Present: Marc, Dale, John David, Jeff A., Dan, Greg, Jeff B.
Welcome, John David Bilon as Cominius!
We met in the Greenville Street Park to work through Act V. Surrounded by two separate weddings and the Obama campaign, we were unmolested.
Still unsure about V.1 and V.2, we staged them anyway. Kevin, we have cut all the business with the guards. The scene now starts with your silent approach to the camp, then CORIOLANUS: Now what’s the matter? MENENIUS cuts the opening bit of that big speech, starting with the the [to Coriolanus]: The glorious gods… and ending with … The good gods assuage thy wrath. Then, after AUFIDIUS: You keep a constant temper, the guards escort you silently away, and we continue straight into V.3.
We did not do V.4, since Kevin and Greg were not there, nor V.5, since it’s just a parade. However, someone needs to do the MESSENGERs in V.4; Scott and Andrew, take those. Also, John David, take the SENATOR in V.5.
We worked a lot on V.6, the final scene, just because it was so much fun and because it’s so important. It’s going to be very important to keep the crowd noises going during the fight and during Coriolanus’s death slump. Perhaps one of the Conspirators needs to come pull Aufidius up from Coriolanus’s body to bring him back to the business at hand?
We went back to the beginning of the play and tried to walk through the scenes to see how and where we would stage them now that we had a better feeling of the space. Act I remains as we planned, on the raised platform and the sidewalk, and then starting with II and III we begin moving down the middle of the greensward to the other side of the amphitheatre, ending at the seating area for most of IV and V.
We will give the audience a ten-minute break after III.3, the banishment scene, cut IV.1 [goodbye at the gates], and pick up with IV.2 [Volumnia chews her some tribune ass] after the break.
We bogged down again at the Battle Ballet, aka I.4.
NEXT: Wednesday, we will meet in Dale’s back yard. Let’s focus on Act I.
Scott Stroud, Dale needs your email.
At the end, I want a lot more eye contact between Cor. and Auf., a lot more recognition that this is what we were really dreaming about; the homoerotic stuff was just sublimation. Death is where it’s at, baby.
Also, I’m going to push the grief thing. Let me know when it gets to be too much.
Unmolested? Speak for yourself.
Did we decide to cut the opening of I.4? I faded out. I’m looking at it and think it would work to cut the horse bet and start with MARTIUS: How far off lie these armies?
Jeff Bishop, you’re welcome, I’m sure.
Jeff Allen, do you have the First Senator marked as yours? If not, could we throw those to Scott and/or Andrew?
Also: I have updated the cast list over on the Coriolanus page. I’ve written out all the messengers, senators, etc., with xxx‘s. Some of these we may have already cast. Some we will need to distribute to our new cast members. If there are any to which you are especially attracted, let me know and I’ll get them set down.
I have decided to collect my arguments for the “battle ballet” into a book of incidental essays. I need just a few more to reach a publishable length, however, so be prepared to grind to a halt a few more times in our upcoming rehearsals. Thanks.
Again, let’s just do the Ballet and be done with it! We have talked it to death. But I do look forward to reading your book, Marc.