Today flew by. We staged the first two acts of the play and learned a shit-tonne about the theatrical rules of our world. A deadly provocation propelled us into Act One. A game with simple rules. Here we are, eleven actors telling a story, one of us will die. “How shall I dare to venture in her castle,” Alsemero asks, “When she discharges murderers at the gate?”
We worked out the ruleset of the asides; specifically who on stage can see what and when. This was key as we are all always present in the scene in some way, either as characters, or as spectators with varying degrees of activation. We established the power points of our playing space and started to build a shared physical language too. Once these fundamentals began to crystallise and coalesce, the offers started coming thick and fast. I was riveted watching Jamie and Collette’s work in the proposition scene, and the excitement continued into the scene where Alex is murdered. Our morphing meta space of varnished wood, business, money and murder is one that feels exciting and unique. I can’t wait to explore it further tomorrow. Moving from the tense boardroom table of Act One to a ‘Carousel of Doom’ in Act Two, we ended the day as a compact ensemble witnessing the murder of Alonzo. The game had claimed its first victim.
Mylo McDonald (Alsemero)
