Globe Education Online

This is Kananu's fifth and final blog entry for the 2000 production of The Tempest, in which she talks about approaching the end of the season, the differences between the two shows that she and the cast have performed simultaneously, and overall impressions as an actor working at the Globe.

Approaching the Season's End

The season is almost at an end and we only have one performance of The Tempest left. We have been performing The Two Noble Kinsmen for a month now. I am really enjoying playing in repertoire. It is easier than I thought it would be. I think that this is because I find that there is a lot less pressure on me in The Two Noble Kinsmen as there is for The Tempest. This is largely due to the size of my parts in The Two Noble Kinsmen. I play three small parts is the show so have been allowed to spend time creating them into what I want. I can have lots of fun with it and don’t have to be quite so conscientious. Even though we are so near the end, I am still experimenting and trying out lots of different things.

I have been having particularly good fun playing one of the queens. The character is so far removed from Miranda. It has been challenging though, as well as enjoyable. I thought that once you learnt how to be heard on the stage for one play then you would be able to be heard in the next. This has not been the case. The queens wear large veils and I have found that this absorbs lots of the sound so you have to work harder and project further. It is almost as though you have to find a different voice.

In rehearsal I had been thinking about using different accents to distinguish each character, but in the end decided that there were enough ways of making them different without using regional accents. The costumes are the biggest influence on this. The queen's costume is very over the top but also very restrictive. When I am wearing it I find that I naturally stand with my shoulders back and my head held high. This, in turn, influences my voice. This is the case with all my characters, so I would say that it is the physicality of each that distinguishes them, rather than their voice.

Differences between The Tempest and The Two Noble Kinsmen

Performing The Tempest and performing The Two Noble Kinsmen are very different experiences for me. In The Two Noble Kinsmen I am trying to make the most out of my small parts. With Miranda I am dealing with so much that I have to think about how I’m going to get through it all. But, I can’t say that I enjoy playing in one show more than the other. They are just very different.

One of the biggest differences between The Tempest and The Two Noble Kinsmen is not about my characters but a difference in the director's approach. Lenka (Udovicki, Master of Play for The Tempest) had very definite ideas about what she wanted the play to be like. Once rehearsal was over and performances had begun, she left The Globe and returned home. This meant that from that moment onwards the show was in our hands. It developed in ways that we wanted it to. Tim (Carroll, Master of Play for The Two Noble Kinsmen), however, is around all the time and sees the show a lot. I find this quite reassuring, as he gives us notes every week or so, telling us what works and what does not. It is also good because I know that I can go and ask him any questions that come up during the run. With The Tempest I was more on my own.

In The Two Noble Kinsmen we make use of the yard. I found that there was a huge jump between rehearsing this in a small studio and performing it on the stage. At one moment I have to shout at Emilia (Geraldine Alexandra). In the rehearsal room I was just raising my voice. It wasn’t until we got in the theatre that I realised just how far away she was going to be. I also thought that playing in the yard would be really scary. It isn’t. I find it really energising. The audience's reaction is amazing. I barge though the groundlings dressed as a queen. As I push past them they turn as if to ask me not to push in and then they realise that it's part of the show and they part like the Red Sea.

Tim (Carroll, Master of Play for The Two Noble Kinsmen) saw the yard as a wonderful opportunity that is so often ignored. I am not sure that he would have made the same decision performing this play in a conventional theatre. Because you can see the audience at the Globe, there is never any illusion about them not being there. You can’t ignore them. So, if you aren’t ignoring them, then why not use them and involve them. One of the main things I have noticed about audiences at the Globe is their desire to become involved – hence why they shout out so much during The Tempest.

Performing at the Globe

Performing at the Globe has been very different from the way that I had imagined it to be. I had thought that there would be a lot of guidance in how to portray the roles and that people would discuss lots of possibilities. It is nothing like that. You have a lot of time to try things out for yourself and decide how you want to do things. I had also never really considered what effect the audience would have on the performance. I have learnt how to react to the audience's comments but also how to carry on though all of their noise. I now know that I am a lot harder to distract.

My reaction to the audience has changed hugely over the season. At first I was too scared to react to them. I used to want to block them out, but knew that I couldn’t. I didn’t have as much confidence as I do now. They no longer intimidate me at all. That comes from practise and also from the great feeling within the company. Everybody helps everybody else out.

Once the season is finished I will be returning to Scotland to be in a production of Romeo and Juliet. I have been looking at the script and seeing how many long speeches I have. I am very thankful for my time here, as I now feel that I am prepared to tackle them in a way that I wasn’t six months ago. I have learnt so much from working at the Globe, not only on the stage but also from members of the company and though all the voice and movement classes that we had in preparation for The Tempest.

These are the actor's thoughts and ideas about the part as s/he goes through the rehearsal process – they are simply his/her own interpretation and frequently change as the rehearsal process progresses.

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