I arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday evening, and now it's Thursday night.  So far I've had two days or rehearsal for The Opportunity of Efficiency, one production meeting and a meet and greet. I've been to another play at the theatre, searched for a SIM card (no joy) and eaten a plenty of rice and skewered chicken but no sushi.   No photos yet, I'm afraid - will try and sort that out (but I have managed a few shaky vine videos - shared on Twitter).  I'm staying in the Hatagaya neighbourhood, just a subway stop, or a 15 minute walk, away from the theatre. In a city of over thirty million it's good to start local!

It's interesting to rehearse a script I know pretty well in a language I don't know at all.  My phenomenal interpreter, Nao, seems to be at my ear all of the time, with just the right amount of translation.  The hardest moments have probably been exercises I've set where actors have chosen lines from anywhere in the text and poor Nao is translating back into English not sure whether she has got the English version right.  Fortunately the equally on-the-ball Assistant Director, Satoshi, is on hand with a version of the text in both languages and quickly able to point out which scene we're in!

I started with a work-through of the text - on its feet, with actors reading their own stage directions as well as the lines.  We sat in a circle, with whoever was on stage in the middle:  the play will be staged in the round, so I'm trying to do everything in the round from the get-go.  The read through was very active, with actors encouraged to surprise each other. I think a couple of the actors would prefer a sit down reading and a lot of text analysis in the first few days, but that's never something I find useful, and the idea of doing it through translation is even less appealing.  And to be fair they have all leapt in and done whatever I've asked.  

The work so far has mainly been around choosing very short moments in the text to explore - for example an exercise where everyone tells their character's story in six moments (this one turns into a big group physical routine) and another where actors choose moments where they like, dislike, or are confused by their characters.

We are using a lot of full-on physical work, so it was good today to welcome our movement director, Yo, into the room.  I'd been sent samples of work by a few different choreographers and chose Yo because she combined a great sense of character with a delightfully surprising movement vocabulary.  You can see a sample of her work here.  However, I'd never met her, so it was a great relief to see how brilliantly she worked with the cast. Playful and a delight to watch.  It was probably the section of rehearsals so far where I learned the most about the actors.

Tomorrow we will work with slightly longer section - units of a few lines, or a few paragraphs, where there is a significant shift or discovery.  I'd also like to do some observational work - with the actors out on the streets looking for models for the characters they play, but that may wait till Saturday.  Also on Saturday, or Sunday at the latest (we don't get a break till Tuesday!) I will start another work-through of the text, this one with discussion as we go, to clarify the key actions and mark some major transitions.

And I'll find some sushi!

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Comment by john norton on March 11, 2013 at 13:18

Yo she's got the moves

Comment by National Theatre Wales on March 11, 2013 at 3:41

Thanks Jan, Kelly and Jen.  And sorry that rehearsal blog 2 is a few days in arriving.  I had a slightly unfortunate start to rehearsal day 3 which I'll tell you all about in my next blog.  Don't worry - no damage - just embarassing!  All is going well.  Tomorrow (Tuesday) I get my first day off since I arrived, so I'm pretty tired at this point, but we got to the stage I was hoping by the end of today's session.  Just back from cast and crew night out, and finally remembered to take a photo of everyone, so I'll post that tomorrow too.  But for now it's getting close to midnight here, so I'll say good afternoon/goodnight/oyasuminasai.

Comment by Jan Miller on March 10, 2013 at 20:52

love the idea of "six moments" John - makes me think of stillness in the midst of millions of people.  Hope you've found your sushi by now...

Comment by Kelly Page on March 10, 2013 at 8:34

John, what an exciting adventure. I love your situated approach  ... i.e., "the play will be staged in the round, so I'm trying to do everything in the round from the get-go." the feelings of confusion and delight you must be experiencing (and the cast) as you work through the text. Is Nao, Satoshi, Yo and the cast on the community?? Be loving to share in their learnings, perhaps they can post in japanese ... with english translation. As for Vine = Awesome! It was actually what directed me here to you blog. I didn't realize you were on Vine. Love the "walk to work" ... take care :-) and have fun ...  

Comment by Jen Thornton on March 7, 2013 at 4:03

Thanks for the update - that sounds really fascinating but probably very hard work! Glad it's going well, and we're loving your Vine posts. Keep them coming :) 

Jen x

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