Indeed. Last night's runthrough was indeed a post new years run. Very wonky. Many lines lost. The good news is we have a runthru tonight and tomorrow before heading into tech.
The formula: should I have spent today having another runthru? I don't think so. I feel good that we need the run thru so that people get a better sense of the flow of the play. That's paramount with a show this big.
Once we get into tech we'll be able to work out the nuances of transitions. Seems to me there are only a couple of instances that need reworking in total.
Tonight I get to work on the grim penultimate scene. Still not at all certain how I will stage the final moment, when a third body emerges from the river. I've got all but two characters on the set at that point. I will likely keep sofia and alexis on the stage. All except fidelia and cecilia.
Ariel sees the end as hopeful. It is hard for me to imagine that the captain and the lieutenant don't fire the shots after the lights go down. But ariel believes in the power of the women. I see the hope being in the hands of fidelia, in her ability to tell the story after the slaughter. To tell it to the unnamed speechless babe.
But what's it actually say in the script?
Captain says: men. I want the riverbank cleared
The captain looks again at the women; they look at him. There is suddenly the loud cry of an animal, a blackbird or... Everyone, the women, the soldiers, looks up. The women move to the river, silently, then go into the water and carry a body out onto the riverbank. They advance towards the soldiers, then stop. They look at each other. They advance again - perhaps singing, perhaps only moving forward as they rock the body like a newborn chld.
Blackout.
End of play.
