Day One, An Actor's Perspective

Company member Samantha Sheahan discusses her first morning of rehearsals for the showcase:
"Today began with rehearsal for The Taming of the Shrew. I'm playing Kate (Katharina), Mark is Petruchio, Caroline is Hortensio, and Matt is our Vincentio. After trying the scene for about two minutes, Elizabeth had me play one of her favorite "games," soon to be a feared activity for me. She had me hit the couch on her porch with a pillow, with all my strength, until I was "more on my breath." Well, I was definitely out of breath when I finished. Then we could actually start rehearsing. The scene we're doing, 4.5, is all about Kate learning to play Petruchio's twisted game of manipulating the world to fit his fancies-- but learning how to play it in a way that is fun for her, too. Petruchio has to learn how to deal with Kate's way of playing. We spent about an hour trying to strike the balance between power struggle and play, and I think we got something fun out of it by the end.
     Next, we rehearsed Twelfth Night 2.4, a scene in which Viola, disguised as a male servant, pines after the Duke Orsino, and Orsino pines after Olivia, confiding his musings in his lovesick servant. This scene went much more quickly. My favorite moment was probably when we were debating what to do with an invisible rose on stage: should Matt (Orsino) pluck it, or just twirl his finger through the air and watch it spiral to the ground? Needless to say, we talked somewhat about the schmaltz and poetry of the scene. But there's also a great element of awkwardness to it, which brings out the comedy in a more obvious way."
We'll hear more from Samantha later in the week!