Oh dear oh dear

Continuing my documentation of the rehearsal process for the Crucible.

Today we had our first read through, or half of it. We only got to the interval, and it took us two hours. Three people were missing, two of whom play two characters, so i was reading in 5 parts as well as the stage directions (and as any of you who have read anything by Arthur Miller will know, there are a LOT of stage directions.) All of this was manageable enough, but then half way through one of the cast signalled that she wanted to talk to me. We left the rehearsal room while people continued reading, and she told me that she had decided she couldn't commit the time needed to be in the play, and that she was going to leave. We went back into the room, she packed up her stuff and left, all without interrupting the rest of the cast.

About half an hour later we had a break and i explained what had just happened to the rest of the cast. She is the second person to drop out in two days, and i said to the rest of the cast that if any of them were feeling the same it would be better for them to leave now, rather than disrupting the course further along the rehearsal process. Two more actresses left.

I'm beginning to think this play is cursed.

Saying that, the read through went well, the remaining actors are very good, even in the rather dry and normally awkward reading stage. People were performing their lines instead of just reading them, and i think that we can still make a strong play.

The dilemma i now face is whether to cut characters and lines, which i really don't want to do, or to multi-role people, which i think will look ridiculous. I plan on spending most of my day tomorrow in the crepe cafe on campus reading through the script and trying to make sense of this mess.

You know what would make me feel better? Those brown boots. Hint hint...