The Rimers of Eldritch is a 20th century play written by Lanford Wilson. The text explores the realities of living in a small, contained community in late 1950s America, and how this way of life seemingly allows for a growing hysteria within the town. Wilson explores themes of violence, relationships, disability, justice and, most prominently, religion.
The play itself is non-linear and follows a large group of people; therefore it was relatively difficult to understand on a first read. The more times I read it, however, the more I was intrigued by Wilson’s storytelling and felt increasingly excited at the thought of putting it on its feet. As my understanding of the story grew, so did my want to do it justice.
Research
Before even casting the piece, as a class we did a lot of initial research on the world of the play including when and where it was set. We wanted to create a real sense of place by ensuring we all had an understanding of the political and historical context of the text. The play was written in 1966, but is understood to be set in the late 50s/ very early 60s. I was particularly interested in this because the political climate in America at this time felt, to me, incredibly relevant in grasping the complexities of this text. Following WWII and fuelled by the Cold War, the United States saw a resurgence in what was known as the ‘Red Scare’. This, essentially, meant the fear of communism, arguably stemming from the fear of the unknown or the different.
This overarching feeling of fear and consequent wrongful punishment of those who were innocent felt so parallel to the text and story Wilson was trying to tell; the town of Eldritch being an echo chamber of America’s political climate with the small community and the ignorance that came from this acting as catalysts in the events that take place in the text.
Because this reality felt so far from my own, I used this research to inform almost all of my acting choices. This felt particularly relevant when it came to my eventual casting as Evelyn; a heavily Christian, conservative, mother of a young teenage girl with a disability. Evelyn is a product of her religious belief and ignorance, her prejudice informs her attitude towards all of the other characters in the piece, including her own daughter. I created a mood board of images I felt encapsulated Eldritch:
Casting
Auditioning in the way we did was really beneficial. We were sent audition material to prepare, with a few days of workshopping before the auditions to develop our understanding of the text as a whole. We were asked to come in for a specific time and read with a scene partner, then our director Jess gave some redirections and we would try the scene again with these notes. Jess then asked me to read a small section from another character. The whole process felt professional but comfortable. I left feeling prepared for future auditions with more of an idea of what could happen in those rooms.
Before our auditions, Jess asked us to have an idea of three characters we were interested in. Initially, I was mostly interested in Cora and Patsy; I thought it would be beneficial to lean further into my casting type. However, being cast far from my casting type actually allowed me to easily make bolder choices. Using Stanislavski techniques to help me with this; raising my own stakes in rehearsals by giving myself a secret objective or tweaking my unbroken line of action to influence my reactions in the scene we were working on. What had I just been doing before this that would influence the way I am saying this dialogue? What if I really wanted something from the other characters in the scene?
On reflection, this was the perfect time to be exploring someone who pushed me out of my comfort zone like this. Doing this in our first project meant that I was able to test my process against a more challenging character, pushing me to commit to my acting choices in a safe and low pressure environment. I feel this casting has helped create a set of transferable skills so that when I eventually am cast as someone close to myself, I am able to tackle this with just as much commitment.
Some of my initial audition prep for the role of Cora, and then a playlist I created after being cast as Evelyn:
Character Development
My process in developing character has always been very text-based initially. I like to list my given circumstances, create a timeline of events and list all other characters that mention mine. I have always viewed my role as an actor as a storyteller, and so making sure I can sensitively and accurately portray a writer’s intention is really important to me. Developing a deep understanding of the entirety of a text through research, discussion and exploration is step one in my process. Once cast as Evelyn, I did some further research into Christianity in 1950s America:
Our director Jess made the decision to have the actors on stage shift into and then out of character at the beginning and end of scenes. This made embodiment of character incredibly important. There had to be an obvious shift between actor and character, or this would quickly become unclear and seem messy. In order to do this, I started developing some fast and distinct physical actions that would help me make this distinction, the most obvious being crossing my arms.
Creating a clear physicality for Evelyn was really important to me. I have always found specific physical action to be a really useful tool in getting into character, especially someone so far from myself like Evelyn. My initial response to the text was that Evelyn’s dialogue and physical action was so clearly influenced by her relationship with the other characters in the scene, she felt like a real tool in displaying the hypocrisy in the town. I really wanted to reflect this in my characterisation. I decided on two sets of Laban efforts that I felt worked with different scenes: flick and press, dab and slash. Flick and press when talking to those she feels comfortable enough around; dab and slash when she eventually reveals her true feelings towards Cora in the court scene. Up until this scene, Evelyn seems to contain herself physically, and is careful with the words she chooses.
I took inspiration from Arthur Miller’s The Crucible for my court scenes, the chaos and lack of structure in these felt so similar to those in our text:
Laban efforts have been a really useful tool for me. They are an accessible way into a character’s physical and emotional state during a scene. I find them particularly helpful in rehearsals and when establishing character, but deciding on some definite efforts for scenes helped me stay grounded and clear during performances, too. This is definitely something I will continue to use in future processes.
Very early on in the rehearsal process our director Jess encouraged us to wear our character shoes when in calls. This was something I’d never tried before, but was incredibly useful in finding physical differences between myself and Evelyn. If nothing else, I never wear heels and so wearing a style of shoe that immediately changed my way of walking and standing felt like a really accessible way in for my character. Not only this, but the extra height the heels gave felt like an added status symbol helping me establish the gravitas Evelyn needed in many of my scenes. My relationships with other characters were often determined by Evelyn’s belief that they were lesser than her, and having a costume element that immediately showed this power dynamic really helped me in embodying this.
This is definitely something I will use in future projects. Grounding my character in reality through costume early in the process helped me in creating a complex profile, and worked as a tool to get me into character quickly.
Breakthrough Moment
Before rehearsals, I underestimated how challenging it would be to have the role of Evelyn’s daughter Eva be split cast for Acts One and Two; especially considering the shift in atmosphere in the scenes I shared with Eva from the first to second act. The court scenes in Act Two required a level of connection with Eva that didn’t come so easily in the beginning of the play, despite me knowing how important it was to establish the mother daughter relationship in those earlier scenes.
I started planning how to work around this and, using Stanislavski’s life of the human spirit exercise, and with help from the two actors playing this role, I created a list of circumstances not seen in the text that helped reinforce the relationship between these two characters to me. Creating a thorough, established connection with developed, clear and complex evidence meant that no matter who was playing opposite me I was able to connect with them.
At times I found it really difficult to see both actors as the same character. One of my breakthrough moments was a call with Felicity, who was playing Eva, Evelyn’s daughter in Act One. Felicity and I spent a long time trying different actions and objective changes; discussing our thoughts on their relationship and establishing shifts throughout the scene. There was a moment during this where it clicked for me that Evelyn’s overprotecting of Eva and really the way she interacts with all characters is underpinned by fear. Her fear of something bad happening to her child, her fear of God and his power, her fear of the unknown or unordinary. Being able to push this instead of just anger or frustration meant that I was always actively trying to connect with my scene partners; leading to a more effective performance. There is a deep level of caring which has to come hand in hand with fear.
This scene in the final production, with this new understanding:
Voice work
Because we rehearsed in a much smaller rehearsal space than our final performance room, and only having access to this final space the evening before our performance, it was difficult at times to grasp the level of vocal work we needed to be doing. There were times during calls at the beginning of the process where everyone was on different levels of voice and the energy in the room would dip, or the atmosphere of a scene would be off. Once we had moved into the larger space, warming up became even more critical. Thankfully, we really found this energy as rehearsals continued; we were fast to adapt to new rooms and spaces both vocally and physically. I made sure of this for myself by thoroughly knowing my track and dialogue, drilling this into my physicality so that it became second nature. This meant I could trust my instinct rather than have to focus my energy on blocking during performance.
Once we had moved into the larger space, warming up became even more critical. I focused on breathwork and resonance, using techniques such as intoning my lines and Rena Cook’s One by Two breathing exercise. Creating an in depth vocal warm up was a goal of mine for this project, and I feel I have finally found a detailed routine that works for me.
Overview
I learned so much about myself as an actor during this project. I was able to test what worked for me, establish what didn’t work and most of all fine tune my process to fit a real working rehearsal room. I am really grateful to have been able to work with such an incredible director and ensemble, and in an environment that felt safe and honest enough to explore bold choices without fear. I am excited to use this process in the future, with a new found confidence and belief in myself.
