Globe Education Online

Before each performance John likes to make sure he is properly prepared and warmed up. He does this by re reading parts of the text and by doing a vocal warm up to open up his voice, so that he can cope vocally with the demands of the role and the Globe space. John does not like to work in the theatre too much before the performance as he feels this may make him nervous. He does not warm up physically for the show as he feels that the process of rehearsing and performing every day is in itself a warm up.

John now feels that he is settling into the rhythm of performances. He is finding the time he spends at the beginning of the show, standing amongst the groundlings in the yard interesting and feels that they are a barometer by which it is possible to gauge the tempo, or feel, of the show.

The company have now gone into rehearsal for their second play of the season, A Mad World, My Masters by Thomas Middleton. This means that John has either rehearsals during the day and a performance in the evening or a performance in the afternoon and rehearsal in the evening. In the play John plays Harebrain, a jealous and possessive husband, the character is very different from Jaques who exists very much in isolation.

John has increasingly found Jaques to be the type of character that makes him feel isolated. In some ways John does not feel as if he is in character during the play as he has decided not used any overt characterization for Jaques. This is very different from his character in A Mad World, My Masters who John is playing as a South London ‘city yob’, - a money broker.

John sees each performance as an experiment and tries to make each one as fresh and ‘new’ as possible. He is continuing his research into the character throughout the run and constantly looks for new approaches and insights for 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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