Early rehearsals are a very delicate, somewhat dangerous affair. Everybody is new to each other. Everyone is rather daunted by the task ahead – you read the script and find many, many mentions of slaps and hits and rather required spans of crying. You need to kiss him on page 24. She has got to move you so much that you slump onto the floor in a pool of remorse on page 18. He has to spill water on an oh, so specific spot at the top of this scene. She needs to toss a collection of jewelry from a distance at a target limited to just a few inches within the span of 1.5 pages.
Rehearsals begin gradually. For Shadow Box we certainly do not need to begin with blocking. We need to begin by just sitting and facing each other and making some give and take have life and honesty. We don’t need to move around yet. We do not need to be conscious of the set or of the audience. We are just trying to figure out the WHO and the WHAT of the moment – – soon to be turning to a bit of WHY before the weekend gets here.
BUT – oh how we want to reach for HOW. How will I move? How will I say this line? How is she going to slap me? How am I going to finish this drink on stage? How am I going to make this entrance or this exit? How? How? How? For some of those “hows” I got great ideas. For some of those “hows” I have really worked up some magic in my mind. Some of those “hows” bewilder and terrify the cast. BUT we must not “HOW.” We must build this step by step trusting in the process and allowing the product to come when it comes and not a moment sooner.
We can do WHO, WHAT, WHERE, and WHY for now. But no HOW now!