 | "One of Sprites
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| "One of Sprites
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This is the diary I kept during the rehearsals for the 1997 Baker Shakespeare production of The Winter's Tale. Like many diaries, it has a few holes, and it is naturally somewhat constrained by my own perspective -- although I like to think that, as Assistant Director, I was in a reasonably good position to observe everything about the process: acting, tech, dramaturgy, and all manner of administrivia (the last of which, at least, doesn't weigh down this diary too much). it is divided into chapters based on the different stages of production: intial read-throughs, analysis, blocking, polishing, and performance.
I've noticed that production diaries appear to be something of a trend of late -- see the published screenplays of Sense and Sensibility and Hamlet for a couple of excellent examples. At worst such accounts are not terribly illuminating; at best they provide a valuable record of the good, bad, and ugly of producing a show. One hopes that this one, at least, will be useful to future BakerShake directors and staffers, as a small record of one particular production's progress.
So here then, without further ado, follows the trials and tribulations of the BakerShake cast and crew of 1997's production of The Winter's Tale, starting with the first day of rehearsals.