In the third week of rehearsals more focus was put on the technical aspects of the play. We don’t have a designated set or costume designer working on the show; however the visual aspects of the play begun to take form in the third week of rehearsals as the world of the play was fleshed out. The actors had been trying different costume pieces over the last couple of weeks but seemed to settle into the right ones for their characters. The makeshift campsite that is our set also began to grow as more props were added, a tent was built, and lights were used to create the fire effect. Lights were also used to set up other campfires around the Thebans, to give the allusion that soldiers were close by watching. By the end of the third week we had blocked most of the first half of the show. We began addressing questions such as; what role does religion and the gods play in the lives of each of these characters? How do the tragedies of Theban history affect their individual identities? And do they believe their death is a duty, an act of fate, or just bad luck?

While working on SEVEN for the first three weeks the cast was also rehearsing The Bewitched, the last fully mounted show of the Theatre@York season. Four weeks into rehearsal for SEVEN, The Bewitched was performed, so our rehearsals were somewhat put on hold. However, we did have two rehearsals in week four where we went over what had been worked on so far, in order keep it fresh in the everyone’s mind.

Fifth Week of Rehearsals:

We returned to rehearing SEVEN full time with only a week to go until the performances began at Theatre Passe Muraille. Midway through the week we moved our rehearsals from York to the downtown rehearsal space Hub14. The excitement of performing at Theatre Passe Muraille, meeting other students and seeing their shows, was building, but there was still a lot of work to do before SEVEN was ready to take the stage.

The actors learned choreography for the kissing and fight scenes as well as how to create the moment where, in the midst of chaos, a bottle is smashed on Cloth’s face. It was fascinating to watch these very intense moments come alive. I think that we were all really starting to understand the brutality that exists in this world. All of the stories that are retold by the characters in SEVEN seemed to become more vivid with each run through of the play. I also felt that each name and story carried more consequence then they had when we began rehearsals. As we approached the end of this process I think the significance of our play, the fact that we are responsible for “bringing Thebes to its end” really began to sink in. A great deal of time was spent working through the last moments of the play. We considered what each character had to do in order to finally come to terms with their fate. Previously Sarah had played with the idea that the seven take all of their belongings with them when they leave for wall of Troy. This was changed so that the campsite that had become a microcosm for all of Thebes was left behind, and each of the seven took only a bottle of wine with them to face their death.

Now that everything has come to an end there is finally time to reflect on all the insanity of the last month or so. It’s hard to believe that it has only been about six weeks since we begun working on SEVEN. Please read on for information about the journey we embarked on while rehearsing this play and preparing for the performance at Theatre Passe Muraille.

First Week of Rehearsals:

Our first rehearsal was six months after our script workshop in October so everyone was excited to get back to work on SEVEN. As it was pointed out on the first day of rehearsals, a lot has happened since October. We talked about various changes that have taken place in the world recently, such as the economic situation and Barack Obama’s inauguration, and how the widespread feelings of both despair relate to what the characters in SEVEN are experiencing.

We used our second rehearsal day to do a table reading of HARMONIA. The characters in SEVEN are all “UnNamed” so each of the actors was able to read the part of their corresponding character in HARMONIA. This really clarified who each of the UnNamed are and it was fascinating to see how the characteristics of these people transcend generations and the plays. I think reading HARMONIA and understanding how Thebes began was important as we are preparing a show about the end of Thebes. We also found it very poignant that HARMONIA ends with Cadmus, Harmonia and the UnNamed leaving Mount Olympus and walking towards their future, just as SEVEN ends with the last Thebans leaving their camp and walking towards their death.

The majority of our first rehearsal week was spent reading through SEVEN and working through the questions that we had about the script. We sat around the table asking each other questions like “Who was Hephaestus?” or “How did Semele die?” It occurred to me that what we were doing, trying to piece together our collective memory of these stories, is exactly what the characters in SEVEN do when they try to tell their history.

Second Week of Rehearsals:

We have a team of four assistant directors and a dramaturg (myself) working on this production. In the second week of rehearsals we began to bring in the various research and information that Sarah Stanly had asked us to find. This included explanations of the mythological characters who are referenced in SEVEN and their role in the City of Wine cycle, information on the Trojan War, research on various meanings of the number seven and as well as the significance of fire in different cultures and rituals. Sarah also asked for images of the seven virtues and the seven deadly sins, and asked that the actors find one of each that they felt represented their character.

One morning Sarah asked the actors to spend 15 minutes improvising and exploring the space. Strewn about the area that had been designated as the war camp were musical instruments, wine bottles, cups, and pieces of clothing. There was a palpable sense of community when the seven sat around the campfire and played their instruments, but the music eventually quieted allowing for privet moments between two or three of the characters. The dynamics of the group really began to emerge through this exercise. After 15 minutes of inhabiting the environment Sarah instructed them to pack up everything in the camp site and prepare to meet their fate at the Trojan wall. The seven picked up everything around them. It was amazing how fast they were able to remove their presence from the space, despite how comfortable and permanent they seemed only moments before. It was if they had never been there at all, which I suppose is what would happen if a small group of people like this were really sent off to die in a war.

Also this week we started adding in sound and movement to the script. One of my favourite scenes in the play is when Blood tells the other six about the orders they have received and the task they are to carry out the next morning. Each of the characters comes to the realization that they are being ordered to die at a different time, and when they do they begin creating a noise, so that as Blood tells the story an orchestra of sound builds around him. The effect is very powerful. The actors also had a session with our movement coach and began working out some of the dance and movement sequences.

Much of the discussion in rehearsals this week involved looking at the that the choices that the seven make in the early moments of the play and how these choices lead them down different paths and effect the direction that the play takes.

In the meantime, check out the photos of rehearsals that have just been added to the facebook page!

Brian has made a second visit during our process, and Marie continues to keep an eye on us:) We’re hoping that our fellow Torontonians, George Brown and York, can join us to see ‘Pentheus’ during our run at Humber. We’ll also work on getting up a picture or two on the Facebook page, although some details are being kept quite quiet – secrets secrets!

A.D.R.

We had the pleasure of having Marie, Naomi, and Brian visit us in the studio on Saturday, and will look forward to future visits from them. We’ve also worked in a few minor edits to the script that Ned has written. Many people are double cast, as most gods are also playing one of the unnamed characters. We’re three weeks away from tech week now, and eagerly anticipate a lot of discovery in the weeks to come!

Our initial process began with Rasa work, based on director, Ulla Neuerburg-Denzer’s PhD study of emotion. The exercise is founded on the Sanskrit belief that there are 9 basic emotions all human beings experience and that all other emotions grow from their roots. They are:

Shanta – Bliss, oneness
Karuna – Grief, compassion
Sringara – Love (brotherly, sexual, etc)
Raudra – Anger
Vira – Power
Adbhuta – Awe, wonder
Bibhasta – Disgust
Hasya – Laughter
Bahayanaka – Fear

Working from the ground up, the actors have found context in which their characters can experience and feel these emotions and furthermore start to discover the movements and physicality that best expresses their specific characters.

The excitement surrounding the City of Wine festival seems to be growing more and more each day as we move closer to the finish line. Looking forward to the shows! More posts soon!

Hayley Lewis