Claire Juliette as Stella A peculiarity of classical Russian plays (and novels) is the large numbers of people in them. One thing which swells the cast list is that Russian upper and middle class houses before the Revolution kept an open door to anyone from their milieu who wanted to come in, from casual callers in need of a drink to visiting neighbours after a game of cards to poor relations in need of a roof over their heads. The gentry would give a place at table to anyone of the right class who turned up at dinner time, no questions asked. Once admitted, you were expected to come back as often as you wanted, indeed it was considered rude not to. There was a prince once who gave a complete stranger a place at dinner every night for 20 years without intruding into his business even so far as to ask who he was. And not just princes: the hoi polloi could always get a cup of tea and a bite at the kitchen door.
There’s a little of this about some of the people who throng the houses in Chekhov for no immediately apparent reason. For an actor they’re a joy to play because they’re fairly lightly written and you can fill them out with different approaches to their back story, motivation, likes, dislikes etc. and chop and change as you discover what the other actors and the director contribute. Today we worked on a big scene with six of these characters and found that what made them tick and how they related to each other could be interpreted just as plausibly in two or three different ways. It’s what makes these plays like real life.
Robert Rowe is playing Peter in a new contemporary adaptation of The Seagull, by Chris Chambers.
(Other work done prior to Robert's arrival - some very in depth work on the relationship of Boris and Stella and Stella and Simon. It is becoming clearer and clearer that Chekhov needs to be played with a deep understanding of the meanings behind the words. Subtext works in arcs and themes between characters resonate in countless ways. In life we so often say something, meaning the opposite. In Chekhov's work there are many examples of dialogue that on the surface appears quite superficial. But working daily on this piece, one sees an intricate jigsaw puzzle emerging, with deeply hidden emotions rising and colliding in the most unexpected ways, shielded by the normality of daily life - but ultimately uncontrollable. CC)
There’s a little of this about some of the people who throng the houses in Chekhov for no immediately apparent reason. For an actor they’re a joy to play because they’re fairly lightly written and you can fill them out with different approaches to their back story, motivation, likes, dislikes etc. and chop and change as you discover what the other actors and the director contribute. Today we worked on a big scene with six of these characters and found that what made them tick and how they related to each other could be interpreted just as plausibly in two or three different ways. It’s what makes these plays like real life.
Robert Rowe is playing Peter in a new contemporary adaptation of The Seagull, by Chris Chambers.
(Other work done prior to Robert's arrival - some very in depth work on the relationship of Boris and Stella and Stella and Simon. It is becoming clearer and clearer that Chekhov needs to be played with a deep understanding of the meanings behind the words. Subtext works in arcs and themes between characters resonate in countless ways. In life we so often say something, meaning the opposite. In Chekhov's work there are many examples of dialogue that on the surface appears quite superficial. But working daily on this piece, one sees an intricate jigsaw puzzle emerging, with deeply hidden emotions rising and colliding in the most unexpected ways, shielded by the normality of daily life - but ultimately uncontrollable. CC)
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