Exhausting

Another week, another rehearsal, another blog.  This one will be shorter I promise. Unlike William Shakesbeard’s Hamullet which is growing by the day.

So, apparently I’m more insecure about this than I thought. Some times I just can’t shake the idea that i have no idea what I’m doing. After my muddled duelling and resulting insecurities last week, I sent Steve and email, which was plain dumb. It was dumb to be insecure and it was dumb to bother Steve with it. Especially given that I feel fine about it now. I think sometimes when you’re with new people, you feel their gaze a little too strongly.

Part of what really helped with all this was, you guessed it, more rehearsal (funny how that works, isn’t it?). And Leigh was very accommodating with practicing a little more before we began. And it was also fun getting to have a few giggles with him as well. I thought I should probably keep my distance from Leigh a little as Bacon and Shakespeare are not great mates. But actually, the guy’s a delight, and its been fun mucking about with umbrellas as if they were swords. And here’s a funny thing, I noticed in certain lights that he actually bears quite a resemblance to Michael Fassbender, especially when the guy laughs.

It was also my first proper rehearsal with Rachael, the actor playing Kate, and it feels as though we are yet to actually hold a conversation, but she’s got that character down already. I was eager to work with her because, as I think I have already mentioned, Kate might be his only friend that can actually reign him, and not only that, but she seems to be able to do it compassionately. Weirdly, we rehearsed her last scenes last week, her first scenes this week, and we are yet to rehearse the bit where things fall apart, so the arc is a little back to front at the mo, but I can’t wait to get stuck in.

And I had the great pleasure of watching the opening of the play (one of the few sequences when I am not, in fact, on stage) where Kemp and Rachael have a chat and a bit of competitive teasing. The two of them have a really natural chemistry and I immediately got excited. Rory’s Kemp is this bouncing ham with bells on and Rachael’s Kate is hapless and world-weary. it’s great.

We actually ran the entire first act until just after the first zombie attack, and also the third act until a similar point. Getting the feel of Shakespeare’s ebb and flowing moods like this was so enormously helpful, I cannot begin to describe.

Steve also made a key point to me about the third act that I had forgotten. Shakespeare is not just tired, not just depressed and not just pissed off about it. The man is EXHAUSTED! He’s just come off stage from performing Henry V, for heaven’s sake. That makes him tired. An absolute annoyance, Kemp, turns up. That makes him fed up. Zombies attack, that makes him scared and he has to physically exert himself. He than has to clean up. Knackering! Then there’s the duel, a physical set-to between to desperate combatants and the adrenaline of it all. By the time the consequences are felt, Shakespeare has been up all night to top it all off. He must be in pieces. Broken down physically, emotionally and mentally until there must be little left. But that’s the beauty of it as well. He really has nothing left. It brings a whole new motivation to the entire third act, particularly his relationship to Bacon. This is going to be fun.

But how does that feel? It’s been a while since I have spent the whole night awake. Well… I’m going to a stag party in Edinburgh over the weekend, so I’m sure I’ll be reminded. And I’ve got a looooong train to get there, so I’ll have my lines learned by the time I get back.  Roll on next week. Stay tuned. hopefully I’ll survive the Stag to tell the tale.

And Keith, I wish I had a jet-copter too! That’s all, really…

William Shakespeare’s Land Of The Dead is being performed at The Bedford in Balham from 28th-31st October. Tickets available now!