Flagellating nuns to the stage
February 6, 2012
It is official. We have rehearsed. We have previewed. We have flagellated. Heresy of Love is in the building! In deepest, darkest Mexico the story of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz has strutted onto the Swan stage; set against a backdrop of luxury and a heartrending oil painting of Jesus, the space is bathed in dolour and sumptuousness.
We finished tech rehearsals in record time and everything, somehow, went rather smoothly; mainly because our Assistant Stage Manager Martha Mamo is cooler than a cucumber and well equipped to deal with panicking nuns and half dressed priests!
The set is extremely technical and involves a semi-circle of Locutary bars (as pictured) which are used in the story to separate the nuns from the outside world, with only a single door as their way out. Now the trouble with these bars, is that they have to be pushed on and off during scene changes and once rested behind the set the actors can only then enter backstage via that single door, thus creating queues of clergy and a pile up of nuns!
Now I mentioned that the bars have to be pushed on and off, there are also many books to be set, stools to be placed and chairs to be struck... this has mainly all fallen to me. I have been christened Sister Removals. Queen of the Scene Change. Or Sister Lifter for short. I have crib sheet of over 17 scene changes and feel much akin to a Foreman on a building site. The backstage crew have promised me a hard hat and t-shirt as a reward for my endeavours!
Though it is stressful and very complicated (first preview felt like a cardiac arrest), it is fascinating to not only to be in the scenes listening to the beautiful words but to be a vital part of the mechanics of the show. Nancy Meckler, the director, said 'we're counting on you Laura!' So no pressure then.
Next week brings press night, opening night and the start of understudy rehearsals. I cannot WAIT to get stuck in to the characters that I am covering and to start the process all over again...
by Laura Darrall
| 6 comments
Share this