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Phebe

Rehearsal Notes: 3

After Phebe has met Rosalind she enters on a new stage of her relationship with Silvius – he is useful to her as a messenger and this at least prevents them from quarreling – they enter the new stage of a partnership together, although at that moment it is on unequal terms. Belinda is now experimenting with a Kentish accent for Phebe (all characters native to Arden are using a Kent dialect), she feels however that Phebe would be trying to imitate the accent of the court in and effort to set herself apart from characters such as Audrey.

Belinda is now concentrating on owning the lines for herself –forgetting Shakespeare wrote them and ensuring that she is absolutely clear about what Phebe is saying and why she is saying it.

Working with costume is a huge help, especially the corset as this effects the way Belinda moves as Phebe.

Belinda wishes to develop the moment when she falls in love with Ganymede, she feels this is at the line:

"Sweet youth, I pray you chide a year together.

I had rather hear you chide than this man woo."

(Act 3 Scene 5)

Belinda is exploring the different ways in which she can show Phebe’s feelings to the audience.

The final scenes still present the biggest challenge for Belinda – should Phebe be happy or distressed at events – she is after all tricked into agreeing to marry Silvius. Belinda feels that this is the moment when Phebe grows up, she is distraught at Rosalind’s revelation yet Silvius is still there for her – Belinda would like to find a way of playing this moment which conveys these ideas.

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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