http://www.cogstheatre.com en-gb cogstheatre.com 2011-9-5T00:00:00Z cogstheatre.com http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#101848 dddd 2011-9-5 14:56:15 http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#101847 In this essay I will explore my experiences during rehearsals and the performances of my showcase production The Ugly One by Marius Von Mayenburg and evaluate areas that worked as well as those which failed and provide room for further improvement. The first area to address is the choice of play. Amongst a number of other factors I wanted to choose a play in a genre that I had not directed before and which I hoped would stretch me within a safe environment both in terms of support from tutors and having no financial outlay. Whilst I remain largely happy with the choice the particular stylistic challenges of this hightempo surrealist farce was something I found extremely difficult. I have learnt however a tremendous amount about energy tempo design nonnaturalistic acting and style. The length of the show was a key consideration and I am pleased I had that foresight the sixty minute running time reduced the impact of a slightly truncated rehearsal schedule of three weeks. I also enj... 2011-9-5 14:44:36 http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#94776 Normal 0 false false false ENGB XNONE XNONE Style Definitions table.MsoNormalTable msostylenameTable Normal msotstylerowbandsize0 msotstylecolbandsize0 msostylenoshowyes msostylepriority99 msostyleqformatyes msostyleparent msopa... 2011-5-25 20:10:40 http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#83259 2010-12-23 09:36:40 http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#78698 Im keen to trap as many of my thoughts hopes fears anxieties and joys of this year of study as I can. This seems as good a place to do it as anyCogs willl be out of action until next year now as I concentrate on the MA. Nick who was in the cast of both Timon and TLD is keen to direct but I dont have time to produce any more than to direct so I doubt well see anything on this during the year either.The course has been terrrific so far and were now in reading week so it seems a good time to reflect on what Ive learnt and what Ive thought.The guided reading has been wonderful and eyeopening.The discipline and time to read far more plays as well as theatre texts is almost worth taking the course for alone. Ive read some wonderful plays Mamet Feydeau and Sherman especially and thats started me thinkingn more about the kind of theatre I want to direct even more but also the kind of the theatre I should use this year to direct the farce especially.In terms of directing texts Im doing exac... 2010-10-25 10:33:28 http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#76039 Normal 0 false false false ENGB XNONE XNONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Style Definitions table.MsoNormalTable msostylenameTable Normal msotstylerowbandsize0 msotstylecolbandsize0 msostylenoshowyes msostylepriority99 msostyleqformatyes msostyle... 2010-9-21 20:42:05 http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#75384 Having stayed away for a week it was great to go back to see the play on Friday evening. I had intended to see the second half after a radio interview on Thursday evening but ended up speaking to someone who had come along to see the play. We were enjoying our conversation so much that we missed the second half and carried on chatting This is of course one of the benefits of the internet and he had first heard about the play on a Guardian CIF article. The way likeminded people can find out about people and plays of interest is just terrific I really enjoyed the play on Friday having had that distance meant that I was far less hypercritical and able to enjoy it. A friendly audience further excellent feedback including from very respected theatre professionals also eased my worries. The play certainly continues to divide opinion it would be easy to dismiss those people who hadnt enjoyed it but theres no obvious pattern for some people its just doing... 2010-9-13 19:41:28 http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#74880 Were a week in now and after a night off the cast are about to enter the second week of the play rested I hope and raring to go. Theyll be boosted by a couple of good reviews 4 stars from Remote Goat especially and hopefully at that wonderful stage where they are secure enough in what broadly to expect from the audience and each other they have a deep knowledge of their lines actions and objectives but havent yet had to fight against losing concentration Ive been staying away a little more than I had originally planned. Partly because I have a huge amount of reading to get started on for the MA partly because I have been neglecting some other areas of my life that I also need to concentrate on and give some time too. I also felt the first few days I was suffering a bit of a crisis of confidence. I seemed to be secondguessing audience responses to each line seeing fault in absolutely every aspect of the production and not being anything like as positive as I had been through the pr... 2010-9-7 09:22:20 http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#74585 Well were into the run now and the first few days have been fascinating. The numbers have been good and weve received some excellent independent feedback that I had requested from a couple of places. Ive reproduced those at the bottom of this blog post. Some obviously have loved the production and others have found it problematic thats the beauty of theatre I love the play and was desperate to do it in the space but have wrangled from the start with the lack of narrative huge number of characters and the perception of his work as overtly political and dogmatic. Stanislavski tried to make it a more hyperreal story to engage the audience in the quality of the acting and the characters development but left the audience floundering in Act 4 as all the key characters of the narrative have gone and a minor character played by himself suddenly had all these huge political speeches. With 18 characters mostly with equal stage time Gorky clearly didnt want us to follow any one story but to s... 2010-9-3 12:22:09 http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#74014 Well Ive managed to find a little more time to pop down some musings about the play. Were into the theatre tomorrow evening and its all feeling very real now Weve enjoyed lotsof rehearsal hours during the last two weeks when the play has progressed considerably.Some of this is the practical stuff one expects the play gets tighter lines are better known the actors start layering wonderful detail choices are refined and in some cases blind alleys reversed up and renavigatedKaties been a godsend on the design. Workign far harder than I could have ever expected from a professional designer wokring for nothing. She will work regularly in this business and its been a major bonus to have her I hope we get a chance to work when I can pay her. I think the cast have no idea how lucky they are for a fringe productionThe publcity and ticket sales are both going well and I am lookign forward to breaking even and the cast having at least 50 audiences every night and probqably sellouts during week ... 2010-8-28 22:50:06 http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#73041 Normal 0 false false false ENGB XNONE XNONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Style Definitions table.MsoNormalTable msostylenameTable Normal msotstylerowbandsize0 msotstylecolbandsize0 msostylenoshowyes msostylepriority99 msostyleqformatyes msos... 2010-8-17 07:25:08 http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#71060 Weve now come to the end of the first stage of rehearsals. I am heading off to perform the best man duties at the wedding of my oldest friend so there was always a planned break in these rehearsals. I have scheduled to ensure that we have now covered the basic book work uniting objective and more practical aspects what does this line mean who am I saying it to whos on stage etc etc and now the cast have 10 days to think about their characters in much greater detail. I have mentioned before the amount of animal imagery there is throughout the text. Katie is using that as a major theme of her design and I have been keen to get the actors thinking about finding an animal for their characters which we will express subtly in terms of costume but also their characters physicalisation. I want to then try altering that physicalisation when they interact with Luka and he offers them hope or possibly when Satin at the end reminds them all that they are Men. Th... 2010-7-22 23:06:53 http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#70187 Things have really started speeding up this week as we get fully into rehearsals and the other aspects of the production start feeding into thoughts and ideas. Were now twothirds of the way through the first rehearsals which cover all of the book work. The scheduling has worked pretty well and Ive probably managed better than ever to be a little stricter on time and to get covered what I had planned. The rehearsals are also starting to move a little quicker as the cast get used to the process and begin feeling more comfortable with each other and I think Ive been fortunate in bringing together a good bunch of people who are getting on well. Having 5 people on board who were in Timon and 2 others I knew a little already also helps as you have people who already trust you so you dont have to work as hard to sell the process to them Were also seeing lots of good contributions and people keen to make suggestions about the action. Some more than others as ever and Im always conscio... 2010-7-12 13:36:27 http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#69375 This week has seen the start of rehearsals always a fraught time for everyone. Actors are keen to make a good impression get respect from their peers and as ever with actors not make fools of themselves. The read through took place outdoors which was a novel experience but very enjoyable on a sunny afternoon in Wapping with the exception of the dog poo we had to avoid I had planned a few team name type games but thought that might be a little much overlooking the high rises so we settled for a bit of introducing each other and then the poor buggers had to listen to me talking about the play for 45 mins. The readthroughs always fascinating as lines are delivered in ways you hadnt imagined other lines suddenly taken on a new meaning and given how much work Ive personally done on this version some sound clunky and wrong in the mouths of the characters. The first setting rehearsal took place on Monday evening. We have a particular challenge of an amateurtype schedule 2 nights a week ... 2010-7-2 11:02:47 http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#68163 I dont know why I keep trying to find alliterative titles for these but I seem to have set myself a precedent Im struggling to break The play is cast. Every book on directing youll ever read talks about how directing is 708090 casting but it is the crucial decision of every play and naturally the one that leads to the most wrangling the most thinking and the most excitement. Having been working on the play now for several months its a great moment when you first hear the lines spoken by a professional actor. Especially in a piece like this where due to the period in which it was written it can seem a little melodramatic on the page a good actor just makes you believe. Ill be updating the TLD page shortly with cast details and images but we have an very good blend of new performers and those with a lot of experience and I havent had to compromise on any of the character ages which I feared I might. Crucially we have a team of people very committed to the project and who I ... 2010-6-17 10:11:30 http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#66822 Im taking a bit of a break from TLD text and creative work for a few days while I prep for an MA audition at RADA. This is utterly terrifying so I have every sympathy for the actors whom I have invited to audition on the 11th and 12th JuneEverything seems to be going OK at the moment although I remain one of these people that thinks if I feel like that I must be missing something huge The auditions are sorted although I still need to find a venue for the Saturday sessions with BCT doublebooked and the Actors Centre not available till 10am but that shouldnt be too much of a problem.The vast majority of the rehearsals are now booked unfortunately a Friday night not Thursday but it does mean nearly every rehearsal is at the same venue very easy to get to decent facilities a pub nearby and very reasonably priced which as ever is vitalThe flyers are all at the theatre now nice and early which is a bonus and I hope will help to give prospective cast members a feeling of confidence about the... 2010-6-2 22:21:06 http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#66349 I have completed all of my research now and the play analysis examining Thought Spectacle Character Language Plot and Music as well as broader areas of Emotion Entertainment and Conflict. This is the first time Ive really had the time to complete this in quite this level of detail and its been terrific. Often I have found that in my enthusiasm for a play in all its complexity it can be difficult to really nail down and focus on the key themes and where EXACTLY those themes are bought to the fore in the play especially difficult is focusing the actors on it clearly its all too easy to wax lyrical for 15 minutes in the rehearsal room. This process helps very much and also ensures that the consideration of the 6 key areas above are properly given in this play its clear that the characters are well drawn largely three dimensional and often with strong development the language is important its not beautiful indeed some is melodramatic and often didactic but it is rich in metaphor in... 2010-5-28 16:58:32 http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#65372 Its been a busy couple of weeks...the text work is going really well though now and Im feeling more and more happy with the choices I have made or maybe just more familiar I have added Kvashnia back in shes a good balance for some of the tragedy around her but I am still keeping Medvidev out and have therefore cut the end of Act 4 when those two are now running the dosshouse. Im much more keen on Act 4 being set as the house is being destroyed and the tenants being evicted. Its another way of mantaining a sense of progression through Act 4 after the climax of Act 3.Some of the casting is starting to come together a few actors who I have asked to take roles have accepted and others will be auditioning but crucially my calls on CC Pro and Castnet also go out today so hopefully by the end of May Ill have plenty of strong candidates for the roles. I have completed my research in full now and have pages and pages of Word that I need to sift and think about as I work. I have done a lot of ... 2010-5-16 10:12:14 http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#64405 Ive finally got through the first draft of the text trying to work with a number of different sources to find what works for me. Its been a brilliant process for really getting under the skin of a lot of these characters and hearing their different voices.Ive also continued to agonise over the characters. The hub of the play has to be Luka and those people whom he really effects. The audience will search for a narrative in any play I think and especially something like this which feels naturalistic. The fourth act of the play is already problematic Gorky resolves what may have been the problem he saw at the time by explainign whats happened to the house now the landlords Natasha and Pepel have gone. But Kvashnia and Medviedev and little other to the plot for me so I am cutting them out as well as Krivoy Zob and Alyoshka.The Tarter or Muslim as Ill probably name him is useful both for the plays comments on religion but he also seems the most disciplined and straight character offering a... 2010-5-3 09:45:22 http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#62932 Progress on a few fronts this week. Was off in Rome for a long weekend so didnt get as much reading done as planned plus was deep into Mantels Wolf Hall Have watched the very interesting Kurosawa film. I was surprised at how close it was to the play but he made some odd choices around cuts esepcially Satins big speeches in Act 4 which ruined the real heart of the play. Some of it was terrific though and its given me lots more to think about.Much more exciting is that Shelter are keen to work in association with us on the play. I havent quite decided how to work this either a of total profits or a couple of charity nights Its a charity that does a lot of fantastic work and that fits well with the themes dealt with in the play. They are also happy to work with the cast on homelessness and its impact on people which will be vital if we are to create real nonstereotyped characters.On the more practical side rehearsal venues are getting sorted including some vital time at the theatre and... 2010-4-13 16:07:31 http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#62185 Normal 0 false false false ENGB XNONE XNONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Style Definitions table.MsoNormalTable msostylenameTable Normal msotstylerowbandsize0 msotstylecolbandsize0 msostylenoshowyes msostylepriority99 msostyleqformatyes msos... 2010-4-4 15:38:00 http://www.cogstheatre.com/page13.htm#61554 Getting the website updated was put off until I had time and finally I have got round to it I thought I would add a kind of rambling diary of the next play. I do it anyway but thought I may as well blog it.The first major decision has been made and Ive decided on our next production. Having already grabbed a 3 week slot at Barons Court the question of venue was decided but finding a piece that would work in such an idiosyncratic space was going to be tricky.. I found the space first for Timon it was cheap close to home available and I loved Ron and Chris. But making a decision this time seemed to be a lot more difficult. I have seen a few other pieces at the theatre and have felt that its very special qualities of real intimacy low ceilings tiny playing space basement and having the audience on three sides is often ignored the piece already chosen and shoehorned into the theatre as if it was any small fringe venue.I had other considerations of course should I go again for a classic ... 2010-3-27 17:00:11