As opening night draws near, Director James Dowson looks back on the rehearsal process for this Tennessee Williams classic.
At the time of writing, we are just days away from our opening night on Tuesday April 15th and finalising the technical aspects of bringing Tennessee Williams’ brilliant play to the ADC stage. So, it seems like a good time to look back at what’s been happening in the rehearsal room! This is an aspect of the production that audiences never really get to see as we work on getting a play from script to stage.
As a director, of course I had an initial idea about how to present the play but the key purpose of rehearsals is to experiment with these ideas so that they develop further with the input of the actors. In this case it was vital that the physical staging reflects the character of the script - particularly as the story unfolds through just one person’s memory of past events - as the script says ‘it is memory…it is not realistic’. In our early rehearsals, we tried various ways of representing this by using music, projection, lighting and experimenting with the performances to create this unique atmosphere for the play. Our first reading of the play also showed how much humour is written into the script so we knew we had to ensure that carried through into the performances. There was a lot of laughter in our rehearsals alongside the serious emotions – so we really wanted our audiences to experience those contrasts too.
So, we also discussed and experimented with the different levels and motivations for each character and the issues that they share with us – how to handle a changing world, how far our families support and/or restrict us and what part memory plays in our future decision. Tennessee Williams writes wonderful characters that keep you thinking about who they really are and how much they are hiding about their true feelings, fears and emotions. We had many discussions about where these other levels are revealed and how often this comes out in the humour and action within the play. So, now we have reached the final stage of that process, pulling all those elements together to share with our audiences. We have had a great time preparing this production – I hope that if you are able to come and see itthat you will also share that journey with us!
The Glass Menagerie
by Tennessee Williams
Tuesday 15th April - Saturday 19th April, 7.45PM & Saturday 19th April, 2.30PM
ADC Theatre
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