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This is Paul's first blog entry for the 2000 prduction of The Tempest, in which he talks aboutgetting started with the cast and the play, his character, Trinculo, and working with the Master of Verse.

Getting Started

The first day was a 'Meet and Greet', where everyone introduced themselves to each other. Mark Rylance (the Globe's Artistic Director) gave the dedication. He dedicated this season to the actors. He talked about the Globe as a space and the importance of language. We then went on a tour of the building and exhibition.

Mark explained that as actors, our primary goal is telling the story. We should have eloquence and a love of words. We can have playfulness but at the same time gravity-there can be a range of emotional qualities in our work. We just should not do anything that gets in the way of telling the story.

Lenka (Udovicki, director of The Tempest) told us what the play meant to her and presented general ideas about approaching the play. The next day we read through the play. Nigel Osbourne (the composer for this production) spoke to us about the music for The Tempest. He wants to make use of Balkan themes. Lenka is from Serbia and one of the singers in the cast is from Kosovo.

There will be a Balkan theme to the costumes as well. Some of the costumes look like they're from the 17th century while others look like they are from the 1940s. There is a mixture of eras. My costume has big baggy trousers and what looks like a bandanna.

On Wednesday we started going through the text scene by scene, making sure people understood each line. We could ask specific questions about language or our characters.

I'd never read the play or seen it performed before my audition. In a way, I'm glad I've never seen it, because this way I have no images of past performances in my head. I'm basing my performance on the text instead of something I've seen in the past.

Trinculo

Trinculo is described as a jester. As such he has free reign to make comments about other people, to amuse and entertain. He's been shipwrecked-the social order he is accustomed to at court has been fractured. Trinculo doesn't know if the King is still alive, and the King is his raison d'être-his job is to perform for the court. Trinculo arrives on an island and doesn't know what will happen to him.

Trinculo is desperate to please and is not a natural leader. He's relieved that Stephano plays the role of leader. He's cowardly, too. He threatens to beat Caliban but he never does, he also needs an audience. Even when Trinculo is alone he talks to himself.

I'm trying not to worry about making people laugh. If you go into a part thinking, I have to be funny, you make your job very difficult. You won't simply try to be that character in that situation.

Working with the Master of Verse

We've had a couple sessions with Tim (Carroll, Master of Verse for (The Tempest). We've looked at iambic pentameters, both regular and irregular lines. We've also read prose and seen how prose has its own rhythm and antitheses. We look for the key words-the character's main thought in each line. I've learned you can't linger on a particular line. You want to get to the end of the thought.

Exclamation marks didn't exist in Shakespeare's time. The end of the line is more important than the commas and the full stops. Those were added in later by editors.

We did some exercises with Tim where we walked as we said a line. We would change direction at the end of a line. Then we did the exercise again, changing direction at the end of each thought as we saw it. This exercise gives you a physical memory of the character's changing thoughts. I think it will help me when I am performing the lines on stage.

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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