Directing (21) - Evaluation & Pictures

Overall, we were really happy with our performance. Throughout the rehearsal process we were debating how we were going to show that the play isn't in chronological order, whilst maintaining a practical naturalistic style. We instantly ruled out placards and narration, but we did try to alter our costumes to show time. We did consider having the front page of a newspaper from the year projected, but decided against this as some scenes are in the same year, and a newspaper projection may be distracting. For a while we considered not having anything, apart from information in the programme about what year each scene is set it - however, we were anxious that if people didn't look in the programme, then they may get confused and are less likely to pay attention to the play. We therefore decided that we use a very simple projection, simply stating the year of the scene. As we were in the hall, we could project on to the actual projecting screen in the hall, meaning that the projection was higher up and not interfering with our piece.

Our audience really enjoyed our piece and we had some lovely feedback. Throughout the play, everyone was deadly silent and seemed engrossed in the performance - they told us our characters were really believable (which is good to hear when trying to do a naturalistic play!). The general feedback was that they didn't want any of the characters to be together, they felt sorry for Robert and disliked Jerry at the end. Thankfully, all of our work on subtext seemed to pay off as they said they were surprised at how they felt about the characters by the end, as this was completely different to how they felt about them in the beginning. Other comments we received was that the use of long pauses made it feel really awkward (which was the feeling we were going for) and that the use of set and space was effective at showing the characters relationships at that point.

Directing (20) - Final rehearsals

We spent the whole time leading up to our performance preparing for it and running what we thought needed the most work. Below is what we did during the day to prepare for it:

• Set:   Before we did anything, we positioned the flats where we wanted them, so we could position the rest of our set and sort out our lighting. We brought in the sofa that we were going to use as the bed and the sofa. It was a lot lower down than what we had expected, so we all went through our movements on it to get used to it. We decided to change the ending of scene four slightly to make it easier for us - I got up as Lewis went to leave and then sat on the arm of the sofa when Ollie turned back to me. This meant that our hug was easier and looked better.
• Lighting:   This is an important aspect of our piece. We obviously didn't want any complicated of fancy lighting, as we wanted our piece to be as naturalistic as possible. We wanted naturalistic lighting for each setting that still lit all the sections of the stage we required. We could have done the performance during the day in normal day light, but we needed to do our performance in the evening and have lighting to be able to do black-outs between each scene. Therefore, we shut all of the curtains (to make it as dark as we can during the day) to see the lights properly and to know where to angle them all.
• Props:   We ensured we had all of the props necessary for the performance. We did our rehearsals with water in the bottles and glasses, but used blackcurrant for red wine, water for vodka and apple squash for white wine. We decided to do a top and tail run of the play to work out who should move what set and when. To turn the sofa into the bed, we took the back of it off so that the back of it was a lot lower. Smooth set changes help aid a smooth performance. To show each different setting we needed to make the set the same for each one. 
• Running scenes:   After we had set up everything we needed, we ran the scenes that we thought were the weakest.

Directing (19) - Scene 1, Scene 2 & Photographs

In these past two lessons we have run a couple of scenes without scripts and took photographs of us in costume for our programme. We ran scenes one and two quite a lot, as a way to help learn lines and to get used to not having a script in our hands. Also, we find these scenes quite daunting as it is the first time the audience meet our characters and thus we want to create the desired first impression. The last scene is also crucial as the audience sees how the whole thing started and what the characters used to be like. We want the audience to feel completely different about Robert and Jerry at the end to at the beginning. We want our audience to dislike Robert at the beginning (as he comes across as arrogant and stubborn) but like and sympathise with him at the end (he is caring and clearly loves his wife dearly). Meanwhile, we want our audience to like Jerry at the beginning (as he is a bit soppy and is clearly besotted with Emma, he seems to have been caught up in it all) but dislike him at the end (as they realise he started this all and is horrific in how he confesses his love to her). We don't really mind what the audience thinks of Emma - personally we don't like her at all, though we do feel sorry for her a bit at time (i.e. in scene four and scene nine).

We did a photo shoot to promote our play but also as an exercise. We used this photo shoot as an exercise to create freeze frames that we found interesting and would hint at the characters and their situation. We felt that the photo in the centre in the top row, shows the characters before the affair - Emma and Robert seem to be in love with each other, whilst Jerry is staring at Emma. The other photos are all during the affair, as Emma doesn't look comfortable with Robert and is often looking at Jerry. However, we used the bottom right image for our promotion as it shows Emma as comfortable in the middle of them both and the relationships are well portrayed - the fact that Robert's hand is on my shoulder shows he is possessive and perhaps controlling (which is the aim for the second scene), whilst Jerry's hand is on my waist and thus presenting their relationship as intimate.

Directing (18) - Full run

In this lesson we did a full run of our play (with scripts) to the year below. This was the first full run we have done, as well as the first time we had performed any of the scenes to an audience. We asked them for feedback afterwards to see if the subtext and the work we had done on intentions came across. The general reception was that they quite liked Robert in the end, though thought he was mad for staying with Emma. No one really liked Emma and thought that Jerry seemed sweet to start with but didn't like him at the end. Our audience thought that none of the characters should be together, but did like Jerry and Emma together although they shouldn't be. No one believed that Robert hit Emma, especially when he held her at the end of scene four. The only character they truly felt sorry for was Judith!

What we have left to do until we are ready to perform:

• Get off of script as soon as - as we will then spend a bit of time ensuring body language is all still okay, as our hands will now be free because we won't be holding scripts!
• Work out who shall move what set and where to - when we did this run, whoever left that scene tended to move set as they left, and move set again when they entered. However, we want to assign jobs to ensure that we all know who moves what and when (to make our set changes as slick as possible). 
• Run the piece with our actual set and in the space - as the set shall alter how we shall perform. For example, the different chairs shall make us sit differently, and we might have different body language when at a table. 
• Run the piece with all props: glasses, jacket, keys, book, bottles, basket, table cloth, food on plates, trays, apron, mirror and brush. For a start we need to make sure we have all of these props and get used to using them, but also we need to figure out how we get these on and off stage and ensure we all know what props are needed for what scenes (which can be complicated as the scenes aren't in chronological order). 
• Rehearse in costume as this may also change how we feel and move. 
• Decide if we want to show time passing with projections or anything, or if we shall just perform it without.

Directing (17) - Scenes 6, 7, 8 and 9

Scene Six:  We worked a lot more on subtext and intentions with this scene. For example, when Jerry asks Emma if she received his letter okay and she responds with "of course. Miss Me?". Ollie had directed for the line "miss me?" to sound slightly less flirtatious and a bit more cautious - as if Emma is desperately trying to change the subject away from the topic of Torcello. We have also added a bit set into our play - but thankfully this additional set doesn't move! We have decided that we shall use the two book flats positioned in front of the stage on the floor (one on either side). The purpose of these is to create our own wings: they provide places for the characters who are not on stage to go, provide hidden entrances and exits and enable us to put props on the stage behind them for ease of access.

Scene Seven:  As this is one of the few scenes that follows chronologically from the scene before, I wanted the subtext to be really clear - at this point Robert knows about the affair, but Jerry doesn't know that he knows. I directed Ollie to be a bit bitter on the line "we haven't played for years", when he is referring to playing squash. My intention here was to show a deeper meaning to something that could sound quite friendly - the reason that they haven't been able to play squash for years is because Jerry has been spending his time with Emma for years. My directions were mainly to do with finding deeper meanings for Robert and showing Jerry's feelings. The movement is fine as it is supposed to be a very static scene (due to the restaurant setting).

Scene Eight:  Our blocking changes slightly for this scene as we thought about our flat positioning. By having flats, we have avoided potentially using a dodgy split screen - our piece feels really naturalistic as we have imagined that my kitchen is behind the flat, so I say my lines from back there. The flats also enable me to put an apron on during the scene before and to then take it off again when I re-appear the second time in this scene.

Scene Nine:   Our main focus of this scene was the very end with Robert comes in. We want to make Robert seem quite likeable at this point and Jerry seem horrible (contrasting to how we hope our audience feels about these characters at the beginning). We needed to work on the section of stage directions to ensure we get our timing right for Robert's entrance. To make Robert seem more likeable, we have decided that he shall almost laugh at Jerry and be completely understanding. He now puts his arm around me to show the audience that Robert does love Emma and that their marriage used to be idyllic until Jerry pursued a relationship with her. We worked on a position at the end - we knew that Robert had to go to leave first and then be followed by Emma, who could then be stopped by Jerry. We wanted this freeze frame to be symbolic so I suggested that I had my head toward Robert but my heart facing Jerry, to show Emma as being torn between the two men. I then developed this further by using a question we asked from the very start: did Robert know about the pair from the beginning? Therefore, I thought about using the mirror - Robert could go to look in it to sort his hair, so the audience is left questioning whether Robert saw them or not.

Directing (16) - Scenes 3, 4 and 5

In today's lesson we ran scenes three, four and five.

Scene 3:   This scene went really smoothly. We are happy with how the characters came across - their intentions were shown clearly. This scene is the end of their affair. Although the scene starts with them being quite angry at each other, they are both a bit emotional at the end.

Scene 4:   We spent a long time on this scene today, mainly focussing on proxemics and eye contact. These two things are absolutely essential to this scene. Below is what the characters know here:

• Robert knows about Emma & Jerry
• Emma knows Robert knows about Emma & Jerry
• Jerry doesn't know Robert knows about Emma & Jerry
• Robert knows Jerry doesn't know that Robert knows about Emma & Jerry
• Emma knows Jerry doesn't know that Robert doesn't know about Emma & Jerry

We needed to show all of these facts through our proximity, tone, facial expressions and eye contact. We already had made the decision that Robert would move over when Emma enters so that he is sitting between her and Jerry. However, we added in a closer proximity to make Emma feel more awkward. Robert shall put his arm around Emma to also prove a point to Jerry that she is his wife - we think that Robert is enjoying the fact that Jerry is watching Emma feeling uncomfortable and Robert having control. We also got Ollie to exaggerate when he says "brutally honest" as if to have a dig at Emma but also a subtle dig at Jerry. When the men stand up making decisions about lunch, and Emma then asks "Can I watch?" the two of them then turn round to look at Emma. This is something we came up with today. The following is what their looks need to portray:

• Jerry's look to Emma says: Why would you ask that? I can't think of anything more awkward.
• Robert's look to Emma says: What do you think you're doing? As if you're coming with us!
• Emma's look to Jerry says: I know you're confused but trust me on this.
• Emma's look to Robert says: You said summer last year to come to lunch with you both. I am only doing what you said. You can't get angry. I don't trust what you'll say to him. Please.

During Robert's speech, we have staged it so he walks nearer to Emma and makes her uncomfortable by his distance towards her, the eye contact and by putting himself between her and Jerry. He also goes over towards Jerry at times to make Emma feel worse. The other essential bit of eye contact is when Jerry and Emma look at each other when Jerry says that he is going to New York. Her look needs to say "why didn't you tell me" whilst his is an apologetic look. Robert looks between the pair quite angrily, thus prompting him to say "Judith going?" later on. Emma's line "do you deserve the trip?" is her being cautious in what she says and her trying to be civil with Jerry as to not anger Robert. During the scene, Robert is being really spiteful to Emma and the audience may sympathise with Emma, and possibly be fearful for her as it was only two scenes ago that Robert told Jerry that he (apparently) hits Emma. This makes our new ending, that we decided today, more significant. We tried having Robert come and sit next to her, put his arm round her, and then her put her head on his shoulder and cry whilst he holds her - however, we thought this still made Robert look really controlling. Therefore, Ollie goes on one knee in front of me, looks at me sweetly to see if I'm okay, to which I nestle in to him crying and he simply holds me. This shows a really sweet and caring side to Robert - something the audience doesn't expect. We questioned why does he not say anything at the end to her? Does he feel bad for how he just was to her? Does he realise that she's on edge constantly? Robert doesn't leave Emma or say anything to Jerry (despite knowing how long the affair has gone on for and all of the details) - showing how much he loves Emma. 

Scene 5:   We have kept our movement and intentions exactly the same to how we always have. However, we did find some more subtext with the following lines:
"What they of course did not know, and had no way of knowing, was that I am your husband"
"Pretty inefficient bunch"
"Only in a laughing Mediterranean way"
 We always looked at this as Robert saying that they are "inefficient" only in a "laughing Mediterranean way", but we then realised that he could just be carrying on his sentence implying that they are only married in a "laughing Mediterranean way" - there marriage is now a joke due to the affair.

Directing (15) - Discussion & scenes

We began this lesson with a long discussion about how we shall go about our show in a couple of weeks. We had this discussion as if we were directors, and spoke about spacing, costumes and how to show time.

Staging:   We had decided from the beginning that we wanted to perform our play in proscenium arch as it doesn't have enough movement to justify using thrust, traverse or in-the-round (as audience members wouldn't see everyone's expressions. Having a proscenium arch setting would enable us to do our set changes more easily, as we have two exits and can leave discreetly for costume changes. Having decided before staging our play how we wanted our audience to be positioned, today we debated whether to perform our play in C5, C6 or the hall. Performing in C6 would make our exits harder, as there are no wings or exits from the room that we could use. Therefore, we debated between the hall and C5. The point that made this decision for us was lighting: both rooms have exit places for us, but we all agreed we wanted the play to have naturalistic lighting (as Pinter has written the play with a naturalistic dialogue), and the only room where this would be possible is the hall. We said we shall not perform on the stage as this distances the audience and takes away the naturalistic form. We will use the section of floor just in front of the stage and shall use the stage itself as the bar to lean on and put drinks on. This is the most practical way to show him being at the bar - although we don't have someone behind the bar, it is realistic as Lewis (in scene one) shall lean on the stage as he would at a bar.

Costumes:   We shall wear costumes that suit our characters. We have decided that Ollie shall wear a three-piece suit to show Robert is professional and all business, Lewis shall wear an ordinary suit to show that he is in a good profession but not as official as Robert, and I shall wear jeans, shirt, belt and boots to show I am comfortable but smart. In an ideal world we would change costumes throughout as the play goes across nine years - however, we can't do this as we are in consecutive scenes. Therefore we shall adjust our costume to make it work for scenes - as Ollie has time he shall change his costume for the holiday scene, whilst I shall just take my boots and belt off. To show time passing I shall wear glasses for the first four scenes, wear them now and again for scene five (as if they were reading glasses), but not at all for the last four scenes. This will show time passing as it will make it seem like Emma didn't need them when she was younger, but as time progressed her eye-sight deteriorated.

Set Changes:   We can't work out how we are going to do our set changes until we have worked out exactly what set we are using and until we rehearse in the space (with the set).

How to show time passing:   As stated earlier, one of the ways we shall show time passing is by giving Emma glasses in her later years. We mentioned the use of placards but decided against this instantly as it is rather Brechtian. Therefore we thought about using projection with the dates on (as we are in the hall and have the use of a projector without interfering with our performance space). To stick to our naturalistic style, we thought about having a projection of different newspapers for each year - so the projection would show the front of a newspaper from that year, with the date showing and an event that made a front page in that year.

After having our directors discussion, we moved on to doing a couple of scenes. Lewis and I did our first scene. Everything we did in this scene stayed the same, apart from Ollie directed me to change my intention slightly for my line "we have the occasional drink", when talking about Casey. I initially said the line as if I didn't really want to talk about Casey, but also hinting that Casey and Jerry are in the same boat - she is currently having a drink with Jerry. Ollie then directed me to say the line as if she is quoting Jerry - she is only given the information to Jerry that he knows.

The boys then ran scene two. This went okay but I gave them a lot of notes on movement. I felt that Lewis was sitting far too still, so an audience might struggle to connect with him and see how he is feeling - therefore I asked him to really focus on how he is sitting, how he uses his hands and how he moves. Ollie is in a similar position with how he holds his arms. After working on their movement this scene really improved. However, I did ask Lewis to change his intention slightly - with the section where Jerry says to Robert that him and Emma spent "very long" afternoons together, I felt that Jerry should get a bit angry - Jerry is being very brave at this point and I felt he would be fuming with Robert for saying that he hit Emma. After adapting this intention, I got the Ollie and Lewis to swap parts to see how they would play it. This helped them both as they could see how the other would embody their character, but it helped me as a director as I had a chance to see how they would interpret certain parts, which gave me ideas on what I should do to improve this scene. I felt that Lewis' stillness gave Robert a quite unpredictable but refined manner so I have asked Ollie to adapt an aspect of this in his characterisation. I also liked Ollie's complete naturalism - he was comfortable with his hands and touched his face and hair a lot to show how uncomfortable he was - this gave Lewis ideas on what to do with his hands.

The three of us then watched a clip online of Janie Dee and Michael Sheen performing scene five - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfqrI5E-ICg. We liked the way that Robert came across as quite nice during this and has opened our minds as to how we can present him - although we shan't change the way this scene was directed / how we shall perform it as we are happy with our version. What I have learned as an actress and as a director is to not be scared of pauses; silences can be really powerful in a piece and can be more meaningful than words.

Directing (14) - Set & rehearsal schedule

The picture shows our set for each scene: the circles represent chairs, the squares are tables and the ovals represent the sofa (or bed when it is perpendicular to the audience). We have made our set specific to each location - each location set is different to make it clear we are in a different place, but the same location will have identical set for each time we are in that location. Scene one and seven are the only scenes where we have just one table and two chairs - however, they are positioned differently, not only to show they are different locations, but because the situation is slightly different. Scene one is slightly awkward and tense as the two characters haven't seen each other for years and having a meeting essentially. However, they are still friends and deep down want to see each other - this is why they are at an angle to each other, they want to see each other but don't really know how to go about this conversation. Contrastingly, the chairs in scene seven are directly opposite each other - the proxemics here create a really tense scene full of subtle interrogation. I have blocked scene two so that Robert is sitting on the comfy sofa, whilst Jerry is sitting at his table - Robert is comfortable despite it not being his house (presenting how he feels he hasn't done anything wrong). I directed Jerry to be sitting at the table drinking to show how tense he is. Scenes three, six and eight are the same. Ollie had directed us to be by the table at a tense / awkward part (e.g. when Emma tells Jerry she is pregnant in scene eight), but on the sofa for cute moments (e.g. when they have the talk about throwing Charlotte up and catching her). For scenes five and nine we have positioned the sofa so it is perpendicular to the audience. I thought this would be appropriate as it then just looks like a chaise-long, and avoids the issue of trying to bring a bed on and off. These two scenes with a bed are turning points in the character lives - scene nine is the start of Jerry and Emma's affair, whilst scene five is where Emma's affair with Jerry is discovered by Robert and he confronts her.

As shown in my previous blogs, we have been working a lot on body language and intentions throughout this process. However, I feel we should do some research, sooner rather than later, on 70s clothing and furniture before making decisions on set and costume. We also need to have a discussion soon on how we are going to show different years and different times of year. Our performance is going to be on the 5th May in the hall. The lessons leading up to this need to include research on costumes and furniture, decisions on costume and physical set appearance, discussions and decisions on how to show time, full runs with scripts, line learning, full runs without scripts, and tech and costume runs... so we don't have much left to do! Therefore, we shall stop running through random scenes in the lesson as all the physical direction is complete, but as directors, we shall make decisions soon about how we shall actually do our performance.

Directing (13) - All scenes

Scene One:   This scene went smoothly. We got our movement how we had been directed correct - although it is minimal, it is still essential. Ollie directed us to have minimal movement during this scene, to enable our audience to focus on the naturalistic dialogue - a style that we're maintaining throughout our entire play. Ollie directed me to have a slightly longer pause before my line "Sam must be... tall", and to take my time before saying "tall". This is to show that I feel awkward that he has reminded me on how to keep things civil, and also that I can't remember how old he would be. The other part we changed was how I said "Wessex Grove" as this is important, as it is the first mention of the flat, but the audience don't know about it at the moment.

Scene Two:   The boys have done this scene a lot and they remembered all of my directions really well. I gave a bit more direction on Lewis' emotional journey in this scene so we get the climactic moment at the right time. This needs to be just prior to Ollie's line "Oh, don't get upset. There's no point".

Scene Three:   Lewis and I didn't need any additional directing with this scene today as we have worked a lot on it previously.

Scene Four:   I think this scene went really well today. We all got the movement and our intentions right. However, we worked a lot on eye contact today. We have worked it so Robert is looking a lot at Emma throughout this scene to make her more uncomfortable, and Emma doesn't really know where to look. However, I have found moments when I look directly at Robert in the eye as this doesn't happen often for her. There are only a few scenes which Emma and Robert are in together - this scene, the next scene and the last scene. In the holiday scene, Emma doesn't really make much eye contact with Robert at all, and barely any in the last scene too because she feels really awkward, and can't bring herself to look at him. However, in this scene, she finds a few moments where she is brave enough to challenge his looks, but by the end of this scene, this courage is gone. She holds his stare at the end of this scene but then gets emotional. This may make the audience question whether Robert hits Emma or not - although as a cast we have decided he doesn't, but we are happy for our audience to question this.

Scene Five:   This is another scene which we have done quite a few times and don't really need that much directing on.

Scene Six:   We changed our movement for this scene a little bit. We start hugging centre stage, then sit at the table, but move to the sofa when Lewis says that he spoke to Robert that morning. Lewis moves first, but I follow as I am anxious to find out more information. I remain standing long after he has sat down, until the line "you've misunderstood me". Although still anxious, I sit down at this point as I am too worried to stand but also to show that I don't want him to think that something has happened.

Scene Seven:   The boys have done this scene several times before. We worked more vocally on this scene as the movement is all fiarly simple. I wanted to make sure that the awkwardness was clear - when Jerry asks about Torcello and says "I thought..." and then realises what he had said.

Scene Eight:   This was another scene we had done a lot but we worked specially on the vocals for this lesson. Ollie directed me so that I wasn't too happy at the beginning as Emma is worried the whole scene about having to tell Jerry that she is pregnant.

Scene Nine:   We are really comfortable vocally with this scene now. We just need to work a little bit more on the physicality as we have changed it around so often.

With our version of "Betrayal" we have pretty much finished directing each other and all of the scenes, so it is now just a case of learning all of our lines, so we are ready to perform. We are aiming to perform our piece on May 3rd. We have given ourselves a little while as we all have a lot of lines to learn, we need to practice in the space (as we have decided to perform in the hall due to more space for audience, more space in general and good lighting opportunities), and because we may have a bit more directing to do in terms of hand gestures once we no longer need our scripts. We are also currently debating what we should wear for this performance. In terms of colours, we are thinking that Jerry should wear white, Robert black and Emma a colour in between - this would symbolise how Emma is stuck in the middle but is drawn more towards the light Jerry and doomed with Robert.

Directing (12) - Scenes 8, 9 and 2

Scene 8:   We went over the beginning that we did last lesson and the first two pages and then continued through the rest of it. We worked on our movement - we didn't want it to be too static during this scene, so Lewis is quite fluid and calm with his movements to show how relaxed he is. Contrastingly, I am a little bit rigid with my movements to show that I am uncomfortable, as this is the scene when I tell Jerry that I am pregnant. We also looked at how Lewis would say the line "I'm very happy for you" - we didn't want him to sound disappointed, but we wanted the audience to almost feel sorry for him.

Scene 9:   We had spent a lot of time on this scene previously, so we were already confident on a lot of it, but we worked on the ending today. We decided that I wouldn't sit down at all during this scene as my character feels really awkward. At the end when Lewis is sitting on the bed and I have walked over to him, he shall hold my hand in both of his, and then he would stand up before we hug. We worked on the moment when Ollie walked in so it looked convincing.

Scene 2:   I directed the boys on their character's intentions and the meanings of certain lines. They have done this scene before but we spoke about certain lines and movement. Robert says to Jerry that they "never played squash though" - we discussed what he could mean by this (assuming that there is definitely a meaning to this as otherwise it is a bit random and strange that it is brought up a lot throughout the play). We wondered is it anything to do with the fact that squash is quite a violent sport - the fact that Robert has always been calm with Jerry but has wanted to arrange a game of squash, also ironic that he now speaks of playing squash with Casey. We then thought that it could be something to do with playing games, but couldn't think of how this would link in. We then realised that it could mean because Jerry has been meeting with Emma so often, he doesn't have time to play squash with Robert - this would make sense why Robert says that he can't play squash with Casey. We then looked at how Robert winds up Jerry - we found that the two main points Robert says to get a reaction from Jerry are that he says how he hits Emma and when he speaks about Casey. I said that I didn't want Lewis to get up when he is told about Robert hitting Emma, as I want the audience to feel the tension between them, rather than see it - the audience would want Jerry to hit Robert at this point, but the fact that he doesn't makes the situation more powerful and hard-hitting.

Directing (11) - Scenes 5, 6, 7 and 8

Scene 5:   Hotel room. Venice. 1973. Summer. Emma & Robert.

• We did the majority of this scene last lesson, but we finished it today. The first bit that Lewis directed us on today was the following section: "can you remember?" "No." "You can't?" "No." "How odd." Lewis wants Ollie and I to do this section really quickly, to portray Robert as almost interrogating her. This makes Emma feel more uncomfortable and thus prompts her to own up about the affair. 
• We all agreed that we want Robert to be quite eerily calm throughout this, but there are a few moments where we see him struggle - the mention of the flat, that it was five years and the realisation the Ned might not have been his son. If Robert shouted at all during this scene the audience would probably dislike him further. The audience do feel sorry for Emma in this scene, due to the awkward situation and the intimidating Robert, but we want them to then question themselves on their feelings towards the characters, as they remind themselves that Emma has in fact cheated on her husband for five years. 
• Lewis also directed me to have more movement in the scene - we agreed that Robert shouldn't move for the majority of this scene, as he is being quite controlled (though he does move for the bits that hurt / surprise him - the three sections mentioned earlier), but I move near and at the end of the scene. Throughout the scene I have been sitting on the bed, with my knees gradually getting closer to me as I get tenser, but by the time I tell him how long the affair has been going on for, my back is to Robert as I am sitting on the edge of the bed. At the end of the scene when Robert says "are you looking forward to our trip to Torcello?" Lewis directed me to stand up and walk to the side as I am overcome with emotion that I can't sit down for any longer.

Scene 6:   Flat. 1973. Summer. Emma & Jerry.

• Discussed set. Agreed that for the flat there shall be a table and two chairs stage left, a sofa slightly off-centre, and a table stage right. 
• Lewis and I had done this scene before, but Ollie re-directed the part where I say "do you think we'll ever got to Venice together? No. Probably. Not." As I am about to put the table cloth on, Lewis takes the dirty glasses off the table and into the kitchen. It is here that I ask my question, but I don't realise he has gone because my back is to the kitchen door - when I get no response I realise that he has gone and answer it myself before his return.

Scene 7:   Restaurant. 1973. Summer. Robert, Jerry & Waiter.

• We have done this scene a lot so there was no real direction needed for this lesson, as we had covered all the main points before - such as the intention with the lines.

Scene 8:   Flat. 1971. Summer. Jerry & Emma.

• We didn't complete this scene today as we were focusing on the beginning, and making that seem natural. Ollie has directed Lewis to enter with a briefcase and newspaper, saying "hullo" as he throws his newspaper on the sofa and puts his bag down.

Directing (10) - Scenes 3, 4 and 5

Scene Three:   Flat. 1975. Winter. Emma & Jerry. End of their affair.

• Ollie wants the audience to feel sympathy for Jerry, so Lewis was directed to say his "in the summer, wasn't it?" more innocently, and if he is worried that I will snap back at him (which I do).
• Following the idea above, Ollie directed Lewis to go to put his hand on my shoulder on the line "I know it seems-" as if he is trying to calm me down and be caring, but I lean away from him when I cut him off and put him in his place. The tension is then clearly visible. 
• On my long line beginning "you see, in the past...", I was directed to turn to face Lewis and take his hand whilst speaking to him. This shows a change in my character's feelings to take the audience on more of a journey, and to present that she doesn't really know what she wants - she is perhaps reluctant to end the affair.
• "It was never intended to be the same kind of home. Was it?" - I had previously said this line in a bit of a bitter way, as if I was going to say that it was a flat "for fucking". However, Ollie re-directed me to say it as if this was the first I knew of him not wanting it to have been a sort of home - I therefore said this line quite upset, which worked well for my line that then followed. However on my second sentence, I altered my tone to show that I am thinking and 'realised' what his intention for the flat was.

Scene Four:   E & R's house. 1974. Autumn. All three. Tense scene in living room.

• We had done this scene quite a few times together so we all knew the intentions and objectives for each character, however, we changed the staging slightly. Instead of me being forced to sit next to Robert on the sofa, I now perch on the arm of the sofa furthest away from him. This shows how uncomfortable Emma is in this scenario, but is also symbolic of her danger.
• We discussed how horrible Robert is to Emma in this scene, especially after their conversation in the next scene - where he says to Emma "you should have lunch with us one day and chat about it," whilst in this scene, he says hoe "you don't actually want a woman within a mile of the place, any of the places really".

Scene Five:   Hotel room. Venice. 1973. Summer. Emma & Robert. Affair discovered by Robert.

• We added a little bit more movement into this scene. This is the same as the last scene, in the fact that we have both done this scene before and are aware of our intentions, objectives and subtext, but we could add more movement in. Lewis directed Ollie to get up at one point and read over my shoulder, as this instantly makes people feel uncomfortable. 
• We didn't finish this scene today, but shall continue with it next lesson.

Directing (9) - Scenes 1 & 2

Scene One:   Ollie directed scene one again today, as Lewis and I had just worked on it by ourselves previously. Below is what we established in this lesson for scene one:

• The opening of the scene:   Ollie directed us to have a longer pause between Lewis sitting down and his first line. This is to make the scene more awkward initially. 
• Movement:   Ollie wanted us both to move about a little bit during the scene. We didn't really move a lot the first time we did it, so it was a bit static, so we did the scene with more movement. Therefore we tried to use our props more. We put a table in between us so we could get our spacing right. The table altered how we sat and moved. We used our glasses more to fiddle with to show our awkwardness. 
• Emma's intentions:   We discussed Emma's intentions, and whether she should be flirty or not. I personally think she shouldn't be too flirty initially, as she doesn't really know what she wants and it is awkward between them. 
• "Darling":   We discussed the purpose of the "darling" line. Lewis didn't really see the relevance of this line, but we realised that Jerry and Emma call each other this on earlier in the play (in terms of years). We think that the purpose of this was to show that Jerry has almost slipped back in to old habits. 
• Casey:  Ollie got me to do a little laugh on the line "what" after "I hear you're seeing a bit of Casey". This was to show that my character doesn't really want to talk about Casey, which is true as she doesn't give any information away.

Scene Two:   I directed the second scene today as I am not in it. I had already directed this scene when Tom stood in for Lewis, so Ollie already knew how I wanted the scene to be portrayed - all I had to do was put Lewis into it and inform him on what we had worked on previously. For example, we went over the meaning of the line "we used to like each other" - that I feel Jerry is referring to himself and Emma, and is trying to justify his actions. I also felt that there should be a bit more movement in this scene, as I thought it was quite static for a heated discussion. Therefore, Lewis shifted around in his seat a lot to show how awkward and uncomfortable he felt, whilst Ollie simply followed the stage directions, and was quite bold with his moves to show that he is comfortable and confident in himself.

Questions:   We questioned whether Robert actually hit Emma or if he was just saying this. This was an important question to think of an answer to, as not only affect what the audience thinks of the characters and their situations, but it would also alter how we play our characters. We agreed that Robert was just saying this to try and get a reaction out of Jerry - either to get him to be angry so everything is then out in the open and they can resolve it all, or to make Jerry feel less bad about the affair. Another point we came up with was that Casey's name is mentioned a lot in the second scene. We felt that Robert brought him up not to make Jerry hurt more, but as if to say that they are both ex's of Emma's now, so they should both be annoyed at Casey and not each other.

Directing (8) - Emma and Jerry

As Ollie wasn't in, Lewis and I ran the all of the scenes that are just between Emma and Jerry.

• Scene One   -   1977   -   Pub   -   We worked on portraying our intentions by using our tone of voice specifically. We also worked on our pauses and why the meaning of certain lines (e.g. what they mean by "do you remember, I mean, you do remember?" "I remember" - their flat).
• Scene Three   -   1975   -   Flat   -   We imagined what the conversation would have been before the start of this scene to get us in to the right frame of mind. We wanted it to be really awkward and tense between us, as this is the end of their affair. Our main focuses with this scene were our intentions and body language. We directed each other for this scene. My directions to Lewis were mainly to do with proxemics - how far away from me he should be at different points - depending on what was just said.
• Scene Six   -   1973   -   Flat   -   We hadn't done a lot of work on this scene. We worked on the opening and how we would do it. Lewis and I start hugging and he kisses me on the cheek. I then break away from him and put the basket down. We practiced using my bag as a basket to work out how we would move around each other with it. We also worked a lot on our spacing and physical interaction with each other in this scene. On my lines "Do you think we'll ever go to Venice together? No. Probably not" I put the table cloth on the table. The pause after this is used for me to walk over to the chair and sit down again, and used by Lewis as if he wants to ask a question but doesn't know how. The ending is sweet, as I sit up against him I lay my head on his shoulder. This is supposed to be sweet to make the audience want them to stay together.
• Scene Eight   -   1971   -   Flat   -   We had done this scene a few times before so working more on the intentions of these lines, as we had already pretty much staged it. We need the scene to be quite awkward from my perspective as I want to tell Jerry about my pregnancy but don't know how to tell him and scared how he will take it.
• Scene Nine   -   1968   -   Robert and Emma's House   -   We had worked on this scene a lot previously so we just ran it today to cement it in our minds.

Directing (7) - So far...

Scenes:

1. Staging complete // Intentions need work on being portrayed clearer
2. Staging complete // Intentions understood // Needs cementing
3. Staging complete // Intentions understood // Needs cementing
4. Staging complete // Intentions understood // Practically finished
5. Staging complete // Intentions understood // Finished
6. Staging incomplete // Intentions need discovering // Needs a lot of work
7. Staging complete // Intentions understood // Practically finished
8. Staging incomplete // Intentions need work // Needs a lot of work
9. Staging complete // Intentions understood // Finished

Rehearsals:   We are not making a definite rehearsal schedule, as of yet, because we haven't touched on all of the scenes. However, next lesson we shall do scene six and eight, as we have done the least work on these scenes. We can leave scenes five and nine for a while, as we have completed these and they need the least amount of work. Once we have done a substantial amount of work on all of the scenes, we shall do a full run and then create our rehearsal schedule for the lessons leading up to the performance, where we shall work out our priorities.

Staging:   So far, all of our piece has been made up of just two or three chairs. Not only do we think that this may be too repetitive, but we feel it is a bit Brechtian for a very naturalistic play. We are intending on including a table that shall be used for the bar scene, the restaurant and as a coffee table at different places. As Pinter has written in a naturalistic style, we are taking a Stanislavski approach, and so will be using many props in our production where requires (e.g. glasses, the book, keys). Although, above I have written that the staging is complete for the majority of the scenes, we haven't worked with the tables or any props as of yet, so will need to do this as soon as possible. We shall incorporate the table in to every scene as to minimise the length and potential chaos of scene change. This table recycling can help form the set - i.e. by returning the table to the same place for the flat scene, helps establish the setting.

Dealing with problems:   For every scene that contains just two actors, the third person shall direct that scene. For scenes that contain all three of us, the person who is in it the least shall direct. If there are any disagreements the actor shall make the final decision, if the can justify their reasoning.

Characters:   We all have to decide on how we want each character to be portrayed, and how we want the audience to view them. We have agreed that we want the audience to be sympathetic towards Jerry and like him, but still be torn between Jerry and Robert. We want them to go between wanting Jerry and Emma being together because they seem sweet together, but at the same time knowing that the relationship is wrong so wanting Robert to find out. However, the audience would want Robert and Jerry to be friends so everything resolves itself.

Directing (6) - Scenes One, Two, Three and Four

Today we ran the first four scenes of the play. We had done a couple of them before, in date order, but we decided to run them in the order of the play.

Scene One:   We decided to run this scene as if Emma and Jerry are very awkward. The only movement that was in the scene is when Jerry goes to the bar and returns again. However, although the fact that they were sitting fairly still throughout made it quite tense, we decided that we should add a little bit more movement in it to break it up a little bit. We decided that my character, specifically, should change positions quite a lot to show that she is uncomfortable and doesn't know where she stands - as she doesn't really know what she wants (though it is evident that they still have feelings for each other). For my line, "are you jealous?", I shall be a bit flirtatious as if to attempt to break the ice. I believe she wants Jerry to be jealous as she does miss him - she has lost her husband and as lost the man she had an affair with for seven years, and is now going out with Casey on the rebound.

Scene Two:   This scene is set in Jerry's house, and shows an emotional meeting between Jerry and Robert. Pinter has written all of his dialogue in a very conversational way (by including fillers, false starts and disjointed constructions), thus suggesting he wants his plays to be performed very naturalistically. I directed this scene so it went on a bit of an emotional roller-coaster. I wanted the scene to be quite awkward and tense between them to start, to make Jerry feel more on-edge. I liked how Robert was quite angry at the beginning of this scene as it forms a contrast to the end of this scene. The first time Ollie said the line "don't call me a bastard Jerry", he said it as if he was really angry - he really raised his voice. I then re-directed this line and got him to say the line in quite a bitter way - I got him to say this line through his teeth, in a lower tone and quite quiet. The purpose of this is to show that Robert is warning him on what he says - Robert is probably suggesting that it's best off that Jerry doesn't call Robert a "bastard" for not telling him, when Jerry has had an affair with his wife for seven years. We discussed the line "we used to like each other" and who we thought "we" was. I suggested that they are both referring to other people. I believe Jerry is saying that line as if to try and justify his actions - he is trying to say to Robert that he didn't just get with Emma for the hell of it, and they did in fact have strong feelings for each other so he couldn't help it. I wanted Ollie to say the line as if he was calming Jerry down by stating that they are still friends. The line "I bumped into old Casey the other day. I think he's having an affair with my wife" is used to relieve the tension. I wanted Ollie to say the line in a way that breaks the tension, as I reminded them that despite everything that has gone on, Robert and Jerry are best friends - Robert continued seeing Jerry and didn't say anything about the affair.

Scene Three:   When we first tried this scene, we were a bit tense and awkward with each other. I had played the scene before as I was reluctant to end the affair. However, Ollie gave us the direction to think as if we had had a massive argument just prior to this conversation. This made our scene really tense to begin with. We imagined what we would have been saying before this scene - as Jerry's first line is "what do you want to do then?", we agreed that Jerry had been giving lots of suggestions on what to do, but Emma kept disagreeing with everything he had said. We have agreed that at some point in the near future, we shall all agree where things are in the flat, so we can paint the scene for the audience.

Scene Four:   We had already worked on this scene before but decided to run it so we ensured that we had remembered what we had directed. 

Directing (5) - Scenes Seven, Eight and Nine

Today's lesson:   In today's lesson we decided that we would start from the end of the play and work backwards, so that we were doing our scenes in date order. Therefore we started with scene nine and worked backwards to scene seven. We did these scenes a couple of times each as we were workshopping them. We focussed on intentions and what each character knew at what point - so we kept referring back to the timeline we made.

Scene Nine:   In this scene, Jerry confesses his love for Emma. He is drunk and sitting in her bedroom waiting for her to come in so he can talk to her. We had done this scene before, but hadn't done the ending of it. The kissing section is supposed to be quite awkward, as it is not supposed to happen. Jerry is completely besotted with Emma and has built up enough confidence (through drinking) to try and kiss her. Emma does have feelings for Jerry and probably does want this to happen deep-down, but knows it must not because of her husband, so laughingly pushes Jerry away between his attempts. When Ollie comes in and Jerry tells him that he is way complementing Emma's looks, Ollie places his hand on my shoulder on the line "quite right" - as if to say that he agrees and he too loves his wife, but also to show that he is protective. We wanted to leave this scene in a way that the audience isn't sure if Robert spotted them together and suspected anything at this time or not.

Scene Eight:   In this scene, Emma and Jerry are in their flat and Emma reveals to him that she is pregnant, but says that it is with her husband's child. We hadn't done this scene before today so we discussed how they would both be feeling. We agreed that the affair started just three years prior to this (as in 1973 Emma confesses she's been having the affair for five years), so they may not have had the flat very long. We needed to see that they are very comfortable in each other's company and are clearly more than friends - the audience needs to see that they are really close - throughout the play we want the audience to be wanting them to last, though at times realising how wrong it is and hoping that they don't! We tried the beginning of the scene in a couple of ways to see how we would like to perform it. We saw two different meanings in Emma's line "I'm making this stew. It'll be hours". Our first thought was that she is implying that they have time to do whatever they like - therefore we tried the scene as quite flirtatious. However, with what happens at the end of the scene (Emma revealing that she is pregnant), we decided that we should perform the scene as if I am quite anxious throughout as I am working out how to tell Jerry. This worked better for the scene. On the second page of the scene I get quite panicky about the thought of Judith knowing about the affair, but Jerry is quite confident and a bit arrogant when saying that she doesn't and couldn't know. We brought out the comedy in Lewis's section about getting annoyed with the fact the Judith has an admirer and goes out for drinks with him. This is funny because it is so ironic and hypercritical - we got Lewis to be really irritated with this to make it funnier. I am a little flirtatious on the line "I have an admirer" as if I am attempting to calm Jerry down a bit. The other line we really focussed on was the line "I'm pregnant". We spent time on this line because we didn't want it to sound really cheesy so, for this reason, I didn't emphasise the word "pregnant", and instead jumped in with the part "it was when you were in America" - as I needed to quickly reassure Jerry that I was carrying my husband's child and not his.

Scene Seven:   Lewis and Ollie worked on the seventh scene. This scene is set in a restaurant in 1973, after Emma and Robert's trip to Venice, and after Emma has spoken to Jerry about her holiday. We worked on making Robert quite arrogant in this scene - we wanted him to come across as more cultured than Jerry (to appear more dominant and powerful), but also as arrogant and rude (so the audience almost worries for Jerry and wants him to be with Emma at this point). We presented Robert as rude by making him dismissive of the waiter and trying to get rid of him. When staging this scene, I reminded the boys that Robert knows about the affair at this point, but Jerry doesn't know that Robert knows. I wanted Ollie to really play about with Lewis's emotions during this scene - i.e. try and make him be on the edge of his seat, panicking, and also try to make him feel a bit guilty at times too. For example, when Ollie asks "how's Judith?", he really emphasises the "th" of this to emphasise that Jerry has a wife. Another section where Robert really toys with Jerry is the part where he talks about Emma and Jerry having a lot in common and also when he asks "don't you think it gives Emma a thrill?".