Stage Left,Stage Right-The Heavens & Hell: Embodied Meaning & Memory in Performance

摘要

In 2007, 29 actors gathered at the Royal Shakespeare Company rehearsal rooms in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, to run the lines of Shakespeare's first four History plays.They had performed these plays - Henry Ⅵ Part 1, 2 and 3 and Richard Ⅲ - for a year, before rehearsing and playing the later History plays from Richard Ⅱ to Henry Ⅴ. Now all eight Histories would play together for the first time in RSC history: the 'Glorious Moment' was sold out. We had two days until opening night. We also had a crisis. Nobody could remember their lines. Including understudy responsibilities, each performer was now required to hold the lines, moves, fights and acrobatic routines for the equivalent of 16 Shakespeare plays. Was it just too much? Despite the company's anxiety, I suggested another line run, but this time in the theatre, on set, incorporating all their moves. On their feet, everyone was word perfect.