First night of blocking. Worked on I,2, which is an easy scene to turn into a bunch of talking heads standing around and yapping. I think, however, that we will avoid that nicely.
The biggest challenge the actors will have is reprogramming themselves to play to the two-side arena stage rather than the proscenium that most of them are accustomed to. There are a new set of hazards involved: don't give either side your back too frequently; don't stand in an east-west line. The line problem comes up a little more frequently; Chepe has taken to making klaxon-like noises whenever two actors transgress that rule.
Anyway, we got some nice semi-flirtatious behaviour going on between Hermione and Polixenes (with Camillo generally in attendance, to make it clear that nothing untoward is really going on anyway), and there was some really good intensity in the scene between Camillo and Leontes. (We thought it might be silly-looking, but this one bit we blocked with Leontes chasing Camillo halfway around the stage actually turned out to be rather good.)
A productive rehearsal. The thing is, we won't be revisiting this scene for two weeks (!) when we rehearse all of the first half (!!) and the actors need to be off book (!!!). (Are you guys listening? ;->) So here's to hoping that all the details don't get lost in the shuffle.
(The title for this chapter comes from a quote, I believe from Spencer Tracy, which states that, "Acting is easy. Just remember your lines and don't run into the furniture.")