I have been cast as Viola in a production of 12th Night or What You Will (this is the only Shakespeare play with a double title, possibly because Ole Bill was making fun of a pretentious double-titled play that Ben Johnson as written a few months earlier.)
Anyway, this is exciting to me, and I enjoy writing about things that are exciting to me, so I'm going to write about my journey as I move through these rehearsals and discover the character of Viola.
Let us begin with an amusing anecdote. It is the friday of the first week of rehearsal, and we are finally getting to move about and begin characterizing. All of the actors sit in a circle and perform their scenes in the middle of the circle. We're all having a blast and being generally ridiculous when ridiculosity (Shakespeare made up words and so can I) is called for. The final scene approaches and Viola is finally reunited with her long lost twin brother Sebastian. Sebastian and I are very emotional and excited by this scene, obviously. There is a point when Viola cries out, "I am Viola." I approach the line and pass it, but as soon as I say it, the entire cast falls down in laughter, leaving me standing in bewildered silence. When someone finally tells me what I said, I join them on the stage floor in gales of laughter. Instead of "I am Viola," I said, still completely in character, "I am Volivia!" Thank you, ladies and gentleman, Volivia has left the building.
Amusing anecdote done with, let's get on into characterization. My first thoughts about Viola without even looking at the script were that she is in love with Orsino and she is going to have a lot of fun double meanings in her lines, and will be exquisitely tortured by the love triangle between Orsino, herself, and Olivia. I worked with these initial feelings and plastered my script, in pencil thank heavens, with notes about how this line was an admittance of love and this line was a double meaning, and this one was tortured, etc. I even went as far as to change the punctuation of a line slightly so that I could make it seem like Viola already had a tiny crush on Orsino.
I went into the first big rehearsal tonight full of these wonderful thoughts. Of course, by the end, they had all been tossed out and new ones put in their place. I feel victim to one of the classic blunders, though at least I didn't go up against a Sicilian when death was on the line.....
Our director said two things during rehearsal today that resonated with me. The first thing he said was that the lines that you speak should never be simple exposition. This is true with all plays, but Shakespeare especially can become full of monotonous explanations if you don't put a personal emotion and reason behind everything you say.
The second thing our director said was a piece of advice that seems so self-evident, yet I had never thought about this before. He told us that decisions should not be made off-stage. They should be made onstage where the audience can see them. Seems simple, right? I've often found that the most helpful acting tips are the simplest things that you never manage to think of yourself. I guess that's why we need teachers.
This might not seem like a big deal, but it completely changes how I play Viola. Instead of starting Act I; scene v already in love with Orsino, I am now just discovering that I love him in this scene. The other scenes I have will be a deeper discovery, understanding, and acceptance of this love, which gives me a fun and exciting character arch to play with!
The other scene we worked on tonight was I,ii, the first time the audience sees Viola. I had originally cluttered it up with double meanings and the like, but our director quickly cleaned things up, making the scene about nothing more that Viola and her friend the captain trying to figure out how to survive in this strange land of Illyria.
The Viola that I started out with is very different from the Viola that came out tonight. This Viola, the Viola that the director wants, is a lot more honest and straightforward than the Viola I had envisioned. I think that this simplification of Viola will ultimately be better than my initial interpretation. Simple and clear character choices always read better onstage than the convoluted drivel you create in the isolation of your home. This is why rehearsals are so important. No matter what you come up with outside before the rehearsal, afterwards, you almost always come out with something new.
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