Sniffles That Do Sorely Ruffle

Assistant Director, Richard Lavery continues his blog from the rehearsal room of King Lear:

Over the last week and a half the rehearsal room has resounded to the tones of sniffling, coughing and a fair few sneezes with the occasional splutter. In a cast and crew of over 30, colds just fly through the company. Add to that the fantastically theatrical weather we've had over the last few weeks and its soothers all round.

My script helper

We've now got to the stage that all the individual pieces of the production have come together more cohesively, with the music and various fight sections having been placed into their respective scenes and now we're just tinkering and running them to develop and solidify a bit further. The rehearsal room now usually rings to the tinkling of music with Paddy working on a piece with Owen (playing the Fool) at the same time as Dominic working with other cast members on a part of a scene and me working with the Ensemble on another section. It feels fantastic when the room buzzes with life and equally exciting when it quietens to focus on a particular scene or for a run of the play.

Fight rehearsal for the last scene

In the last week we've had some of my favourite moments including one from Dominic to Ewan (playing Edgar) of, "play the balloon more", an immortal snippet of direction that I adore for a special moment that may never make it past the tech next week. We've all been falling more and more in love with Shakespeare's language, often I hear little clips receited offstage with adoration and laughter. One of my favourite lines right now is a simple little line from Gloucester, "Alack, the night comes on, and the high winds/Do sorely ruffle" (Act 2 Scene 4 ln 490). And though it's in a moment of high tension, it tends to make me smile.

Dominic thinking and playing the balloon more

Now we're hurtling through the last few days, running the play at least once a day with tech week looming ahead. Not long to go but a lot more to do.

Richard

Assistant Director

WATCH THE TRAILER
featuring clips from rehearsals and interviews with Dominic Hill and David Hayman:

DON'T FORGET

Sat 12 April - 100 50p tickets go on sale for King Lear!