Globe Education Online

In her sixth blog post, Joanna discusses rehearsals for The Antipodes, the differences between Hamlet and The Antipodes in rehersal and performing two different plays in the same season

Rehearsing The Antipodes

We are currently in our last ten days of rehearsal The Antipodes by Richard Brome. I have been really enjoying myself but am looking forward to starting rehearsals on The Globe stage as we have been rehearsing in a rather airless, artificially lit room for too long. The atmosphere outside in The Globe will transform the energy of the play. The Antipodes is a comedy that could even be described as a light farce. Working in such a stuffy space has been somewhat deconstructive. The Globe is outdoors, which I find very liberating.

The Antipodes is not an easy play to perform, as it is very inconsistent. It was only performed once in the 1630's. I am playing a character called Babs Blaze. She is a fairly liberated woman for her time. Babs thrives on helping people with their problems. She is a bit of a 'busybody' but very likeable. We are treating the play in a very light, frivolous manner.

Differences between the two plays

The rehearsal process for The Antipodes has been very different from the way we rehearsed Hamlet. Hamlet is a very complex play with lots of subtext. The Antipodes is fairly simple - it's just a story. This means that you can't approach the plays in the same way. You can't spend a lot of time over analysing Babs as you won't find anything deep about her in the text. The most important part of working with The Antipodes is to make sure that you are telling the story clearly. It can be a very confusing play. It is vital that the actors make sure that the audience can follow what is happening. The director, Gerry Freedman, has managed to make The Antipodes come across as being very logical and clear, which I think is worthy of high praise. I think that Hamlet is an extraordinary play, with lots of subtext and levels that you can delve into and discover. The Antipodes just isn't like that. Different plays require different approaches. It is important to understand the play you are in. It is only then that you can discover the best way to approach it.

Performances

There will be days when we will perform The Antipodes in the afternoon and Hamlet in the evening. I have worked in repertoire before, at the RSC where I had to perform Twelfth Night in the afternoon and Henry V in the evening. I found this very enjoyable as the two plays complemented each other. I think that The Antipodes and Hamlet will compliment each other in the same way. The energies you use to perform each of them are completely different and I think that they will 'feed' each other and inject a spark and freshness into our performances. Two performances of Hamlet in the same day is very tiring, both physically and emotionally. I think a comedy and a tragedy will be a good balance.

These comments are the actor’s thoughts and 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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