We are about a week and a half into rehearsals for Ink now, and it feels like we've been at it for months. I mean this in a good way, if that makes sense. There's A LOT going on in this show, and we're covering so much ground each rehearsal that scenes we blocked just three days ago seem like a distant memory. Last night and tonight we went back and reviewed scenes we blocked late last week and we were LOST. All of us. Thank Crom for Stage Managers. Kaylyn (our incredible SM) was on the spot, reviewing in real time, the copious blocking notes she had kept during our initial rehearsal. She kept us on track and moving forward.
Note to self: Blocking notes are like firewood. When you think you have enough, double it.
That said, we're beginning to get into the real fun part of rehearsals now. Last night we spent the entire night running our newsroom ensemble scenes, exploring the relationships between our characters, experimenting with different dynamics, and just playing with each other. This next week or two is honestly the best part of acting; the freedom and joy of playing with your castmates in an environment where no choice is a bad choice, and every time you run a scene you discover something new. It really is like getting paid to be a kid playing pretend.