The Rimers of Eldritch – Lanford Wilson
Directed by Jessica Millward
Pre-rehearsal Preparation and Ideas
I found my first read of the play challenging, taking longer than I usually would. Lanford Wilson uses time shifts during ‘The Rimers of Eldritch’ and switches between scenes in quick succession, some scenes being a single line. I always find the best way to understand why a play has been written a certain way is to research the writer, as they will often have the reason for it. My research and discoveries are attached below. I also arranged a call with two classmates (Verity and Felicity) who I spoke with last term about getting the most out of our training. We decided that weekly calls interrogating the play and our acting choices would help us dig deeper in rehearsals. We also made a pact to give each other honest, constructive feedback and turn up early each morning to warm up. During our first call we discussed our goals; I shared that I wanted to become a more transformational actor and take on a role far from myself in this project.
Audition and Casting
I was interested in the character of Mary Windrod, a vastly underestimated woman who I believed spoke the most truth in the town. I was apprehensive to audition as it is a major challenge to play someone 70 years my senior truthfully, but I decided to take the opportunity to play outside of my casting as I will likely not get that chance entering the industry.
Firstly, I read the play making a list of every fact we learn about Mary in the script. I then worked my audition scene making choices inferred from those facts.
During my preparation, I had a bold idea that the visions Mary sees in the play are physical manifestations of the demons inside people. I used this in my audition, having Mary see a demon rise from Nelly during their conflict. I felt it raised the stakes tenfold, her being so terrified she shook. Furthermore, I made a mood board of this so Jess could visualise my ideas. It was a risk beginning with such an unconventional choice, however I believed a clear take on the character was more workable for Jess than a blank canvas. That said, I was adaptable to the direction I was given in the audition and prepared to take the character in a different direction if Jess’ vision differed from mine.
One problem I encountered was that since the character was in a highly emotional state I found it difficult to step out of character for the interview. In future, I would like to advocate for myself to have a few seconds to reset so I can be more present for a panel. However, I think this was a successful audition and was delighted to hear I got the role!
World Building
During the first week of rehearsals we did a variety of activities building the world of the play. We united the play, writing down every fact and question we had (Pictured in Figures 1A and 1C). This is something I had never done before and I found, although tedious, it gave me a deep understanding of the story, setting and relationships. We had many theories and epiphany’s during this process. For example, before this I hadn’t considered Mary’s relationship with her late husband and if she missed him. We did a variety of world-building exercises such as: summarising the play in one word each (1D), making a map of Eldritch (1B), and researching the 1960s (Attached file). This work not only helped me consider the themes of the play but helped me understand the cultural and political background of 1960s Missouri.
Historical and Political research
After our group research, I decided to do some further research on the political landscape of America in the years leading up to 1961 as I was interested in how the Cold War and Eisenhower’s presidency affected the opinions of the public. I specifically focused on the 50s as I imagined Eldritch to be less advanced politically than the rest of America, being a small town. I found a key theme in the play was the fear of outsiders. People are wary of Walter, the only new man in town mentioned, and there is a sense that once people leave Eldritch they never return, and the ones that stay would never think of leaving. After researching the affect of the cold war and the red scare, I came to the conclusion that the townspeople have an unconscious prejudice towards outsiders partly due to the all-American, anti-communist ideas of the 50s, and also resentment for the prosperity of surrounding areas such as Desmon and St Louis.
Character development
When building my character, I began independently following the process I developed in term 1 of this year, making a list of facts I learn about the character and outlining her relationships to each person. However, the new processes I used with Jess provoked thoughts about my character I hadn’t considered and I felt they gave me a detailed, truthful characterisation.
In week one we did a series of improvisations imagining moments in each character’s life before the play, we also played out a number of church services to see how our characters would interact in a crucial part of their routine. These exercises meant I embodied decisions I made about my character rather than writing them down, making them much more memorable for performance. Jess mentioned they were from director Katie Mitchell, and as I connected with them I decided to study more of her process. I found her improvisations have six layers to consider the character’s world, pictured below in figure 2A.
I used this model to build improvisations I could use to add detail to my monologue where Mary talks about her pets who passed away. I created a memory for each animal. For example, I improvised Nelly begging me for a pet and going to the pet shop to pick out the animal I thought she had the least chance of killing- the two goldfish, Gilda and Wanda. I found creating this bank of memories for Mary, alongside a Pinterest board I made with images of things in her life for me to visualise, brought so much detail to my monologue. Before utilising this technique, I found myself listing the animals and I struggled to make give the monologue layers and nuance. After, I felt I created a certain feeling for each pet and a sense of nostalgia for my character. I would definitely use this again and I am grateful the process exposed me to a practitioner I hadn’t heard of before. (Pinterest link below)
Given Circumstances
Away from my improvisations and into my work on my scenes, I found Uta Hagen’s six questions an affective way of understanding my character’s given circumstances during each moment of the play. Having previously used her nine questions, I found I preferred her revised technique as I was able to make concise decisions on my characters objective and obstacles whilst also noting Mary’s unbroken line of action. I had yet to come across a technique that spanned all of these areas in one, and I found this more affective for my performance as simple, one line or one word objectives and obstacles are easier to play truthfully than complex ones. This was an invaluable basis for my more detailed scene-work and I will continue to use this in my acting process going forward. I have attached my questions below, each moment being labelled with its unit.
Acting on Feedback
During our call on Unit 10 ‘You bruise’, we were focusing on the relationship between Nelly and Mary. In this scene, Mary has been telling incriminating things about Nelly to people in town leading to a confrontation. As we had decided Nelly and Mary had a close relationship, the line ‘Don’t hurt me’ was struggling to feel truthful. Me and Jess hadn’t spoken about my idea of Mary’s visions until now, and her feedback was she liked it and wanted to keep Mary seeing the demon, but it must be grounded in reality. She asked me if I knew what type of dementia Mary had, and I couldn’t tell her just yet. Her feedback was that I needed to justify the vision in reality and find a medical reason for it. Therefore, I began researching the different types of dementia and came across Lewy Bodies dementia, a condition where people have hallucinations as well as confusion, falls, tremors and memory loss, symptoms I had already developed for Mary. (Research attached below)
The next time we did the scene I came with this new knowledge, and as it felt justified I felt more confident in the decisions I was making. My feedback was that the scene had become very touching, no longer being a conflict about lies being told but a daughter struggling to cope with her mother’s condition. During our next call, the scene made Jess emotional. I was proud that my work on Mary’s condition had made the emotional conflict more truthful and in result became moving for an audience.
Below I have attached the final performance of this scene.
Embodying age truthfully
Along with Mary’s condition, I was determined to truthfully embody her age. I was concerned it may read as a caricature of an elderly person, therefore had a meeting with the Movement Captain Aaliyah to discuss my physical decisions (See Figure 3A). We decided on Laban efforts that fight for dominance on her bad days, and her good days. We also decided that Mary would have a knee injury, but not carry a cane as this felt stereotypical. Finally, whilst researching her condition I observed the movement quality of people similar to her and noted three characteristics I could use.
Figure 3A
Professionalism shift and role in company
Entering into this project as both an actor and musical director taught me a lot about balancing different responsibilities within a company: when to take authority over the room, and when to sit back and take the direction from Jess.
As it grew closer to the time of the performance, I concerned myself more with the overall vision of the play and how I could work to best support this. In one rehearsal in particular, we ran over the same section a few times in various different ways, adjusting blocking and trying to land on a version that worked best. I felt slightly unsettled in this rehearsal as I was unsure of what Jess needed from each of us. After asking for some clarity, Jess talked us through the process of Previews where the director and creative team make sometimes drastic edits to the piece. She needed us to be open to the changes. I realised my responsibility in this moment was to be adaptable to the direction I was given, so Jess could focus on her vision for the scene as a whole.
My role as Music Captain however, meant I was responsible for the vision of the musical segments. Instead of taking direction, I had to lead others in music calls; teaching the company a four part harmony for the hymn ‘Shall we gather at the river’ ,and a second version me and my assistant Felicity arranged ourselves. When the company felt unsettled in my rehearsals, unsure of their harmonies, I found it difficult to manage the group whilst answering many questions. I decided to teach the harmonies in sectionals to help me focus and arrange 1 to 1s for people struggling. Stepping into a director position helped me understand why Jess needed minimal questions when making ensemble moments; I appreciated when the company were focused and adaptive when I had to make changes.
Overall, I was proud of the finished product of the singing; the company’s hard work and my coaching paid off. Attached is the progress from the first music call (3A) to having confidence in the harmonies (3B).
Overview
Reflecting on the process as a whole, I feel I adapted my process well to Jess’ working practice. I was prepared, coming in early each day to warm up and continuing development of my character outside of the room. I had positive feedback from my director saying I was the type of actor she loves to work as I was open experimenting with the scenes. I felt I developed a detailed character for Mary and the final performance felt truthful rather than stereotypical. In future however, I would like to trial my process on roles closer to myself as large changes feel easier to me than smaller, more nuanced ones. Finally, taking on a director role helped me realise the role of the actor more clearly in the rehearsal room. I aim to become more comfortable working with uncertainty, and taking direction without immediately knowing the rationale behind it.
