Rehearsal continues slowly but surly, as we broke …

Rehearsal continues slowly but surly, as we broke ground on Act III yesterday. David Chandler continues to invent other characters in the world of the play not written by Odets, including Mrs. Grunwald, the old secretary before Cleo, who was probably in the office longer than Stark. It is so fun to watch them play and make up things, which sometimes help inform the character but sometimes are just for fun.

Henry Stram has run into a common snag, which I encounter often myself: the long speech. It is Frency’s speech about “love and the grace to use it” speech in Act III. I watch him struggle with it yesterday for the first time. “Its just such a SPEECH” he replies with some understandable frustration and his argument is valid, how does one communicate Odets’ ideas actively, to make them sound more than a newspaper editorial? Daniel encourages him to deliver the text very simply, not trying to force something just for the sake of entertainment. This seems to help; though time and hard work will make the scene really shine (which I know will happen)