Globe Education Online

This is Harry's fourth blog post. This week he discusses how rehearsals have developed, rehearsing in costume and adapting to the Globe stage.

Rehearsals

We are now at the stage where we are running the play over and over again. It has been good to get things tied together and to see how scenes and acts move into each other. Full runs have helped me to see Guildenstern's journey through the play clearly. Some parts of his journey that I didn't think made sense finally did. I find that when we run the whole play, everybody finds more energy than they had rehearsing the scenes. We have all been enjoying it and we now have the show down to about three and a half hours.

Act 3 scene 3, where Rosencrantz and Guildenstern sign up for the King and Rosencrantz has a speech about why the king is so important, had always been a little confusing to me until we played it on the Globe stage. This is the moment when they change from being Hamlet's men to being the King's men. It is only when you play the scene in the round that you get the sense of the enormity of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern selling their souls to the King. I had never really understood why they do this.

Technical rehearsals

We are just about to start our technical rehearsal. In most theatres the technical rehearsal is about getting the sound, lighting and set all working together. Here at the Globe technical rehearsal is more focused on blocking, working in costume, music and getting tables and chairs on and off stage. It does lead to lot of discoveries.

Costume

Working in costume has been very eventful. I found out that my stockings are too short. They were made especially long, but not long enough. My hose are very short and I did think about cheating with a pair of tights. But, I was told that I can't and a new pair has been made for me. There are many practical things that you have to think about when working in costume that you have not thought about previously. Bowing in a doublet with a long sword has proved to be a challenge. You have to be careful not to poke people in the eye with the sword and not to crush the doublet. I want Osric and Guildenstern to bow differently. Osric will bow with both his arms out so that his cloak looks like wings.

I have been thinking about the way my costume changes my posture. I have been standing in front of a mirror discovering the best way to stand for each character. In a courtly scene you stand very upright, which is fine for Osric. Now I have to work on the Guildenstern scenes to see if I can make him look natural and comfortable in his costume. At the moment I think I still look awkward. Although I want to look relaxed I also have to think about posture because it is unlikely that in the 1600s people in his position would have slouched.

It was great to see everyone in costume at the technical rehearsal because I hadn't seen anybody else's costume before. It's good to see how my costume fits in with everybody else. It also makes all the status relationships very clear. The first scene, where I play Osric is just a mass of colour. It's wonderful. You really do feel like you are at court.

Adapting to the Globe stage

I have found that working at the Globe before has helped me to understand the stage better this time. It is important to think about your movement and others movement on stage. Largely this is because of the pillars. Actors should be staggered on stage, never on one plane, as some people will not be able to see you. The key at the Globe is variety of positions. Each scene should be played in a different shape on the stage. That way you make sure that everybody sees most things and from different angles. Diagonals always work well.

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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