THAT scene

Today's rehearsal's main focus for myself and Sam was Act 1 Scene 2 aka. the sex scene. Although the sex lasts for a matter of seconds and does not carry with it any romantic weight, for both myself and Sam taking the leap of faith and getting inside Jeff and Claudia's heads instead of our own was a little daunting.

Ever since reading the play we all knew that if we were successful in obtaining the roles we wanted, we would have to do this scene and at the time the prospect of a new challenge was enticing. However when you get told that your partner in said scene is your best friend, pros and cons start to appear. The pros; that I am comfortable with Sam and am able to be both physically and emotionally vulnerable with him, the cons; are self explanatory. Something like this divides the process and initiative of you as a student and as someone who wants to work professionally. Even recording this seems a little strange because in an ideal world it would be something that you could just get on with and wouldn't need to express any concern about and yet the reality was a little different. Our attempt at staging this scene today was fuelled less with professionalism and more with giggles. We decided with our director that this was something myself and Sam needed to work out for ourselves as admittedly it was an intimate, personal battle that we both had to conquer. This Friday we are going to try and stage it ourselves, get comfortable with the scene and then feed it back to Ben when it was at a stage in which we have overcome the initial barriers.

The rest of the scene was more successful in terms of our approach to the work. Similarly to last lesson, I was able to experience and experiment with the power Claudia holds at the start of the play and I think it is more enjoyable when a scene is one on one. When you are holding a whole group of people in the palm of our hand, of course you technically have "more" power and yet being able to focus all of your efforts on one person allows you to really hone in on what makes them squirm and therefore directly effect them and have more of an impact over all. When I wrote my first impressions of the play I talked about being complicit to the criminal actions as a reader or audience member throughout the play as we come to know and love the characters. I am starting to understand this concept at a more personal level. Although Claudia and I do not have much in common, I believe that we both enjoy exerting our power over others. There is an almost animalistic instinct to it, with power making you feel safe and untouchable, plus a basic human desire to be needed by someone or to control someone lies in the enjoyment I get out of these scenes. This scene is really fun to play around with because Jeff and Claudia seem to be in two very different states of mind; Jeff about to tell Claudia that he loves her and Claudia telling him (in not so many words) that this is just a bit of fun and doesn't really mean anything to her at all. Claudia seems to have a fundamental set of standards in her life, a scale in which she ranks everything in her life; power and control topping the list, adoration and sexuality possibly in the middle with sex and Jeff being at the bottom. Playing around with this mentality is so fun because as an actor she allows you to be bold onstage without the burden of emotional consequences- it's all just a game.

We also blocked Act 1 Scene 3 with Tatenda which was interesting to do directly after scene 2. In the space of a few paces across the stage I need to find a way to switch from playful, fun Claudia to the bitchy business women we see appear in the next scene. I think the change comes with the necessity of the power play; in Scene 2 she asserts power because she can, in Scene 3 she does it because she needs to. Ben wants me and Sam to start playing with our onstage 'battle' physically; actually pushing each other out off the way and stepping forward to make our point. This is a method which give us an initial grip on the intentions of the scene and we will then go on to find the subtleties later on. Something I'm loving in rehearsals is that with Claudia I can play a scene which is alluring and playful and then go straight into a scene of aggression and raw energy which keeps me on my toes and doesn't let me stop working. She is presenting me with a character which offers a spectrum of personal and extended relations and for me to work with, is proving it be immense fun. Although having fun isn't necessarily the priority in a rehearsal room I think for a play which requires such concentration and energy, the moment you loose fun, you've lost the magic of the whole piece.

And the Messiah came forth to the boozy office party

In today's rehearsal we started with the first scene; the office party. Before we started actively devising we needed to establish what an office party at Enron would be like; formal or informal? Classy or dirty? Polite or trashy? My answer would be both, entirely both. I believe that Enron was allowed to run for as long as it did because it had two natures, both completely true and both officially recognised. It had its lighter side; the side presented to the general public and investors formally, installing them as a secure, believable and profitable company. And their darker side; the side shown more in the play, the one that got them their reputation for partying and crazy antics (mostly of the books) and essentially the one that stained their other half. Enron were both. Perhaps the problem is you can't be both, you can't have everything. And yet at the start, Enron did have everything, so the start of the play can reflect this duality when it worked at its best.

Physicalizing this scene did not come as a surprise as we all expected much of the ensemble parts of the play to be in that style; plus I believe Enron's physical style was a reason why many people were attracted to it and so we were all keen to start working in this way. To start off our devising we were introduced to something called push hands. This consists of the hand, fingers and wrist being the only physical point of contact between two people. We experimented with movement across the space and the interaction with our partners whilst maintaining this point of contact. We then layered this with the context of an office party introducing a key component of that sort of event; drink. We started to give our experimentation purpose, finding ways to drink our own or our partners drink whilst keeping our hands attached. What I found with this exercise was that our movement became very ritualistic with the sharing of drinks being a sacred act which made us all commit both with our partners and with the whole group. This created a place in which drinking and partying were a core component of our lives, thus tapping into a key part of the Enron lifestyle. Taking something considered casual and impersonal and giving it platform to which we all turn and worship creates this feeling of Enron as a cult which added a dynamic layer to our work. 

We then created a secret handshake sequence in pairs which reflected the authoritative almost elitist feel of the him hands exercise with the whole ensemble taking pride and joy in the fact that no one but their partner knew the sequence. This pompous vibe is created by the people at the party feeling like they are part of the club. Having the confidence in our performance and movement will heighten this because if we believe that we are somehow special with the piece being completely about the personal involvement with the others in the room, almost ignoring the audience and Fastow with anyone who is not an insider being immediately cast out setting up this company as a ruling factor of the 1990s social scene. Now one else could compete because no one else knew how, in the same way no one could join this movement piece because they wouldn't be admitted by the general ensemble.

My favourite part of today's rehearsal was blocking the entrance of Roe and Lay simply because I was given power and could exercise it as I pleased, a prospect which seemed to speak to Claudia in me. If the ensemble is a cult, Roe and Lay enter as their leader or as their Messiah. We created two lines of people so myself and Tatenda could walk in the middle. Having the power to ignore or engage, to touch or deny, was intoxicating and strangely enjoyable. You know the effect you can have on someone and yet it is your choice whether to engage it that persons life. We then added in water bottles to fit with the style of the opening. Myself and Tatenda were able to choose whether to drink someones water or not. The most memorable moment of this exercise was leaning down to someones water as if to drink it but then just simply kissing the top of the bottle. Reflecting on it it all seems a little strange but in that moment two people become magnets; either fully connected or one repelling the other. I think this exercise has given one of the first real insights into the adoration the world had for Roe. She has so much power and responsibility and it is that exact thing that allows her to be so careless and cut throat with her peers. Its cruel... and I loved it. 

The non-fiction version of Enron

Although Enron is a fictional play it is rooted in the truth of what happened at the company. Understanding the chronology of events at Enron in parallel to our story is important because we need to honour and reflect the dealings that went on at the business. 

This is a timeline leading up to Enron's fall taken from the New York Times on which I have highlighted the key dates that I believe are important to know for the play:

1985 - Houston Natural Gas merges with InterNorth to form Enron, HNG CEO Kenneth Lay becomes CEO of combined company the following year.

1989 - Enron begins trading natural gas commodities.

1990 - Lay hires Jeffrey Skilling to lead the company's effort to focus on commodities trading in the deregulated markets. Andrew S. Fastow is one of Skilling's first hires later that year.

1991 - Richard Causey leaves Arthur Andersen LLP to join Enron as assistant controller.

1997 - Skilling named president and chief operating officer of Enron. Fastow creates Chewco, a partnership, to buy the University of California pension fund's stake in another joint venture dubbed JEDI, but Chewco doesn't meet requirements to be kept off Enron's balance sheet. First step toward similar financial moves to hide debt and inflate profits that fuel Enron's downfall.

1998 - Fastow named finance chief.

1999- Causey named chief accounting officer. Fastow creates the first of two partnerships, LJM, purported to "buy" poorly performing Enron assets and hedge risky investments but really helps the company hide debt and inflate profits. Enron directors approve Fastow's plan that he run the partnerships that do deals with Enron while continuing as Enron's finance chief. Causey and former chief risk officer Rick Buy assigned to monitor such deals to protect Enron's interests.

August 2000 - Enron shares reach high of $90.

December 2000 - Enron announces that Skilling, then president and chief operating officer, will succeed Kenneth Lay as CEO in February 2001. Lay will remain as chairman. Stock hits 52-week high of $84.87.

2001:

Aug. 14 - Skilling resigns; Lay named CEO again.

Aug. 22 - Finance executive Sherron Watkins meets privately with Lay to discuss concerns of murky finance and accounting that could ruin the company.

Oct. 16 - Enron announces $638 million in third-quarter losses and a $1.2 billion reduction in shareholder equity stemming from writeoffs related to failed broadband and water trading ventures as well as unwinding of so-called Raptors, or fragile entities backed by falling Enron stock created to hedge inflated asset values and keep hundreds of millions of dollars in debt off the energy company's books.

Oct. 19 - Securities and Exchange Commission launches inquiry into Enron finances.

Oct. 22 - Enron acknowledges SEC inquiry into a possible conflict of interest related to the company's dealings with Fastow's partnerships. Lay says, "We will cooperate fully with the SEC and look forward to the opportunity to put any concern about these transactions to rest."

Oct. 23 - Lay professes confidence in Fastow to analysts.

Oct. 24 - Fastow ousted.

Nov. 5 - Enron treasurer Ben Glisan Jr. and in-house attorney Kristina Mordaunt fired for investing in Fastow-run partnership.

Each invested $5,800 in 2001 and received a $1 million return a few weeks later.

Nov. 8 - Enron files documents with SEC revising its financial statements for previous five years to account for $586 million in losses.

Nov. 9 - Dynegy Inc. announces an agreement to buy Enron for more than $8 billion in stock.

Nov. 19 - Enron restates its third-quarter earnings and discloses a $690 million debt is due Nov. 27.

Nov. 28 - Enron stock plunges below $1 as Dynegy Inc. aborts its plan to buy its former rival.

Dec. 2 - Enron goes bankrupt, thousands of workers laid off.

2002:

Jan. 9 - Justice Department confirms it has begun a criminal investigation of Enron.

Jan. 10 - The White House discloses Lay sought help from two Cabinet members shortly before the company collapsed, but neither offered aid. The company's auditor, Arthur Andersen LLP, says it has destroyed tons of Enron documents.

Jan. 23 - Lay resigns as chairman and CEO.

Jan. 25 - Cliff Baxter, former head of Enron's trading unit and later vice president before his resignation in May 2001, found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Feb. 4 - Lay resigns from the board.

Feb. 7 - Skilling, Fastow, Michael Kopper appear at Congress with McMahon and in-house Enron lawyer Jordan Mintz. Skilling testifies; Fastow and Kopper invoke Fifth Amendment rights.

Feb. 12 - Lay invokes Fifth Amendment at a Senate hearing after expressing "profound sadness" at Enron's collapse.

March 14 - Former Enron auditor Arthur Andersen LLP indicted for destroying Enron-related documents to thwart investigators.

April 9 - David Duncan, Andersen's former top Enron auditor, pleads guilty to obstruction for instructing his staff to destroy documents as per company policy.

June 15 - Andersen convicted.

Not only is important to understand this timeline so I can apply my knowledge to my work but my choices as an actor will be informed by it. When I first read the play I was reading about these events that I had no clue about, let alone the significance in the companies journey. When you see the lawyers and accountants crop up in the play it just seems like a tool for making the world more formal and yet if you dig deeper these names were plastered all over the scandal. Plus it is enjoyable to find this all out because when you do a scene that is quite literally verbatim of an advert or an interview said by the characters onstage it makes you feel like you are a part of this crazy world. When building said world and forming relationships it is so important to allow ourselves to be informed by the real life events because it may not be 100% true 'but we're going to put it together and sell it to you as the truth' anyway.

Claudia's Dabhol Power Plant

Claudia's adventures in India are something that gets mentioned in the play a lot with it being the thing that brings her and Lay together, divides herself and Skilling and is ultimately the reason for her downfall. To understand the grand scale of the project I wanted to do some research into what, where and how this power plant came about.

The plan to build the plant was announced in 1992 with Enron saying they would invest $3 billion into building it. The plant was meant to be pinpointing Enron's international status and with the purpose of helping the Indian economy by providing them with the largest foreign investment in the countries history. However it turned out to go completely the other way for both Enron and India with the plant causing great economic turmoil and raising many questions about the human rights of the whole plan. From the start of the process the plant came under scrutiny as it was making direct deals with corrupt Indian politicians and officials in the hopes of getting the plant up and running faster. Human rights groups accused Enron of stealing land, damaging water supplies and employing criminal tactics to get there way. For example an attack by state police on a village who opposed the plant saw a pregnant women being beaten naked for being the wife of one of the oppositions leaders. However the US government found that the state forces and the Dabhol Power cooperation has violated no human rights and provided a further $300 million to Enron for its ventures in Dabhol ignoring the refusal the World Bank had given them. However in June 2001 the plants only customer, the Maharashtra state government, broke it's agreement as the power was too expensive. The power plant was a huge mess, with corruption and cut corners a plenty with the power plant itself having caused a huge economic and social impact in Dabhol that it is still recovering from to date.

Researching this made me really uncomfortable. I have talked so much about this women who I enjoy playing, getting into her head, listening to her thoughts and thinking with her brain and then you look at the consequences of all that ambition and the reality hits you that this women's big dream was to build this plant which caused such environmental and social problems. I suppose it goes to show the extent people at this company were willing to go to; for power, for position,  for money and it was all to be at whatever cost to the outside world. Using this to inform my character I hope to use my new found understanding of deals such as this to show a darker, ruthless side to my character that was willing to step on innocent people just to keep climbing the cooperate ladder.

Uta Hagen 9 Questions

Who am I?
My name is Claudia Roe. I was born in 1954 in Missouri and gradated from Baylor University in 1976 with a BA in Psychology and a Masters Degree in International Management a year later. I am divorced from Thomas Mark and we have twin sons together. In 1982 I joined Continental Resources. In 1986 I started working part time for Enron and in 1990 received an MBA from Harvard Business School. In 1991 I was made head of Enron Development Cooperation. In 1996 I became their international CEO.

What time is it?
Scene 1- 1992 7pm a clear night.
Scene 2- 1992 9:00pm the clear sky is now scattered with stars.
Scene 3- 1992 10:00am it's warm enough to be comfortable in a short dress and heels (but when isn't it.)
Scene 5- 1993 2:00pm it's rainy and overcast.
Scene 7- 1995 3:00pm it's clear but cold.
Scene 9- 1999 11:55 pm the clouds tonight are just the smoke from the new years eve fireworks display.

Scene 3- 2000 5pm it is cold and slightly windy.

Where am I?
Scene 1- at a busy office party half way up the building.
Scene 2- the top floor of the building in am empty boardroom office.
Scene 3- Lay's office.
Scene 5- Lay's office.
Scene 7- Skilling's new and improved office.
Scene 9- at the companies new years eve party on the top floor, a room with a view.

Scene 3- the rooftop of Enron.

What surrounds me?
Scene 1- employees holding champagne glasses and filing cabinets on the edge of the room that have been cleared to make room for the party.
Scene 2- Skilling, pens and papers on the boardroom desk, a few items of clothing.
Scene 3- Lay and Skilling, particular items from Lay's office: chocolate box, photo frame of Lay's family and golf clubs propped up in the corner.
Scene 5- Lay and her office particulars.
Scene 7- Skilling and the flash new additions to his office.
Scene 9- employees, slightly giddy from the celebrations.

Scene 3- the fresh air or maybe just cigarette smoke,

What are the given circumstances?
Scene 1- I have got all dressed up so I look good in front of my employees, I am enjoying small talk with Lay and Skilling and I am looking forward to seeing Skilling after.
Scene 2- I have just had 'quick,clothed sex' with Skilling and am waiting for the moment to drop the bombshell that I'll be becoming president.
Scene 3- I am preparing to fight for my presidency and will trash Skilling in the process.
Scene 5- I am still fuming at Lay's decision to give Skilling the job and am trying to guilt trip her with the end goal of getting what I want.
Scene 7- I am coming to Skilling reluctant because of my pride, but friendly because I need him on my side.
Scene 9- I am walking in to this party going out of my way to upstage Skilling and have all eyes on me.

Scene 3- I am broken by being fired and have lost it and try and let Skilling understand what he is done and what a mistake he has made.

What is my relationship?
Scene 1- I enjoy having everyone's attention on me and enjoy Lay's company and enjoy the challenge of Skilling's.
Scene 2- I like what Skilling can give me, but love never crossed my mind. I am in constant competition to win an ambiguous battle that the two of us always fight.
Scene 3- I love Lay and am confident 15 years of friendship will win me the presidency and now Skilling is just a nuisance that needs to be quashed.
Scene 5- Initially very icy due to my resentment of Lay's betrayal but more than that a mother and a daughter, first fighting and then playing on each others emotions.
Scene 7- I am a little sheepish around Skilling but soon reinstate our old sharp witted banter.
Scene 9- I love everyone and they all love me and everyone I don't love, I love the fact they hate me because frankly I am the shit.

Scene 3- I have never been so angry with someone and have no boundaries in expressing this.

What do I need?
Scene 1- I need attention,
Scene 2- I need to win.
Scene 3- I need to destroy in order to win.
Scene 5- I need to get my way.
Scene 7- I need to build bridges.
Scene 9- I need to upstage.

Scene 3- I need to release my anger.

What is in my way?
Scene 1- Skilling undermining me.
Scene 2- Skilling trying to tell me he loves me and ruining the carefree fun we were having.
Scene 3- Skilling.
Scene 5- Lay not believing in me (again.)
Scene 7- Skilling being smug and not taking me seriously anymore.
Scene 9- Nothing.

Scene 3- Skilling pretending everything is okay.

What do I do to get what I want?
Scene 1- I take every opportunity to turn eyes to me.
Scene 2- I patronise Skilling and put him in his place.
Scene 3- I destroy Skilling by making harsh, cutting remarks to knock him down.
Scene 5- I play on Lay's emotions to make her feel guilty.
Scene 7- I give Skilling the woman I know he loves.
Scene 9- I do everything extravagantly: my outfit, my entrance, my performance.

Scene 3- I tell Skilling the honest dark truth.

Claudia Roe Inspiration

Admitting that Claudia Roe is dissimilar to me leaves me needing to find ideas, images and inspiration for her character. And the one place to start with Claudia? The colour red.

When you think of a hard-headed business women you may not think of Jessica Rabbit, but when you think sex icon in red, you may come to a similar conclusion. Jessica Rabbit applies to my representation of Claudia Roe in no other way than aesthetically. Her characteristics are found elsewhere with other women and yet her look channels Jessica very closely. In both characters, a certain element of their power and confidence comes from the way they look- they know the effect it can have. Although a cartoon, Jessica's exaggerated physicality and vocal quality is something I can observe and then adapt to fit a more naturalistic style. The way she moves, every moment being specifically placed for effect is something I can bring to my interpretation of Claudia. Claudia doesn't just walk; she walks purposefully. She knows that every time she walks away from Skilling he should be left draw dropped as he watches her walk away, she knows every time she interacts with a trader that a handshake represents both polite business etiquette and a assertion of power over her colleagues. Every movement will not be so exaggerated and frankly, so plainly sexualised, but the confidence that can come with subtle deliberate choices can project outwards, effecting the other actors onstage and consequently the audience. And of course, if we are looking for an icon who wears red the best, we need look no further.

Taking inspiration away from the cartoon and into the characters, Stella Gibson from 'The Fall' at first glance could be a poster for Claudia: the blonde hair, the suit, the confident pose, the face of angel, she would be the perfect candidate for inspiration. Not only that, but her character reflects Claudia almost perfectly: she is a chief detective, so operates in a male dominant system and therefore uses her femininity to manipulate a situation. Although Stella deals with a psychotic serial killer, the intense relationship we see formed between Stella and for all intents and purposes her nemesis Paul Spector, has elements of the power play we see in the relationship Roe and Skilling have. Her attitude and the atmosphere she brings into a room is something I would aim to bring to my interpretation of Claudia.

Although it is important to find people and performances to inspire me it is essential that the Claudia I present to an audience is one that is inspired by the unique choices I make onstage. I do not want to copy anything, but taking hints from appropriate places can only enhance my performance; it would be arrogant to assume that every decision I make onstage is right. When experimenting with such a strong female character, I think it is only natural to look to those who I believe represent the same level of dominance and class that Claudia does because by understanding what a strong women is to me, I can transform into the complex, powerful women that is Claudia Roe.

My First Impressions

First Impressions of the Text
'Enron' has so many themes surrounding it: business, power, money, relationships, domination, humiliation, all of which come together to create a play bursting with contemporary energy, intellectual writing and experimental ensemble pieces. 'Enron' is what I as a 21st century actress live for. On my initial reading of the play the excitement the mere prospect of performing 'Enron' gave me was immense and surpassed the enthusiasm any other play has given me to date. The chance to work on a piece that reminded me of everything I love about Theatre was one I felt a compelling need to be a part of.

Being introduced to our main characters: Skilling, Lay and Fastow, we are drawn in to their world, through their unique characteristics, ranging from Ken's southern charm to Fastow's dark secrets. As a reader you are delighted to see the range of characters presented to us in 'Enron.' As they are all real people, there is also a sense of danger as we are dabbling in the real world of business and scandal whilst employing a certain degree of artistic license. Coming to understand men that were viewed by the world as greedy, self serving businessmen, becoming almost complacent to their deceit as you allow yourself to come to know them and whether love or hate, you develop a relationship with them by observing their broad spectrum of emotions and characteristics. They become people not figures.

Claudia Roe is not real; in fact out of the four protagonists, she is the only one who didn't exist. However she is essential in the plot of the play, acting as both a doppelganger and a foil for Skilling as their relationship constantly changes between friend and foe. She acts as an oracle when the business crumbles and mirrors Skilling's rise and fall of power as she makes her own similar journey. In the context of the play she brings class and sex to a world of male dominant business- she is the red in a world of grey.

Why did she appeal to me? For the same reason she would call out to many female actresses; she is smart, sexy, ambitious, dominant and emotional. She won't be second best and can manipulate a room and people at the snap of her fingers. She covers a variety of elements that some of the most revered heroines contain and therefore became a representation of everything I wanted to transform into. She couldn't be more different from me and yet this drew me to her even more. Yes I may be ambitious, but my thought process when it comes to getting my own way, doesn't even correlate slightly with hers. She opens up a whole new dimension, not for just me as an actress, but as a women. She became my heroine when I read her for all the wrong reasons, which is secretly the most refreshing thing to happen to me for a long time.

And so it begins

When we arrived for our first rehearsal there was a high energy in the room; a mixture of the excitement to begin this process we had for a long time anticipated but also because since Friday's cast lists had been sent we had been speculating who was who. Although our introduction to the play is important, our focus was not in the room at the beginning because we were all waiting to find out who our characters were. After finding out we all settled down a lot more, in so much that we were still buzzing, but we weren't focusing on something that distracted us from the task we were meant to be completing in the room today.

Obviously finding out that you will playing the character you wanted is hugely rewarding and it makes the prospect of the work will be doing over the next months more enticing and exiting. There is a definite sense of fulfilment that your work has payed off, especially when the casting defies many others expectations. Focusing on the opinion of others is not especially productive, but most certainly human, so being able to prove that you are capable of challenging yourself in every aspect of performance is a boost in confidence for me and my cast members. And yet I haven't even started my work on this play and know there will be weeks where I doubt myself, the play the process and become frustrated; that is all part of devising, rehearsing and performing a play, so beginning on this positive note will hopefully propel me forward to create the best work I can.

Our rehearsal began with Ben introducing us to the world of the play; the concept, themes and shape the whole piece should form. Already researching the context surrounding the piece as part of the audition process gave a lot of us a foot in the door with the introductory stages of rehearsal. I believe that what attracted many people to this piece and most definitely what attracted me was the fresh, slick style that took many bizarre risks throughout the piece so hearing that the concept we would be working with and towards mirrored our weird and wonderful expectations made us eager to get started and get creating. With 'Enron' being a massively ensemble heavy piece, even those who did not have a huge amount of lines were willing and ready to get behind the play which is of course the best thing you can ask for when performing in this style. The general consensus at the beginning of our rehearsal was that everyone was going to be a part of this performance and more importantly everyone wanted to be.

We started our rehearsal with a physical warm-up; an exercise that heavily foreshadows the type of work we will be doing in the future. 'Enron' has physical sequences laced throughout it so it is imperative that we prepare properly in the space. Thus, cue side stretch. Side stretch is a yoga sequence focusing on engaging the body and the mind, helping to create and enhance the energy and atmosphere we want to create in our rehearsal space. Today was about learning how we can go about this warm up so in the future we will not be guided through it, but automatically know that this is how we will be starting our rehearsals. I think side stretch is really going to work for me because it is not a pressured warm-up, in so much that you feed of others energy and compliment the room by exuding the type of energy you want  the rehearsal space to be filled with. It allows you to find your own balance both personally and in the whole room, finding ways of supporting yourself and the rest of the ensemble.

I was so pleased that our time today was used to run the play. No direction, frankly no clue what we were doing, but allowing us to use the energy that we had built up and dive head first into the piece. We surely did not create any solid material that will be carried all the way to the performances in January but we created a foundation upon which we can now build. Taking the risk of choosing a play which is, in a word, crazy was a little daunting, so being able to just be a little crazy, freeing yourself up to the piece, the ensemble and the space and opening yourself up to the prospects of where this piece is headed was the most useful way of spending our time today. Knowing that no body in that room had a higher understanding or premonition of what they were doing was comforting because it guaranteed mistakes which in turn did not make them so taboo. We are all aware that further into this process we will not be doing this on stage; rehearsal and technique will have to become more structured and demanding and yet I think the point of starting a process with a run like this is to remind us that whatever happens throughout this process, without freedom, energy and excitement we don't have a piece. Running the play today reminded me why I chose the play and why I love it; it's draining, but it only drains out good work, something I hope to remind myself of in the weeks to come.