Sam Mendes on his Rehearsal Process | National Theatre
Summary
TLDRThe transcript details a director's unique rehearsal process, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and experimentation. By arranging the rehearsal room in a circle and keeping the company together, the director fosters a collective exploration of the play. Techniques such as role-switching and physical activities are employed to unlock scenes and encourage actors to lose self-consciousness. The process is described as personal and eccentric, with the director using Shakespeare's own recurring motifs as inspiration. The goal is to find the most effective and organic direction for the production through trial and error.
Takeaways
- 🎭 The director emphasizes the importance of a collaborative and imaginative approach in the rehearsal room, valuing the input and insights of all participants.
- 🔄 The director's methodology evolved over time through trial and error, shaped by the enjoyment found in the rehearsal process and the need for a consistent approach to directing.
- 🤔 The rehearsal room is used as a space for experimentation, with the director encouraging actors to explore scenes through various games and exercises.
- 💡 Role-switching and physical activities are employed as tools to help actors gain new perspectives on their characters and the dynamics of a scene.
- 🤝 The director mentions the use of the entire company as a resource, involving them in the creative process and using their collective imagination.
- 🌟 A memorable example is given where actors played a scene as if rowing a boat, which physically unlocked the scene and improved the actors' connection.
- 🍽️ The director discusses setting scenes in different contexts, like a dinner table, to reveal character dynamics and relationships.
- 🔍 The process involves exploring multiple versions of a scene, with the director mentioning different iterations of the first scene of a play.
- 🚫 The director acknowledges that not all ideas from the rehearsal room can be transferred to the stage, but the process is valuable for discovering what works.
- 🔑 The director's approach is described as personal and eccentric, with a focus on losing self-consciousness and creating an environment where there's no right or wrong.
- 🔄 The phrase 'by indirections find directions out' from Hamlet is used to illustrate the director's belief in the value of exploring various paths to find the right direction for a production.
Q & A
What was the director's initial approach to working with a company and arranging the rehearsal room?
-Initially, the director did not have a set methodology and struggled as a young director. The approach evolved over time, and the director found it effective to arrange the rehearsal room in a circle and keep the company together for the duration of the rehearsal process.
How does the director utilize the collective imagination of the company during rehearsals?
-The director believes in using the collective imagination of the company, recognizing that there are intelligent insights within the group. The director's role is seen as editorial to some extent, but the process is largely collaborative and exploratory.
What is the significance of experimenting with scenes and roles during rehearsals?
-Experimenting with scenes and roles, such as switching roles or involving the entire group, helps to reveal new insights and understandings of the play. It can also unlock scenes in different ways, such as through physical tricks or by changing the dynamics of a scene.
Can you provide an example of a physical trick used during rehearsals to unlock a scene?
-One example given is playing a scene from 'Twelfth Night' as if the characters were rowing a boat across a lake, which helped to physically release the scene and allowed the actors to relate to each other more accurately without focusing on the text.
How does the director handle scenes that become too dark or academic during rehearsals?
-If the mood becomes too dark or academic, the director might introduce a silly or playful element to lighten the mood and unlock the scene, such as playing a scene with a different physical constraint or setting.
What is the director's approach to using props or settings to enhance a scene?
-The director might use specific props or settings, like a dinner table or a wheat field, to enhance the dynamics and reveal different aspects of a scene. The choice of props or settings is often intuitive and aimed at bringing out the physical life of the scene.
How does the director deal with getting stuck with one or two ideas during the rehearsal process?
-The director frees themselves from getting stuck by experimenting with various versions of a scene and by using the collective imagination of the company. This process helps to avoid repetition and self-consciousness.
What is the significance of the line from 'Hamlet' quoted by the director, 'We shall by indirections find directions out'?
-This line from 'Hamlet' reflects the director's rehearsal process, which involves exploring various paths, even if they seem indirect or wrong, to ultimately discover the right direction for a scene or production.
How does the director ensure that actors lose self-consciousness during rehearsals?
-The director encourages actors to play and lose self-consciousness by creating an environment where there is no right or wrong, no audience, and no fixed entrance or exit. This allows actors to try things freely and without fear of judgment.
What is the transition process like from the rehearsal room to the stage for the director?
-The transition from the rehearsal room to the stage is often straightforward, with the director moving the entire rehearsal into the stage space. Adjustments are made as necessary, but the core of the work done in the rehearsal room is retained.
Why does the director consider their working method to be personal and not recommend it to others?
-The director views their working method as personal because it has emerged from their own experiences and preferences. It is an eccentric approach that may not suit everyone and is tailored to the director's specific way of working and collaborating with actors.
Outlines
🎭 Exploring the Rehearsal Process
The director discusses their working methodology, emphasizing the importance of a collaborative and exploratory approach during rehearsals. They mention the use of a rehearsal room arranged in a circle to facilitate a collective creative process. The director values the input of the entire company, leveraging the collective imagination to explore scenes and characters. They recount specific instances where role-switching and physical activities unlocked new insights into the material. The process is described as iterative and experimental, with the director seeking to avoid repetition and self-consciousness by encouraging freedom and playfulness in the rehearsal space.
🌟 Transitioning from Rehearsal to Production
The director shares their experience of transitioning from the rehearsal room to the stage, highlighting the relatively straightforward process when moving from a circular rehearsal setup to a full production. They reflect on the challenges of not repeating oneself and the importance of personalizing the rehearsal process. The director also discusses the significance of losing self-consciousness for both themselves and the actors, allowing for a more authentic and daring exploration of the material. They mention the use of specific props and settings to enhance the dynamics of a scene and the importance of recognizing and building upon successful initial experiments during rehearsals.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Methodology
💡Rehearsal Room
💡3D Literary Criticism
💡Imagination
💡Editorial Role
💡Experimentation
💡Self-Consciousness
💡Physicality
💡Dynamics
💡Indirections
Highlights
The director emphasizes the importance of arranging the rehearsal room in a circle to foster a collaborative environment.
The director's approach to directing evolved over time through trial and error, influenced by the enjoyment and effectiveness found in rehearsals.
The value of utilizing the collective imagination of the entire company during the rehearsal process is highlighted.
The director's role is described as editorial, facilitating exploration rather than dictating a singular vision.
Experimentation with scenes is key, including switching roles to reveal new insights.
Physical tricks, like pretending to row a boat, can unlock a scene's physicality and relationships between characters.
The director discusses the use of the full company as knights during rehearsals, demonstrating the fluidity of roles.
The importance of not taking the rehearsal process too seriously is underscored, allowing for a playful exploration of scenes.
The director shares an example of setting a scene around a dinner table to reveal dynamics and tensions.
A detailed account of experimenting with different versions of a scene, including a dinner scene with a twist, is provided.
The transition from the rehearsal circle to the stage is described as relatively straightforward for the director.
The director acknowledges the personal and eccentric nature of their rehearsal method, which is not universally applicable.
The process of losing self-consciousness among actors is seen as crucial for freeing up creativity and experimentation.
The director's approach to not having a fixed entrance or exit in the rehearsal space encourages a more open and less performance-oriented environment.
The importance of recognizing and building on special moments that occur spontaneously during rehearsals is discussed.
The director reflects on the recurring themes and motifs in their work, drawing parallels to Shakespeare's own use of echoes within his plays.
A quote from Polonius in Hamlet is used to encapsulate the director's belief in finding direction through indirect exploration.
Transcripts
well let's talk a little bit about your
your working methodology and working
with that company and and the way you
arrange a rehearsal room in a circle the
way that you have the company there for
the duration of the rehearsal process
and how you really begin to sort of push
and pull at scenes and 3D literary
criticism and and and then how you you
sort of compute and arrange your
production based on that what do you get
out of your working process how do you
work with your actors how does it work
work in the rehearsal room it's it's
interesting when I was a student I I
didn't have a methodology and and I as a
young director I I struggled and and I
in that in that regard I I didn't have a
way to approach a play that was
consistent I felt and so I remember
reading a lot of books about directing I
think I'll try that I'll try this and
and like anything it's it's trial and
error and it emerged gradually out of
what I enjoy in a rehearsal room and
what I found the best way was to explore
something with the people that you're
working with you know
you have 20 other imaginations in the
room with you as a director and you're
an idiot if you don't use those
imaginations and there are some
incredibly intelligent people in the
room with you who see it with every with
with every bit as much insight as you do
you know your job is editorial to a
degree but for me it actually emerged
out of aell here that was the first time
I worked with a lot of people in the
room I put out a lot of rugs and I
thought I'm going to try just keeping
the company together and experimenting
with with scenes um playing games
sometimes s sometimes it would be simple
things like I'll switch the roles in a
scene I'll get I mean I remember a
fantastic day of a fellow where CLA
Skinner who was playing desd Demona
played aell and David herwood played
desd deona and it was revelatory to both
of them and it helped that you know so
that that's just a very simple idea um
sometimes it will be um I will involve
the group a lot you know in terms of uh
in in this production the full company
the act the cor of core of 21 became the
knights for six weeks of rehearsals
until the knights arrived but by the
time the knights actually AR the
supernumeraries we had experimented with
any number of different ways of using
them because the company had had become
that group it's just a way of of
exploring the play and sometimes it can
be silly if you feel the the mood
getting too dark or too dry perhaps too
academic then then you can play
something that's a little uh that you
can unlock a scene through a physical
trick so so I remember a rehearsal 12th
night in which um we played a scene as
if they were rowing a boat across a lake
and I know it sounds stupid but it it
released the scene physically they
didn't think about text anymore uh they
related to each other completely
accurately with because there were two
people sitting next to each other and
they had to row at the same time and the
teamwork of the scene and the physical
life of the scene uh It came it it came
to life uh sometimes times you will find
that uh you know you you you'll set a
scene around a dinner table for example
for no reason except that you have a
feeling that the Dynamics will be better
revealed of the family around the dinner
table uh and someone loses their temper
you don't want them to wave their hands
so you give them knife and fork I mean
you'll go down a very specific route now
in the case of this play the first scene
we spent a lot of time and right up to
very late in the day there were
different versions I mean completely
different versions of the first scene
one of them and the one of the most
interesting was a dinner scene between
Leah and the whole family in which on a
predetermined cue the men stood up and
backed off leaving the women sitting
there unaware I mean like a trick they
playing on the women a joke and Leah
said yeah I've got a little thing I
we've we've all arranged this to men um
because we know there's going to be a a
big present giving ceremony I'm going to
give you my nation I'm going to give you
a third each now you know you play along
with my game and tell me how much you
love me and the men were all in on it
drinking and it was late and it was it
was almost as if it was the end of a
dinner party and it was Sinister it was
a male-dominated society it was unfair
on the women it was
exposing and it worked very
interestingly but then there was this
other version of the scene which is this
version that you'll see tonight which
was completely different it was a very
public scene it was very exposing it was
very politically oriented the the the
the the presence of the soldiers was
very made it made it both public and uh
and threatening it was it was clear that
if the wrong things were said there was
not a comfortable environment in which
to be
yourself it was uh it increased the
level of tension so anyway that's a good
example but there were very there were
many versions of that scene and of
course there are Al there are things
that happen in the circle that you can
never bring on to a bigger stage it's
much easier the journey from the circle
to full production at the domar is is
almost straight on stage I mean you know
we did the whole the whole of 12th night
in the circle and we just moved it onto
the stage I mean I kept everyone in the
room until about three days from the end
um and only then did little specific
adjustments uh but for me it's just a
way of uh I've also freeing myself from
sometimes getting stuck uh with one or
two IDE ideas and repeating myself I
mean I think that you know it's very
difficult to you do find yourself uh
repeating certain things and and there
are there are things that I use in this
production that I've used before you
know you you probably would notice the
long table from The Trial scene in the
Winter's Tale even behind it is very
similar or the wheat field from a
production of as you like it or whatever
there are things that you find yourself
returning to but that's also because
Shakespeare returns to them as well and
and there are there are echoes within
his work that are actually quite
enjoyable to explore
um so that's that's the working method
it's come out of trial and error and
it's very eccentric and I wouldn't
recommend it to anyone else really I
don't think I write a book and say this
is the way you need to rehearse it's
very personal and I think it's a lot of
it's about losing self-consciousness you
know and being able to talk in a way the
other thing that happens which I think
is very important is that
actors play and lose self-consciousness
there's a sort of throwing yourself into
the water it's a little scary the first
time but once you've got through it you
made a fool of yourself once it's sort
of you lose self-consciousness as
performers as well um and
people are willing to try things and be
free with things that because they know
that there's no right or wrong there's
no entrance there's no exit there's no
audience because you you know you're not
facing that way you're facing any way
you face you know and I try to move so
that they don't perform towards me yes
so I move you know a DOT around the
circle um make it comfortable people
sitting on Floors some people sitting in
chairs some people have armchairs I try
and keep them moving as well so that
people don't always go back to the same
place um sometimes you'll start the
scene just by sitting on the floor and
talking the scene to each other and then
you know you'll have people come
together and do a closer version
expanded version and then you grow out
of that and then sometimes you get it
right the first time I mean literally
you and you have to recognize when
something special has happened you'll
experiment with other things but you'll
always have that first version of the
scene in your head um and there's a line
from ponus in Hamlet he says and I
quoted this to you before but he says we
shall by indirections find directions
out and that's a great ex uh descriptive
line about my rehearsal process you know
if you go down enough blind alleys you
might find the one that leads somewhere
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