3.1: Women Turn Monsters
Ah, violence. I dreamt about it last night, in anticipation of today's fight rehearsal--the last one before our Christmas break. 'Tis the season to be gory.
We worked the blinding scene extensively today--first just the fights, with Andrew supervising. We also had one or two "virgins" present (actors who hadn't seen the blinding yet), so we could watch their reactions and gauge the gross-out factor. Lookin' good.
It's a very nicely balanced scene, because just as Cornwall goes overboard, Kassia's Servant steps in and tries to stop him. Then, as Regan steps in and cuts her (belly first, then throat), Gloster is watching with his one good eye, and gasping out his empathy. Then, as Cornwall finishes his blinding, we see two hardened soldiers (Igor and Andrew T.) turn away in shame and horror. The overall result pleases everybody in the audience: the gore-lovers get a triple helping, while the squeamish always have someone onstage who is reacting more or less as they themselves would react. Everybody's happy.
Regan is particularly happy. Tonight Brittany really turned a corner with her, discovering Regan's inner sadist. She starts out the scene under Cornwall's thumb, but by the end, she's thoroughly in control, and actively searching out new opportunities for cruelty. Her exit from the scene is triply dismissive: first, she orders the soldiers to turn Gloster out of doors, "and let him smell his way to Dover." Then, she adds (referring to the slain Servant), "Throw this slave upon the dunghill." Finally, she breezes coldly past her injured husband, leaving him to stumble out on his own.
And yet, for all that insensitivity, I didn't feel that Regan quite justified the Second Soldier's comment about her:
If she live long,
And in the end meet the old course of death,
Women will all turn monsters.
One more twist of the knife was needed. And we found it, quite literally, in Cornwall's final line: "Regan, I bleed apace. / Untimely comes this hurt. Give me your arm." Rather than simply snub him, I suggested that Regan hold out her arm...and the long, thin blade (Cornwall's own weapon, originally) that she had used to kill the Servant. Cornwall grasps the blade before he realizes what it is. Hoist on his own petard!
Brittany loved the suggestion. It's a very ruthless counterpoint to the moments in the play when characters reach out selflessly for one another (Edgar helping Lear or the Fool, the Fool helping Lear or Kent). At this moment, a husband, dying, reaches out for the help of his "dutiful" wife...and gets a handful of steel.
Boy. I think I'm gonna need a shrink after doing this show.
We worked the blinding scene extensively today--first just the fights, with Andrew supervising. We also had one or two "virgins" present (actors who hadn't seen the blinding yet), so we could watch their reactions and gauge the gross-out factor. Lookin' good.
It's a very nicely balanced scene, because just as Cornwall goes overboard, Kassia's Servant steps in and tries to stop him. Then, as Regan steps in and cuts her (belly first, then throat), Gloster is watching with his one good eye, and gasping out his empathy. Then, as Cornwall finishes his blinding, we see two hardened soldiers (Igor and Andrew T.) turn away in shame and horror. The overall result pleases everybody in the audience: the gore-lovers get a triple helping, while the squeamish always have someone onstage who is reacting more or less as they themselves would react. Everybody's happy.
Regan is particularly happy. Tonight Brittany really turned a corner with her, discovering Regan's inner sadist. She starts out the scene under Cornwall's thumb, but by the end, she's thoroughly in control, and actively searching out new opportunities for cruelty. Her exit from the scene is triply dismissive: first, she orders the soldiers to turn Gloster out of doors, "and let him smell his way to Dover." Then, she adds (referring to the slain Servant), "Throw this slave upon the dunghill." Finally, she breezes coldly past her injured husband, leaving him to stumble out on his own.
And yet, for all that insensitivity, I didn't feel that Regan quite justified the Second Soldier's comment about her:
If she live long,
And in the end meet the old course of death,
Women will all turn monsters.
One more twist of the knife was needed. And we found it, quite literally, in Cornwall's final line: "Regan, I bleed apace. / Untimely comes this hurt. Give me your arm." Rather than simply snub him, I suggested that Regan hold out her arm...and the long, thin blade (Cornwall's own weapon, originally) that she had used to kill the Servant. Cornwall grasps the blade before he realizes what it is. Hoist on his own petard!
Brittany loved the suggestion. It's a very ruthless counterpoint to the moments in the play when characters reach out selflessly for one another (Edgar helping Lear or the Fool, the Fool helping Lear or Kent). At this moment, a husband, dying, reaches out for the help of his "dutiful" wife...and gets a handful of steel.
Boy. I think I'm gonna need a shrink after doing this show.
posted by Scott Sharplin at 10:35 p.m.
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