Kirsten and Ali

Kirsten came over yesterday and we ran through the script for the Gladstone performance a few times. (Ali looks typically unimpressed, which is ironic when one considers that Kirsten created that particular visage of Ali’s.) Kirsten has the tone down perfectly and now it’s a matter of us attaching the text to her physicality with the props - there are a number of props that she interacts with. That sounds more complicated than “she makes a bed”, “she opens a suitcase”, “she places a photo in a frame”, but it has been my experience (and that of Uta Hagen’s) that we find the truth of text more readily when we can immediately attach that text to some kind of physicality. The simplest of movement is action. This is why when rehearsing I like to get to blocking right away rather than spending hours discussing meaning and intention. The questions come up in the physical work, and usually are answered by that work. For the next three days we will be in the Gladstone working in the room. Kim is coming by today to look at how we’ll work with light and object placement and Rita is coming by as well to discuss which of her photos we’ll be using in the room. Tomorrow I become prop master. It’s like being 25 again.