From: Joseph "Chepe" Lockett <jlockett@io.com> Subject: Re: Paulina & the Statue To: gnat@owlnet.rice.edu (Natalie Nina Kirilcuk) Date: Tue, 11 Mar 1997 02:15:46 -0600 (CST) Late night ruminations follow.... I'll check email mid-day tomorrow if you want to get in another exchange before rehearsal. > I guess my biggest one is that I feel like I'm breaking the mood of the > scene -- interrupting the magic, and that makes me sad. I'm the one who > knows what's up -- I'm playing the game, testing Leontes, teasing them > with "you'll think anon it lives" and "I could afflict you further." My > "O patience! The statue is but newly fixed, the color's not dry" etc > are, as we discussed, bits of reality thrown in to make the scene more > down to earth, but I feel like I drag it down too much, that if I play > it as naturalistically as I'm trying to, I pull the scene to the ground. I > think it will help to get back to the worry about whether or not Hermione > will move, so when she does I can take a moment too. But... Okay, let's consider.... As far as testing goes, perhaps you need to look for the point at which you decide that, yes, he has fully repented and is ready to have Hermione "restored." That may point the scene better. I know you may not have meant "teasing" in just such a sense, but I think that might be a bad intention -- it is not, I think, so much a matter of teasing him as of teasing _out_ of him the emotions and feelings that you need to see to take that final step. In a way, you're playing the grand supernatural family counselor, if you will. :-) I think that the "naturalistic" bits are not so bad as you think. In a way, they heighten the magic -- that such a statue (as you still maintain it to be) can seem so very real. They are, of course, also humor for the more discerning audience members. Consider, though, that many first-time playgoers might not know that the statue comes to life -- to them, it may seem perfectly rational for the same actress to play the statue as played the living being. (Yeah, probably the review will contain spoilers. We can hope, at least). And they are, perhaps, frantic excuses, in the same vein as some of Paulina's other schemes, to delay the uncovering of the true Hermione until you're sure the time is right. Re: nervousness about Hermione moving, you're absolutely right. Remember that the possibility exists that _she_ won't want to "go along with" the game, and you can't exactly just walk up and yank her out of position! There's something in that line "bequeath to death your numbness, for from him dear life redeems you" that manages to bring Hermione back from her self-inflicted prison of death and despair. So to find that line should be a quest -- how do I reach her? > Also, do you think I'm talking to Hermione at any point? For > instance "Sight of my poor image would thus have wrought you." or "My lord's > almost so far transported." Or trying to get Leontes to say things Hermione > should hear? Good thoughts -- yes! All this makes me as director feel awful, of course -- that I've left such valuable stuff as this undiscussed until scant days before opening! Please forgive me for not giving you as much support and detail as the scene needs. I'm glad we're discussing it now! > How much of a theatrical indulgence is Paulina allowing herself, and > how much is this really a final test? I think if it's an indulgence it makes it less exciting and important. There is that element, of course... to have Hermione return from the dead _needs_ something grand, not just walking in the front door one morning and saying, "What, me, dead? No, no, no -- let me explain." But I think it is a test, to ensure that Leontes is truly ready, to ensure _Hermione_ is truly ready, and to let Hermione, even if things don't work out, at least catch a glimpse out of the corner of her eye of her newfound daughter. Consider this -- you as Paulina may be making the decision yourself, without consultation, that Leontes really is ready, that this really is the time, and that damn it all (Hermione may have wanted a slow acclimation to the statue until, Pygmalion-like, it comes to life after long consideration and lavish attention), you are going to revive her NOW. This may provide a justification for the catalog of awakenings, for your slow creeping up on the issue of vivifying the statue, etc. Just a thought. Forward to Amy Hassan if you like, or discuss tomorrow. > I've been trying to throw a lot in -- to make it complex and thus more > believable, but maybe it needs more clarity? Complex is good, as long as out of it we get clarity. The beginning of the scene, I think, needs to be complicated, lots of competing intentions. Out of that comes the simplicity of the coming to life, the reunification, and the happy ending of the play, where marriages solve all. It's getting to that point which adds in all these layers and difficulties. > Gak. Urgle. Tell me if I sound full of it. We can meet early (7-8 is mostly free tomorrow, aside from having to run a cue to cue with Gwen and whatever tech things Colleen & Co. have to handle) if you want to discuss all this face to face. ----------------------------*------------------------*------------------------ Joseph L. "Chepe" Lockett |"Nullum magnum ingenium | GURPS fan, Amiga user, http://www.io.com/~jlockett | sine mixtura dementiae | Shakespearean scholar, Email: jlockett@io.com | fuit." -- Seneca | actor and director.