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This is Geraldine's first blog entry for the 2000 production of The Tempest, in which she talks about starting rehearsals and playing the character Ariel.

Starting Rehearsals

Rehearsals for The Tempest started off with a read through. For the past few days the company has been going through the script looking at every line and trying to ensure that everyone has a common understanding of what is happening in each scene.

We have worked a lot on movement and voice. The company has also experimented with sound to explore what is the nature of the tempest at the beginning of the play. Lenka (Udovicki, the director) has talked about her ideas for the play so that the company has a common starting point and focus. There will be a strong Balkan theme in this production as both Lenka and the designer Bjanka Ursulov are from the former Yugoslavia.

We have so many more questions now than when we started! I've been working a great deal with Nigel Osbourne the musical director, working on noises and sound to create the atmosphere and sense of the island. I'm not a singer, but Ariel creates sound and noises - and does sing - so I'm working to find a vocabulary for those moments. Nigel is trying to work out what music to write for the production, he has the themes that are in the play but must also work with voices of the actors in the company. Everything at the moment is a process of discovery - an open book.

Playing Ariel

I have been speaking to the designer about Ariel's boots. It is quite a luxury for an actor to have the opportunity to influence their costume in this way and I want to talk it through with Bjanka again before any final decisions are made. I've tried to fight any preconceptions about Ariel - I'm not a singer so there will not be beautiful choral type singing - the only idea I did have was strangely about boots and so did Lenka - I don't know what that's about but I'm sticking with it!

It is unusual to cast a woman as Ariel - all the references in the text are to 'he', 'him' etc. I think s/he is a spirit, she is part of Prospero and can easily be played by a man or a woman. I would like the audience to see a progression and development in the character of Ariel throughout the play. She is not just a spirit. I think the connection between Ariel and Prospero is the 'best' or most honest relationship in the play. When playing Ariel you have to struggle to find a person to play rather than ideas. People have so many ideas about the themes or concepts Ariel embodies - I'm trying to think what does she want? Where does she come from? You can't just come on stage and 'be' a spirit, especially not in the Globe because there is no hope of lighting or special effects that are going to magic you and the audience somewhere - that will create the magic of the play for you.

We do have some history for Ariel e.g. she spent twelve years locked in a tree. I use a 'method' approach before rehearsal, for example I write lists about what characters say about Ariel and what Ariel says about herself. I find this disciplines me - it is like being Sherlock Holmes you look for the clues about your character. We do know that Ariel is fundamentally composed of air - her main Laban or effort/constituency/quintessence is air - so I have to find a way of moving that reflects that. We also know that Ariel is a good spirit and at the end of the play is set free. I think that this can only happen because of the state Prospero has reached in the final scenes. I know that I definitely do not want to play a 'prancy' Peter Pan type character that twinkles about.

Lenka showed me a picture of a ladder with an Angel climbing up it - that was a very clear image that I found enormously helpful. I've also seen another picture of Ariel whispering to Prospero that was useful. I'm finding the Balkan music that Nigel (Osbourne) is using very interesting, it is strong 'sexy' music that gives me a strong basis from which to work - it also gives a sense that Ariel has feeling. Ariel says that if she were human she would be able to feel something. This statement could lead to a belief that Ariel has no feeling. However we know that she cried out in pain for twelve years. At this stage I don't think it would work to play Ariel simply as someone who observes rather than participates. It will be wonderful to play Ariel at the Globe because on the Globe stage she can always see where she wants to be 'on the curled cloud' - that is what she wants - liberty to be free.

Ariel and Magic

At the moment the challenge is to create the magic of the play through performance rather than effects. I'm working on every aspect of my performance from singing to circus skills. I've been thinking about what is a nymph and a harpy - Ariel becomes both in the play. I have to go off stage and then return having assumed these different personas. Ariel can transform herself. The whole part at this stage is challenging. Ariel is a very physical role. There are lots of references to the way Ariel moves e.g. we are told that she moves like quick silver, but you cannot spend two hours darting around the stage, instead I'm trying to find a way to suggest this type of movement.

The play also deals with perception - how different people see the same event. A 'good' person might see or understand an event in a different way from a 'bad' person.

This is another interesting area to explore as Ariel. These comments are the actor's thoughts or ideas about the part as s/he goes through the rehearsal process-they are simply his/her own interpretations and frequently change as the rehearsal process progresses.

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