Pride and Prejudice and Rehearsals

We are off to a good start with Pride and Prejudice rehearsals. (I'm directing Joseph Hanreddy and J.R. Sullivan's adaptation at MSU.) It has been a fun week of character work and blocking. So far it's like having an in-depth seminar on Austen's novel, with each character's position represented by an expert on that character (the actor playing the role).

On Monday we had a design salon. Our designers usually do presentations for the cast, but the lighting designer suggested that it might be more productive to have each designer set up an area to discuss their designs with smaller groups of cast members. This went well, and was a good start for the aesthetic of the show.  After our design salon, I met with the actors playing Elizabeth and Jane Bennet, Caroline and Charles Bingley, and Mr. Darcy. It was great to be able to talk through the relationships among these characters, and especially to try to empathize with Caroline. It would be easy to play her as a nasty snob, especially in this adaptation. But the student who is playing the role has a great interest in why Caroline does the things she does.

I happened upon Janet Aylmer's book Darcy's Story in a used bookstore after I knew I would be directing this play, and I gave that book to the actor playing Mr. Darcy, who is finding it very useful.

We spent Tuesday evening with the Bennet family, exploring the dynamics of the five sisters and their parents. By happenstance, the actors arranged themselves around the table so that Kitty, Lydia and Mary were closer to Mrs. Bennet, while Jane and Elizabeth were closer to Mr. Bennet. Their physical position mirrored the family dynamics as I see them.

Wednesday we arranged a series of "visits" so that supporting actors could talk about their roles. The first set of visits involved family relationships as they exist at the beginning of the play, while the second grouping considered post-marriage relationships. In round one, Mr. Collins visited with Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Bennet, and Mary; Elizabeth and Jane visited with the Lucas family; Kitty and Lydia chatted up the military officers, along with Mr. Bingley; Lady Catherine de Bourgh and her daughter Anne visited Pemberley (with Mrs. Reynolds representing the Darcy family, as our Darcy and Georgiana were excused for the evening). The second round of visits involved Elizabeth and the Gardiners visiting Pemberley; Jane spending time with Bingley; the rest of the Bennet family discussing in the company of Lydia and Wickham; and the Lucas/Collins/de Bourgh group exploring their feelings about the marriage of Charlotte and Mr. Collins.

After these visits, each actor introduced their character(s); many of the introductions garnered laughter. The Hanreddy/Sullivan script pushes some characters in comedic directions. For instance, this adaptation sets up the Gardiners as a lovey-dovey couple. (When I told them they should be "schmoopie," the whole room stared blankly.)  The actors then explored social relationships through movement. I eventually asked them to link up with their families and neighbors. Then they joined together as marriages happen in the play, and we ended up with a closed circle.

Last night we started blocking. I knew the transitions were fast, and I've been saying that to the designers. But it took staging them to realize how fast they really are. The script moves swiftly from scene to scene and from place to place, generally without fanfare and sometimes without providing an obvious way for characters who have been onstage to exit.

This is by far the largest show I have directed, and it's the first time in a long time that I've worked in a proscenium space. So I've been a little nervous heading into rehearsals. But now that we have most of the first week under our belts, things are getting much more exciting.