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This is Paul's second blog entry for the 2000 production of The Tempest, in which he talks aboutblocking the scenes, Trinculo's situation in the play, and differences between the current season and the last.

Blocking

This week we’ve been getting up and doing some tentative blocking. Nothing is set in stone, as yet, and things can always be changed. We’ve been looking specifically at Trinculo's first scene, where he hides under a gabardine with Caliban. When Stephano enters, he mistakes them for a monster. The scene provides a welcome break from the previous intense action, the storm scene in particular. We’ve been trying to work out a vague shape for the scene. Jasper (Britton, Caliban) and I have been working on our own for much of the time. We’ve been working on the monster shape we form under the gabardine, trying to make it really monstrous so that Stephano looks generally frightened when he first sees it. We’re playing around with the forms and shapes that our body can make. We are also trying to make the moment funny, perhaps by changing the shape of the monster every time Stephano looks around. The challenge here is to maintain an unrecognisable shape and to avoid looking like two men under a coat.

Trinculo's Situation in the Play

I have also been thinking a lot about the reality of Trinculo's situation. Because he is one of the comic characters it is easier to keep the scenes believable and rooted in reality. When Trinculo arrives in this scene he is wet and exhausted. He takes the only chance of shelter he sees, and which he thinks he's safe. Trinculo hears Stephano come in and react in a terrified manner to what he sees, then suddenly the ‘dead body’ he is sharing the gabardine with begins to speak. Trinculo must be petrified at that moment. I have also been thinking about how the circumstances of finding himself marooned and alone on a desert island must have affected him.

I have also been thinking about how Trinculo would have been under normal circumstances. He is a jester and would therefore always be looking for some sort of audience. This can be seen when he first sees Caliban under the gabardine. He has been terrified and yet now we find him musing on the shape in front of him. He is also very much a follower, ‘sucking up’ to Stephano, he wants to be praised and to also have someone below him, which is perhaps why he treats Caliban in such a manner. So far I am just concentrating on the human side of my character. The humorous side will come. I have been thinking about Trinculo's fear and even putting him in other circumstances. For example, how might he react in a group under pressure.

This Season

The approach to the work this season is very different to last year. It could be said to be far more conventional. Last season the company played many exercises at the beginning of the rehearsal period that were unrelated to the text. This year we started by looking at the text in detail, and then moved directly into blocking. We’ve only improvised the scene twice, before putting it on its feet with the script.

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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