Ready to perform?

Having being done the possible exploration and thinking on a particular idea, we reach a point of saturation. That day we are convinced that with the material in hand and the present set of artists, we will do justice to the subject and the audience by presenting the play. We make a document which is a blueprint of the planned performance, and that can be labeled as our first draft.

Is it complete?

Dear friends, It is not easy to say precisely when and where to stop doing improvisations in rehearsals. We never feel complete anytime, and things do not make us fully satisfied. So it becomes difficult to decide the day when we stop doing any addition to the script. We get here through the rehearsals. It is our common sense which makes us stop and feel the destination point. 

The destination

It is the point where you feel that you have tried your best, and you cannot make anything better than this. Sometimes what I think is, with the given conditions of surroundings and given type of theatre personnel, trying together their best, will have only a kind of draft at that given time. It is very much like doing calculations again and again, and you come to the same conclusion. It is true when each one has given their maximum contribution. The director has a better understanding of the performances he sees every day, and he should take the decision then. You can compare this with the ripening of the fruit. 

He may find something not satisfying him. It can be a performance, which he can still try to improve. It can be Maybe after one year, or so they can have some different production. So we have to stop someday and get going with the draft for the final preparation.

Some minor changes always have a place, even after the tenth performance. And we should be open minded for changes. Sometimes you may take opinion from all others and decide. Somewhere you have to stop and start concentrating on making the best of it.

Delink yourself for a moment from the subject and observe as a stranger

What every artist does or should do with his work is to go away from it and look at it as if it is not connected with you at all. A painter goes away from the painting and sees it as if it is not his painting. That separation suggests him about the general appearance of his picture, and he knows the points where he should concentrate then. This separation is a delicate art. It is to be practiced and helps in many other fields too. Self-criticism has a significant role in shaping your artwork.

Character study

With every rehearsal, you get an idea about total performance. You can now see a graph of every character. The significant characters require a close look and last brush up if they have specific reactions not going with the expected or visualized image they have in the director's mind. These minor changes will have an impact.

Set your set 

Set is like a ground where you play. It cannot be changed very often. Once the first draft is ready, you know the scenes. Even their sequence, you know. Now you have to be firm about your set. Because entries, exits, appearance, and movements are to be fixed. Set design requires perfection. The heights of levels, positions of properties, the changes to be done per scenes everything w

After the first draft, we have to do run through rehearsals. With these non-stop performances, every artist gets used to the set, and it becomes a part of their habit. To move quickly and not to have any unexpected event on stage is the purpose behind the setting.

Time to put the play on paper

It is time to put the play neatly on paper. After reading the draft, the reader should feel similar to what he will feel after seeing the play. You should word it as the play proceeds with a note about every movement occurring on stage. It will include information such as-

• the idea about the set
• time and place of events
• introduction of characters if required
• suggestions about their  appearance, makeup tips,
• entries and exits
• hints about the background music
• recommendations for the type of light to be designed
• sometimes the result you expect in the scene 

These suggestions will create the picture in the reader's mind

by just going through the script.

Rehearsals with the first draft in hand

Till now, we did not bring any restriction for performance. Henceforth we will keep us

within the ideas of the first draft and try to elicit effectively. I always say that these little actors should not even touch the script or try to read their roles. I practice this and find it the best idea to keep the actor away from the images of written words.

 

Written words, the memory, and the acting 

Once the actor reads the images of written words move in his memory. When he does rehearsals, these words come to his mind, and he gets engaged with words. His acting is affected tremendously. His expressions lack somewhere. The words float in front of his eyes, and his looks are never at ease.

 

Then how to help these actors if they don't remember their lines?

A backstage person sits with the script in his hand. He Keeps track of the rehearsal second by second, with an eye on the text throughout. He reads the line or gives a clue. These auditory signals don't affect the actions or expressions much. But still, the actor has to learn to deliver his lines without any support. He has to try doing his lines with the other actors and improve to do it any time. Surprisingly every actor raises his standards, and the team never require any suggestions about the lines they deliver.

No prompting technique

The rehearsals are repeated many times to achieve a state where no one has a problem in delivering their lines. After this rehearsal, we can concentrate on other elements like lights, music, makeup, costumes, etc. 

So in the performance, no one needs the script for reference. For thirty years, I have never referred any script in the performance. Not only their lines but the children know the whole script by heart. Every actor tries other actor’s lines just as a joke when the rehearsals have a short recess.

Rehearsals with changing roles and artists

Role changing is the game that children play on their own. They interchange roles and perform. It helps. It helps to see that the casting done before is perfect. Now every actor knows that the one who is selected for the role is doing it well. And it is fun to go in so many roles, and that is a good exercise too. 

One can play the other role in emergencies sometimes; if some child is sick and cannot perform. The replacement is more comfortable due to this game. 

Meeting point of

traditional playwriting and participative playwriting

When we reach this stage, then we do not differ much from the conventional playwriting. There they start with the script, and now we too have the script with us. The script we get in the middle of our journey. And we have every other element with us because we have thought about those elements in the process of our rehearsals.

Since we already have the whole play and the script with us, we are just a few rehearsals away from the performance.

Meetings of actors and backstage artists with the director

If everyone is present for rehearsal, then why the separate meetings? The question is an obvious one but mere presence is not enough. In rehearsals, every artist and backstage artists are quite busy. For serious discussions, we do need meetings.

In these meetings, 

1. The director wants to know the opinions of others.
2. Possible problems are to be discussed. 
3. Detailing is to be done and 
4. The redistribution of work may be needed.
5. The director tries to build a team spirit

Common problems to be avoided

1. Not able to move the property or arrange new property in a given short period.
2. Getting to the wrong side of the wing.
3. Not aware of the entry time.
4. Something falls to make a disturbing noise.
5. Someone falls in blackout or bumps on to someone.
6. The song starts on a wrong note.
7. The mismatching music piece is played by mistake.
8. Few lines get skipped by the actor, and he is unable to reconnect to the story.
9. Someone adds his lines, and the other actor doesn't know to deal with it.
10. Curtain opening and closing are crucial. Special attention is needed.
11. If set and places of spots are different than at the rehearsal actors, have problems.
12. Not having the written announcement paper
13. Not having a torch in wings
14. makeup getting heavy or light. 
15. Makeup- no uniformity may be a problem
16. The costume department has the maximum possibilities of issues. Hence it is advisable to have at least ten rehearsals in costumes.
17. Same is true for lights. Blackouts, their timings, the luminosity, the directions of spots, number of spots everything is to be handled too meticulously and needs many many rehearsals to get perfect. And still one has to be alert all the time.
18. Actors talk to each other in the wings and are caught by microphones.
19. Actors try to peep out from the wings. It looks awful, and one has to be very strict to avoid this.

The audience needs rehearsals

This is not to make a joke or tease the audience. It is my observation that the audience which is used to theatre learns to get there in time and view the play with respect for the performers. They avoid any kind of disturbance.

The disturbances from the audience are uncountable. We have to develop our ply-friendly audience in the long run. Mobile rings, chair sounds, chitchatting, whispering, entering late, inappropriate comments, using camera flashes, video shooting, are just a few. To avoid these special announcements are a must.

The alarming dream 

I often have a dream which awakens me at midnights a few days before the performance.

The dream has combinations of the above problems, and the performance is not at all satisfactory. I feel guilty of doing injustice to the audience. I sit straight for some time. Take a few long breaths. I know it was terrible, but I also know that it was only a dream. I take all the steps to avoid the dream to get into reality. And decide to perform when I am ready for the performance.

Run-through rehearsals

These are the few rehearsals where you do not do corrections or stop the rehearsal

in between. The reason is unless we have such rehearsals we do not understand how effective the play is. We do not get the emotional graph if we disturb the flow of events.

We give actors and the backstage artists time and independence to go deep, go smooth to the expectations we discussed throughout our daily discussions and meetings so far. They have to overcome any shortcomings on their part and learn to know and identify those.