Week 4
Directing a scene with just two actors demands a totally different approach from directing one with fourteen. Getting inside the characters remains to a large extent the same, but there’s a big difference from a technical point of view.
With just two actors, you have to walk a tightrope between having them rooted boringly to the spot and having them dinging about the stage with moves that are there simply for their own sake.
On the other hand, when the stage is full, you have to make sure that the focus remains on the lines and characters that are important to the development of the story. This is where a firm line has to be taken with actors in the background who feel uneasy about doing nothing, and start adding in bits of business – however plausible for their characters – that distract from the main focus. As I point out to them, if the audience is looking at them instead of the main action, then I’ve obviously got it wrong.
We’ve got one lovely scene where Grace (Lady Agatha) spends the entire scene being ignored. She, of course, has to be involved in the scene throughout – but mustn’t intrude. It requires a lot of discipline – and in many cases a lot of bottle – but doing nothing can frequently be very funny indeed.
The same scene involves another challenge of a somewhat unusual nature. The Duchess (Barbara) divulges information crucial to the story and, in effect, sparks off everything that happens during the rest of the play. Yet this very serious information is purveyed during a wonderfully comic sequence. Challenge: to extract the maximum comedy while driving the plot forward as clearly as possible.
Still, this week has been fun. As well as the scene I’ve just described, we did some initial work on Act 2, the ball scene. Actors crossing and recrossing the stage, constant entrances and exits, clever lines by the bucketful, comedy and intrigue – and all leading to the dramatic First Half Closer.
The more we work on this piece, the more respect I have for Wilde as a master craftsman of the theatre.
Directing a scene with just two actors demands a totally different approach from directing one with fourteen. Getting inside the characters remains to a large extent the same, but there’s a big difference from a technical point of view.
With just two actors, you have to walk a tightrope between having them rooted boringly to the spot and having them dinging about the stage with moves that are there simply for their own sake.
On the other hand, when the stage is full, you have to make sure that the focus remains on the lines and characters that are important to the development of the story. This is where a firm line has to be taken with actors in the background who feel uneasy about doing nothing, and start adding in bits of business – however plausible for their characters – that distract from the main focus. As I point out to them, if the audience is looking at them instead of the main action, then I’ve obviously got it wrong.
We’ve got one lovely scene where Grace (Lady Agatha) spends the entire scene being ignored. She, of course, has to be involved in the scene throughout – but mustn’t intrude. It requires a lot of discipline – and in many cases a lot of bottle – but doing nothing can frequently be very funny indeed.
The same scene involves another challenge of a somewhat unusual nature. The Duchess (Barbara) divulges information crucial to the story and, in effect, sparks off everything that happens during the rest of the play. Yet this very serious information is purveyed during a wonderfully comic sequence. Challenge: to extract the maximum comedy while driving the plot forward as clearly as possible.
Still, this week has been fun. As well as the scene I’ve just described, we did some initial work on Act 2, the ball scene. Actors crossing and recrossing the stage, constant entrances and exits, clever lines by the bucketful, comedy and intrigue – and all leading to the dramatic First Half Closer.
The more we work on this piece, the more respect I have for Wilde as a master craftsman of the theatre.
posted by oxford theatre guild at 10:42 AM
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