Our first rehearsal for The Tempest was last night. Actually, this technically could be part two of rehearsals, because before spring break we did character conferences. (A series of meetings when we met up with our dramaturge to discuss our characters, how they related to each other, what the text means, and how to pronounce words.)
               So we were supposed to be off-book today, but some of us weren't. Some people needed to read from the script, some had their script onstage, but didn't look at them, and some were able to do it without the script. I had mine, but didn't look. (Although I did need to call line a few times.) Then again, I do have a lot of lines. I'm Prospero, and he's very long-winded. But I was at least 85% off, and I earned a small round of applause. 
               We're six actors away from being an all-female cast. It's almost like traditional Shakespeare in reverse! And seeing as Miranda and Ferdinand are both played by women, we will probably get to see the grumpy church ladies leave in a huff again! That reminds me, I have to do a post about the grumpy church ladies sometime.
               It looks like it's going to be an interesting show, though. We've already got a soundtrack for it. And we've arranged the mod* for a thrust stage that goes so far out we might as well be doing this in the round. It rakes all the way down to a platform at the end. So now we get to learn to act in all directions and keep our balance!


(*The modular theatre. This is a type of theatre where we can re-arrange the walls and floors any way we like to suit any show. We can put doors anywhere we want them, raise or lower the floors, and shape the stage and house any possible way. Mod shifts are a pain, but it's worth it. It's like working in a space made of Legos!)