The Official Raúl E. Esparza "Spread the Love" Thread, Part 3 — Page 101

Threeeeeeeee.

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Has anybody read John Lahr's Casebook on The Homecoming? It's slow going, but it's fascinating. Worth it for just the interview with Sir Peter Hall, the director of the original production. You'll come out of it with a much deeper understand and appreciation of Pinter and his work.

But I'm wondering now....is it a good idea or a bad idea for Raúl and McShane and the rest of the cast to read the Casebook before going into rehearsals? Does it help to have all that material to fall back on at the start, or would it be better if they went into it cold, if they arrived at their own interpretation of the work uninfluenced by outside forces? I can't quite decide.

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I think, for the audience, whether you read it beforehand depends on how much you trust your own instincts. Some people might want to go in as fully informed as possible so they don’t “miss” anything, others just want to let it wash over them. For myself, at least with Pinter, I think I prefer to have the crutch.

But it’s different for the actors. I suppose it depends on how strong an actor they are. That is, if they’re strong enough to take the material in the Casebook, file it away for future reference and still approach the work from a fresh point of view. I’d like to think that the cast that’s been assembled so far does have that sort of strength.

There’s also the practical problem of audience vs. actors in terms of exposure. The audience member will have basically only one shot at viewing and comprehending the work, whereas the actors will live and breathe the text over and over, for weeks, if not months on end. They have the luxury of time in which to come to an understanding of the work, where the audience does not.

I guess that’s the essence of what acting is all about, really – that the actor can take everything he’s learned about the work in weeks of study and rehearsal, condense it and then convey it in one single burst of a performance. That’s magic.

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I think if I were a director, I'd certainly want the actors to see it, but perhaps not right away. I'd want them to lay their own groundwork first.

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I suppose a lot of it depends on the particular director and his relationship with the actors, as well as his vision of the play. It's possible Daniel Sullivan may decide to go for some out-of-left-field interpretation that turns the text on it's head, but I'm not sure you =can= do that with Pinter.

I will say that some of Sir Peter Hall's descriptions opened up vistas on the play that I hadn't realized were there, and as a result I think they would greatly enhance my enjoyment of the production (assuming I'm even able to get to New York at all, which doesn't seem likely now...).

Yay! on the complete Our Town casting, but it does seem like it's all students?

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Wait, now it's free? Emcee, you'd better get a refund on those pricey tickets you bought

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On the subject of the Casebook - I am a Pinter novice. I bought both the play and the Casebook, and started by reading the play through twice. It is a stunner - at turns cruel and beautiful, and very elusive (in terms of motivations). Now I feel like I can approach the Casebook, and enjoy learning what directors and writers think about it when they work with it. I don't think I would want to go into this one "cold." I like doing my homework.

One day more - have fun tomorrow, and bring back pictures and a full report about the OUR TOWN reading!

Also - saw FORBIDDEN BROADWAY yesterday - it's the best one I have seen, and the COMPANY parodies are great, especially "Unaccompanied."

Updated On: 8/16/07 at 09:09 AM

Homecoming finally arrived today. I think I'll read it on the plane to NY tomorrow.

I'm sorry, antiandrew. That's no fun at all

I'll look forward to seeing everything

Dang, Craww!! That one should come with a warning label!!
"Asbestos Monitor Required"

When and where is that from??

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Well, thanks for posting it.

I think it should be titled "spontaneous combustion".
As if it wasn't already hot enough in LA today!

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