Cutting Coriolanus to Pieces

The Tragedy of Coriolanus
Notes – July 9/2023 AM
With Nasty Shadows shows I normally post this sort of thing under our Rehearsal Notes, and I don’t often post in here about work with other groups but playing outside downtown with the Bard and those of the local Barracks company, seemed like a special occasion for me and warranted some notation about my experience with The Tragedy of Coriolanus.

The Tragedy of Coriolanus – Bard in the Barracks

“And so tonight finally felt good [for my performance]” – I wrote that 6 days ago (19th), and now the role and show feel like something I’m taking hold of and can really dig into as we move forward, so it was unfortunate that we were rained out tonight, our 2nd night … but it seemed kind of cool that the rain began picking up in scene 3.1, which is a scene that builds in momentum with ‘Coriolanus’ getting more and more frustrated by and angry towards the Tribunes, and so the rain began to pick up, then ‘Coriolanus’ is told he should stop, he’s said enough, to which he bursts out in response, “No, take more!”, at which point the skies opened up and the rain just came down hard as could be. Len let us finish this moment of the scene, and just before the rest of the cast/citizens would have been beckoned out into the torrential play space on The Green, Len stepped up and paused the show to see what might happen … we were, unfortunately, too rained out to continue.

I wrote the above paragraph 14 days ago (25th) Tonight, felt especially good all around – like, real good. And now I’ve only one more kick at the Corio-can before I say goodbye to this incredible character.

The Tragedy of Coriolanus – Bard in the Barracks

I can now see the above rain-out as an analogy (or metaphor?) for my anxiety-ridden experience with the rehearsal process and trying to come to grips with this character, keeping in mind we’re playing outside and so nuance takes on a different meaning and output – it would be cool to contain this show in a smaller space and see what happens with the overall tone … I suspect and would hope it would get darker, but when playing in outdoors for the summer Shakespeare, the show needs to engage in a certain way and finding the humour when possible is a good thing – just some of that humour would resonate differently inside, methinks, and I feel it would/could be more intense … but back to my immersion in this role: We’d built group understandings of the intent for each scene and set up blocking, all of which was now coming to life in its own way – and that initial part of the process is essential for these Shakespeare shows, to sit and have each of us paraphrase our way through the scene because the language is so dense, we need to be clear, although it is A LOT to digest in the span of week or more as we did this for each scene in the play, and would then put the scenes on their feet to establish initial blocking. The next phase found us solidifying the blocking of each scene, albeit in a loose sense since this would all play and feel different once we hit the outdoors downtown. It’s a good method for gobbling up an understanding of the play and your character’s place in it and in their given scenes, provided you are taking advantage and paying attention (ahem).

The Tragedy of Coriolanus – Bard in the Barracks

One has to process much in a short window of time … Suddenly, we were downtown running through the show in order for the first time – this was the night of the 16th that almost broke me, I felt like I was swimming … but it was just a necessary hurdle to overcome in retrospect, one familiar to me but that I haven’t had to face like that in a while: I felt unprepared, just needed another 4-5 days for the lines to marinate and muscle memory to kick-in. When it “finally felt good” on the 19th of June, it meant I could now play with what we’d done. We’d put the show in order a couple times by the end of that night which helped me see the journey of ‘Coriolanus’ a little more, not that it’s something I worry about too much – the Mametian influence in me has me playing the moments, the scene, and trusting the script is building it all into a “character” and “story” for the audience (I think I can trust ol’Will’s words and Len’s skillful cutting into our version of the text to tell the story if I do my job in the moment and capture the audience’s attention).

The Tragedy of Coriolanus – Bard in the Barracks

So, why was the rained-out scene analogous to the rehearsal discoveries? Because just like the build of that scene, carried by my ‘Coriolanus’ becoming more and more unhinged, the success of the play kinda hinged on me, Scott, being able to pull off this role – which meant being able to unhinge within the framework we’d rehearsed – and I don’t say this to augment my part in the play’s success, just the text is kinda written for the role to be very integral to the overall mood and how the show unfolds … it was a bit daunting as we approached the final weekend before previews and eventual opening the following weekend. After our first visit downtown and stumble-run on the 16th, I was very anxious and extremely worried that I was not going to be able to “pull this off” in the time we had – and I was frustrated that I was reduced to the hope of simply trying to “pull it off” due to the condensed time we had to rehearse, rather than being able to really embrace the role in the way I would want (I’ve learned, in my amateur playtime over the years that I need time for a role and its lines to resonate with me between all the other aspects of life). If I couldn’t make the character work, or even just get by enough, then I was raining-out the production, almost to the point where I thought, “How can I perform this for people next week? What can I do to not let down my cast mates and the group as a whole?” So that final weekend I really crammed some time away from my fam jam time, which I don’ t like to do – I don’t want my theatrical ventures taking away from being with my family more than is necessary, but it was necessary. Running the show at Mem Hall on the 19th is where it “finally felt good” and the subsequent week allowed for much shaping and discovery as I could finally play with my fellow thespians in the moment, await feedback, and carry on the same or with further explorations. Finally embracing the moments.

The Tragedy of Coriolanus – Bard in the Barracks

Now it’s 3 weeks since I was freaking out and then it all “finally felt good”, 2 weeks after the rain-out on our 2nd performance, and later today I’ll perform this role for the final time … the performance of a play is always the death of the play, a long slow death applauded by those who were lucky to experience it, mourned by those of us who lived it (my wonderfully talented cast mates), the play’s existence is like a life, it’s all very organic. The play dies later tonight and for that I am sad, more sad than I often am … I usually try to embrace the final moments, relish in them, and move to the next venture … I feel like I have unsettled business with this ‘Coriolanus’ fella and only one more chance to manifest his infinite presence in time … I gotta give it all tonight because tonight will be the death of ‘Coriolanus’.

scott

The Tragedy of Coriolanus
Notes – July 12/2023 AM

The Tragedy of Coriolanus – Bard in the Barracks

Now I’m ready to play the role of ‘Coriolanus’, just as the play dies … this is common for me with these quick projects (well, maybe any projects) … I like to think I gave the audience the best I could each night, as best I could on that day, but I know my performance got richer and deeper as the run went on, with those final two performances on Friday the 7th and Sunday the 9th really feeling like the real deal for what I could offer the crowd and my fellow actors in each scene – I had the control I like to have so I can then let go and trust in the preparation to carry me through, which leads to some wonderfully cathartic feelings in performance, for some roles more than others, but the emotion and animal intensity of ‘Coriolanus” rang right through me most especially on these final performances.

I’m trying to hold onto the memories of the moments, the people, the interactions both passing and intimate, the missed opportunities where maybe something more could have been made of a moment or a glance, a touch, a word. When I’m in a multi-character play, I try to be involved with everyone in some way, on or off the stage, but mostly on. It’s the team player in me, something I learned from my Dad – I played numerous sports growing up and he was often my team’s coach, or we would play together, and I always recall the notion of team play. In the context of hockey, my Dad’s specialty* where he played defense, team play meant knowing where everyone on the ice was located as it would affect the play at hand – in my world of theatre, I am attentive to where everyone is in the playing space and how their movements impact where I should go, what I should do in reaction or not, and I extend this to the verbal interplay we all have and my own personal performance: how is my body taking up space, where is my arm, how are my feet planted, should I turn my head, raise an arm, how am I affecting the whole. The rehearsal process maps most of these out, but then performance offers new discoveries as moments shift and change.

The Tragedy of Coriolanus – Bard in the Barracks

There were many such discoveries over the course of the run, perhaps too many to note, but a few that stand out at this moment as snapshots to remember:

• First and foremost, looking into the faces/eyes of those with whom I shared a scene, when the moment warranted such interaction – some of these interactions are fleeting, but some are deeper and then we move on from the moment at hand to the next, and the next, and … these moments are a wonder, George Carlin often said, “Every person you look at, you can see the universe in their eyes, if you’re really looking”

• There was a scene where I chased off a mob with a big knife and that run took us off the grass, across a path, and onto more grass by the green end of the gallery. During a rehearsal run downtown one night I almost attacked a dad and his son who happened to be on the path when we were running the scene!

• Chilling with Jason by the tree before our first entrance – he entered a couple minutes before me so I could watch his scene distantly and then make my approach

• Being challenged each night bey Alex F. in that first scene and having to amp-up my Corio – especially that last night!

• Seeing the snarky looks Alex M. would give me in our various scenes, either on the grass or down in the lower outdoor gallery space – and Naomi putting me in my place in either location! Although my role was to resist this attempt at control – there was a move in a speech I had at the gallery where I would shake as the text roused my up and I would extend an arm/hand to the mob in condemnation … just loved that moment.

• The scenes with cast members playing mock-voters coming up to me as I tried to approach “the people” … squeezing Armin and Brianna, or posing for a selfie with Rebekah and Noah; the looks on the public as I “solicited votes” on the trail by the green

• Having the audience so close in the “family home” scenes that took place on the backside of the gallery next to the river

• Leaving my home by walking into the open green away from the crowd which was covered with a dense smoke from a fire on this wet evening as the light was fading (not sure there should have been a fire at all, but the smokey after-affect was cool!)
  

  

  The Tragedy of Coriolanus – Bard in the Barracks

• Staring down Noah in the Gallery 78 parking lot for a scene after nightfall

• Standing out on the green for that intense scene with Rebekah, playing my mother, and just staring and listening to her, feeling the emotion/words

• Running over to the Cathedral for the final scene where each night I was murdered – and I still have a scar on my back from a rehearsal mishap one night when practicing the scene – HA! This has developed into a possible play, sparked also off an idea from the Patrick Ness novel, The Crash of Hennington, wherein one character has a perpetual open wound in the side of his ribs … but that’s a tale for another time

• The cast/crew – I can see all their faces right now, recall the various encounters and moments

And but so in the end, as a performer I am so grateful to my cast mates, the crew, and Len for trusting me with this role and playing with me through the hectic adventure that was the role of ‘Coriolanus’ … maybe he and I will cross paths again someday …

scott

*Seriously, my Dad was drafted by the Montreal Canadians and the Canadian Olympic teams back in the ‘60s! I think I get my desire to excel at something from him, but mine is directed towards my play time.