Observer Mondays for The Importance of Being Earnest

Week One

Having studied Drama and English Literature at the University of Manchester with the goal of becoming a theatre director, I inevitably got a job at a cafe after graduating. Luckily this cafe was at the Royal Exchange Theatre, and I have been longingly peeking into the module to get glimpses of technical rehearsals and pestering actors and creatives with questions as they order their coffees for almost two years now. I was therefore incredibly excited when my application for the Observer Monday’s scheme was successful and I was given the chance to enter the rehearsal room and be a part of a production at the theatre.

As I’ve worked in the building for some time now there were lots of familiar friendly faces to greet me on my first day to calm my nerves, as well as lots of new ones. All of the company have been so kind and welcoming throughout the whole process, and I have felt wholly included in every rehearsal I have attended. My thanks go out to Josh, the director, for running such an inclusive room which allowed me to feel like I had every right to be there. A special mention must also go out to Oli Hurst, the assistant director, who has really taken me under his wing and guided me through the process. It has been brilliant to meet another theatre-maker my age who has already achieved so much with his company Red Brick and is so passionate about the theatre he wants to make. I would be incredibly grateful for the scheme if making this creative connection was all I got out of it! Fortunately there has been so much more that I have gained and learnt throughout the process, which has allowed me to orientate myself in a professional theatre setting and start to take my first steps to becoming a professional director.

The first day began with a design presentation led by Josh and Eleanor, the designer. It was exciting to see the contemporary direction the production was taking, and fascinating to hear about the parallels that Josh and Eleanor were trying to draw out between society in the 1890s and our society today. Josh talked about wanting to emphasise the idea that the masks we create for ourselves to try and exude confidence are actually very telling of the insecurities which lie beneath them. It was therefore extremely insightful to see the costume design for each character. This reaffirmed the valuable lesson that when it comes to costume you should be thinking not only about who these people are, but about how they want to be perceived by those around them. After seeing the beauty and meticulousness of her designs, it was no surprise to me to discover that Eleanor recently won an Oscar for her work on Poor Things!

The rest of the day was taken up by a readthrough of the script, hilariously performed by the cast, and a chat from Josh about some of the overarching ideas which he is trying to get across with the production. Josh spoke with ease about some potentially confusing concepts which apply to Wilde’s work, ensuring everyone in the room was able to understand them and instilling the room with a confidence in his vision. The day ended with a tour of the theatre. Stepping into the module and onto the Royal Exchange stage for the first time was an experience I won’t forget.

Week two

A replica of the set had been installed in the rehearsal room for my second week, adding another layer of excitement and serving as a playground for the actors to start exploring things in the space. The day started with looking at the top of the play. Josh had a great idea to start the play with Algy, played by Parth Thakerar, alone in his lavish London flat; hungry, hungover and cripplingly lonely after a party from the night before. I found this a particularly clever device when taking into account the emphasis Josh wants to put on the masks we wear to exude confidence. In seeing Algy alone, without anyone to perform for, the audience are given an insight into his true vulnerabilities which are rapidly covered up when he is joined by others. I think moments like this allowed the production to be elevated from purely serving as a comedy to tapping into something more profound; an emotional bedrock which allows the comedy to soar to greater heights because there is more at stake.

Josh led Parth through a brilliant exercise to help him locate this loneliness within Algy’s character. This put emphasis on finding tangible, sensory things to relate this lonely feeling to, such as temperature, taste and smell. I was incredibly impressed by Parth’s ability to access this and to play so freely with it when bringing it into the scene. This reaffirmed the crucial value of setting out parameters in which the actors can simply play and find impulses themselves. I am simultaneously conducting rehearsals for my own show which I am taking to the Edinburgh Fringe, and it has been fantastic to take inspiration from what Josh and Oli are doing into my own rehearsal room. This exercise which Josh used with Parth was one I was able to use almost the very next day in my own rehearsal room! This is just one example of the very direct benefit the Observer Monday’s scheme has had on my own work and development. Cheers Josh!

Other valuable lessons from this week included reminding the actors, if they are getting too bogged down in concepts or overthinking ideas, to simply play each other- to listen and respond. This invariably improved scenes, allowing the actors to get back to basics and trust their instincts. A similarly repeated note was to ground each scene in reality, to play the stakes of the scene with truth if it seemed to be running away slightly with the heightened comedy innate in the play. This again seemed to improve scenes more often than not, and, in seemingly tempering the comedy, actually made them funnier. One last important lesson I was reminded of was to ensure that all movement was motivated from character, rather than for the sake of moving. Josh was very wary with the installation of the replica set, and its invitingly comfy sofas, that the actors made sure they were pointedly choosing to sit down, rather than doing so thoughtlessly. This insistence on motivated movement was very important, especially in the Exchange’s in-the-round space, which can easily create a pressure to make a show very dynamic to accommodate this. However, if this dynamism is not motivated by character, it can be just as detrimental to a show as creating blocking which seems achingly still. This early rule on movement allowed the production to strike the right balance.

Week three

This emphasis on movement set the tone for the third week, when much time was spent firming up staging for the Exchange’s unique space. This was not, however, a strict process of nailing ideas down and there was still much room for discovery. One quote I noted down from Josh which stood out for me from this week was “It’s not what I had in mind, but that’s why we should try it”. This quote is representative of the openness and freedom with which the rehearsal process was conducted, in which everyone’s ideas were encouraged and played out. It was fantastic to see this and to watch Josh balance his own ideas with those of the company to find the best outcome. I was also struck by the value of having a professional rehearsal period, which allows space and time for these discoveries to be made. The objective was not simply to find something that worked for a scene and be satisfied, but to find something that worked and then use the time to try other ideas, secure in the confidence that you can always come back to the idea that worked originally. It is always valuable to be reminded of the importance of this level of collaboration and openness when it comes to directing. This also feeds into one of my other biggest lessons from observing rehearsals: that the majority of the job is managing people and ensuring the environment you create allows everyone within it to contribute and do their best work. Josh’s collaborative approach certainly succeeded in creating this atmosphere.

Whilst the collaborative approach is vital, it was also interesting to see the moments in which Josh had to stay true to his own vision. There was a moment where one of the cast came up with a very funny idea in a scene, however Josh, whilst acknowledging its humour, had the insight to mention that it perhaps “felt like it belonged in a slightly different production”. This hammered home the fact that, even if an idea is good, you have to be firm on what is right for your specific version of a play, and to constantly be aware of the bigger picture that smaller moments accumulate into. This relates to one brilliant kernel of advice Josh gave Oli and I: that as a director your own taste is all you have to rely on, so you have to trust it. One last small practical thing which I was impressed with from this week, and which I feel helped create this ubiquitously collaborative atmosphere, was how Josh managed to direct scenes without taking notes, unless it was a run of a longer passage. It allowed him to be more alive in scenes and to gain a momentum with the actors when directing. Having the confidence not to rely so heavily on physically noting is something which I would like to try and implement more within my own work.

Week Four

This week we focused on a few specific scenes before going into running the play. The day began with Josh leading Rumi, playing Cecily, and Phoebe, playing Gwendoline through an exercise similar to that which he ran with Parth in Week 2 in order to find the feeling of panic when both characters insist they are married to ‘Earnest’. The two actors were brilliant in this scene, and kept me laughing throughout the rehearsal process even when I had seen it numerous times. What was interesting here was seeing the scene directly impacted by the exercise, playing it first with the exercise at the forefront, and then bringing it down to be an element which merged with the work the actors had done in the proceeding weeks. Another brilliant phrase of Josh’s I noted was to “surf the scene”, to take on the exercise but not let it override the scene, ensuring the actors were still listening and responding whilst using the exercise as something to grip on to if they needed it.

This ‘surfing’ sentiment was also encouraged when the company were undertaking their first run throughs, with an emphasis on doing rather than thinking. This no doubt helped the actors to engage emotionally rather than intellectually, and to find the rhythm of the play as a whole. One other interesting structural thing I noticed was that we ran the second half of the play first, and then went back and ran the first half. This meant that when, on the next day, the company did a full run through, the first act was more fresh, energised and focused, as it was what they had worked on most recently. This was a small structural change which ensured that the first full run through was as good as it could be and hammered home the importance of creatively and rigorously planning your rehearsal period.

Week Five

Week five was tech week, which brought a number of new and different challenges to manoeuvre. What initially struck me was how different the experience of tech is at a professional level. Where at a fringe theatre level you might have a day of tech before the night of your first show, which is an invariably stressful scramble, here you had a whole week with an army of brilliant stage managers and technicians making sure the process goes as smoothly as possible. Of course, there are also much bigger challenges and possibilities to go through with a professional show which make these people and resources essential, but I couldn’t help being envious of them when looking forward to the tech for my own fringe show! Past this, however, the high level of pre-planning and scheduling of the tech for this show was definitely something which I will take into my own work to make it a far less stressful experience.

Another good directing lesson from tech was to make sure you are meticulous in your choices and take time to get the effects you want from lighting and sound. It is easy to settle for something that you feel is perhaps not quite right, as the margins are often so fine between lighting states, however, again, it is important to remember how the small details accumulate to the whole. Josh’s composure throughout tech, despite the short time frame before the first preview, actually ensured the tech went faster and more smoothly than if he had been rushing and stressing through it (as I have in the past!). Observing tech was a great insight into the brilliance of stage managers and the composure needed as a director to steer so many resources and people in the right direction.

The Observer Monday’s scheme has been a crucial experience in my development as a director. I have made great creative connections and learned invaluable lessons about the professional theatre process and the craft of directing. I can’t wait to put the lessons I have learned into practice in my own work and am inspired to reach a level where I will be continuously working in such a collaborative, inclusive and exciting professional setting.