week is
where this imaginary character can be on stage and how to make him look the
most real. This means that we have had to decide on a concrete set of rules
which will make the world of the play seem as real as possible. Asking an
audience to come and see a production is asking them to suspend their disbelief
and really trust that what is happening on stage is something to emotionally
invest in. Especially in a production such as this where there is a high-emotion
subject matter, anything which is jarring or distracting, for example, a clunky
scene change or a difference in where each actor looks to signify an unseen
character, can break the spell and weaken the emotional integrity of the
production. So as you can see, we are taking this very seriously and working
hard to tell the story of these characters in the best way we possibly can.
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