Globe Education Online

At this point, just over half way through the run of the play, As You Like It was given a 3 week break from performance. This allowed the Red Company the opportunity to rehearse full time their second play of the season, A Mad World My Masters and to open that production with a week of performances before the play went into repertory with As You Like It. Belinda and the rest of the company have been busy with rehearsal, technical rehearsal and previews and have not been thinking about As You Like It during this period. Therefore returning to the play is quite challenging.

The company were called to rehearsal before the show for a line run of the play (for which the actors just say their lines, without movement) and a speed run (for which the actors include their moves but as fast as possible). Belinda found this very useful as it helped her to hear the words of the play again and to be reminded of the way in which the scenes fit together.

Belinda is very pleased to be doing As You Like It again. Although she has a wonderful role in A Mad World, My Masters, the play seems one-dimensional to her when compared with As You Like It. She feels that Shakespeare’s storyline, unlike Middleton’s, has a beginning, a middle and an end; it flows much more easily. Belinda also enjoys the richer language and greater depth of characterisation in As You Like It. However, she feels that her preference for As You Like It may also be due to the rehearsal process for A Mad World, My Masters. For the second play, the blocking was very exact and the actors’ movements very physical. Although this looks wonderful on stage, it is perhaps not as stimulating for the actors as they try to develop their characters.

Belinda has also faced another challenge, as Maggie Wells, who plays Audrey, was injured during a rehearsal for A Mad World My Masters and was unable to perform. This means that Belinda has needed to adjust the way she plays her scenes with Audrey in order to respond to a different actress’s interpretation of 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.

Back to Phebe