WEEK 4: Taming Rehearsals

BY KATRINA SPREYER

Rehearsal 7:

This is the 7th rehearsal and we focused on blocking specific scenes, developing characters and the physicality (violence) of two particular scenes.--don't worry, it's not all violence. I promise.--

In today’s rehearsal we looked at scene 6 ( the scene between Grumio and Curtis). Our director, Filiz, worked through the lines to help the girls understanding of the text, through which they could better understand their characters. The main focus was blocking the scene, something that’ll be easier once their off script! Filiz focuses on the relationship between Curtis and Grumio; drawing upon the violence inflicted on Curtis by Grumio. There is a certain slapstick quality to the violence and it’ll be interesting to see if this develops further as the characters progress.

The next scene the rehearsal lead us to was the beginning scene with Bianca and Katharina(s). This actually tested me on my lines which I realise I still need to work on (Did I mention that I am Bianca?). I realised that am just a smudge rusty on ye olde Shakespearean dialect. But I managed with no script...yay!! However I did have a lot of prompting. The main focus in rehearsing this scene was how to convey the brutality inflicted upon Bianca by the Katharina(s). Our focus was on using the scarves to entwine Bianca using the safest and most effective

method to convey the cruelty of Katharina. By using the ropes - and I'm not biased here-, I physically felt the torment inflicted on Bianca by Katharina, which conveyed my character as helpless against her sister’s wrath.

Rehearsal 8

I started by going through my lines with Baptista, Bianca's father. I think we both feel secure with our lines now. We practised the ending of the play which wrapped up nicely. It has a very sweet ending, with particular attention on the change in character of Katharina, which is at the heart of the play. Visually the production is coming together as we block each scene and make use of the set such as the ropes, which are so key to this production's emphasis on the entrapment and abuse of different characters, in particular Katharina. The beginning of the play, which sees Bianca bound by her sister, is mirrored later on in the play with Petrutio binding Katharina, conveying to the audience the physical violence enforced taming of her character. By showing Katharina unbound alone at the end of the play, shows her freedom received once she has been tamed. By having only the tame Katharina on stage away from her other personas of anger and violence, it conveys to the audience that her character has been tamed.

Our next rehearsal will be a full day rehearsal so I’m intrigued to see what else will develop. It will be interesting to see the development of the characters, as we become more comfortable with our lines and start to play with the characters. I am curious to see how the play develops as a whole as well. I will do my best to keep you posted on the development of the production in these last stages of rehearsals.