11th May 2009


How does it feel to be in an all-female rehearsal?


Can you hear me? I said: how does it feel…
Sorry. (microphone is knocked loudly.) Yes. Nice.

Can you tell me something about your play?
(not on mic) Not really.

I understand it’s unfinished.
(still not on mic.) Is it? Oh yes. Yes. It’s not finished.

Could you get closer to the microphone?
(louder) Yes. Sorry. It’s not finished.

What are you doing in your rehearsal?
Oh we are reading scenes out loud and doing them in different ways - like in a rehearsal.
Yes.
We also stop to talk quite a bit about what we have just done - like in a rehearsal.
Which gives me time to think.
Last night we stopped to open bags of crisps and bottles of wine after about two hours.

...it doesn't sound like the usual Factory rehearsal.
No. Ha. (pause.)
I said no.

We’re still here.
Yes. No.

What are you trying to do?
(short laugh) You just asked that - I'm trying to work out a way to tell this story. I’m trying to learn how to write some scenes that give the actors a lot of freedom to interpret scenes in their own way.

And how do you do that?
Oh you write them first.
Yes.
I haven’t written all of them.
The less it is prepared - no - discussed, the better.

The play?
The playing.

The less the play is prepared the better?
Yes.
No.
That’s a bit mad isn't it? (short laugh) We don’t need to know what we’re doing.

The audience don’t need to know what you’re doing?
No.

That sounds a bit challenging.
Oh no!
The audience DO need to know - what’s going on - they don’t need to know… oh I don’t know… sorry, I’m about to contradict myself.
Sorry. (Scuffling noise with paper…)
The audience.
Oh look, we just, like, like the audience. Yes. See? (more scuffling.)
Yes.

You have a special relationship with the audience?
No. Well yes.
Actually, could you shut up about the audience? They’re just - you know. Well they’re not a proper audience yet - in fact they’re a reader.

A reader?
In theory.

Your audience is a reader?
Yes. (scuffling.)

What are you doing?
Say? What?
I'm not very good at answering this question for you, am I? Oh - I am trying to explore. No we are exploring when to speak. How to speak. How to knit together a story. As usual how to pretend nothing was ever written down. This story is just happening… You know the stuff we explore.

No what are you doing now?
Oh this? (scuffle)

Yes.
Writing... (scuffle) yeh I’m writing something down.

Writing and talking at the same time? So you need to be good at multi-tasking? Because Mothers typically-
No, I’m not - you’re actually really bothering me while I am trying to write.
Actually.
The truth is I’d much rather be just tasking.
Thanks.

We’d just like to know what you are doing.
Would you?
Yes, so would I.
Ha.
Well the decision to speak is an action. And actions are pretty difficult to edit, really. An action can’t be wrong if it is definite. Oh and transitive. But last night I think we created a transitive hairdryer. So we just need to be definite about speaking.

I’m not sure I follow.
Me neither.

Are you talking about volume?
Possibly.

Are you being flippant?
Possibly not.

I tell you what else we have learned.
Simple is best.
Trying to be fair is trying too hard.
And I tell you another thing.

Yes?
The story had better be good.

Sounds like you’re putting yourself under pressure to come up with a really good story.
Hey? Am I?
Nonononono… the story will look after itself.

I just want everyone to have a nice time.

Do you want to hear some of my notes?

Yes please.
Here’s the first one:
"Primary aim will be to look after the audience in terms of story (making sure they hear/ get it all) and also making sure all the actors have all the tools they need to tell the story in their own way."
I’ve already said that… let’s - here we are.
Here’s another one:
"It will be useful when getting back to writing, to structure it quite tightly before proceeding."

What are your references?
Well in the first session Under Milk Wood came to mind, and this session it was Attempts on Her Life.
I’m hoping The Crucible will be next.

So Martin Crimp meets Dylan Thomas - very Radio 3.
Hey? (small thud - pause)

...very radio 3.
(off mic) “What both of those have in common is a strong writing voice. Stronger than the “topic” or the “story”.
(on mic suddenly) “The voice is also utterly consistent. Also, the drama is audio more than spatial - which perhaps offers clues about visual simplicity.
But actually it is nothing like either of those plays.”
The truth is...
I don’t have references.
Those are more of my notes.
And… here we go:
“On the other hand hopefully the audience will not notice this writing at all.
It is extraordinary how quickly the actors grasp - even remember - the words, particular phrases and sentences.”
And then I mention some of the phrases and sentences as an illustration.

Could we hear them?
Sorry?

Could we hear some of the phrases and sentences?
Sure - the best line so far is: “Oh it’s you.”
Someone said it was.
That is - someone said it then someone said it was.
You know.

(silence - some scuffling.)

Hello?

(scuffle scuffle)

Hello?
(breathing)
Anyway.
Here are some more notes… “The challenge will be to know the text very, very well - better than the writer so that re-structuring and taking it apart can be done freely and also transparently.”
Also: “Maz and Bedi made a great offer in turning the opening speech into an interrogation.
The image of Maz writing down everything Bedi said and the time it took was very eloquent. It was stressful to wait.”
And Maddy talked about the image of a group “knitting” a story together. I mentioned that earlier - I probably made it sound like my idea. But it was Maddy’s word… and that is a really useful note.
Yes. Useful. (scuffling.)
Yes there’s a scene we know as the Paris scene and it’s… in Paris. The first time we read the Paris scene (four women sitting in a row) I later couldn’t quite remember who was in it. It seemed we were all in it. So that’s the thing.

So this is very much a girls’ play?
No. (sighs)
It’s not really a girls’ play.
Besides, sorry, (knocks mic again) call me old-fashioned but we are women.
Girls wear princess costumes and bounce on trampolines… where I come from.

Where is that?
Stoke Newington.
Thanks.

You don’t like Stoke Newington?
I love Stoke Newington. No, I like it. It’s fine.
Just don’t ask me where I’m from.

Ok.
Really don’t.

I wasn’t going to.
Oh. Thanks.

This play, then. What’s it about?
Oh. (long non-verbal sound of tiredness… may change each night.)
Gosh.
People?

Look around.
Where are you now?
Look at where you are.

At a window.
You’re at a window.
There's a clock on your right.
Now listen: (whispers) “Oh it’s you!”
It’s about windows.
Today.

Thanks.
No. Thanks.