Rehearsals Begin: Day One

A.H:  

The first day of a rehearsal process is always exciting. It’s a potent mix of nerves, thrills, curiosity and fear as you meet the horde of new people who will undertake this journey with you as we attempt to transform a 76 page script into a fully functional, well -oiled, entertaining piece of theatre.

The morning began with a meet and great for all the cast, technicians, stage managers, movement directors, assistant directors and, of course, the director to meet each other. It’s a chance for old friendships to be rekindled and new ones to be tentatively started (all of which was definitely helped by a healthy serving of tea, coffee and a variety of chocolate biscuits), before a welcome speech from our director: Dominic Hill.

Then it’s off to work as everyone returned to their various focuses for the day and the cast broke off into the main rehearsal room to begin the read through. A read through is essentially exactly what it sounds like : everyone involved in the main production gathers around a table and listens to the actors reading the script aloud, complete with stage directions, for the first time. Not only does it give the Director a chance to hear all the different actors’ first takes on their characters but it can also bring the script to life and clarify bits which reading alone weren’t clear. Rufus Norris’ script is fantastic and I think the show has the potential to be really brilliant. I will be playing both the Minstrel and the very literally named Table Slave while my fellow intern, Lucy, will be playing Beauty.

At the end of the read through Dominic began to talk us through the origins of both Sleeping Beauty and the theme’s of the version Rufus Norris has written. As it turns out, the Disney version we all know, where Beauty waking up signifies the end of the adventure, isn’t actually the end of the adventure! That was originally amended by the Brothers Grimm. In fact, in Charles Perrault’s original quite a lot happens after the ending we all know so if you come and see the show and think “what’s all this stuff in the second half about Ogres?” we’ve actually been strikingly accurate to the source material...well...mostly.

Finally, there was one particular piece of advice Dominic was keen to impress: not to take the piss. It’s very easy with a Christmas play or a panto to get carried away with the silliness of it all and not take it seriously. By this Dominic isn’t saying we shouldn’t have fun, more so that the ordeals the character’s go through are very personal to them and there is a journey that they embark upon. The jokes and silliness should always support the needs of the story; the laughs are earned through the actor completely believing in his or her own ordeal (no matter how outlandishly silly that may be). The second the actor begins playing for the laugh is the moment the show stops being funny.

‘Sleeping Beauty’ is on at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, from the 1 December to the 6 January. For tickets, please call the box office on: 0141 429 0022; or book online at www.citz.co.uk.