First Rehearsal - Heart Suspended

The first rehearsal was a first rehearsal. The process was to read a scene and move naturally and then go back and take a little direction on it piece by piece until K, the director, felt we were moving in the right direction. And then rerun the whole thing. We got through about ¾ of the act. M (Grace) & G (Mama) were doing a southern highland’s accent and J (Tom) and I (Chloe) were doing Louisiana. It was pretty unclear to us where the show actually took place other than general “South.” Turns out J and I were wrong. Oh well. I think the easiest way for me to learn the accent would be to go off book before the next rehearsal on Saturday and I’m going to put an ad up on craigslist to see if someone from North or South Carolina or Georgia (or is Georgia lowlands too? I’ll have to look that up) is willing to converse with me for a couple of hours while I soak up their accent by immersion.

So my big shocker was that “my…unchristian like behavior” that I talk about in the show isn’t just that I have a few boyfriends and drink and smoke. No, I actually prostitute myself to get what I want. Which is much father than I was thinking. And, truthfully, makes my life a lot easier. Chloe seemed easier when I thought about her that way. I’m not chafing at my bonds of southern woman in the 50’s I have fucking broken right out of them. It made it easier to breathe life into her. I actually like Chloe a lot better now. She has more strength and more depth.

I like the cast. M is very sweet as Grace. And J is appropriately shy and earnest. And G is going to make a mean drunk. I can’t wait to stage our fight scene. I always like the physical scenes and nothing is quite as physical as a good fight scene. I also like K as a director. I guess if I was going to say that I had one complaint it would be that says “Okay. Awesome! Now if you could just…” that I no longer believe that anything is “Awesome!” But it’s better to have someone supportive than have someone who gives you nothing but criticism with no positive reinforcement. Or someone who gives you nothing. She also gives good motivation direction. She asks questions and she tells you things about your character that are very helpful. And pretty decisive too. I like that.

After rehearsal I told K that I was freaking out about kissing E in Sweetness and she promised to make it comfortable for me. She even suggested that the four of us get together and do the scene while drink tequila. We drink tequila in the scene any way so she thinks it will help the mood and help us bond. And make kissing E easier. Which it probably will. I’m starting to think it’s the having the husband, C, all pissed off about me doing a show that is compounding my unease. But I’m sure I’ll get past it. Tonight is my first rehearsal for Sweetness and I am very much looking forward to it.