Our ensemble has been getting ready for the Shakespeare’s Histories repertory project with a first week of training! This week, actor Zach Brewster-Geisz gives us some firsthand perspective on the process and what it’s been like in the rehearsal room so far …
What does a bowling ball have to do with Shakespeare? More than you’d think, it turns out.
Zach Brewster-Geisz
We’ve just finished our first week of training for the Histories project, and rather than getting down and dirty with Shakespeare’s text (that’ll come soon enough), we’ve spent most of it on our feet, running, jumping, rolling, and most of all, listening and watching our fellow ensemble members.
For those who have worked with BST before, it’s a welcome refresher. For some of us, I assume, it’s something entirely new. For people like me, who have learned things like Viewpoint work and Michael Chekhov technique in our training, but never really had a director embrace it during a rehearsal process, it’s a revelation.
Don’t get me wrong, I use every aspect of my training to create characters, no matter what the project. But there’s usually so little time in a given rehearsal process (four weeks under most circumstances) to do deep ensemble-creating physical work, that too often one does not share a character-creation language with one’s fellow actors. And without that, it’s possible to create great theatre, sure. But is it possible to create transcendent theatre?
To an outsider, I suppose what we were doing could seem like a parody of crunchy theatre people. What would your reaction be to walking in on a room full of people moving like balls, sticks, or veils? (How does a stick move, anyway?) But when you realize that those objects correspond to the Chekhovian centers for Doers, Thinkers, and Feelers, and that you can use those building blocks to create physical differentiation between the many characters you’re playing over two years… it’s absolutely exciting and liberating.
For my carpool group (average age: 55), it’s also punishing. Squeezing ourselves into a Honda Fit after rehearsals involves lots of moans and groans. I’ve discovered muscles I never knew I had, mostly because they’re screaming “Zach, what the hell are you doing?”
Well, my muscles can grin and bear it. I’m becoming part of an ensemble. We may not be there yet, but when we open Richard II, the first of our eight productions … watch out, DC. You’re getting something truly special.
– Zach Brewster-Geisz