7 weeks to go! Every day the time gets shorter and Hamullet grows longer… and longer. I made a little joke to this effect to Steve and he seemed to voice his approval, so it’s going to be a bit of a Pat Sharp look, but at least it’ll fit old Shakes.
Back in the nursery again this week, and Sunday’s rehearsal turned out to be a tricky one. We were missing a couple of our core cast and so we ended up doing a lot of lines to empty space, or read in from off stage, which is fine… but it makes it difficult to take seriously. And when onlookers start laughing as well, its hard not to crack a few jokes and try to dissolve the weirdness, but actually I had to just be a flipping professional and face it. It was fine, it was just difficult. And it immediately made me feel bad about missing the rehearsals that I have missed and am going to miss. I’ve got three weddings in October as well an improv shows and what-not, and Steve and Southside have been very very accommodating, but there’s a few key things that I am going to be missing, and it will probably be difficult them for the same reasons. Sorry guys!
Not much else to report about Sunday… Except that I came to a total realisation about Soldier 2. Yup, in true Shakespearean fashion, there are significant and important characters that are not even given the benefit of a name. Soldier 1, for instance, is the catalyst for the duel that happens in the second act amongst other things. But it occurred to me when reading through the play that Soldier 2, played by the fantastic Chris Paxton, not only spends most of his time playing henchman and enforcer to Bacon, but is also a total heel to Shakespeare at all times! He’s always giving him shit. And then he is instrumental in cocking up things for Shakespeare in Act 3 when things come to a head. Not to spoil things, but whether dead or undead Soldier 2 is always in my way to getting what I want. It kind of feels like Soldier 2 is the sub-villain on the way to the Bond villain. Not quite Goldfinger, but maybe Oddjob? That sells Chris short, but I’m sure you know what I mean. So I’m looking forward to shooting some foul looks to Chris, and hopefully he’ll throw some back.
And I did also meet Lynne for the first time, who is playing Queen Elizabeth I. I gave her a screenplay of mine to use as a prop script, then she promptly opened it and started reading it. Cheeky woman!
But the main event this week was the third and final instalment of Zombie Fight Club! Yup, Kiel came back for one last bout of coaching and choreography and we tackled the very end of the play when everything goes completely Pete Tong. We also fine tuned the duel between Bacon and Shakespeare, and I’m happy to say I have a much better handle on it. Ever since that first session with Kiel, I have been practicing in the mirror, with my own shadow and with friends. I even got distracted at a little trip to Hampton Court Palace and started going through the motions when I was supposed to be enjoying a cultural trip with my girlfriend! But we went through it last night and added the flourishes I think we were all craving.
And it was great to finally cross the final zombie invasion off the “to do” list, and there’s a far clearer sequence of events to follow in this one. The invasion in Act 1 is a brawl or a riot with four things happening at once. This fight tells a very clear, gruesome story. And I once again came away from it thinking how good everyone else is. Leigh takes to choreography like a duck to water (he trained in Ju Jitsu and Katana, I discovered) and Rory is just effortlessly funny and effecting and able to switch between those with startling ease. In the first act, when Kemp takes down his first Zombie, Rory does so with such convincing and comedic flourish. He’s done stage combat before so he’s able to do it seamlessly and still deliver hilarious ad-libs.
Rory and I had some time to chat this week over a Mocha Kit-Kat about this and that and he revealed something really interesting to me. A practice dating all the way back to Stanislavsky is to choose for your character a “super-objective”. In other words, a motivation that carries through the entire play. I’ve been trying to narrow one down for Shakespeare, and I seem to come up with about three at a time, but Rory explained to me what Kemp’s super-objective is, and it is brilliant. The Nine Days Wonder.
Kemp is planning on doing a Morris-dancing jig that takes him from London to Norwich in nine days. He promotes it onstage once the players have done Henry V and spends the rest of the play bragging about it. Through all that happens in the play, Shakespeare is trying to protect and fight for himself, his legacy and his reputation. Kemp is doing everything for The Nine Days Wonder. He is at the globe to promote it. He is fighting for survival so that he can later perform it. All he wants to do is f***ing jig around the maypole, and that makes absolute sense. It captures everything his character wants and needs, even at his most selfish or heroic moments. Genius.
The only parts we have yet to rehearse fully are the very end of the play and a couple of moments in Act 1, but I actually had a chat to Steve about the ending in particular. We were in the pub, so I was a little reluctant to talk shop, but I was very interested to hear his thoughts as I had no idea how to deliver the last speech of the play. It ends in a very Shakespearean coda and I completely unsure of what Steve wanted or how to do it. He made it crystal clear to me and it is a thing of beauty. I’ll talk about what he said when we rehearse it, but I can’t wait to tell you.
Until then, here’s a hideous sneak-peak of William Shakesbeard that will give you nightmares, and I will bid thee adieu.
William Shakespeare’s Land Of The Dead is being performed at The Bedford in Balham from 28th-31st October. Tickets available now!
I Am Zombie Shakespeare 