Yesterday was the rehearsal we call Ten of Twelve. This means that we rehearse 10 hours of a 12 hour period. It is a LONG day but yesterdays 10/12 rehearsal was productive, thoughtful, fun, and exciting. I was simply one of the best ones I have ever been a part of. We spent the first two sections of the day (we break twice so the day is made of up three work sessions) doing a stop-and-go. This basically means that we ran the show, stopping and fixing tech elements (lights, sound, props, and set....no costumes until Monday) as we went and re-running sections as needed. Since the show is only about 95 mins long, we (Andrew Blevins and I) assumed that we would fly through this stop-and-go. As it turned out things t0ok much longer than we expected. We found out that a show as delicate as Lockerbie needs delicacy and patience when incorporating technical elements. Crazy or sudden shifts and lights or sound simply do not work in this world. JM (Lighting designer) and Mark (sound designer) along with Eric (props) and John and Chad (Set) worked hard to elevate the story the actors are telling on stage in a way that helped move the action and the story along but not overwhelm it.
After we finished our stop-and-go we moved on to a full run. I expected since we were all tired that the run would be a bit low energy but I was WRONG! The actors took the show to a whole new level and not only incorporated the tech elements but used them to elevate and focus their work on stage. And let me tell you....you all are going to have your jaws HIT THE FLOOR when you watch the final sequence of the play...it is a truly thrilling thing to watch!
Side note: there was no shortage of laughter yesterday as usual. The cast and crew pulled one over on me when instead of the hearing the show music during on shot at the final sequence they played The Circle of Life from the Lion King and proceeded to pull a stuffed animal from the clothing bag and dance around like wild animals from the Lion King. Someone got it all on film and I am sure it will be on facebook soon enough. It was VERY FUNNY!
Best,
Emily Gill
Director, The Women of Lockerbie
