The Cripple of Inishmaan– Week Four

The play is really coming together. As we continue to work through in detail, moment-by-moment, scenes are also being run without stopping, allowing both director and actors to get a feel of the rhythm as a whole.

Composer and Sound Designer Alex Baranowski arrived mid-week armed with music that he’s composed for the scene transitions. Michael explained how the action would work in relation to it. As we listened, there was a quiet ripple of excitement as the beautiful, sweeping music and atmospheric soundscape enabled us all to get a glimpse of the bigger picture and a taste of what the show will feel like.

Trying certain scenes with an underscoring of the sea injected something new and rather thrilling, as we were all reminded of the continual presence of this element in these characters’ lives.

Just before the company headed off to enjoy a well-deserved bank holiday weekend, Michael brought the whole company together to run the first five scenes. It was really exciting to see how each scene fits together, and how brilliantly the play balances comedy and tragedy.

Michael then spoke about the need at this point for the actors to continue to be rigorous in the accuracy of the text, and that only when there is real confidence in the precision of every moment can they find the freedom to play and let an audience in.

We then headed over to the theatre for an afternoon voice session with Penny, allowing the company time to explore the space and experiment vocally.

There has been a real sense of everyone moving forward together this week. Some big steps have been made ahead of our final week in the rehearsal room.