Globe Education Online

Belinda is now concentrating on trying to assimilate all of her thoughts so far and to ensure that she is creating a ‘real’ person in the character of Phebe. She has decided that the first scene in which Phebe and Silvius appear is a lovers tiff and that they have had this conversation many times before. In rehearsal Belinda and the actor who plays Silvius experimented with him chasing her before the scene began so that the dialogue which takes place becomes Phebe’s last desperate attempt to rid herself of Silvius’ attentions.

Belinda is finding her experience on the Globe stage last season useful as she knows already what will work for her in terms of use of the space; she is also aware of possible reactions of the audience.

One technique Belinda uses to help her explore the dramatic potential in each scene is to divide the text into sections, each section representing the duration of one thought. When Phebe’s thoughts or motivation changes Belinda marks this as a new section of text. She then gives each section of text a title so that she has a clear idea of how Phebe’s thoughts or motivation changes during the course of one scene.

Belinda feels that Phebe is isolated from everybody else in the Forest of Arden. She especially feels that Phebe would think that Audrey was beneath her friendship, Silvius is her only companion. When Phebe sees Ganymede she senses something set apart from the forest in ‘him’ and feels he could be a means of escape and social advancement.

Belinda has been thinking about what Phebe would wear for the wedding scene and feels that she would make a very special effort – in preparation for her marriage to Ganymede. This will make her disappointment more poignant.

At this point in the rehearsal process the cast went on a residential weekend to an Elizabethan manor house where they improvised the scenes that were not in the play. This was useful for Belinda as it allowed her to establish Phebe’s relationship with the other characters in the play – Belinda was able to improvise scenes with characters that otherwise Phebe does not see until the wedding scene. This work will help her to interact with those characters in that scene during performance.

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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