Rehearsal 9 and 10

This rehearsal saw the completion of the detailed scene work on Act 1 and starting to do this work on Act 2

Act 1, Scenes 12, 13, 14, 16

Started work on Act 2 and worked on scene 1, up to page 75 then some work on p.86 – 89 and p.90 – 92 and all of Scene 5. 

Rehearsal 8

Overview

• Warm Up
• Status 
• Detailed scene work

After a warm up we focussed on status. We discussed the importance of giving status as well as playing status. It is important to delineate clearly all the various layers of tudor society and allow this to inform physicality and physical interaction with other characters.

The whole company experimented with playing characters from each of the 6 layers of secular and religious tudor society.  

Actors tried to incorporate their discoveries into their work on scenes.

Diagram of Tudor Social Structure
For more information:
http://www.historyonthenet.com/Tudors/society.htm

The detailed scene work was on Act 1, Scenes 8, 9, 10   

Rehearsal 7

Overview

• Warm up
• Line by line story
• Detailed scene work

This was the first rehearsal after a two week break. The company lead their own Warm Up, a physical stretch and then a song and dance game.

The company tell the story of the play adding a line or so each. The exercise is useful for everyone to reconnect with the play and what its about, its story.

• Do we know the journey of the play? 
• Do we know the story? 
• Do we know parts of the story we are not telling?

We should know which part of the story we are telling and how we fit into the whole

Detailed scene work on Act 1, Scenes 4 to 7

We considered what relationship Cromwell and Wolsey have and what they might think about each other.

Cardinal Wolsey

Thomas Cromwell

Rehearsal 6

Movement Continues

This was the last rehearsal before a two week break. It was a choreography rehearsal with the movement director. 

The rehearsal took place in the theatre space. This was a great opportunity to gauge the actual size of the space, particularly useful whilst working on movement sections so that thought could be given to  spacing.

Videos from this rehearsal are on the rehearsal video page.

Rehearsal 5

Overview

• Detailed scene work Act 1, Scenes 1 and 2 
• Rehearsal task - fact and questions lists
• Rehearsal task - Act and Scene titles

Following a physical warm up the company began detailed work on Act 1, Scenes 1 and 2. These two early keys scenes introduce us to the two of the three worlds of the play, Anne's after life, and the world of James I reign.  

There were two rehearsal tasks set for the company;

Task 1 - Four Lists

1) Facts about what exists and has happened before the action of the play commences.
2) Questions about what exists and has happened before the action of the play commences.
3) Facts about the immediate circumstances of the first scene.
4) Questions about the immediate circumstances of the first scene.

Task 2 - Titles

Label each Act and every Scene with a title. Something simple that summarises what happens and that allows the scene titles to offer a through-line of the play and give an insight into what the play is about.