Character Workshops

It's begun! Our countdown to the Edinburgh Festival is well underway, and rehearsals are a-go-go.

This is a week of character exploration, delving into the unknown to find truly unique and dynamic characters, and finding out just where they fit in the world we have created. Towards the end of the week we'll look at this world through the eyes of our Storytellers; "the lost."

Today we worked with Tamsin, Jay and Barney: each have two characters to explore, and we wanted to make sure that they contrasted significantly, maintaining the feeling of being lost and trying to find their own way in their world.  

Sam, our director, led a character workshop that asked pertinent questions of our actors; what they see themselves as, secrets they hold close to their chest, something that they are longing for - amongst others - all contributing to the discovery of why this character is lost, and where they fit in the world. We continued this exercise by making each character participate in a "hot seat", with the questions fired at them aiming to really dig into the dark and murky depths of their psyche.

Some surprises came out, with each character seemingly lifted and made whole by answering questions they had not yet thought about; Miranda is the best woman in the world, because the island is her world and she is the only woman on the island...but she would quite like some coffee and to talk about quilts with other women in a place where there are walls. Alonso just wants to eat something sweet, or maybe some pork, and muses that he did used to be much better looking. Posh totty Ferdinand is reminiscant of a public school boy on a "gap yah", but is effectively bored of his unchallenging life. Gonzalo, ever the optimist, regards knowledge above all else, and is never short of something intellectually stimulating to propose to the group. Butler Stephano has some (large) problems with drink, but it's okay, because when he was born his first word was "destiny", so he's definitely intended for greatness. Finally, dark, brooding Antonio - the Duke of Milan - wishes only for respect and power, but can't quite come to terms with his status as 'second brother', wishing that Prospero had never existed.  

Lots of exciting things came out of this workshop (particularly Stephano's favourite dance routine, and Miranda's dislike of the word "granule"), and we can't wait to work with the rest of the cast over the next few days. The world of the Tempest looks set to be a myriad of unpredictible, fascinating and vibrant lost souls, each trying to work their way to the top, all searching for something better.

We also looked at a scene between Miranda and Ferdinand, in which they are finally alone together on the island: Miranda and Ferdinand stumble across one another, and feel as if fate has destined them to be together. Tender movement intertwines with the poetry of the Storytellers; these are two of the lost who have finally found the thing they have been looking for. 

We shall be blogging for the rest of the week as we continue with our character workshops - with so many characters to explore and infinite possibilities around the corner, we are buzzing with the excitement of intrigue...who knows what's in store tomorrow?!

HP