Three Block(ing)s

This week I had the first real blocking rehearsal with both Ali in Her Heart and Lena in Seeing the Thing. In Her Heart, Kivan was happy to see how we wanted to move, at first, and then gave us more specific direction later. We got rather specific and began using the space in unique ways. Because we're not performing in a normal proscenium theater, we can use the space more realistically. With an audience in front of you and only in front of you, actors have to worry about always facing them (not showing their backsides). It creates a degree of artifice that isn't conducive to good performances. You have to play to the crowd. On the other hand, with an audience on two sides, we're playing to the corner, yes, but more than that, we're playing to each other. We have the freedom to emphasize one character over another in any given moment and blocking becomes much more organic, as we interact with one another without worrying so much how it looks from one singular perspective. Ultimately, this will mean that each seat will get a little different view of the action and that's okay. Every side is interesting, in my opinion, and tells a slightly different story.

We also set some rules for ourselves. Glory, Ali's character, for example, would go downstage (towards the audience and the northern lights) when she felt more connected to her deceased husband, and upstage (towards the back wall and me) when felt more connected to East, my character. This created a unique dynamic for the scene and one that gave clear reasons for moving.

Blocking for Seeing the Thing was an unexpected consequence of the weather (I was meant to rehearse with Travis in They Fell that evening) but ended up being very productive. Kivan wasn't as prepared as he had been for Seeing the Thing but we were productive nonetheless. I guess the biggest thing that emerged for me in blocking with some idea of the ground plan, was the impact that levels can have. When Lena's character of Rhonda would be up on a platform higher than me, it drove home what a monumental task giving his gift is for Dave, my character. It made it far more daunting and her a bit more intimidating. Having to physically climb to say what I needed to say was quite effective at making the impediments to Dave's goal very clear. It was like a more physical version of psychological gestures (a technique for making lines clearer where in you deliver the lines with a physical gesture in mind. For example, an angry line can be delivered with a push). I guess that's what blocking is supposed to be; an extension of the pursuit of an objective and an outgrowth of the circumstances of these characters.

Overall, it has been an excellent first few blocking rehearsals.

Ben Sulzberger

East/Chad/Dave