First Rehearsal
It’s not even March and already the cast have started to work together. Ahead of the first full-cast gathering this Sunday, Damon called the actors playing Will and Lyra for an introductory session last night.
I went along to take some photographs, hoping to get an image that would work as part of a poster design, and it was exciting to be present at the first rehearsal, heralding the start of a project that will be many more months in the making.
Charley (Lyra) is completely new to the company, and she and Martin (Will) didn’t audition on the same nights, so last night was the first time the two of them had met. Given that their characters have a complex, varied and intense relationship. It was an excellent idea for the two of them to meet and start working together in relative privacy, before being unveiled to the rest of the 40-strong cast.
First rehearsals can be awkward, particularly when the performers don’t know each other. Being aware of this, Damon wasted no time in breaking the ice with a series of trust-building and uninhibiting silly games and warm-ups, allowing Martin and Charley to relax and get comfortable with each other, and at the same time putting them into various daft positions!
Already the two of them seemed to be happy to work with each other (which is a relief!), and the rehearsal moved on to some text work.
Appropriately enough, Damon elected to start off with the Part One scene set in Cittagazze, which is where the two characters first meet. An excellent choice, as it meant that the slight furtiveness of two actors meeting for the first time could be capitalised on by translating it into the wariness the two characters have on their first encounter.
I had only seen Charley work briefly in the auditions, and was curious to see what she was like as a performer. I’m happy to say she seems to be very well cast. Hopefully it won’t offend her if I say that, despite being 18, she looks a few years younger, which is handy as Lyra starts off aged twelve. She also has just the right mixture of maturity and adolescent bolshiness that characterises Lyra so much in the early stages of the plays.
I’m really looking forward to watching how this pair and the rest of the cast develop in the coming months…
I went along to take some photographs, hoping to get an image that would work as part of a poster design, and it was exciting to be present at the first rehearsal, heralding the start of a project that will be many more months in the making.
Charley (Lyra) is completely new to the company, and she and Martin (Will) didn’t audition on the same nights, so last night was the first time the two of them had met. Given that their characters have a complex, varied and intense relationship. It was an excellent idea for the two of them to meet and start working together in relative privacy, before being unveiled to the rest of the 40-strong cast.
First rehearsals can be awkward, particularly when the performers don’t know each other. Being aware of this, Damon wasted no time in breaking the ice with a series of trust-building and uninhibiting silly games and warm-ups, allowing Martin and Charley to relax and get comfortable with each other, and at the same time putting them into various daft positions!
Already the two of them seemed to be happy to work with each other (which is a relief!), and the rehearsal moved on to some text work.
Appropriately enough, Damon elected to start off with the Part One scene set in Cittagazze, which is where the two characters first meet. An excellent choice, as it meant that the slight furtiveness of two actors meeting for the first time could be capitalised on by translating it into the wariness the two characters have on their first encounter.
I had only seen Charley work briefly in the auditions, and was curious to see what she was like as a performer. I’m happy to say she seems to be very well cast. Hopefully it won’t offend her if I say that, despite being 18, she looks a few years younger, which is handy as Lyra starts off aged twelve. She also has just the right mixture of maturity and adolescent bolshiness that characterises Lyra so much in the early stages of the plays.
I’m really looking forward to watching how this pair and the rest of the cast develop in the coming months…
posted by Cracked Actor at Wednesday, February 22, 2006
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