Blank Canvas: Rehearsal
Jessica M. Johnson in the First Rehearsal for THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA MCBRIDE.
by Jessica M. Johnson
November 2, 2016
So… Let’s begin.
I love rehearsal. More specifically, I love Day One. “Day One” of rehearsal is more than just putting emails, and names to faces, it is about beginning a journey; it is an opportunity for a room full of designers, and directors, and actors, and every creative entity you can imagine, coming together and coming to agreement. And what do we agree on?…
The job: We agree to work diligently, problem solve, celebrate, and keep moving forward. Ultimately, We agree to create and to create with people we may have never met, using a text dreamed up by a person we may never meet.
[L-R] Jessica M. Johnson, Mikéah Ernest Jennings, Matteo Scammell, and Damien Wallace in the first rehearsal for THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA MCBRIDE.
Sitting down to hear a play, with all its players present and on the edge of their seats, listening and learning new things that anyone can miss while reading the play alone is like starting to paint. Reading the text together is just like sitting palette prepped, brushes set, clean water poured, and easel unpacked. No one knows exactly what is be painted, how a line will be delivered, or where a laugh may land, but we are present and ready to discover, we are ready to put brush to canvas and work.
Read Jessica’s previous post, Watercolor: An Actor’s Journey.