Present: Dale, Marc, Dan, Jeff B.
The problem of the day was the final scene: what does it mean and how do we stage it?
Dale wanted to start with Coriolanus’ death, the hard part. We futzed around a bit, and then Dale shared a moment he wanted to steal from another production the review of which he had read this summer: Aufidius does his last speech trying to pull Coriolanus’ body up by himself. He calls for others to help him bear C’s body offstage, but even with his last line, “Assist!”, no one moves. He is left clutching his true love to himself.
We played that, liked it, then worked up to it. The final attack on Coriolanus evolved into a choreographed death scene, naturally. I won’t describe it here, because if audience members are reading (or begin reading) this site, we don’t want to spoil the surprise. But it mirrors the opening and provides us with a shocking image of the two men for the ending. Dan came up with the perfect close to the play, which solved the problem created by no one assisting Aufidius in the traditional dead march.
We looked at V.5, that bizarre little pantomime of a Roman triumph, and found ways to have Volumnia scare the audience one last time.
Everyone has commitments this Saturday, it is Labor Day weekend after all, so we will not rehearse this Saturday. We will meet back next Thursday, Sep. 3, and we will make our casting decisions for the major roles at that meeting. Scary.
It must be something in the air.
Hey, we could be an “original practices” production. Let me talk to some people who know Michael Vick and a few park rangers who need to make a quick buck. Bear baiting for those who come early!