ARS Days 37 and 38

I'll conflate these two days because they were so similar.

That stack of cards contains only my second half lines.

We managed to stage the second half of the show. It's was a tricky beast. It involves a lot of people on stage there are lots of side conversations, asides that only some people can hear, and a 200+ line scene that is an elaborate jest for Truewit.

On Monday, I went through the scene chart and tried to devise a schedule. I worked backwards. I knew I wanted to get through the rest of the show. This meant staging 1100 lines in two days. I found a good "half-way point" (600 lines for the first day). Then, depending on the nature of the scene, I attempted to give around 45 minutes for 100 lines. It's tough because not all chunks of lines are created equal. When there are shorter scenes with only 3 or 4 people, it's easier to bust through. But when there are a lots of entrances and "business" for characters, more time is needed. Mrs. Otter beating up Captain Otter just needs more time to work out some choreography, for example.

The scene breakdowns (and I'm guessing they are editor scene breaks, but I'm not certain) act more like French scenes rather than Shakespeare scenes. A new French scene begins when a new character comes on stage. The fourth and fifth acts don't have a large passage of time among scenes. The scenes are mostly continuous (much like a Moliere play).

I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I still have a lot of work to do (we all do), but there's some comfort in getting the whole show on our feet. Our first dress rehearsal is next Wednesday.