Globe Education Online

This is Kananu's third blog entry for the 2000 production of The Tempest, in which she talks about changing impression of her character, audience interaction and initial impressions of performing at the Globe.

Changing Impressions

The first week on stage changed my impressions of Miranda a lot. When I looked out on the first night and saw all the people looking at me I was petrified. On stage I noticed that the audience was reacting really well to the bits where Miranda is bold and sticks up for herself. They were laughing when she argues with Prospero and when she picks up the log. I hadn’t been sure before about how bold to make her. I knew that she wasn’t all weedy and girlie, but I wasn’t sure how bolshy she could be when faced with all these new things. But, having said that, being innocent perhaps leaves her with no inhibitions. I’ve been thinking about how she reacts when she sees all the men at the end of the play. Lenka (Udovicki, director) wanted her ogling all the men. I thought that this was very predictable. But when you get up on the Globe stage with an audience there, you realise that big things really do work well. You can’t be self-depreciating. You just have to give it all.

Having said this I’ve still got a lot further to go. There are lots of elements of my relationship with Prospero that I still have to work out. With Will (Keen, Ferdinand) it's easier. We’ve spent a lot of time together, so have been able to develop closeness on stage. It has been a little more difficult with Vanessa (Redgrave, Prospero). Prospero is my father and I respect him, but there is also supposed to be some sort of closeness that I don’t think that we have yet. I think that Miranda is a little in awe of Prospero with his magic. In the same way, I am a little in awe of Vanessa. At the moment the relationship is a little distant and formal.

Audience Interaction

I have started to think about how I can interact with the audience. It's difficult, especially when you see characters like Caliban who have so much scope for talking to the audience. But there are lots of lines that Miranda has that could be said to the audience. I have tried directing lines to the audience. On one night I looked out and saw so many faces staring at me, that I had such a fright I buried my face in my hands. I realise now that you just have to go for it without thinking – if you don’t worry about looking silly, there is more chance that it will come off. I did manage to it once where it worked very well.

I had never read or seen the Tempest before I got the part of Miranda. It's taking me a really long time to get a good idea of where she lies in the sense of the whole play and how important her part is. It's particularly difficult because we rehearse in isolation. I didn’t have that much of a sense of the whole play until it opened, so I wasn’t sure what my place was. I’ve still got a long way to go.

Having tour groups in during rehearsal helped to bridge the gap for me between the rehearsal room and the theatre. It was good also to see how people were reacting to what we were doing. I could watch the groups faces whilst others were on stage. It was actually very encouraging. Some people felt that they were being intruded upon. I didn’t though.

Initial Impressions of The Globe

I have found the atmosphere at the Globe wonderful. Nobody has made me feel young or inexperienced. I think that this maybe because the shows are advertised under the name of the Globe. It doesn’t seem to matter so much who is playing which part – even when its Vanessa Redgrave. I think that this has the effect of everybody pulling together and nobody feeling that they are more important than anybody else.

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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