A Midsummer Night’s Dream in rehearsal: Week one
Assistant Director Keziah Serreau shares an insight into the rehearsal process for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Emma Rice’s opening production for Wonder Season.
Week
one of Dream rehearsals is over and what a week it’s been, hooray!
There is a general sense of excitement as we start to dig into the themes and the characters of the play. Every morning we start with our daily game of ‘keepy-upy’ volley ball which spreads playfulness, complicity and cheekiness throughout the company.
Our rehearsal room is looking more and more like a giant tool box ready to be used by the skilled hands of the performers and creatives in the room. Costumes are stacked on railings, Stu Barker our composer and Pat Moran our Music Director have their hurdy-gurdy, trombones, cittern, hammer dulcimer, harp, drum kit, sitar, mandolin, ukulele, double bass, uilleann pipes; Galician pipes, gait pipes, Slovakian pipes, Macedonian pipes, whistles, bansuri, guitars, electric bass, banjo, piano, violin, synth, clarinet, shehnai…
The songs we are learning are setting the tone, the mood and the magic of our show.
Over hill over dale,
Thorough bush, thorough brier,
Over park, over pale,
Thorough flood, thorough fire,
I do wander everywhere…
(2.1.2-6)
Etta Murfitt’s choreography reveals the energy, the joy, the sexiness and the power within this story. And Börkur Jónsson’s and Moritz Junge’s designs really open up the world, and the wonder of things to come.
The whole company are really coming together and taking its first steps towards owning our Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Through a series of improvisations the actors are bringing flesh and life to each of the play’s characters. There is a general sense of wonder in the room as we meet all the characters and each time we do, we instantly love them and want to cherish them. Everyone takes part in each of these improvisations; every actor gets to feel what it is like to be a Puck, to be a Lysander, to be a Snug before the actor playing the role finally takes over alone… This creates a real sense of ownership over every character, and with it, the actors are starting to grow as an ensemble.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Emma Rice, opens in the Globe on 30 April. Find out more about the production and book tickets.
Discover more about Wonder, Emma Rice’s first season at the Globe.