PLAY PRODUCTION

Evening Star, Issue 22633, 27 April 1937, Page 14

PLAY PRODUCTION

REHEARSAL TO PRESENTATION STAGE MANAGEMENT AND DEPORTMENT ‘ Plays: The Art of Production ’ was the subject chosen by Mrs 0. C. Stephens in a lecture delivered to members of the Arts and Drama Class of the W.E.A. on Saturday evening. Mrs Stephens opened her address by stating that it was the duty of the producer of a, play to prepare the play for performance, by planning out the stage settings and the costumes, with the assistance of the stage manager and the wardrobe mistress respectively, and generally to see that the play is put on the stage in the most effective manner. His aim should be_ to give the spirit of the play and to interpret it as the author meant it. By emphasising wrong or the least important parts, it was possible for an inexpert producer to ruin the effect of the play. He must knit the whole together, with no loose ends or disjointed pieces. The pace or speed must be closely watched, and must never be allowed to become monotonous, and the players must be heard at the back of the hall. The producer must present to the audience a wellbalanced picture, and in order to do this he raugt have a good knowledge of stage deportment and stage management, the ability to handle and direct the players, an infinite capacity for talking pains, the utmost patience, and the, definite ability to visualise the play as he hoped to produce it before the first rehearsal was held. It was a mistake for a person to produce a play with which he was not in sympathy. After receiving the script the producer should read through it several times, and the general scheme of work should be definitely formed before the first rehearsal. The relative importance of each separate situation or scene must be accurately gauged, although it: was a mistake to follow, slavishly all the stage directions and settings as by the author. If .this, was done it became merely a presentation of the production of another person, and not a real production. It would lack the freshness and individuality _of the producer. Every play was capable of several interpretations, resulting from different viewpoints, and it was a mistake to copy. After the producer had arranged his sets and decided where the various stage “ props ” should be placed, he must pick out the climaxes in the play and contrive to present them to give the maximum emphasis. However, Mrs Stephens continued, although the producer should follow out his own visualisation of what should be done, there were certain elementary rules which must be observed. The most important acting area was a triangle drawn on the centre of the stage, the apex being down-stage centre, and this was generally kept free for acting; only furniture around which important action takes place being allowed here. Similarly, places of exit and. entrance should not be obscured ‘ by furniture. The lanes of movement must also be kept clear, for it should not be necessary for the actors to weave their way through encumbrances. The minimum amount of furniture should be , used only what the acting calls for to give the correct effect. Furniture should not be set in straight lines, and chairs should not be arranged in a definite geometrical form, such as a semi-circle. Also the stage must be balanced. The bulky and most important pieces must not be all together, but on both sides in the right place. The setting having been planned, continued the speaker, the producer should then plan out the main movements of the characters, arranging grouping for each situation. All producers did not follow out this method, but when amateurs were acting this was preferable to acquaint them with their movements at the first rehearsal, as it would be confusing to them if they were_ continually altered. Besides, those taking part would gain in confidence if they knew exactly what they were to do. Here Mrs Stephens read an extract from George Bernard Shaw in this connection:, “If before you begin rehearsing you sit down to the manuscript of your play and work out all the stage business, so that you know, where every speech is to be spoken as well as what it is to convey—and where the chairs are to be, and where they are to be taken to,' and where the actors are to put their hats or • anything _ else they may have to take ; in their hands in the course of the play, and when they are to rise and when they are to sit; and if you arrange all this so as to get the maximum of effect out of every word. and thus make the actors feel that they are speaking at the utmost possible advantage, then you will at the first rehearsal get a command of the production that nothing will shake afterwards. There will be no time wasted in fumbling for positions, and trying back, and disputing.”

At the first rehearsal it was advisable for the producer, the speaker went on to say, to read through the play and then explain his conception and proposed treatment of it. , He should then go through the play slowly, giving his stage directions, which he shoutS have previously marked clearly ‘in some way on his copy of his script. At this stage Mrs Stephens'displayed to members [the way in which she. kept full directions of plays produced'by her, showing the actual hooks and her own , notes. The individual actor, she' continued, who was merely directly, concerned,with his own particular part, sometimes felt that he was being unduly suppressed, but the producer had his own conception of the entire play and must do his best to preserve a balance throughout in order that the desired effect was gained. The actors should therefore have the fullest confidence in the producer to give him their loyalty and faithful support. As could be seen, a big responsibility rested on the producer. Accordingly it was necessary, said the lecturer, that he should study the personalities of each individual actor in order to get the best out of them. After having had the producer’s instructions, the actors should learn their parts, and, knowing their movements, should, as they learn the words, mentally move about the stage, corelating movements with words. At this stage the producer might find that ho had to train some of his players in stage deportment and movement. In this regard the central acting triangle should be remembered, and all climaxes should be arranged to take place within this area. Down-stage positions were less important, and nothing of much importance should be done here. When only two actors occupied the stage they should not keep too closely together (excps, of course, for an embrace, and even then for as short a time as possible). If there was antagonism between two persons or groups of people, they should be placed on opposite sides of the stage (except, of course, where the script calls for, say, a fight at close quarters). If the audience" was interested in the happenings on one side of the stage and

an actor on the other side unexpectedly joined in the conversation, the producer must contrive some prior movement or gesture by that actor to catch the attention of the audience just before he speaks. As a general rule, voice and movement went together, and there should be no movement to detract the audience’s attention (unless specifically called for in the script) from the person speaking. Masking should not be permitted, and the whole of the stage should be used. Every movement should be ‘made with some definite purpose, as unnecessary movement blurred the picture. If the actor had nothing to do, he should do it, and not shuffle bis feet or move about., After the first few rehearsals it was not necessary' to go through the whole play at each rehearsal, but it could be taken an act or scene at a time, though, of course, to give the players the sense of the play as a whole, the entire play should be gone through when nearing Hie time or performance, thus “ tightening up ’’ the work. Briefly, the producer should first concentrate on the broad sweep of the play and on the more important things, leaving details until later.

When producing a play he should not he influenced too much by the directions given in the script of the author. The technique of writing a play and that of presenting it on the stage were distinct things, andj while the dramatist might be a master of, plot and construction, he might not know how to get the maximum effect with grouping and movement. Guthry M’Clintock, ono of the best known producers in America, always worked out his own stage directions after getting'his secretary to type out the play, omitting the stage directions of the author. In one play which he particularly mentioned he arranged a set with one door, centre back, and made it the focal point of the action—the stage directions according to the original script called for five doors. In his own words, “ the five doors would have made the stage look like a rabbitwarren, with persons popping in and out from all ■ sides, whereas the one door gave unity and strength to the whole act.”

As an illustration of this last point, Mr and Mrs Stephens performed the first part of a one-act farce, ‘ Things Are Not What They Seem,’ with the stage set as called for in the script. The stage was obviously unbalanced, one of the most important details was downstage, and generally, when the two actors began walking, it was reminiscent of an obstacle race, with the dodging and. running around the settings. The entire play was then performed with the stage setting as revised 'by Mrs Stephens, and the difference was remarkable. The scene was knit firmly together, the stage was balanced, and the gain in strength of effect was considerable. The two remaining roles were taken by two members of the class. The acting both of Mr and of Mrs Stephens in this farce should be an incentive to others to improve their own acting. It was much more restrained (and much more effective) than would have been done by most amateurs.

Another play was then performed by members of the class, this being ‘ Twentieth Century Lullaby,’ and an excellent reading was given of this difficult one-act play. It is easy to see that the acting of class members has improved to a marked degree since coming under the tutelage of Mrs Stephens. Mrs Stephens was thanked for her lecture, and the evening was once more brought to a close with an enjoyable hour of dancing.