During the technical rehearsal it was predominately focused on sorting out the back stage departments jobs, however it was an opportunity for the cast to familiarise themselves with the set before the dress rehearsal so then we could just focus on our performance.
One of our first notes for the rehearsal was about the opening, asking us to make more of the space and spreading out to make more it more aesthetically pleasing. Originally we'd been rather bunched together leaving huge gaps at the forefront of the stage because we weren't used to performing in such a large space. This meant that we had to utilise our spacial awareness which required us to maintain a good focus, however for the second section of our tech rehearsal a lot of people struggled to take it as serious and lacked the same energy because they weren't in costume. I felt this occurred as some people struggled to commit to their characters as costumes had previously aided their characterisation as well as being slightly jealous as they weren't in costume like the rest of us, which we all saw as a novelty.
With it also being a larger space it meant that we needed to make sure we projected our voices as Shakespeare's words are the most important part of one of his play to be able to understand what it occurring.
Scenes also required a lot more energy to start a scene in order to mask the fading energy as the previous scenes actors leave. This helps to keep the audiences attention and allows the other actors to absorb this energy, thus bringing more energy to the entire scene.
Another important note was to keep our eyes on the stage to avoid breaking the illusion of the fourth wall between the stage and the audience, this keeps the audience engaged in the performance as they begin to feel as though they are looking into the play's world. By looking into the audience it can also put the actor off, especially if you make eye contact or see someone you know which could cause some one to momentarily break character or those that are less secure on their lines to mess up.
Regards to specific props and set in for myself, it was noted that those gathering the two crowns at the beginning needed to plan the journey of where their crowns were and to whom they were giving them to. It was important to go through this journey before the play begins to make sure the crowns have been set in the right place.
The speed of setting up the French scene was also found to be too long, causing a lull in energy so in conclusion we had to come up with a more efficient method, giving each person a job to move a crate or table. The scene also had to be started a little earlier down stage to avoid losing the audiences attention and distracting them from the changing set.
To make sure it was accurate to the context it was set in (a World War I ammunitions factory) it was also key that no jewellery or nail polish was worn because the small details matter as otherwise the audience will disengage due to the lack of continuity and the limited care and commitment the cast had for the piece.
A note for most people was to look at their lines in verse, seeing what different meaning it might give and saying them the way Shakespeare intended. This would help us to understand what we were saying, making the characters more truthful.
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