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.