01 Apr 2008 - 23:45
Two weeks to go....
..in rehearsals for Yasmina Reza's 'Life x 3' at the Pump House Theatre....
We're now rehearsing in the theatre itself and the first few times onstage is always a little disconcerting. Going from the relative cosiness of the Upper Rehearsal Room, with a set comprised of plastic chairs and the ubiquitous wooden blocks is tricky. The onstage set, which is going to look fantastic, mainly comprises two huge sofas which are far too comfortable. At various points during the play my character, stroppy cow that she is, has to get up and storm out, banging down her wine glass as she goes. And she has to do it quickly, with elegance. Easy with the aforementioned furniture and dimensions - but a damn sight harder when it takes all your effort to haul yourself out of a very squishy sofa (my head being only just visible over the arm, and my feet barely reaching the floor when sitting down) and the coffee table is several feel further away than you thought it would be, and you've just been told you'll be wearing very very high heels.....
...lines are pretty much all learned now. It's very wordy, and translated from the French in a way which doesn't always embrace a natural English idiom. Still, there are some lovely phrases. At one point the pompous but intelligent Hubert is holding forth on the diffculties that beset modern consciousness, and describes humanity as suffering from "nostalgia for a lost wholeness", which is a thought-provoking sentiment. It's just that sometimes I could swear he's saying "nostalgia for a Bob Holness.."
