The Member of the Wedding
By Carson McCullers
Contents
1. Carson McCullers (1917 – 1967)
2. McCullers’ Contemporaries in Southern American
3. The Deep South and Segregation in the United States
4. Outline of America’s Involvement in WWII
5. Cast and Creative Team
6. Synopsis
7. Interview with the director, Matthew Dunster
8. Interview with the designer, Robert Innes Hopkins
9. Assistant Director’s Rehearsal Diary
10. Games and Exercises
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If you have any questions or comments about this Resource Pack please contact
us:
The Young Vic, 66 The Cut, London, SE1 8LZ
T: 020 7922 2858 F: 020 7922 2802 e: info@youngvic.org
Compiled by: Alexandra Brierley, Sarah Tipple
Young Vic 2007
First performed at the Young Vic Theatre on the 7th September 2007
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1. CARSON McCULLERS (1917-1967)
With a collection of work including five novels, two plays, twenty short
stories, more than two dozen non-fiction pieces, a book of children's verse, a
small number of poems, and an unfinished autobiography, Carson McCullers is
considered to be among the most significant American writers of the twentieth
century. She is best known for her novels The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The
Ballad of the Sad Café, Reflections in a Golden Eye, and The Member of the
Wedding, all published between 1940 and 1946. At least four of her works have
been made into films.
Carson McCullers
Childhood and Education
Born Lula Carson Smith on 19th February, 1917, in Columbus, McCullers was the
daughter of Lamar Smith, a jewellery store owner, and Vera Marguerite Waters.
Lula Carson, as she was called until age fourteen, attended public schools and
graduated from Columbus High School at sixteen. From the age of ten she had
been taking piano lessons, but she was forced to give up her dream of a career
as a concert pianist after rheumatic fever left her without the stamina for a
concert career. While recuperating from this illness, McCullers began to
consider writing as a vocation.
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In 1934, at the age of seventeen, McCullers sailed from Savannah to New York
City, ostensibly to study piano at the Juilliard School of Music but actually
to pursue her secret ambition to write. Working various jobs to support
herself, she studied creative writing at New York's Columbia University and at
Washington Square College of New York University. Back in Columbus in the
autumn of 1936 to recover from a respiratory infection, McCullers was
bedridden for several months, during which time she began work on her first
novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. The story of a deaf mute to whom the
people of a southern town turn for silent solace, the novel includes the
themes of loneliness and isolation that recur in much of McCullers's work. It
was an immediate success.
Marriage, New York and Fame
In September 1937 she married James Reeves McCullers Jr., from Alabama. The
marriage was simultaneously the most supportive and destructive relationship
in her life. From the beginning it was plagued by alcoholism, sexual
ambivalence (both were bisexual), and Reeves's envy of McCullers's writing
abilities. Moving to New York in 1940 when The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter was
published, McCullers and Reeves divorced in 1941, only to reconcile and
remarry in 1945.
During a separation from Reeves in 1940, McCullers moved into a house in
Brooklyn Heights owned by George Davis (literary editor of Harper's Bazaar)
and shared with the British poet W. H. Auden. This house, located at 7 Middagh
Street, became the centre of a bohemian literary and artistic circle including
Gypsy Rose Lee, Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears, Richard Wright, and Oliver
Smith. In spring 1941 McCullers and Reeves, who were temporarily reconciled,
both fell in love with the American composer David Diamond. This complicated
love triangle led to a second separation, and found expression in McCullers's
short novel The Ballad of the Sad Café and her novel and play, The Member of
the Wedding. Following her father's sudden death in August 1944, McCullers
moved with her mother and sister to Nyack, New York, where they purchased a
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house. McCullers spent most of the rest of her life in this house on the
Hudson River.
W. H. Auden
David Diamond
March 1946 saw the publication of McCullers's fourth major work, The Member of
the Wedding, the story of a lonely adolescent girl, Frankie Addams, who wants
to find her "we of me" through a relationship with her older brother and his
bride. McCullers's theatrical adaptation of the novel opened on Broadway in
1950 to near unanimous acclaim and enjoyed a run of 501 performances. This
adaptation proved to be her most commercially successful work. It was
critically successful as well, winning the 1950 New York Drama Critics Circle
Award for best American play of the season and the Donaldson Award for best
play and best first play by an author.
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Broadway, New York
Her personal life, however, deteriorated further. While living near Paris in
the early 1950s, Reeves tried to convince McCullers to commit suicide with
him. Fearing for her life, she fled to the United States. Remaining behind,
Reeves committed suicide in a Paris hotel room in November 1953.
Failing Health and Final Work
During the final fifteen years of her life, McCullers experienced a marked
decline in health and creative abilities. Bedridden by paralysis from a series
of debilitating strokes, she was devastated by the failure of her second play,
The Square Root of Wonderful, which closed after only 45 performances on
Broadway in 1957, and the mixed reception of her final novel, Clock Without
Hands (1961). Her final book-length publication was a volume of children's
verse, Sweet as a Pickle and Clean as a Pig (1964). At the time of her death
she was at work on an autobiography, Illumination and Night Glare. A more
encouraging event in her final years was the success of Edward Albee's 1963
adaptation of The Ballad of the Sad Café, which enjoyed a Broadway run. On
August 15, 1967, she suffered her final cerebral stroke. Comatose for fortysix days, she died in the Nyack Hospital and was buried in Nyack's Oak Hill
Cemetery on the banks of the Hudson River.
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2. McCULLERS’ CONTEMPORARIES IN SOUTHERN AMERICA
Southern literature is defined as American literature about the Southern
United States or by writers from this region. Characteristics of Southern
literature include a focus on a common Southern history, the significance of
family, a sense of community and one’s role within it, the region's dominant
religion – Christianity - and the burdens/rewards religion often brings,
issues of racial tension, land and the promise it brings, a sense of social
class and place, and the use of the Southern dialect.
In the 1920s and '30s, a renaissance in Southern literature began with the
appearance of writers such as William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams. From
the 1940s onward, Southern literature grew thematically as it embraced the
social and cultural changes in the South resulting from the American Civil
Rights Movement. In addition, more female and African American writers began
to be accepted as part of Southern literature, including African Americans
such as Zora Neale Hurston and Sterling Allen Brown, along with women such as
Flannery O’Connor and Carson McCullers.
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner (1897 –1962) was an American novlist and poet whose
works feature his native state of Mississippi. He is regarded as one of the
most influential writers of the twentieth century and was awarded the 1949
Nobel Prize for Literature. Along with Mark Twain and Tennessee Williams,
Faulkner is considered to be one of the most important Southern writers.
Faulkner's most celebrated novels include The Soung and the Fury (1929), As I
Lay Dying (1930), Light in August (1932), Absalom, Absalom! (1936) and The
Unvanquished (1938).
William Faulkner
Tennessee Williams
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Thomas Lanier Williams III (1911 - 1983), better known by the pseudonym
Tennessee Williams, was a major
American playwright and one of the prominent playwrights of the twentieth
century. The name "Tennessee" was a name given to him by college friends
because of his southern accent and his father's background in Tennessee. He
won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for A Streetcar Named Desire in 1948 and for
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1955. In addition to those two plays, The Glass
Menagerie in 1945 and The Night of the Iguana in 1961 received the New York
Drama Critics' Circle Awards. His 1952 play The Rose Tattoo received the Tony
Award for best play. There is little doubt that as a playwright, fiction
writer, poet, and essayist, Williams helped transform the contemporary idea of
Southern literature. However, as a Southerner he not only helped to pave the
way for other writers, but also helped the South find a strong voice in the
literary world.
Tennessee Williams
Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston (1891 – 1960) was an American folklorist and author during
the time of the Harlem Renaissance, best known for her 1937 novel Their Eyes
Were Watching God. In 1925, Hurston became one of the leaders of the literary
renaissance happening in Harlem, producing the literary magazine Fire!!.
Hurston documented African American folklore in her critically acclaimed book
Mules and Men (1935) along with fiction and dance, assembling a folk-based
performance group that recreated her Southern tableau. Hurston spent her last
10 years as a freelance writer for magazines and newspapers. She died of a
stroke and was buried in an unmarked grave.
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Zora Neale Hurston
Flannery O’Connor
Flannery O’Connor (1924 – 1965) was an important voice in American literature.
O’Connor wrote two novels and 31 short stories, as well as a number of reviews
and commentaries. In 1951 she was diagnosed with lupus – she was only expected
to live five more years but lived nearly 15. O’Connor completed over two dozen
short stories and two novels while lupus ravaged her body. Her two novels were
Wise Blood (1952) and The Violent Bear It Away (1960). She also published two
books of short stories: A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories (1955)
and Everything That Rises Must Converge (published posthumously in 1965).
Flannery O’Connor
Harper Lee
Nelle Harper Lee (born in April 1926) is known for her Pulitzer Prize–winning
1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird, her only major work to date. It was an
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instant success and remains a bestseller today, with over 30 million copies in
print, and has earned a secure place in the canon of American literature.
The Scottsboro case, a trial of nine black men accused of raping two white
women, left a deep impression on the young Lee, who would use it later as the
rough basis for the events in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Harper Lee with film director, Alan Pakula
Truman Capote
Truman Capote (1924 – 1984) was an American writer famous for his books
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958)and In Cold Blood (1965), which he labeled a
"non-fiction novel." At least 20 films and TV dramas have been produced from
Capote novels, stories and screenplays. His first major work, Other Voices,
Other Rooms (published in 1948), stayed on the New York Times bestseller list
for nine weeks, selling more than 26,000 copies. This was followed by
Breakfast at Tiffany’s, whose heroine, Holly Golightly, became one of Capote's
best-known creations, and the book's prose style prompted Norman Mailer to
call Capote "the most perfect writer of my generation." Next came his most
controversial work - In Cold Blood: A true Account of a Multiple Murder and
Its Consequences - inspired by a 300-word article that ran in the New York
Times in November 1959. The story described the unexplained murder of the
Clutter family in rural Holcomb, Kansas. The non-fiction novel, as Capote
labeled it, brought him literary acclaim and became an international
bestseller.
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Truman Capote
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3. THE DEEP SOUTH AND SEGREGATION IN THE UNITED STATES
The Deep South is a cultural and geographic region of the American South. The
Deep South includes the states of Georgia, where The Member of the Wedding is
set, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana, South and North Carolina.
In the 19th century, America was divided culturally, economically and socially
between the North and the South. After the North had won the Civil War, they
abolished slavery in the South which was a hugely unpopular move. During the
period of 1865-76, when the North tried to deal with aftermath of the Civil
War, federal law provided civil rights protection in the South for the
African-Americans who had formerly been slaves. By 1877, the North had largely
withdrawn from taking an active political role in the South, and each Southern
state in turn sort to undo all that had been achieved during this period. They
passed the Jim Crow laws to separate the races which lasted up to the 1960s,
primarily through the deep and extensive power of southern conservatives.
Organisations such as the Ku Klux Klan—a clandestine organisation sworn to
perpetuate white supremacy—used lynchings, and other forms of violence and
intimidation to keep African Americans from exercising their political rights.
Jim Crow Laws
The Jim Crow Laws were state and local laws enacted in the Southern and border
states enforced between 1876 and 1965. They mandated "separate but equal"
status for black Americans. In reality, this led to segregation,
discrimination and vastly inferior conditions than those provided for white
Americans. In many cities and towns, African-Americans were not allowed to
share a taxi with whites or enter a building through the same entrance. They
had to drink from separate water fountains, use separate toilets, attend
separate schools, be buried in separate cemeteries and even swear on separate
Bibles. They were excluded from restaurants and public libraries. Many parks
barred them with signs that read "Negroes and dogs not allowed." The etiquette
of racial segregation was even harsher, particularly in the South. AfricanAmericans were expected to step aside to let a white person pass, and black
men dared not look any white woman in the eye.
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Here are some examples of the Jim Crow Laws in Georgia, where The Member of
the Wedding is set.
"All persons licensed to conduct a restaurant, shall serve either white people
exclusively or colored people exclusively and shall not sell to the two races
within the same room or serve the two races anywhere under the same license."
"It shall be unlawful for any amateur white baseball team to play baseball on
any vacant lot or baseball diamond within two blocks of a playground devoted
to the Negro race, and it shall be unlawful for any amateur colored baseball
team to play baseball in any vacant lot or baseball diamond within two blocks
of any playground devoted to the white race."
An African American drinks out of a segregated water cooler designated for
"coloured" patrons in 1939 at a streetcar terminal in Oklahoma City
In addition to the Jim Crow Laws, in which the state compelled segregation of
the races, businesses, political parties, unions and other private parties
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created their own Jim Crow arrangements, barring blacks from buying homes in
certain neighborhoods, from shopping or working in certain stores, from
working at certain trades, etc.
Segregated school in Missouri
Despite the United States Supreme Court's decision in 1880 to include African
Americans on juries, blacks were routinely barred from jury service throughout
the South, leaving them at the mercy of a white justice system. During the
last decade of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century,
thousands of black males were lynched by white vigilantes, sometimes with the
overt assistance of state officials, throughout the South and outside it. In
some cases, such as Elaine County, Arkasnas in 1919 and Tulsa, Oklahoma in
1921, lynching escalated into mass murder, as rampaging whites killed large
numbers of blacks. No whites were charged with crimes in any of those
massacres, and were so confident of their immunity from prosecution for
lynching, that they not only took photographs of their victims, but made
postcards out of them.
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A black Baptist church
In 1945, the year The Member of the Wedding is set, racial segregation in
Georgia and the other Southern states was as bad as ever. In the play, a young
black man, Honey, struggles to deal with the racial discrimination and is
desperate to prove he is equal to any white man. His attitute and behaviour
towards white people in the small town where the play is set is forever
putting him in danger of imprisonment, or even worse, lynching. Eventually, he
lashes out at a white man and is forced to go on the run. His character’s
suffering puts into sharp contrast the extraordinary, close relationship
between the three central characters – the two white children, Frankie Adams
and John Henry, and their black servant, Berenice.
After 1945, the Civil Rights movement gained momentum and used federal courts
to attack Jim Crow. When black soldiers returning from World War II, they
refused to put up with the second class citizenship of segregation. The
Supreme Court declared public school segregation unconstitutional in 1954, and
it ended in practice in the 1970s. The court ruling did not stop informal
school segregation, which continued in large cities. President Lyndon B
Johnson pushed Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which immediately
annulled Jim Crow laws that segregated restaurants, hotels and theatres; these
facilities (with rare exceptions) immediately dropped racial segregation. The
Voting Rights Act ended discrimination in voting for all federal, state and
local elections.
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4. OUTLINE OF AMERICA’S INVOLVMENT IN WWII
In the play, Frankie’s brother, Jarvis, is in the army and soon to join the
American forces in Europe fighting the Nazis. World War II holds a special
place in the American psyche as the country's greatest triumph, and the
soldiers of World War II are frequently referred to as "the greatest
generation" for their sacrifices in the name of liberty. Over 16 million
served (about 13% of the population), and over 400,000 were killed during the
war; only the American Civil War saw more Americans killed. The US entered the
war, like many other nations, as a country struggling with economic and social
problems and unsure of its identity. It emerged as one of the two undisputed
superpowers along with the Soviet Union.
American GIs
Pre 1941
US involvement in World War II was initially limited to
providing war material and financial support to the United
Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China.
27th Sep 1940
Germany, Japan & Italy signed The Tripartite Pact. Also
called the Three-Power Pact or Axis Pact it was a military
alliance and officially founded the Axis Powers of World War
II that opposed the Allied Powers.
7th Dec 1941
Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, is attacked by the Japanese and the
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U.S officially enter WW2.
June 1942
The Battle of Midway. This was a navel battle which took
place from 4th to 7th June 1942. The battle was a decisive
victory for the Americans, widely regarded as the most
important naval engagement of World War II. The battle
permanently weakened the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN),
particularly through the loss of over 200 naval aviators
1943
Germany suffered devastating losses to the Soviets at
Stalingrad, and then again at Kursk. Their forces were
expelled from Africa, and Allied forces had began driving
northward through Italy. The Japanese continued to lose
ground as the American forces seized island after island in
the Pacific Ocean.
1944
Axis struggling. Germany became boxed in as the Soviet
offensive began pushing the Germans out of Russia and
pressing into Poland and Romania; in the west, the Western
Allies invaded mainland Europe, liberating France and the Low
Countries and reaching Germany's western borders. While Japan
launched a successful major offensive in China, in the
Pacific their navy suffered continued heavy losses as
American forces captured airfields within bombing range of
Tokyo.
7th/8th May1945
Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day). On 30th April, Hitler
committed suicide during the Battle for Berlin and so the
surrender of Germany was authorized by his replacement, Karl
Dönitz. The administration headed up by Dönitz was known as
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the Flensburg government. Surrender documents were signed on
7th May in Reims, France, and 8th May in Berlin, Germany.
26th July 1945
The Potsdam Declaration or the Proclamation Defining Terms
for Japanese Surrender was a statement issued on 26th July,
1945 by Harry S. Truman, Winston Churchill, and Chiang Kaishek. It outlined the terms of surrender for Japan as agreed
upon at the Potsdam Conference. The agreement stated that if
Japan did not surrender, it would face "prompt and utter
destruction".
6th Aug 1945
The nuclear weapon "Little Boy" was dropped on the city of
Hiroshima.
9th Aug 1945
The "Fat Man" nuclear bomb was detonated over Nagasaki.
15th Aug 1945
Japan announced its surrender to the Allied Powers, signing
the Instrument of Surrender on 2nd September which officially
ended World War II.
In the play, Frankie reads about the dropping of the atomic bombs. According
to most estimates, the bombing of Hiroshima killed approximately 70,000 people
due to immediate effects of the blast. Estimates of total deaths by the end of
1945 range from 90,000 to 140,000, due to after effects such as burns and
radiation. The estimates for Nagasaki are that 40,000 died from immediate
blast effects, whereas the official Japanese numbers are in the 75,000 range.
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The mushroom cloud resulting from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rises 18
km into the air
Nagasaki before and after bombing.
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5. CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM
CAST
Berenice Sadie Brown
Frankie Addams
John Henry West
Jarvis
Janice
Mr Addams
Mrs West
Helen Fletcher
Doris
Sis Laura
T.T. Williams
Honey Camden Brown
Barney MacKean
Portia
Flora Spencer-Longhurst
Ethan Brooke
Theo Stevenson
James Wilson
Cian Barry
Sarah Goldberg
Richard Brake
Danièle Lydon
Katie Angelou
Kate Louise Williams
Alibe Parsons
Anthony Warren
John MacMillan
Henry McMorrow
CREATIVE TEAM
Direction
Design
Lighting
Sound
Composer
Assistant Director
Wardrobe Supervisor
Dialect Coach
Matthew Dunster
Robert Innes Hopkins
Philip Gladwell
Paul Arditti
Olly Fox
Sarah Tipple
Fizz Jones
Sally Haig
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6.
SYNOPSIS
Georgia 1945. Frankie Addams is 12 and lives with her father and their black
housemaid Berenice. Frankie’s Mother died during childbirth. The play takes
place in the kitchen and back yard of the Addams’s household.
Act One
A Friday in early August
Frankie’s older brother Jarvis is getting married. Jarvis is a corporal in the
army and has been stationed in Alaska for the last two years. He has brought
his fiancé, Janice, home to meet his family. Jarvis and Janice are due to get
married just two days later at the Addams’s house.
The family, joined by John Henry, (Frankie’s 7 year old cousin who lives next
door), have had a meal and then go out into the yard. This is where we first
see them. Frankie smothers the happy couple with attention and Jarvis
reminisces about his childhood.
The peace is briefly disturbed when Mrs West, John Henry’s Mother, drops in to
introduce herself. She has clearly not been invited to dinner and her
appearance causes some tension. Janice and Jarvis’s visit draws to a close.
When they have left Mr Addams goes back to his store and Frankie joins John
Henry and Berenice in the kitchen. Frankie cannot get her brother and the
bride out of her head or get rid of the funny feeling they have left her with.
She cannot work out what this odd feeling is and desperately tries to make
sense of it. At first Berenice interprets Frankie’s obsession with the couple
as jealousy but Frankie insists that this is not the case. Frankie talks
endlessly about the amazing times that Jarvis and Janice must have together
and how much better their life is than her own. Her feelings of
dissatisfaction and frustration are increased when she learns that she has not
been elected to be a member of the clubhouse on her street. This news leaves
Frankie even more miserable than before, so much so that she takes out her
frustration on John Henry, chasing him out of the house with a fly-swatter.
Frankie sits on the steps of the house and remembers the times before this
summer, thinking particularly of her old friend Evelyn Owen who has moved away
to Florida. Berenice tries to comfort her but Frankie repeatedly comes back to
Janice and Jarvis, and the fantastic time they must have. Eventually Frankie
insists that she will leave town after the wedding in search of the exciting
life she wants, she does not know where she will go but she will go.
They are interrupted by T.T who has come to take Berenice out on a date.
Honey, Berenice’s foster brother is with T.T. and they are trailed by John
Henry. Honey has been hurt in a fight with a white soldier. Whilst Berenice
tends to Honey’s head John Henry picks up Honey’s horn, and already tense,
Honey gets angry and shakes John Henry. When Berenice shouts at Honey he
insists that she is only angry because John Henry is a white boy. Honey
placates John Henry by offering him a dime.
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Berenice, Honey and T.T. leave. Frankie, not wanting to be alone in the house,
goes out into the yard and calls to John Henry. Whilst talking to John Henry
Frankie suddenly has an idea which she thinks will solve all her problems; she
decides that after the wedding she will go with Janice and Jarvis to Winter
Hill. She decides that she needs to be part of a ‘we’ – ‘I know that the bride
and my brother are the ‘we’ of me’.
Act Two
The next day (Saturday)
Frankie has been gone for a long time, buying her wedding clothes and telling
everyone about her plans to leave with Janice and Jarvis after the wedding.
Berenice points out the flaws in Frankie’s plans, explaining that a newly
married couple may not want her tagging along, but Frankie is insistent; if
they don’t take her she will shoot herself with her Papa’s pistol.
Back in the kitchen Frankie clings to the idea of all the amazing things that
she will do far away from here. She is in the middle of talking to Berenice
about it when the club of girls walk through her yard, making her angry and
upset. In an attempt to distract Frankie Berenice asks to see the wedding
clothes that she has chosen.
T.T. and Honey arrive unexpectedly. T.T. has called with the news that Sis
Laura, an old lady from the black community who sold vegetables, has died. He
is making a number of visits to collect money for her funeral. Frankie emerges
in the wedding clothes, a bright orange evening gown and silver shoes.
Berenice and T.T. try to explain to Frankie that the dress is too grown up and
not appropriate for such a tomboy. Frankie’s embarrassment is increased when
her father enters and mistakes the dress for a show costume.
Mr Addams quickly turns his attention to T.T. and Honey. He explains that he
needs some help at his store and asks if either of them can oblige. T.T.
answers respectfully as ever but Honey simply says that he doesn’t have the
time. Mr Addams is angry at his insolence. He calls Honey a nigger and insists
that he addresses him as sir. Then he heads back to work, embarrassed by his
outburst. Berenice reprimands Honey for being so disrespectful but Honey is
clearly at the end of his tether. He draws out a razor saying ‘for folks that
calls me nigger I got a real good nigger razor’. He puts the razor away when
Berenice tells him to but pleads with her to lend him some money. Berenice
gives him enough to buy two beers and he leaves. TT, embarrassed and helpless,
excuses himself to continue his donation visits.
Frankie tells Berenice about an experience she had in town that day. She
thought she saw Janice and Jarvis out of the corner of her eye but when she
looked around it was actually just two boys. Berenice relates to this
experience as it has been happening to her ever since her first husband Ludie
died. Ludie was the first man she loved and she was drawn to her next three
husbands because they had features that reminded her of Ludie. Berenice
suggests that if Frankie falls in love with something intangible like a
wedding it will mean trouble for the rest of her life. Frankie is angry at
this warning and continues to talk about the fantastic life that she and
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Jarvis and Janice will have. Her talk becomes manic and she runs round and
round the kitchen until Berenice grabs her and makes her sit still on her
knee. John Henry is jealous of the attention and complains that he is sick but
Berenice tells him not to grudge his cousin some love. They sit quietly in a
rare moment of peace and when John Henry begins to sing the other two join in.
INTERVAL
Act Three, Scene one
The next day (Sunday)
It is the day of the wedding. The ceremony has just finished and Berenice and
T.T. are serving refreshments. Honey, who was also supposed to help, is not
there. No one has seen him since the morning when, according to T.T, he was
‘in a bad way’. Berenice is anxious about Honey and also about Frankie who
still intends to leave with Jarvis and Janice, although she has not told them
yet. When the couple go to leave, she picks up her suitcase and climbs into
their car. Minutes later she is dragged back into the kitchen by her father.
Janice and Jarvis come to wish her goodbye and invite her to visit but Frankie
remains upset. All Berenice’s best efforts cannot comfort her and Frankie runs
off. John Henry informs the family that she has her father’s pistol with her.
Mr Addams runs goes in search of his daughter. A thunderstorm begins.
Act Three, Scene two
It is 4 o clock the next morning and Berenice and Mr Addams are alone in the
kitchen. Frankie cannot be found and John Henry has been taken ill with
meningitis. Berenice has still had no word about Honey. After a while Mr
Addams goes next door to get the latest news on John Henry. He has just left
when Frankie appears. Frankie tells Berenice how she has been wandering the
streets and sitting in the alley behind her father’s store. She got the pistol
out but changed her mind about killing herself and came home. Berenice is
taking Frankie off to bed when Honey appears from his hiding place behind the
arbour. He is on the run from the law after drawing a razor on a white man who
would not serve him. Berenice gives Honey six dollars and tells him to get to
Atlanta. Moments later Mrs West appears, angry about all the noise coming from
the Addams’s yard. Berenice assures Mrs West that there will be no more noise
and Mrs West leaves.
Act Three, Scene three
It is November of the same year. Berenice is sitting alone in the kitchen
which is all packed up. Frankie and her father are moving into a new house in
a different part of town with Mr and Mrs West. Berenice has given in her
notice. Frankie is much happier than the last time we saw her. She has a new
best friend – Mary Littlejohn – with whom she spends all her time and she is
even starting to hit it off with Barney McKean from next door. Berenice is
wearing a fox fur that Ludie gave her as it is around the time of the
anniversary of his death. Berenice and Frankie talk about all the things that
have happened during the last three months; Honey was caught and hanged
himself in the jail, John Henry died of meningitis and Frankie met Mary.
Frankie assures Berenice that she will come and visit her often but Berenice
knows that Frankie’s life is moving on and without her. This is brought home
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to her when Barney McKean calls round to see Frankie. Barney accepts Frankie’s
invitation to ride on the moving van with her and Mary to their new house and
Frankie leaves, pursued by Barney without a second thought. Berenice is left
alone in the kitchen.
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7. INTERVIEW WITH THE DIRECTOR, MATTHEW DUNSTER
What first attracted you to the play? What was your reaction to the play when
you first read the script?
I found the play very moving and thought it was important that the Young Vic
do it as the issues at its centre are still very relevant to today and to a
Young Vic audience.
How did you go about preparing to direct The Member of the Wedding?
I went to Georgia in the US to see where the play was set. I also gave a lot
of thought to casting as I realised early on how important it would be in
terms of portraying people of such young ages. I also worked hard to put a
strong and experienced creative team together who would be able to help me
take what is essentially a three hander into such a big space with success.
How did you go about casting for this play?
I had three casting directors for the play. I had decided early on that the
character of Berenice should be played by an American and so one of the
casting directors was based in New York. Another was a children’s casting
director who helped me to find the John Henry’s (there are three boys who
share the performances between them), and the final one helped me cast all the
other parts. We had a fairly lengthy and rigorous audition process where I did
a lot of extensive work in call backs, particularly with anyone we were
considering for Frankie and John Henry.
What were you and the designer, Robert Innes Hopkins, interested in when you
started working on the play together?
Our main concern was creating a world where both interior and exterior scenes
could have a full life. We also wanted to get the table, where most of the
action is set, as near to the centre of the space as possible.
What do you hope the audiences will take away from the play and the
production?
I would hope that audiences take away what I did. I think the play is so
challenging about racial relationships and ultimately heart breaking.
What challenges have you faced?
Working in a big space has been a challenge as has working with a creative
team who are relatively more experienced than I am. It is also the first time
that I have worked with young children. This is a challenge in itself but the
fact that John Henry is such a big part adds to it obviously. We had to have
three boys playing John Henry and this led to a lot of repetition in
rehearsals which was difficult in terms of the amount of time we spent on
things.
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8. INTERVIEW WITH THE DESIGNER, ROBERT INNES HOPKINS
What was your starting point for the design of this play?
The demands of the text. At the beginning of the play there is a very detailed
description of the setting which in a play like this it would be foolish to
ignore. The stage directions describe a Southern backyard and kitchen so we
have reflected this on the Young Vic stage. You can see part of a house on one
side of the stage and then the back yard on the other side. When the play was
first put on, it was originally designed for a proscenium theatre, but the
Young Vic space allows you to be more flexible so we have played around with
the layout and the seating.
What themes of the play did you, Matthew and the rest of the creative team
look at?
I find that the textures within the play have a reality to them – I wouldn’t
go so far as to say it was naturalistic, but the location feels real. The
house is bigger than we see on stage but there are doors leading off into
other rooms. It has a weathered and lived-in feel to it – the house has a
history – and we wanted to reflect this in the design. Also, the play is set
in a small town in southern, landlocked America and we also wanted to reflect
this. The house also has a veranda running along the side so the actors can be
fluid between the house and the yard. I wanted it to feel like the door to the
yard is always open, that the inside and the outside are mixed. It was a
deliberate choice of McCullers to set the play in the kitchen and the backyard
– it is children’s and Berenice’s world. We only see a glimpse of the red
hallway beyond.
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How have you used the Young Vic space?
We wanted to make the stage as wide as possible – give it a cinemagraphic
width – while at the same time wrapping the audience around the stage, so we
have also made the set thrust out into the audience as well. The set comes
forward into the audience to a point which is further than the centre point of
the auditorium. We didn’t want to create an ‘us and them’ affect but really
include the audience in the set which is something that you can do at the
Young Vic. We wanted to create an atmosphere where it feels like there is more
stage than seats. The kitchen part of the house also has a ceiling which gives
the house a scale and also contains it. It also allows the lighting to be
quite expressionistic at times.
How do you go about working with the costume and lighting designer?
I am the costume designer so that makes things very easy! I’ve gone for
costumes of the period – the 1940s. The lighting designer is Phil Gladwell,
who being the former Technical Manager at the Young Vic, knows the space
really well and that is invaluable.
What does the play mean to you?
Frankie is going through a stage in childhood when she wants to be older and
bigger and taken seriously. I have a three year old daughter and she hates to
be called a little baby! I think we all remember what that feels like. That’s
what makes Frankie’s character very interesting and believable. I also find
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Berenice a very moving character – she has given her life to people who have
let her down or are no longer around. Her sense of loss is very human – the
years are passing by, she has no children of her own, and everyone she cares
about leaves. The house, the yard – they’ve grown up, moved on, don’t need it
or her anymore. It’s empty. It is an extraordinary play. There is no other
play I can think of that has that combination of main characters – the two
children and an adult who is neither their mother nor their equal.
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9. ASSISTANT DIRECTOR’S REHEARSAL DIARY
WEEK 1
Monday 30th July
Meet and Greet
Director Matthew Dunster welcomed everyone and Artistic Director David Lan
spoke briefly about his excitement for the production. We then went round the
group and each introduced ourselves, stating our names and role. There were
people from all sorts of departments at the Young Vic so despite being in
rehearsal rooms across the road we immediately felt part of the theatre.
Everyone gathered round the model box and Robert, the designer talked us
through the design - diamond centre stage with a fairly steep rake brings
focus in but maintains width and space. Cinemographic thrust – real but close,
so that there was that detail but not that hard line that separates audience
from action. Matthew explained that he would try to draw action out of the
kitchen whenever possible to utilise the yard and prevent it from becoming
stagnant.
The first read through is always a revelation and incredibly exciting because
every character has an individual voice and you hear things so differently,
getting an idea of the massive potential of the play. In this read through
what struck me was how much humour came out. It is a very nerve racking event
for the actors, particularly as there were American accents to think about.
There will be three little boys playing John Henry – James, Ethan and Theo.
Theo will not be available until the forth week of rehearsals and so James
read John Henry for the first act, Ethan the second and then James the third.
Matthew outlined the plan for the coming week. He is very concerned with
detail and the first thing we will do is read through the play, stopping every
few pages to ask questions and discuss thoughts. At the end of the week we
will read the play again. Everyone will be present for this whether they are
in the scenes we are looking at or not because this allows the company to have
a shared understanding and vocabulary. We will read sitting in a circle as
this configuration encourages openness and a spirit of generosity. Matthew
emphasised that he does not by any means have all the answers but that we
would come to them together. This kind of honesty immediately begins to create
an atmosphere of trust and one where everyone feels valued.
Matthew pointed out that if anyone had any questions or bits of research they
thought would help that they should ask me. Matthew closed by briefly drawing
the actors’ attention to the many family structures in the play, e.g.
Berenice and the children
Janice and Jarvis
Honey and Berenice
Matthew asked the actors to consider them carefully as these family structures
are very fluid and bring about the shifts in the play.
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This first day of any process is always a bit overwhelming and tiring because
everyone is nervous. The early finish gives the cast time to take it in and
come back refreshed and Matthew time to reflect on the reading and what arose
from that.
Tuesday 31st July
MORNING:
Warm-up games
1. Name game – obvious reasons!
2. Counting to three – For this game you get into pairs and count to three
between you so….
A: 1
B: 2
A: 3
B: 1
A: 2
B: 3
You then repeat, replacing the 2 with a clap, then the 3 with a click etc.
It’s tricky but the idea is that you are sharing responsibility, a great
thought to go into the morning’s work with. Matthew used the point of this
exercise to encourage people to think about sharing – when we sit down to read
the script he did not want anyone to feel hesitant to share ideas – there are
no wrong answers, just a discussion that relies on the individuals here.
Reading the play in detail
We began the process that Matthew talked about yesterday. We read a few pages
and then stopped to ask questions and discuss. The sort of things which arose
included:
 Allocating a time of day to the scene (4pm).
 Deciding how long we thought the family had known about the wedding – we
settled on the idea that a letter had arrived telling them about a month
before.
 How long has Berenice been working for the family?
 What is Mrs West’s place in the family? Why has she not been invited to
the meal, after all John Henry is there…?
It is really positive for everybody to have the same answer to these questions
even though many of them do not arise in the text – they will effect the way
the actors play that scene. When we then go back to read over the same section
it is interesting and exciting to note the changes that this information/these
decisions have on the actors’ reading of the lines.
AFTERNOON
Warm Up Games
Yee Ha (see Games and Exercises)
Context
We looked at photographs from the time that the designer and I had sourced and
talked in more detail about the historical and social context of the play. I
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outlined key dates in terms of the war, focusing on the dates the atom bombs
were dropped as these events are mentioned in the play.
We continue to read the script in detail.
Both boys playing John Henry are present for the whole day so that they too
understand all they need to. Every hour or so both in the morning and
afternoon, Matthew alternated the boy who was reading John Henry, trying to
keep it as fair and engaging as possible. This is my first experience of
working with child actors and I was interested to see how the chaperone dealt
with the boys. Whenever either of them was fidgety she just leant over and
very subtly touched their leg or arm.
Wednesday 1st August
MORNING
Warm up games (see Games and Exercises)
1. Dwarves, wizards and ogres
2. Leave it
Matthew clearly loves games and this is infectious. The whole company
particularly the little boys benefit from the warm up games. They are good not
simply for focus, reflexes, coordination etc but because they create a sense
of play and company.
We picked up where we left off yesterday, around page 30, reaching the section
where Honey and T.T. enter. Whenever we meet a new character there is a
discussion about that person. Honey is an interesting example. Honey is
Berenice’s foster brother. Fostering did not have the same meaning it does
today; fostering meant looking after children that were not strictly your own
but were part of the community or your extended family. John who plays Honey
said that he thought Honey may well have been the product of an affair between
a white man and a black woman and this has resulted in his light skin (leading
to his name) and his sense of frustration. This effects his relationship to
Berenice who is presumably more protective of him as a result of his history.
This is not information taken form the text but rather an imagined history
that may well help John and Portia.
AFTERNOON
Warm Up Games
Pass the click/clap (see Games and Exercises)
We continued to read script in detail. Sally Haig, voice coach, was also
present.
Sally Haig listened to everyone reading so that she had an opportunity to
identify what needed working on in terms of accents and breathing.
Voice Sessions with Sally Haig
Sally spoke to the whole group first about general sounds that are prevalent
in this accent e.g.
 Short vowel sounds get longer
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
Because it is so hot in the south the accent is very effortless; it is
easeful but not slow. What people tend to do is try to bounce every word
but this is not necessary.
Sally then did short sessions with the cast in smaller groups and ended the
day with a solo session with Flora who plays Frankie. They spent the majority
of the time working on Flora’s breathing. The part of Frankie is mammoth and
she has to have crying tantrums and shout and do all sorts of things that
could potentially strain her voice so it is essential that she breaths
properly.
Thursday 2nd August
MORNING
Music call with Olly Fox.
Olly Fox, the composer, met with Flora, Portia and Ethan to work on the song
at the end of Act Two. The song is unaccompanied so the session was spent
getting to know the register of each other’s voices and working on being
comfortable singing together.
Warm up games
Mr Slow (see Games and Exercises)
We continued to read script in detail.
We have reached Act Two. Again we discussed the various things which arose,
including the place of religion in society and the traditions surrounding
marriage. I did some more research on these things tonight and will report
back tomorrow.
Production meeting
At lunchtime we had our first production meeting. Things which arose included:
 Costume - Have costumes in rehearsal so that actors can get used to them
and the difference they make – wearing dungarees will help Flora to be
tomboyish.
 Smoking – there is a moment in the piece where Frankie smokes. Since the
smoking ban the law has changed and so in order for us to have smoking
in the show we have to apply to the council with a statement saying why
it is necessary from an artistic point of view. Matthew asked me to
write this.
AFTERNOON
Warm Up Games
Goblins wizards and ogres (see Games and Exercises)
We continued to read script in detail.
We stopped briefly this afternoon and split into two groups. Matthew asked one
of the groups (Berenice T.T. and Honey and myself) to put together ideas about
the events surrounding Honey drawing a razor on a white man. The other group
decided on some off stage dialogue for the section where Frankie has to be
hauled out of the wedding car. When we had done this we came back together as
one big group and shared our work.
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Friday 3rd August
MORNING
Warm up games (see Games and Exercises)
1. Grand Old Duke of York
2. Keep it up
We continued to read script.
We have reached Act Three, scene two during which a number of storylines comes
together. Amongst other things that arose was a discussion about meningitis. I
had done some research on this and found out that meningitis is treated with
antibiotics (penicillin). Whilst penicillin had been discovered it was a very
recent discovery and would not be widely available in the south as the
priority went to the troops. Without penicillin there was very little chance
that a child would survive. Berenice and Mrs West would have been aware of
this and that knowledge obviously informs the way they play that scene.
AFTERNOON
Warm up games
Leave it (see Games and Exercises)
We continued to read script in detail.
Reaching the last scene we discussed at length what has happened in the three
months the play skips over – John Henry and Honey’s death - and the effect
that this has on all the characters. Matthew pointed out that as this scene is
in November it is very likely to be around the time of the anniversary of
Ludie’s death, adding extra sadness and displacement to Berenice’s situation.
When we finished reading the play we all went for a drink together to
celebrate a productive and happy first week!
WEEK 2
Monday 6th August
MORNING
Warm Up Games
Full read through of script.
We read through the play again sat in a circle. Matthew put a table and three
chairs in the middle and asked anyone who was entering the scene to leave
their place in the outer circle and go into the centre, just to start getting
the idea of how the entrances change the dynamic of what is going on in that
kitchen/yard. Very exciting – so much progress, so much clearer and so much
more shared – everyone working towards the same understanding.
AFTERNOON
Warm Up Games
Start rehearsing Act One.
After reading the script in such detail everyone has a deeper and shared
understanding of the text and their own character’s intention, history etc.
That understanding will inform the way they move around the stage and interact
with each other. We are going into the stage of blocking the play with a much
better idea of the story that we want to tell. Stage management had marked the
shape of the house and the yard out on the floor of the rehearsal room and we
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had basic bits of set to work with – a table, chairs,
sink, the dresser etc. We spent the afternoon working
it with the family coming through into the yard after
the much more bold beginning of them already being in
starting mid conversation, with Jarvis holding court.
things to represent the
on the opening. We tried
dinner but settled on
the yard and the play
Tuesday 7th August
MORNING
Warm up games
We continued rehearsing Act One.
Now that we are beginning to block things Matthew has decided that he will
work with the boys separately, Ethan in the morning and James in the
afternoon. At the start of each session with a different boy he will go over
what was previously done so that they are both up to speed. This is
potentially frustrating but good for Flora and Portia as it will give them
more opportunity to repeat things.
AFTERNOON
Warm up games
We continued rehearsing Act One.
This is the first of many sections of the play where Frankie, Berenice and
John Henry are alone in the kitchen and we began to negotiate this dynamic. We
started to find the tasks which Berenice is occupied with and the moments that
she breaks from them to deal with the children.
Wednesday 8th August
MORNING
Solo call with Frankie.
Matthew and I sat down with Flora to look at actioning some of her more
lengthy and problematic speeches. Matthew explained that the punctuation is
there to separate the thoughts – give them each a new and different action.
Opposites/shifts are interesting. To take this further Matthew asked Flora to
walk around the room saying her speech, but changing direction on every
sentence. Making this a physical process really helped her to internalise it.
Costume Fittings
Whilst Matthew was working with Flora, Portia and several other actors began
their costume fittings so that we can have as many costumes as possible in
rehearsal and so that any can be made if nothing suitable can be found.
We continued rehearsing Act One.
We went over what we did yesterday afternoon with Ethan and then continued to
work on the scene. John Henry is quite a girly little boy and Matthew has to
work hard to get both Ethan and James to invest in that – he is constantly
emphasising the fact that it is not James or Ethan that want to play with
dolls and wear fairy costumes but John Henry.
AFTERNOON
Warm up games
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We continued rehearsing Act One.
At this stage Portia and Flora are both being very polite even when their
characters disagree. Matthew spoke a lot about taking the gloves off – about
them not being afraid to fight, to shout at each other, to be rude; they are
family and their familiarity allows for this. They love each other and can
give each other a hard time knowing that they will be forgiven.
Thursday 9th August
MORNING
Warm up games
We continued rehearsing Act One.
We started late this morning as Flora had to go to a costume fitting and she
is in every scene so there is very little we can do without her!
Page 33 – 43 just involves Frankie and Berenice and it was great to spend some
time with the two actors by themselves, really exploring this relationship
which is so fundamental to the play.
AFTERNOON
Warm up games
We continued rehearsing Act One.
It was very exciting to look at this section because it is the first time that
we see other members of the black community enter the kitchen and a new story
emerges; that of Honey and T.T. and their individual relationships to
Berenice. How familiar are they with each other? How is this effected the
presence of the children? We very carefully choreographed the bit where Honey
shakes John Henry.
Friday 10th August
MORNING
Song call with Olly Fox.
Olly had a session with Portia by herself as she has the lion’s share of the
song.
We continued rehearsing Act One.
This morning both boys came in so that we could do the end of Act One which is
just Frankie and John Henry, and finish in time to run the act this afternoon.
Matthew emphasised to Ethan and James that John Henry’s main desire is to
play. His main note to Flora was that this is the bit where she has an idea
and it is the best idea in the world – this is reflected in her stillness. For
the rest of the act she has been moving constantly but now that she knows what
she is going to do she is still, in the strongest position - down stage centre
- for her last speech. Matthew sometimes gives scenes alternative titles to
emphasise what is important – this scene could well be called ‘Frankie has an
idea’!
AFTERNOON
Full Company – Run Act One.
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The run was strong. In notes afterwards Matthew encouraged everyone, saying
that he felt that he understood the stories and the characters but that they
now needed to increase the pace. He told the actors not to worry about
locating the piece – you don’t have to tell the audience I’m in a yard, I’m in
a kitchen – they know, they can see that. You just have to deal with the other
people.
WEEK 3
Monday 13th August
MORNING
Warm up games
We began rehearsing Act Two.
We looked at what Berenice is doing when Frankie gets homes and how much she
allows herself to be angry that Frankie has been gone for such a long time. We
also looked carefully at Frankie’s state of mind when she gets back from town.
Matthew emphasised to Flora that at no point does Frankie apologise - Frankie
is pursuing her own agenda constantly and this effects the pace – is quick –
she knows what she wants. The alternative title for this bit would be ‘Frankie
has a plan’.
AFTERNOON
Warm up games
We continued rehearsing Act Two.
We got to one of the few moments in the play that is written awkwardly – the
bit where they are talking about Barney McKean and then he very conveniently
appears. It reads really badly as it is far too convenient but rather than
start making cuts straight away we gave it a go and Portia made it work – she
decided that she would see him a little earlier than is indicated in the
script – seeing him is the inspiration for suggesting that Frankie chose him
as her beau.
Tuesday 14th August
MORNING
Warm up games
We continued rehearsing Act Two.
As usual we went back to where Ethan had left off yesterday covering the stuff
he had not done and then carrying on. We got the bit where Mr Addams shouts at
Honey. This bit is potentially so effective and as with everything else we
tried it a number of different ways, discovering loads of things. The version
we felt was most successful was the one where Honey is frightened by Mr
Addams’s outburst. This depletes his victory in refusing to help and therefore
gives him more cause to feel so frustrated and upset when Mr Addams has gone.
John Henry comments that ‘Uncle Royal called Honey a nigger’ implying that he
has perhaps never heard Mr Addams use this kind of language. Richard who plays
Mr Addams tried playing the scene with this in mind which introduced a sense
of embarrassment after his outburst. This was a revelation because suddenly I
felt sorry for Mr Addams as well as Honey. Brilliant. We did not do this scene
too many times so as not to rehearse all the spontaneity out of it.
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AFTERNOON
Warm up games
We continued rehearsing Act Two.
We worked on the tricky section where Frankie tells Berenice about her vision
of Janice and Jarvis and the discussion that follows about Ludie and
Berenice’s various other husbands. Matthew asked Flora why she thinks Frankie
asks about Ludie and Flora answered that she thought it was about Frankie
seeking comfort in a story that she likes. Matthew said ‘good, let me see
that’ – there are not always right answers, just clarity.
Wednesday 15th August
MORNING
Song call with Olly Fox.
Olly worked with Portia, Flora, Ethan and James, just repeating the song and
working some dynamics into it. He really encouraged them to slow it down so
that it is soulful and reflective and to this end asked them to walk around
the room whilst singing it – try to relax and find own rhythm. They have to
own the song because it is unaccompanied – gives them much greater freedom
with it but leaves them exposed so is crucial they are all comfortable with
the song.
Warm up games
We continued rehearsing Act Two.
We spent some time on the logistics of making cookies during the scene and
how best to use the act of making cookies to support what was occurring
between the characters. E.g. does Berenice resist getting angry with Frankie
and take it out on the cookie dough by beating it with extra zeal? Business
can help or hinder the scene. Matthew also talked to Flora about the idea of
Frankie and role play – Frankie plays so many different roles in this piece –
the cop, the actress, the little girl and, in this act, the little lady who
has just been into town to buy clothes and chat to people.
AFTERNOON
Warm up games
We continued rehearsing Act Two.
I ran lines with T.T. and Honey whilst Matthew continued working on Act Two.
He and Flora worked through Frankie’s ‘boyoman, manoboy’ speech. They did it
first as an exercise where every time Matthew clapped Flora had to get to the
next thought quicker and be more excited about it. Idea of this was to get
Flora out of the habit of pausing before each thought and to get a sense of
the skittish and energetic way that a 12 year old can think about the world.
Full run of Act Two.
Once again the run was very encouraging. As ever Matthew gave detailed notes
which were aimed at helping individuals. The very interesting and more general
note was about the idea of recovery. Matthew said that often the drama, the
most interesting thing to watch is a character recover from something, so Mr
Addams recovering from his outburst or T.T. recovering after Honey’s outburst.
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He gave this note just as something for the actors to think about. A very
helpful note to Flora to help her with pausing was to find the trigger moments
in the scene – often Frankie will react to something which was said a few
lines before – if Flora can identify these then she will not feel that she has
to find a reason to say what she says in a big pause before the line.
Thursday 16th August
MORNING
Warm up games
Theo, the third and final little boy is back from his holiday and joined us in
rehearsals. Matthew played a name game so that he could get to know everyone
and feel part of the company. It is odd having a new face when we are all so
used to each other but this will obviously only be temporary.
We began rehearsing Act Three.
Matthew looked at the configuration of the kitchen – moved the furniture
around as if Berenice had altered things in order to be as efficient as
possible when getting the refreshments out. This says something about Berenice
and handily allows us to introduce some variation. Clever. To ease Theo in
Matthew asked him to watch James and Ethan playing John Henry first and then
he had a go. His presence seems to be a positive thing for the other boys who
are getting fed up of each other. They also seem to be raising their game now
that there is a new boy in the competition.
AFTERNOON
Warm up games
We continued rehearsing Act Three, Sally Haig present.
Theo played John Henry for the majority of this afternoon so that Sally could
listen to his accent. Sally then did group sessions, spending the most time
with the little boys. She also did another session with Flora, continuing to
work on her breathing. Matthew and Portia went to an eye appointment in
waterloo to try and get a blue contact lens sorted out. They have tried
various ones before but none of them have been visible from far away.
Friday 17th August
MORNING
Warm up games
We continued rehearsing Act Three.
We have now reached the end of Act Three, scene one, where Berenice and John
Henry are left alone together. Ethan’s instinct was to go over to Berenice
with the shell but Matthew asked him not to; John Henry and Berenice apart is
a much more effective picture to leave the audience with at the end of the
scene – in terms of telling Berenice’s story. When we had finished blocking
the scene we ran it three times, once with each little boy.
Production meeting
Next week we are able to rehearse in the space and the technical team ran us
through which bits of set would be there and which bits they were still to
construct/put into place. Basically all the major elements – the house, the
arbour etc will be there or represented by something.
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We continued rehearsing Act Three.
The final two scenes were much quicker to rehearse mainly due to the fact that
John Henry is not in them and we therefore did not have to stop to remind the
little boys of things/give them guidance. Last few scenes are fantastic and
very moving. The final picture of Act Three, scene two is of Frankie with her
arms round Berenice, the child comforting the adult – when we get on set next
week this will be much clearer as we will have the different levels of the
house, the verandah and the steps. In the final scene Matthew emphasised to
Flora that Frankie has changed – she is a different person to the one we saw
in the other acts/scenes.
WEEK 4
Monday 20th August
MORNING
Welcome to the theatre
Today we moved from the rehearsal room into the theatre, and onto the set. We
also had the full company – before today the actors playing Sis Laura, Helen
Fletcher and Barney McKean had not been with us as their parts are quite
small. We had another meet and greet to welcome them and we were then taken on
a tour round the set and a tour around the building.
We worked from the top of Act One.
We spent the whole morning looking again at the opening. It took a long time
to get into it as the actors were getting used to their new space and it has
of course been a number of weeks now since we did the scene. The process is
about remembering what we had and adding to it, constantly revising repeating but changing/adding/simplifying – working out what will tell the
stories best. For example we looked again at Mrs West’s entrance, this time
adding in a detail of Jarvis walking towards his father, instinctively wanting
to help deal with this tricky family member.
AFTERNOON
We continued working on Act One.
We continued on past Jarvis and Janice’s exit and onto the section where
Berenice, Frankie and John Henry. Now that we have three little boys who all
need keeping up to speed on everything Matthew has decided that each ten pages
or so we should stop and repeat with all the boys. Ethan and James are getting
frustrated with having to watch each other now but because a chaperone has to
be with them at all times and we only have one chaperone they have to all stay
together. It is positive in some ways because if anything changes they know
immediately and sometimes if one of them has a good idea the others will copy
it.
Meeting with the creatives.
We discussed various technical and practical issues. Most interesting was the
discussion on sound. We talked about how the sound should support the transfer
from outside to in – if the scene goes outside the sound of crickets or
whatever else is happening outside should go up. We also discussed the rain.
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It was originally intended that we rain on the ceiling but having seen the set
it is too high for people to see it so we have decided to have water falling
off the back veranda. This should look pretty cool and be easy enough to
control.
Tuesday 21st August
MORNING
We continued work on Act One.
Matthew again placed a lot of emphasis on Flora taking the pauses out of
Frankie’s lines – the character appears much younger when she is quicker and
her few considered moments stand out more because of the contrast. Matthew
said that something which dates this play is that there are big speeches for
Frankie and when she is pausing we start to look at the other people who are
doing very little. There was encouragement for Flora as well – Matthew said
that now he could see the pauses which meant they were getting fewer as before
they were all over the place and this is not surprising with so huge and
challenging a part.
Meeting about lighting.
Phil (the lighting designer) was unable to be at the creatives meeting
yesterday so he Matthew and I had a chat at lunchtime. The things we talked
about included practicals (working domestic lights) in the house, scene
changes and the times of year/day that the scenes occur and how best the
lighting could help to convey the passage of time.
AFTERNOON
Run Act One.
We ran this section twice, once with Theo and once with Ethan, leaving time
for notes in between. There was a photographer in rehearsals and James was
very quick to ask if he would be coming back tomorrow!
Song call with Olly Fox.
Anthony met with Olly to rehearse some singing which is indicated in the stage
directions - ‘Unseen negro’. This will be recorded rather than live but
naturally needs rehearsing first.
Wednesday 22nd August
MORNING
Work Act One.
Matthew asked stage management to start bringing in bits of food and liquid
for the sections of the play where the characters eat and drink so we spent a
large part of today stopping and starting to accommodate for that, looking at
where this effected the timing of things. It is really useful to do that at
this relatively early stage as it gives the actors time to incorporate this so
that they can then return to thinking about what they are saying and
concentrate on listening to each other.
AFTERNOON
Run Act One.
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We ran the whole of Act One with James playing John Henry. Matthew’s big note
to the actors was to be confident with the doing – trust that you know what
you’re supposed to be doing and where you’re supposed to be and start
listening to each other.
EVENING
We looked at Act Three, Scene one.
Because Henry who plays Barney McKean only joined the company this week
Matthew thought it a good idea to look at his scene so that when it comes to
working Act Three we are at the same stage with that scene as we are with
everything else. Because it comes at the very end of the play Henry would have
been waiting a while to get started had we not looked at it.
Thursday 23rd August
MORNING
We began to work on Act Two.
We began the same detailed work on Act Two as we had done with Act One. One of
the things which we discovered that was really positive was Berenice’s anger
at Frankie for playing with her papa’s pistol. Matthew encouraged her to take
the anger in this first line of her speech into the rest of the speech. This
gave Frankie a motive to then set the table in a huff which is very amusing to
watch.
AFTERNOON
Friday 24th August
MORNING
We continued rehearsing Act Two.
We started the day by putting Katie and Henry into the scene where Berenice is
talking about beaus. Matthew added the detail that Barney is sniffing his arm
pits on the way to meet Helen – this is when Berenice spots him. He then
returns with Helen and they go off to the West’s garage – this is when Frankie
sees them. It is good then that although this section is problematic that we
tried to make it work as now it seems both plausible and funny.
Production Meeting
Again various things were discussed one of which was having the chairs
reinforced because we now have Honey picking on up and slamming it down again
the floor several times. We were also introduced to Mario who is a water
specialist and who will be advising the Young Vic production department on the
rain sections.
AFTERNOON
Solo session with Flora.
Everyone else left at around 5.45 and Matthew (and I) continued to work with
Flora, concentrating particularly on the bit where she gets upset about Evelyn
Owen. Matthew asked her to think of a time when she had been happiest and the
person she had shared that time with. He asked her to imagine that the happy
time had ended suddenly and unexpectedly. Drawing on your own experience is
clearly very helpful for actors, and this was especially helpful to Flora as
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she has been separating herself and Frankie because of the character’s age
when Frankie can actually experience the same feelings as Flora.
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10. GAMES AND EXERCISES
Ogres, wizards and goblins
Good for: Energy, team work
Min no to play: 2, but ideally more
This has the same principle as scissors paper stone. Ogres beat wizards,
wizards beat goblins and goblins beat ogres. Give each character an action and
a noise, so for example ogres might stand flexing their muscles and shouting
grrrrr. The group should split into two teams and each team gather together to
decide what they will be; ogres wizards or goblins. When each team has decided
the two teams line up at opposite ends of the room facing each other. The two
groups then march towards each other saying kabish kaboo kibosh kbaoo kabish
kaboo. All together the two teams strike the pose and make the noise of the
character they have chosen. If one group has chosen a character that beats the
character the other team have chosen that team have to chase and capture
members of the other team. That group is safe when they reach the wall.
Say team A choose goblins and team B choose wizards, team B must chase team A
tagging as many of team A as possible before team A get back to their wall.
All those form team A who are tagged have to join team B. The game is over
when one team captures all the members of the other team, or when you decide
you’ve had enough.
Pass the Clap/Click
Good for: Energy, focus teamwork
Min: 4
This is another game which is basically about passing energy. Everyone stands
in a circle. The person starting off clicks or claps to their left. The person
next to them claps to their right to receive the clap and then to their left
to pass the clap on. The clap gets passed all the way round the circle. The
aim is to do it in a steady quick rhythm. Once you have mastered this have a
go at it with a click instead. Once this is done stand scattered about in the
room and pass the click randomly, to whoever you like, rather than in a
circle. You must still always click to receive and click to pass it on. If
this is successful and you want to get even more fancy have people walk around
the room while they pass the click.
Yee HA
Good for: focus, coordination, energy
Min: 5
This is a variation on zip zap boing – basically there is energy that is
passed around the circle – with various moves and words you can change the
direction of the energy or send it across the circle etc. Everyone stands in a
circle. Yeehaa and a slap on the thigh sends the energy round to the left. You
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can send the energy back the other way by bobbing down and saying hoedown.
‘Sharp shooter’ (accompanied by a sort of shooting action sends is to the
person you are pointing at across the circle.
BALL GAMES
Leave it
Good for: team work, reflexes, coordination
Min no to play: 5
Everyone stands in a circle with one person in the middle. The person in the
middle throws the ball to someone in the circle and they throw it back. At any
given point somebody in the circle can shout leave it and they swap places
with the person in the middle, catching the ball in their place. It is
therefore advisable for the person shouting leave it to do so just after the
person in the middle has thrown the ball to someone in the circle so that they
can swap over in time to catch the ball. This game is really fun when people
are shouting leave it regularly.
Keep it up
Good for: team work, focus
Min: 2
Very simple. Everyone stands in a circle and the ball is passed from person to
person (not round the circle necessarily but rather at random). The ball is
not caught but rather hit – like volleyball. The more hits you can notch up
the better. A good idea is that everyone in the group counts the hits out
loud.
VOCAL WARM UPS
The Grand Old Duke of York
Good for: Voice! Also good for focus
Min: 1 (although it’s more fun with someone)
Everyone stands in a circle and sings the grand old duke of York all together.
Once you have sung it once though you sing it again, but this time taking out
all the ups….
The grand old duke of York,
he had ten thousand men,
He marched them _ to the top of the hill
And he marched them down again
And when they were _ they were _
And when they were down they were down
And when they were only half way _
They were neither _ nor down.
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You then repeat the song this time singing the ups but not the downs. Finally
sing the song one last time taking out the ups and the downs.
GAMES NEEDING CHAIRS
Mr. Slow
Good for: teamwork, energy.
Min no to play: 3, but ideally more
Everyone has a chair. The chairs are arranged at random in the room. Everyone
sits on a chair apart from one person who gets off his or her chair and goes
and stands at the furthest point away from it. Their job is to try to sit
down, however they can only walk very slowly (hence is being called Mr Slow)
by putting their feet down heel to toe. Everyone else’s job is to stop that
person from sitting down. They do this by sitting in the empty seat. They can
only move around with their knees stuck together. Once everyone has the hang
of it introduce the rule that if someone goes to leave their seat they can’t
change their mind – they have to go.
Name Game
Good for: Learning peoples’ names! Also focus and reflexes
Minimum no to play: 5, but ideally more
Everyone in the group gets into pairs with one person left over. A in the pair
stands and B sits in a chair in front of A. The chairs are arranged in a
circle and the remaining person stands behind an empty chair. The person left
over then says the name of someone seated and they have to try to get out of
their chair without the person behind tapping them on the shoulder. If someone
seated does manage to get out of their chair the person standing behind that
chair becomes the person left over and is therefore the one who calls peoples’
names out. After a while ask someone to name all the people sitting down, then
swap the people sitting down with the people standing and play again.
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