Rehearsifying

There are things every professional actor needs when approaching a script in preparation for rehearsal:

1) highlighters
2) quiet time
3) Coffee
4) an open mind

I read somewhere that the first time you read a play, you should turn off your cell phone, lock the door, light candles, find the perfect music for the mood and play it on a low volume, and take it slow.  Yes, the first time you read a play. Because the first time is your first encounter to the words, the storyline, the characters, the dramatic climax, the resolution, the take-away.  The first time is special.  You never get a second chance at the first time. Create a ritual for yourself.  I wish I could tell you I had some elaborate ceremony but I don't. Yet. 

What I do have is a ritual for rehearsifying...
For Table Work:
I like to arrive early.  I like to have a coffee.  I like to have more pencils than I would need.  I like to have the box of AEA-provided-Kleenex within arms reach.  I like to have a cup of water at my station.  I like to have my glasses whether I really need them or not.  I like to have my homework.  I like to have the set design in front of me.  And I like to wear my shawl.  And after receiving these snazzy socks as a gift from a friend, I would like to wear these on "first days" for ever after. 

I LOVE rehearsal.  I can't get enough of rehearsal.  I love the room.  I love the spike tape.  I love the bowls of mints and couch drops.  I love how some Stage Managers bring doughnuts.  I love how some interns bring homemade baked goods.  I love the chance to work with old friends.  I love the chance to make new friends.  I love how in rehearsal you can steal the opportunity to watch, in awe, the other artists in the room.  I love to chance to laugh at ourselves.  I love great direction.  I love smart actors.  I love insightful playwrights.  I love working on a play with my husband - playing my husband.  I love shared vocabulary.  I love mining for gold.  I love taking a chance.  I love experimentation.  I love falling on my face.  I love sharing a breath with my scene partner.  I love the discovery.  I LOVE the imagination, I <love> the  frustration,  I LOVE the creation.  

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