Director Amy Leach shares the challenges faced and conquered during the second week of Arabian Nights rehearsals.
Plays can be unpredictable beasts. No matter how much you plan and think and dream about a production before hand, things always take you by surprise in the rehearsal room. There are always sections which come together surprisingly easy, whilst creating other parts feels like wading through mud.
After an incredibly productive first week, we found our big muddy patch on Monday whilst trying to stage the story of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves. This is an epic story, in two parts, which could be a full play in itself. Locations in the story change 28 times, there are huge numbers of characters and props, the plot twists and turns, and there are several key things we needed to create like a magical cave and a dismembered body. On top of all this, the story is the very first one Shahrazad tells the King so stakes are high. And finally, as a company of actors, we have to set up the conventions of how we’re going to tell the stories to our audience. No wonder our brains had started to melt by lunchtime.
We battled on working slowly through the text and managed to give the whole story some shape. But despite our best efforts, I left rehearsals with a niggle that we hadn’t really nailed it. The story just wasn’t clear enough. Much deep thinking ensued overnight and I chatted it all through with our designer, Hayley, who had observed some of the days rehearsals. On Tuesday morning, with a new plan of action, we returned to the beginning of the story and started again. We made it clearer and simpler. We injected the start with energy and attack. We discovered moments which were funnier, scarier and more exciting. And slowly but surely, the mud washed away and we found our way to a far better telling of the story.
Arabian Nights runs at The Lowry Fri 30 Nov 2012 – Sat 12 Jan 2013. Family deals and children’s tickets are available for only £10 at all performances. You can book tickets online here or from The Lowry Box Office on 0843 208 6010.