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At this point, just over half way through the run of the play, As You Like It was given a 3 week break from performance. This was to give the actors in the Red Company the opportunity to rehearse full time for their second play of the season, A Mad World My Masters and to open that production with a week of performances, before the play went into repertory with As You Like It. Tonia and the rest of the company have been busy with rehearsal, technical rehearsal and previews and have not been thinking about As You Like It during this period. Therefore returning to the play is quite challenging.

The company were called to rehearsal before the show for a line run of the play (for which the actors just say their lines, without movement) and a speed run (for which the actors include their moves but as fast as possible). Tonia found this very useful as it helped her to hear the words of the play again and to be reminded of the way in which the scenes fit together.

Tonia has enjoyed performing As You Like It again, and the character of Celia now comes naturally to her. She has suddenly found that she trusts the play more. She no longer feels a need to try and explain things, but is confident that the pace of the play and the performance itself will tell the story well. Because of this, she feels able to listen to the play more. Coming back to As You Like It has made Tonia appreciate even more how good a writer Shakespeare is!

The company has also faced another challenge as Maggie Wells who plays Audrey was injured during a rehearsal for A Mad World My Masters and was unable to perform. This means that Tonia has needed to adjust the way she plays her scenes with Audrey in order to respond to a different interpretation of the role.

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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