My Master Builder– Week Three

On Monday morning, Johan Persson, the rehearsal photographer is in, so the full company are called. We return to the final scene of the play because it involves the whole of the leading cast, as well as party guests played by our understudies, who are joining us in rehearsals from this week. It’s also a great way to avoid this scene always being worked at the end of the week. We can only really sketch it out, since it requires Ewan to climb and descend the chapel his character has built. We will only fully crack this moment when we have Richard’s chapel structure in the theatre in ‘Tech Week’, but it’s useful to have a tight draft to work from.  

In the afternoon, the main cast return to the start of the play. This week is about starting to settle upon what’s really working, while continuing to explore new possibilities for the moments that need further unlocking. The actors are still playing with the text and delving deeper into their characters, while also refining certain rhythms and technical beats.  

At the same time, I take the four understudies to the nearby MGC offices for their first readthrough. It’s a great opportunity to ensure they have noted down all of the script edits I’ve emailed them from the first two weeks of rehearsals. They ask lots of questions about key decisions made in the rehearsal room regarding timeline, location, backstory and character choices. This will all inform their playing of the scenes when we begin our understudy rehearsals in earnest tomorrow afternoon.  

Starting Tuesday, the shape of the remainder of rehearsals is Michael leading the room from 10am till 4pm and me rehearsing with the understudies from 4 till 6pm. The understudies are able to observe Michael rehearsing any of the scenes they cover. And since they are ‘onstage’ understudies, they will also be called to play guests in the two big party scenes in Act Two and to play house staff for any big transitions.  

On Tuesday afternoon, we have our third production meeting. This means many of those who joined us for the ‘Meet and Greet’ on day one, including the producers, Creative Team and production staff, sit around our huge rehearsal table to eat lunch and update each other on their progress leading up to Tech Week.  

I’m really enjoying observing Michael direct this week. He’s always watching the show through the eyes of the audience and remaining fully alert to what someone is experiencing if they are watching this story for the first time. This has a big impact on how he directs the pace and the rhythm of each scene. You have to give enough space and time to new information, but also prevent conversations settling to keep the action moving and audiences engaged.  

At the end of the day on Wednesday, Michael and I hold ‘supernumerary’ interviews. A supernumerary is a non-speaking cast member who appears on stage in crowd scenes. They aren’t called to rehearsals, but instead join in Tech Week and are directed over a couple of rehearsals on stage. I have been working with our Casting Director, Sophie Holland, to find a selection of lovely people who would like the opportunity to be a part of the My Master Builder Company for the twelve-week run. Michael and I meet some really interesting characters, many of whom have been supernumeraries before in productions like The Lehman Trilogy. We select the six who feel like the best casting choice for an extravagant elite invited to a publishing mogul and world-leading architect’s party in the Hamptons!  

By Thursday, we are yet again ahead of schedule. Michael breaks the main cast for the weekend and gives me the whole of Friday to rehearse with the understudies. This is immensely helpful as it means we can get to the end of the script, leaving the understudies with a good grasp of the shape of the play. I’ve loved our time together this week. It’s been really insightful getting a fresh perspective on the play and characters from these four brilliant actors.