Macbeth

April 15th and 16th, 2009

2009-04-18T18:21:00.000-04:00

Rehearsal Notes: April 15

I apologize for any cuts I failed to include (or over included) in this. Come see me with any questions…
• Pg. 42 Macbeth cut, “…And that which should accompany old age…would fain deny, and dare not.” And “Give me my armour”
• Pg. 43 Macbeth cut, “Come, put mine armour on; give me my staff…what rhubarb, dyme, or what purgative drug…”
• Pg. 43 Doctor cut, “Ay, my good lord; your royal preparation…”
• Pg. 43 Macbeth cut, “Bring it after me…”
• Pg. 43 Doctor cut, “Were I from Dunsinane…draw me here”
• Pg. 44 @ Malcolm’s line, “The wood of Birnam,” all witches pull out your swords and vanish; Jen comes in with sword…swords revealed from bushes???
• Pg. 44 Macbeth, “Hang out our banners…” to be said as walking in stage left
• Pg. 44 doctor cut, “It is the cry of women, my good lord”
• Pg. 45 Macbeth cut, “If this which he avouches…estate o’ the world were not undone”
• Pg. 47 soldier cut, “This way, my lord…sir, the castle” and Malcolm’s line placed within is cut too
• Pg 49 ending Jen and Quyen switch places
•
Rehearsal Notes: April 16

Preset 5 swords in the bush
1 sword in pit
2 daggers in “little cage”

crown, etc…still unknown presetting…

Note: next rehearsal 10:30 Saturday April 17th
Costumes should be here Monday!

Great work everybody and remember to wish Carolyn a very happy birthday!

Kathryn

April 14th, 2009

2009-04-18T18:20:00.000-04:00

Dear All,

Thanks for a great rehearsal today, and for making great use of the dumpster. I'm going to call Facilities Management in the morning to see about gettinga half-size dumpster for the space.

As far as scene work goes, here are the notes I have:

· Run through Thursday starts at 9, but rehearsal starts at 6:30 (no scripts, but can call for line)

· On Saturday, can’t call for line

· 1-1

o Sequenced hair toss—move whole body, on “hover”

o Tag at beginning à Schmaux

o Jen shouldn’t be able to catch anyone

· 1-2

o If have dumpster, Mat should pop head out

o Yay for revealing!

o Mat has good stride

o All witches gather for revealing

o Quyen pulls off è all giggle

o Jen kisses

o “that’s weird”-Mat

o Put in bush

· 1-3

o Macbeth and Banquo come in from behind stage, say lines there

o Woah! Killing swine chunk is cut!

· 2-2

o All will be Olivia

o Cut Nick’s “Who’s there? What ho!” p. 16

o Nick’s lines = one giant monologue

o In come the witches à Shmoo1 Version 2.0 (expanded to other areas of the body, yelp replaces laughter)

o When Nick enters, all say “My husband” and act like Olivia à Nick confused

o Use as many strategies as you can

o Think of expand-contract

o Nick hears everything

o Witches can do ANYTHING—don’t have to make sense, just distract him

o Can’t stay in same place for more than three seconds

o When notice daggers, witches disappear?

o Witches hold position, Nick goes to one who says lines (can’t actually hear anything Lady Macbeth says)

o Can’t hear Olivia, but can hear Lady Macbeth

o Witches can torture-play with Macbeth

o “Oh! Hung drawn and quartered!”—Emma

o Can say witch lines, but use lines from text

o Jen is here!

o Macbeth—run!

o Mat is now Officer Pat

o Macbeth take time to interact with witches

o Pay attention to who is speaking

o Knocking = laughing

o Really awesome dumpster noise

o HALF_SIZE DUMPSTER?

o No place for bloody making out

Let me know if any of these notes are unclear. I don't have anything from after I had to leave, so you'll have to ask Arik for that. Remember that tomorrow we will be in the space from 7 to 11 working Acts 4 and 5.

Thanks,

Carolyn

April 13th, 2009

2009-04-14T00:38:00.000-04:00

Dear All,

What an interesting day we had! I've written the the Scheduling Office, so we'll see about future rehearsals. Though it might not be too much of an issue. We'll be working through acts 1, 2, and 3 tomorrow, and acts 4 and 5 on Wednesday. We will be meeting in the space on Tuesday through Thursday. Bring warm clothing! On Thursday we will be running the entire show (witches, remember: you ARE called) from 6:30 to 10:30. We might end up working things and then running the show at nine. Saturday at 10:30 am we will run the show again in the space. Is anyone intersted in having breakfast beforehand? Then, we have next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (where we will be runing the show in the space) and then it's the show!!!!

And now, without further ado, here are the rehearsal notes:

Rehearsal Notes 4.13

Warm ups

· Yoga

· Three Steps

Midnight show—Friday at Lincoln Field; can leave and come back

Rehearsals on spring weekend—Saturday 10:30-12

The Banquet Scene

· When Banquo enters, keep going with Nick

· Harry touch Nick, move to platform à Nick can’t move, vocalize words (saying lines in head)

· Harry enter around “my royal lord” top of page 30

Poof! We’re in Barbour Lounge. Here’s where I miss some stuff sending an email to the Scheduling office, but it looks cool out of the corner of my eye.

Back to the Banquet Scene

· Faster à quick shake down

· Jen bracing Nick’s back

· Youth!

· Nick—struggle from the inside

· Nick barks (for now)

· Emma and Mat exit

· M&M remember to exit stage left

· Quyen and Jen stay, guard Harry

· Everyone find a point to restrain Nick à try to run at Olivia

· “Mat, I’m sorry, you didn’t just rub my nipple, you engulfed it…I have a nipple thing”-Nick

· Channel all your aggression!

· Amazing barking laughing! à “I cannot wait to see that when both of you are in leather”

Witching Hour

· They’re conferring!

· Enter Kevin, fighting!

· Shmoo (not Schmoo): they know, but we don’t à Mat tries to play

· Mat = mama witch

· Mat can intervene in disciplinary manor à “Don’t take that tone with me! I’ll throw you back in the cauldron!!”-Mat

· Crying à sudden duck and cover = MOST AMAZING THING EVER!!!

· “Just sadistic bitches. It’s great!”-Jen

· Quyen is out; Mat, Jen and Emma create game

· In the show, sudden switch into evil mode?

· Schmaux (pronounced shmootoo): hand clapping, Quyen tries to intervene

· Emma’s a bitch witch

· Back into Shmoo à “Your forehead’s mine!”—Emma

· Mat tries to convince to play Schmaux

· “Traitor, traitor, traitor, pants on fire!”-Emma

· Go back and forth between

· Quyen complains to Mat

· So, it appears that Quyen is the youngest witch

· We’ve moved on to Shmoo3, only Mat doesn’t know it

· Schmoo4 involves finding out Carolyn is ticklish

Should we do a speed through?

Nick is playing Shmoo1 with dagger speech

· Include reacting in monologue

Girls:

· Act 1, Scene 1

o Come together as three person statue of desire

o Have very drastic change to seduction

o Playing little children, aren’t actually little children

o Playing Schmaux

o Start playing schamux and then Quyen enters

o Spontaneously find positions

o Find mutually dependent positions

o Quickly do it in pairs

o Back to groups of three

ARIK—talk to Dan Byers (sp?) about filming; what do you want to do about daggers?

Thanks for working so hard. Sorry for all the difficulties. See you tomorrow!

~Carolyn

April 12th, 2009

2009-04-13T01:19:00.001-04:00

Hey Everybody,

GREAT JOB today in the space, despite the weather…one day closer to a fabulous performance of The Scottish Play!

Thanks again to Arik for the Amazing Meal!

Note any missed lines below or those you personally have issues with…
Rehearsal April 12
• Warmup
• Pg. 3 Quyen cut out lines right after scene II
• Quyen: remember, “became him like the leaving it”
• Duncan: pg. 9 “My worthy Cawdor” is cut!
• Lady Macbeth pg. 10 “That I may pour my spirits in my ear,” remember, “doth seem to have me crown’d withal”
• Pg. 13 Macbeth, “Hath he ask’d for me?” and Lady Macbeth, “Know you not he has?” lines have been cut
• Pg. 15 Banquo, “…Merciful powers…” & “Thanks, sir: the like to you!”
• Pg. 16 Macbeth, “…I see thee yet…” aside from what is not already off book
• Pg. 18 Macbeth, remember, “…The death of each day’s life…”
• Pg. 19 Porter, Scene III, review beginning
• Pg. 22 Lady Macbeth, …”Speak, speak…”
• Pg. 27 Macbeth, “Surrah…safely thus” cut
• Pg. 30 Macbeth should be on stage left stairs

Arik’s Notes:
• Witches: stay on stage, except Mathew & Quyen
• Jen, after blood sergeant, move to little woody place
• We’ll need to find stuff for the witches to do in their little home (little girl activities, i.e. chalk, witch voodoo, crossing people off the wall w/ chalk when they die; Mathew’s execution toys, Duncan likes to play hangman!)
• After Mathew’s reveal, go to bush
• Harry and nick, “…faraday…” see the witches
• Act 1 scene 3…witches play with your hair (with or without witch voices)
• Harry go upstage for I pray to have a word with you
• Nick staying in down right corner (for some lines) think one continuous thought
• Mathew and Quyen, mother and daughter witches interaction
• Olivia, your letter can be cut and the little thing thereafter
• Mathew & Jen w/ leg push thing…that will happen…
• Pg. 9 Act I, scene V Quyen linger and then reside to push
• Act I, Scene VII, stuff should be further upstage if stuff is moved downstage…we’ll figure it out
• Act II, Scene I…Harry and Fleance walking in on M&M making out
• The dagger speech, we’ll add some witches
• Act II, Scene II…there will be a lot of Lady Macbeths…and then vanishing into their little spots
• And remember, “NICK LIKES TO BE CORONATED FROM BEHIND!”

Note: No rehearsal on Friday of Spring Weekend; Sunday’s rehearsal moved to possibly
There is also the possibility of a Midnight performance, Saturday 12 am?

Call time: 2-hour (depending on how much sword fighting you’re doing, etc.)
Rehearsal tomorrow:
When: April 13, 2009 @ 6-10 pm
Where: Crystal Room: near staircase of Alumni hall
6-6:30: warmups BE ON TIME!
6:30-8: banquet scene, coronation murder scene
8-9: call for Mathew!
8-10: witches will be present all 3 girls

Once again, great work and see you tomorrow!

Kathryn

Shape 4/8

2009-04-11T22:51:00.000-04:00

Fighting - Full Elbow

2009-04-11T22:50:00.001-04:00

Fighting - The Elbow 2

2009-04-11T22:49:00.001-04:00

Fighting - The Elbow

2009-04-11T22:47:00.000-04:00

Fighting - Jump Back

2009-04-11T22:43:00.001-04:00

Sound and Fury

2009-04-11T02:05:00.001-04:00

April 10th, 2009

2009-04-11T02:03:00.001-04:00

Hi Everybody,

Well I didn't take much in the way of notes today (on account that I assume you're all expert sword fighters after all)...Today we can all agree went extremely well (sword technique, being off book and all.) So great work! Remember, there is the possibility of a lunch sunday prior to rehearsal...I'm sure you can't wait for that!

rehearsal April 10

• Like Kevin said, this is really coming along…now we just need to make it realistic
• Taking big steps help!
• The key is to sell the action!
• Bring up the noise! (Kevin—“Wouldn’t it be strange to kill her in silence?”)
• Go fully through with death (Harry, don’t plant, plant and cut!)
• Pg. 63: pull w/ your words (Quyen & Jen)…and drag it out until you can no further…it’s a team effort (together on a sole breath, almost in pure exhaustion, a running out of air cohesion and out of this came something)
• Pg. 64 Emma help with Jen to pull Quyen out of the apparition
• Pg. 64 all witches breathe together
• Pg. 84 Quyen, Emma & Jen—observe and play with Lady Macbeth (as Jen touches her Lady Macbeth bears an orgasm, with Quyen an antithesis with insanity, torment)…Lady Macbeth you become dependent on your drug, the witches' actions

See you on Sunday,
Kathryn

April 8th and 9th, 2009

2009-04-10T15:27:00.000-04:00

Hi Everybody,

Sorry I didn't get to send out the rehearsal notes on Wednesday. We did some fight choreography, and worked on scenes.I have the fight written down between Macbeth and Macduff, so let me know if anyone needs that. For Act I, Scene V, the witches mirrored Lady Macbeth's actions. This wasn't mentioned at the rehearsal, but the witches should actually be mouthing Lady Macbeth's words. Would everyone mind taking a look at the speech, just to be familiar with it?

Then I had to leave for a while, and when I got back we worked on Act 3 Scene 3. Emma will be portraying Fleance. Mat and Jen made a sphere with there arms that we might put in the blocking when Emma gets back. Quyen will hold Harry back in that scene. Finally, we worked with Act 5 Scene 5, with Nick and Mat's aggressive dynamic.

On Thursday, M&M were called (yes, I am still using that notation) to work on their scenes together. They did a great job, and got to practice a little in the space.

Friday we will be doing fight choreography again, and everyone should be off book. Kathryn, if you could come pick up the swords from my room, that would be great. Text me whenever you're available. Rehearsal will be from 6 to 10 in List 110.

Thanks,
Carolyn

April 7th, 2009

2009-04-09T01:46:00.001-04:00

Dear Everyone,

Remember that there is fight choreography tomorrow w/ Kevin.

Stretching: as through you are indicating a sport (i.e. quidditch, basketball, tennis…)
Circle time:

Any changes made last night (forgive me if I missed something)…

Pg. 5 @ the Exeunt, Emma sneaks back in (if you didn’t know already)

Pg. 8 after all hail all witches creep down

Pg. 8 @ witches vanish, vanish into “places” (homes)

Pg 9 Lady Macduff, note the cut “…and when he reads thy personal…should be thine or his”

Pg. 10 Emma is staying chillin downstage left

Pg. 12 @ the Exeunt, exit stage left into pit…Emma goes all witchy?

Pg. 14 @ the Exeunt Macbeth runs home via stairs, landing (bedroom, platform) running...jump back down and back off stage; Duncan is walking;

Pg. 14 Quyen opens door for Lady Macbeth

Pg. 16 Quyen (witch) turn Lady Macbeth to notice Macbeth

Pg. 16 M&M embrace each other (but Lady Macbeth remember to start farther upstage first)

Pg. 17 Lady Macbeth, might not be exiting????

Pg. 17 enter Duncan, Malcolm, Banquo, and Lady Macduff are walking from down center

Pg. 18 Macbeth enter through doors

Pg. 21 M&M exit together stage left

Pg. 23 Banquo and Fleance exit down right

Pg. 27 for a knocking within, Porter begins later joined by Emma, Matt and Quyen through page 29

Pg. 36 Quyen having a miniature moment (you apparently know more what that means than do I)

Pg. 39 all witches crown Macbeth

Pg. 49 all witches killing Banquo, still needs to be choreographed

Pg. 52 Macbeth’s lines are cut from “Here had we now our country’s…to grace us with your royal company”

Pg. 56 Macbeth’s lines are cut from “Stones have been shown to more and trees…man of blood,” and cut from “All causes shall give way…which must be acted ere they may be scann’d”

Pg. 63 first witch, note the pronunciation of the word, “Gibbet”

Pg. 82 Malcolm and Macduff’s lines are cut from (Malcolm) “Be comforted: Let’s make us medicines…” until “Fell slaughter on their souls. Heaven rest them now!” (Macduff)

Pg. 90 Macbeth cut for “Pull’t off, I say” I believe

Pg. 91 doctor line cut “Were I from Dunsinane…draw me here”

Pg. 92 Macbeth cut “here let them lie…and beat them backward home”

Pg. 96 Macduff cut “If thou be’st slain…will haunt me still”

Pg. 97 lines of Soldier and Malcolm are cut

Pg. 100 all witches stay Malcolm’s last lines, except the last two left for Quyen

As Carolyn has noted prior, please take note of the changes, even if they are not your own lines. And remember....

WE'RE OFF BOOK ON FRIDAY! If you have any questions please come talk to me.

Thanks,
Kathryn

2009-04-07T23:40:00.002-04:00

I was looking through ARRR!!!'s dirty show song lyrics and realised that the name that we created for Lady Macbeth is shared by a character in one of the songs. And I thought I might share after all the abuse the Lady's been getting. The tone of the song is similar to some of that abuse, I find...

The captain's wife was Charlotte,
Born and bred a harlot,
Her thighs at night were lily white,
By morning they were scarlet.

ya...the only connection to Macbeth that had was the name which doesn't even exist in the script. But I thought I might share since it gives us a taste of the dirty show...which we won't be able to see, because it's Wednesday at 10:00 and 10:45, which makes me sad.

Banquo Bio

2009-04-07T10:25:00.001-04:00

I grew up in the rolling countryside of the Scottish village of Calor. When I was six I met Macbeth and we quickly bonded. The open fields and many-branched trees of Calor provided us with a perfect landscape to let our boyish intentions run wild. Our days were laced with rambunctious games of King of the Hill and breathless bouts of tag. I would win occasionally, but Macbeth had always been a little bigger, a little stronger, and more athletic. When we were younger, he was not shy to tell me exactly how much better he was, and I would hide my face, my eyes welling up, fighting the impulse to cry. Nowhere were his superior skills more evident than when we would pick up stray sticks and have sword battles. We would often fight to see who was to be crowned King of Scotland, which essentially meant King of the World to us. I would complain that Macbeth was hitting too hard and we should just have played for fun, but to be honest, it seemed like no matter how hard I tried, I could not hurt him. As we grew, Macbeth gradually stopped to acknowledge how much better at physical games he was, but the resentful feelings I had in childhood lingered. As we grew older, we played intellectual games, like chess and go, alongside the more primitive games of physicality. It was a great boost to my confidence, for I clearly had Macbeth beat in these games. Despite his arrogance, I always did love and admire Macbeth.

Which gave me all the more reason to despise Lady Macbeth, or Charlotte as she was named then, with a burning, passionate, internal rage. Macbeth and Charlotte first met when we were all nineteen. They began dating a week hence. I knew that it would not last for long, that it would just be a fling. Macbeth was strong, of body and of will, the best kind of man this world has to offer. Charlotte was manipulative and carried no principles with her. In her life she loved few things, power and suffering among them, but Macbeth certainly was not. To this day, it saddens and baffles me how she was able to ruin Macbeth. I could see Macbeth grow miserable over the years and our relationship inevitably changed. We never explicitly acknowledged that there had a been a change, but there grew a palpable distance between us. We were never as comfortable together as we had been as boys. Half of our conversations were stilted, the kind you would have between a friend of a friend.

I swear, I never had a conversation with that bitch in which she did not condescend to me. I tried; I tried hard to be friendly to her, but my tone naturally grew cold over the years to the point where I would remove expression from my face when talking to her.

Besides Macbeth, I also have a great admiration for Duncan. Duncan was a couple years older than us, but was perfectly comfortable talking to Macbeth and me when we were children. He was kind and always seemed to know the right thing to do. Though he was a great man, there was no chance I would become as good a friend with Duncan as with Macbeth. Macbeth and I were on the same level, but Duncan always seemed to be more mature, more confident.

When I was twenty two, I met Rosetta. She was a good woman, but I have little to say about her. A couple years later she was pregnant, but neither of us was ready for a child. She died in childbirth, and I thus became very close to Fleance as I raised him.

April 6th, 2009

2009-04-07T02:24:00.000-04:00

Dear Everyone,

Great job on the fight choreography today. Hopefully we will have the fight blocking finalized soon so we can start practicticing. Tomorrow's rehearsal will be in List 110 at 8:30 for a struggle-through. Try to come warmed-up; feel free to come a little early if that will be necessary. Kathryn, is there a time between 12 and 2 that we can meet so I can give you the annotated script, since I won't be there for rehearsal tomorrow? I have copies of the script for you too.

Also, if everyone could post their character bios on the blog, that would be great. Remember to be trying to get off book as much as possible in the next few days. Everyone needs to be completely off book by Friday. We've made some changes to the script, which mostly invovled cutting a lot of lines so that the run time will be shorter. I'm going to list the changes here, but in case they're confusing Arik and Kathryn will have copies of the script tomorrow so you can see what they mean.

The Changes are:

* pp. 3-4: From First Witch "'Give me,' quoth I" to First Witch "Wreck'd as homeward he did come"
* p. 4: Banquo--"How far is't call'd to Forres?"
* p. 6: Lady MacDuff--"and when he reads...Which should be thine or his"
* p. 8: Duncan--"The sin of my ingratitude...only I have left to say"
* p. 9: Duncan--"My worthy Cawdor";
* p. 9: Dunan--"True, worthy Banquo...peerless kinsman"
* p. 12: Duncan--"See, see, our honor'd hostess...We are your guest to-night"
* p. 12: Macbeth--"if the assassination...surcease success"; "But here, upon this bank...life to come"; "He's here in double trust;...not bear the knife myself"
* p. 13: Lady Macbeth--"Wouldst thou have that...cat i' the adage?"; "Nor time nor place...Does unmake you."
* p. 14: Lady Macbeth--"Whereto the rather...soundly invite him"
* p. 16: Macbeth--"which way they walk...too cold breath gives"
* pp. 24-25: So, here's where it gets a little messy. Malcolm's lines just before the start of Scene IV ("What will I do?...there's no mercy left") are cut, as well as the entirety of Scene IV. Instead, Harry will add the lines "Malcolm, the king's son, is stol'n away and fled;/Which puts upon him suspicion of the deed." to the beggining of his opening lines in Act III Scene I. (Note: change in stage directions too--Fleance will enter just after Banquo says "And set me up in hope?")
* p. 28: Banquo--"Give us a light, there, ho!"
* p. 29: Macbeth--"See, they encounter thee...The table round"
* p. 31: Lady Macbeth--"O, these flaws and starts...Shame itself!"
* p. 31: Macbeth--"If charnel-houses...maws of kites"

That's all we have so far. Please take note of the changes, even if they are not your own lines. If you're going to cross them out, it might be wise to use pencil, just in case.

Thanks,
Carolyn

The first child, the first witch

2009-04-06T23:06:00.005-04:00

The three sisters are the most powerful force in this kingdom. Where does our strength lie? In our elusive existence. Can you spot us? I bet you can’t. Go ahead. Try to find us. We’re your neighbors, your lovers, your family members. If you want to avoid us, I’ll let you know how… If you want to escape us, I’ll let you know how…
You can’t.
You cannot simply understand the way you cannot identify our presence—
We are not just three. We are much more than you can see.

My sisters and I, together, we are the strongest unit of power known to man. But apart, only I can sustain some of our power. I am the first daughter, the first sister, the first witch. I taught my sisters what they know—this craft of manipulation and trickery, this art of wielding sexuality to play with these humans as the pawns they are—these are all the products of my own tests. I was the first to experience, and we have now perfected it. We now defy age, claiming the art of transcending time, but in my youth, I first discovered the ability to strike at the greatest weakness of man: sex. Men are so funny. They claim the weakness of women, yet under the heat of our sexual allure, they cannot last a minute. Women are so naïve—we must teach them a lesson, and then bring them to our side. In seeking power, they want to lose their sex, but this only drives them to insanity. This is what separates a woman and a witch. In seeking power, we claim and then we own. Why would you try to rid yourself of your greatest strength? Foolish. My first success in wielding my sexuality is also what led me to discover that not only do we stand above man, we stand above time. When I found the childish delight after that first seduction and destruction, I knew I would be the one to show my sisters. Together, we would control all these thoughtless human.
This is why I shall be the one with the right to kill, and I will. And once my sisters and I finish playing with Macbeth, we will move on to the main course… I will be Malcolm…King. Once again, I sacrifice myself to ensure the strengthening of this sisterhood. When I have the crown, we will have so much more fun. The humans do not know what is in store.

Macbeth

2009-04-06T17:33:00.001-04:00

Charlotte Abernathy Macbeth (from her own slightly disturbed point of view)

2009-04-06T16:00:00.002-04:00

(I suppose I'll post mine, too. DISCLAIMER: I kept realising how twisted I'm imagining this character. I have not twisted her so far that I can no longer empathize or sympathize with her, but still...and now, thanks to Mat, it seems like she's given sexual favours to her uncle...ew. And Emma, I love you. Lady Macbeth just doesn't want to get along with Lady Macduff)

-I am currently 27 years old and have been married for 9 years. My marriage was arranged between my father and my husband's father when we were children, so we grew up knowing we would one day wed and I was apathetic concerning the fact.
-My mother died in childbirth with me. I have no siblings and I was my father's little princess until his death five years ago. We attended his funeral. It was the last time I cried, but I didn't let anyone see. In my hysteria, I called to the sky and begged the powers that be that I wouldn't have to feel that kind of pain again. It was then that I realised the existence of those "spirits that tend on mortal thoughts". They helped remove my heart then. Now I want them to remove my vagina (Thank you, Carolyn).
-About 9 or 10 months after our wedding, we had a child. it was a son. Now it is "it" and I only talk about "it" when I want to cause pain or demand pity. It died 6 months after it entered the world. It was named Charles Arthur Macbeth, partly after my father, Charles "Steve" Abernathy. My father never saw the baby, and my husband was only able to see it for the last two months of its life, because he was at war. I was convinced that he brought back the disease from the war that filled the lungs of our baby with blood and bile. I didn't feel any emotion for the thing. It was too small and pathetic in its tiny coffin. It was a small funeral- only a few from our house and of course the worthless doctor.
-My father was the kind of person who spoke to people in whispers and ordered people he didn't like to be taken down to the cellars...I never knew what went on down there, and the only time he ever hit me was when he caught me sneaking down there, trying to look. He disliked my husband, finding him a tad soft, but he had too much respect for the elder Macbeth to speak against our marriage. It is my proud thought that perhaps he would have considered everyone "too soft" for me.
-I am an excellent hostess. I don't have "friends", only people I "befriend", you understand- I have many acquaintances that I invite over for tea and that I smile at and laught with and who tell me everything. I throw the best parties, everyone says. And I make sure that I have no enemies. Except, perhaps, my husband. Enemies make things messy. I believe that servants should be almost invisible when guests are around, and so I ignore them in company, but I am not against disciplining them when guests are gone. I am also an excellent housekeeper.
-My husband hit me for the first time about a month after the baby died. It shocked me at first, but then I started laughing. I had been bothering him about how he should be a man and stand up to some of the neighbouring peasants who were poaching in Birnham Wood, and then his hand flew at me---It was exaclty the pure manly force that I wanted to see from him. He mostly only gets violent with me when he hasn't been to war for a while and is getting restless. And most of the time we have what you would call ANGRY SEX. When he's home, we have a healthy sex life. Apart from it being angry (but that's healthy...right?). I haven't been pregant in 8 years. I don't think I want another child. I haven't told him this.
-I hit him whenever I'm irritated with him- whenever I think he's being an imbecile. I hate it when he just stands there and takes it- it just seems so weak.
-Poor Banquo lost his wife a couple years ago. I pitied him and his son Fleance. I wanted to help him out, to relieve some of his suffering...so I went to his chambers while my husband was meeting with Duncan to talk about military tactics after the funeral(Banquo was exempt due to his loss)...but Banquo's too much like a little brother to me, and he was too full of grief...and so nothing happened. And it was awkward.
-With Duncan I got a little farther. His wife died about 15 years ago and his children are all grown, so he needs some companionship. I was able to offer him female companionship in return for a favour- when cawdor was found to be a traitor, there were a few in line for the title. I made sure my husband got the advancement. Due to Duncan's age, he had a bit of trouble...but I was as much of a comfort to him as possible.
-My parents-in-law love me. Like I said, I make sure everyone does.
-Lady Macduff pisses me off. She's too religious and she has too many children. It seems like each time I see her, she mentions how it was God's will that my baby die and that with enough faith I'll have another. I wish she'd go shut up and die. But I make sure she doesn't know that I think that.

A Brief History of the Duncan, Part 1

2009-04-06T15:43:00.002-04:00

It all began long ago in southern Cumberland. The local government, consisting of a dual democracy and animal-farm-esque-commune system, had just legalized both homosexual marriage, and medical marijuana. During this brief period of immense gaiety, three young women decided to marry and adopt a son. These women were called the witches, although nobody knew why because at the time they were immensely attractive and polite. They decided to name their son a combination of their names, and came up with Duncan. They raised him to always use tablemanners, and that he should always trust whoever's house he's sleeping in. He had an identical twin brother, named Steve, who inherited some of his mothers magical powers. All Duncan ever inherited was their neverending joy, as well as an allergy to peanuts.

Many years later...
Duncans identical twin brother got this woman from Glamis knocked up, and due to the strict laws regarding child custody, had to stay with his daughter until she was 8. This gave her enough time to recognize him, but not well enough to correctly identify his twin brother, Duncan, many years later as she was standing over his recently-stabbed body. Duncan was walking home one day, when he came upon a man wearing a crown. the man said, "i hate being king". And Duncan said, "Ooooh, lemme be king. Please, pleeeeaaasee" And so it happend that Duncan was crowned king of Scotland. However, he did not correctly fill out his 'destiny paperwork', and so instead of going and proudly conquering and unifying Europe and ushering in a golden age of neverending peace, he was slaughtered in Macbeths castle at the age of 37.

Rehearsal Photos 4/5

2009-04-06T14:04:00.002-04:00

Rehearsal Photos 3/30

2009-04-06T13:47:00.003-04:00

Rehearsal Photos 3/19

2009-04-06T13:37:00.004-04:00

April 5th, 2009

2009-04-06T00:50:00.001-04:00

Dear Everyone,

Thanks so much for working so hard today. We went through a lot of blocking, so if anyone has any questions let me or Arik know. We will be meeting tomorrow at 6 in Pembroke Field House to practice fencing. Remember to bring your character bios!

Thanks,
Carolyn

April 3rd, 2009

2009-04-05T17:30:00.001-04:00

Hi Everyone,

I hope everyone had a good rehearsal and has a fun weekend. Our next rehearsal will be on Sunday at 2 in THE SPACE (TF Green). Remember that character bios are due Monday, when we will also be doing stage fighting again.

The most exciting event during warm-ups was today was the slow motion race that lasted about ten minutes. It was really exciting to watch, especially people's victory dances at the end. Congrats to everyone for having a super-long attention span! We then did our first attempt at Three Steps with our eyes closed, and it went pretty well.

The first scene we worked on was Act III Scene II, with the Porter (Jen) reading from the chair, M&M (how I will further denote Macbeth and Lady Macbeth) washing each other on the ground, and the other witches walking on the grid, responding kinesthetically to the Porter's words. Later on, Jen walked on the grid as well and the not-Jen witches interacted. Remember to experiment with levels and bend your knees during these exercises. We continued rehearsing the scene by having M&M wash each other using Jen, and then we concluded with a read through and staging of the scene. It involves Harry and Quyen lying together on the ground while the Porter moves parts of their bodies, and Lady MacDuff acting very weak in front of M&M, but actually being strong.

After that scene we worked on Act III Scene IV. We started staging it as though everyone were sitting on the mini-platform in the space (you will see it on Sunday if you don't know what I'm talking about), and then diverged into playing a game. The game got kind of complicated, so I will summarize the rules here:

* Harry wants to get close to Nick. He can move three steps and then must wait for one ofthe witches (Emma and Quyen) to touch him before taking another three.
* Nick wants to get far away from Harry. He can take five steps and then must wait three seconds before taking another five.
* Olivia wants to get Nick close to Emma and Quyen, and so must drag him to them.
* Emma and Quyen can walk wherever they want, because they are God.
* When Emma and/or Quyen are touching Nick, he cannot move.
* Nick can resist Olivia's touches, but cannot move to get away from her.
* Text overrides everything. If Nick says a line from the scene, he can take ten steps to escape from Olivia, Emma, and/or Quyen. If Olivia says a line from the text, Nick has to go with her.
* Only Emma and Quyen can say whatever they want. Nick and Olivia can speak lines from the text. Harry cannot speak.

Like I said, it's complicated. Finally, we had the witches make Harry a witch during the game. And that's the end of those rehearsal activities. M&M stayed late for character interviews. We went through a lot of information. I don't think all of it's necessary for everyone to know, so I won't write it up here, but let me know if you want to see it. Sufficed to say that Lady Macbeth slept with Duncan and is very contemptuous of Lacy MacDuff who tells her that it was God's will that her child died. Macbeth thinks that Banquo is "too much of a little boy" and wouldn't really trust him leading an army. Something almost happened between Lady Macbeth and Banquo after Banquo's wife died, but apparently it was too awkward for anything to really transpire. I think those are pretty much all the details that relate to other characters in the play. The other detail I like is that Macbeth's nickname on the battlefied is now the "Norweigian Widow Maker".

Again, if you're interested in learning more details, or have any other questions or concerns, feel free to ask.

Thanks,
Carolyn

+_+

2009-04-04T20:59:00.001-04:00

Yikes... 100 degree fever.

Pics

2009-04-04T19:38:00.000-04:00

Can you post the pictures from the facebook group on here? I got a friend to go to the group on facebook for me, but it's a closed group. I'm totally exiled.

Still demoralized from yesterday's rehearsal. Olivia, still....careful....

April 2nd, 2009

2009-04-03T10:19:00.001-04:00

Dear All,

Tomorrow's rehearsal will be in List 110. Nick and Olivia should come at 5:45 to review swing. Sorry about the delay in getting the room number to you. We will be focusing on Act II Scene III and Act III Scene IV, as well as Act IV Scene II and Act I Scene VI if we have time.

Today it was Macbeth's and Lady Macbeth's turn to party. We focused mostly on Act II Scene II, going through the scene in a variety of ways. First both actors had to stay as far away from each other as possible, then as close to each other as possible, then switching back and forth. They read the scene cuddling on the ground and sitting back to back. We did some All Fors: All for Justice, All for Fear, All for Pride. Special moments: Olivia's fear of blood during All for Justice and Olivia's semi-valley girl reading of "Why did you bring the daggers from the place" in All for Pride. Finally, we went through the scene with Nick reading his lines as though he were telling a joke. Everyone should ask Nick to tell them jokes, because he evidently knows a lot of them.

After that scene, we focused briefly on Act III Scene II and then rehearsed Act I Scene V in the space. We are trying to guess what Lady Macbeth's first name is, so feel free to suggest any ideas. So far the leading candidates are Ramona (to which I am adamently opposed) and Charlotte (hence the line "my dearest chuck").

I have more good news, which is that we now have an assistant stage manager! Her name is Kathryn Linder, and she will be coming to part of tomorrow's rehearsal so that you can all meet her if you don't know her already. So everyone can be happy about that, 'cause it's pretty awesome. I've also attached a contact sheet for everyone in the cast and production staff in case you ever need anyone's email or phone number. Enjoy! And I'll see you tomorrow in List 110.

~Carolyn

Goodnight Doom

2009-04-03T06:40:00.004-04:00

Rehearsal Video 3/30

2009-04-03T06:04:00.005-04:00

2009-04-03T04:53:00.000-04:00

Harry and I as adorable young children...Arik requests that this be made public.

Santigold

2009-04-02T23:52:00.004-04:00

So Arik and I liked this video a lot. The first half is of little importance, but we were both interested in the representation of violence in the second half. Violence becomes something distastefully colorful, playful, and surreal. Brightness that we usually associate with happiness becomes something twisted. Anyway, take a look. (O yeah, she's also playing at Spring Weekend this year, in case you were wondering.)

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

2009-04-02T21:27:00.014-04:00

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters
By Francisco Goya

Today, we were reading over Act II Scene 2 in which Macbeth emerges out of Duncan's chamber. He speaks of sleep, "the death of each day's life," and the cry that calls an end to that sleep.

This talk of sleep reminded me of this print, a testament to the fears of the Enlightenment. The monsters of irrationality and anxiety prey upon man's mind while Reason sleeps. Bats, cats, and owls descend upon the figure, a haunting force upon his psyche. We've talked about maybe adding the witches into this scene, who taunt and confuse Macbeth with Lady Macbeth's lines. I think it would a really interesting moment, his madness and fear is drawn out by these phantoms and monsters. Plus this group already has an impulse towards the masochistic.

But then again:
"...the sleeping and the dead
Are but as pictures: 'tis the eye of childhood
That fears the painted devil..."
(Lady Macbeth, Act II Scene 2)

Here's another one by Goya that I'm reminded of. Cannibalism becomes a theme. It's called Saturn Devouring his Son. Click for a larger version...if you dare...

Hunt for a Dagger

2009-04-02T17:04:00.002-04:00

I'm looking online for prop daggers for sale...can't remember the name of that damn website my high school directors bought from...it's gonna kill me if I don't remember it!!

Does anyone have a spare dagger lying around?

April 1st, 2009

2009-04-02T13:46:00.002-04:00

Hi All,

Another day, another rehearsal! Hope everyone had a nice April Fool's Day. Tomorrow's rehearsal will be at 6:30 in TF Green 112, but only the Macbeths are called. Hope the witches have a nice evening, and we will see you Friday at 6.

After warming up and playing the vampire game (No rule: No vamp-backs), we divided up into two groups: Nick and Hannah went to work on monologues, while the witches stayed to explore their characters. We looked at what it means to be a witch, and what it means to be a witch impersonating a human. For the first exercise, everyone picked their favorite part of their bodies and lead from that area. Then everyone picked a different part and acted as though it had been removed. Finally, everyone picked their least favorite part, used it as a weapon, threw it in an imaginary cauldron in the center of the room, and set Harry on fire. We then returned to animal motionswalking on the grid as animals. Everyone chose a gesture they felt represented their animals and confined it to the right foot. Then we focused on how that gesture would respond to time, and then how it would respond to stimuli in the room (Special Moment: Harry's paw thing). Finally, we responded to different thicknesses of the surrounding air. The basic idea behind all of these exercises was that when the witches are human, there are concious efforts to act as humans. The witches in their natural states are different. Think about other gestures that might fit your animalistic state.

We then moved on to my favorite part of the evening: the story of how Mark got hit by a bus. The activity started out as everyone telling the the story from different perspectives, and we ended up acting it out. This is where today's quote of the day comes from: "Run over my son and I'll shoot you in the face" --Emma.

We then came back together to work on some scenes. For Act I, Scene IV, we started out by having those who had lines read them, playing with tempo, while those without had to respond with a gesture. Poor Jen had to stretch out eating an apple longer than anyone should eat an apple. Then we acted out the scene, with everyone being assigned a motion/objective: Macbeth wanted to get close to Duncan but could only interact with Banquo and Duncan, Duncan stood on a chair, Malcolm had to help him down, and the Witches wanted to keep Macbeth from getting to Duncan. Then we redid the scene with expanded objectives: Macbeth had to circle until his first line, when he paced; Duncan wanted to make everyone stand still; Banquo followed Macbeth, Malcolm had to be put on a pedestal, when everyone would lower themselves; and the Witches kept Macbeth from crossing a line.

For Act I, Scene II we read through the text, and then did the whole one person in the center game (ideas for a name?) while Arik, Emily, and I read the text. For Act I, Scene I, the three female witches used a scarf as magical item that bonded them, first chanting right next to it then spreading out across the room. We tried different ways of saying the text (little girls, high schoolers, old men, seductively) and then mixed up those ways throughout the text. Finally, we took a quick look at the beginning of Act I, Scene III, reading the text as Russian cooks. Kudos to everyone for the accents.

As you can see, it was a very full day. Everyone did a great job, and we will see you in the near future!

~Carolyn

March 31st, 2009

2009-04-02T13:46:00.001-04:00

Dear All,

Sorry I had to miss most of tonight's rehearsal, but it looked like everyone was having fun when I got there. We worked on fight choreography, and everyone is supposed to remember the six important safety techniques: distance, arm points, simultaneous movements, signaling, direction of energy, and practice. Everyone's fencing looked really good. We'll be practicing again on Sunday, so come prepared then.

Tomorrow, rehearsal will start at 7 at Barus and Holley 153. We'll be warming up from 7-7:30. All of the witches will be called from 7:30 to 9:30 to work on their characters and Scenes 3-3 and 1-4. During that time, Nick will work with Hannah on monologues of his choosing. Nick, if you could let Hannah know the monologues you want so she has time to prepare, that would be great. At 9:30, Macbeth and Banquo should be free to go as we move to scene 1-2. At 10, Mat should be able to leave as the three girl witches focus on scenes 1-1 and 1-3.

In the more distant future, Thursday we will work on scenes 2-2 and 3-2. Friday will be scenes 2-3 and 3-4, and 4-2 and 1-6 if we have time.

As always, email me with any questions.

Thanks,
Carolyn

March 30th, 2009

2009-04-02T13:43:00.001-04:00

Hey Everyone!

Welcome back from Spring Break. I hope everyone had a nice week. Tomorrow's rehearsal will be in List 110 at 8:30. We will be doing fight choreography, so try to come warmed up. Scripts will not be needed. Those who didn't receive the revised scripts will get it then.

Today's rehearsal started with warm-ups: Run Into the Circle, Walk in a Circle, and People Standing Still. We talked about soft focus, keeping the whole room in your line of vision. They we moved on to viewpoints, working with tempo. Everyone picked an action and did it at different speeds. The next exercise was text and response, where the witches moved Nick as he read the dagger monologue. The witches gained objectives: Jen wanted to help Nick, Harry wanted to kill him, Emma wanted to keep him symmetrical, and Quyen was trying to sleep with him (later changed to keeping him asymmetrical). We then moved on to Expand and Contract. Quyen responded to the words lightning and thunder. Emma responded to the line "Be lion-mettled...where conspires are," (Special moment: Nick's mad cackle). Finally, Nick responded to the line "Double, double...cauldron bubble". We then started staging Act IV, Scene I, where Macbeth was physically restrained as he tried to crawl towards the witches. After reviewing Act I, Scene V with Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, we moved on to the animal game. Here are the objectives that made the scene:

* Olivia = pregnant lioness, wants to inform Nick of her pregnancy; the scarf will make her queen
* Nick = lion, wants to start a romantic relationship with the panther; the scarf will make him king
* Emma = paranoid monkey; the scarf will make her queen
* Jen = blind hyena; the scarf will restore her sight
* Harry = altruistic snake, wants to help the hyena restore her sight by getting the scarf
* Quyen = panther, guardian of the scarf

You all know what happened. After that, we finished with a game of Three Steps In Three Steps Out and a sound symphony (themes = cannibalism, earth).

I was kind of torn for the quote of the day. My top choices were "I want your lips on my lips in my mouth down my throat," --Harry and "If people want to convene cast-party style. My apartment. Any time," --Nick. Let me know what you think and have a great day!

See you tomorrow,
Carolyn

Staples are better than paper clips

2009-04-01T18:05:00.002-04:00

I dropped my script this morning, which became unclipped in midair and became a mishmash. The paper clip should be eliminated from the market. What an idiotic pseudo-staple.

The Curse

2009-03-30T08:25:00.001-04:00

The last time I did this play, I was pretty much the only one to emerge unscathed by the curse -- given Lady Macbeth's broken leg and Macduff's broken thumb.

Has anyone except me not been touched by the curse this time around?

The play is cursed...or not?

2009-03-29T21:41:00.002-04:00

So...I have a physics midterm on Wednesday, and I just discovered that I left my textbooks at home. When I opened my bag, where the books should have been, I found a cat skull. Go figure. Ok, joking about the last part but sadly not about the first. There's going to be a pissed off Duncan/Macduff for this week of rehearsals....

Pembroke Field House???

2009-03-29T16:36:00.003-04:00

How'd we get hooked up with THAT location? I didn't even know Pembroke Field had a house. I love how when I lived on Pembroke for two years, all my rehearsals were down this way (Andrews to PW in the middle of the night...that walk was killer), and now that I live right next to the space, rehearsal's down half of Providence away.

Does the SOTG board conspire against me when I'm not around? It's ok, you can tell me. It's an anti-Nick extravaganza.

Sadistic witches and stuff

2009-03-29T14:42:00.005-04:00

YO.

yep, overdue.
So I meant to post this after our last rehearsal (which was a pretty long time ago..) but then typing with a broken keyboard is incredibly difficult... (so fyi, my keyboard is messed up cuz i spilled OJ on it.. and it's all because of the technological curse)

Anyhow, being on the cast of Macbeth has given me the irreplaceable opportunity of uncovering the sadistic side of myself i never knew...

to set up some context, the rehearsal activity entailed 4 witches circling around one individual and repeating lines from the play (and altering the way we say the lines) as the individual in the middle expands and contracts his/her limbs. What I got from it was something like the witches outside casting spells that pulled the person apart and the contractions were attempts to escape the witches' sorcery..

So just a word to all the folks out there--
if you ever wondered how much fun it is to circle around an individual and torment him/her, well, let me tell you.. it's pretty fun.

oh, and if you're curious what exactly this "sadism" looks like, here ya go:

it's kinda like the creepier, more evil version of Nelson from the Simpsons...

(Ha ha! you're shriveling in pain..)

"and his son and his son and his sooo-on"

2009-03-28T21:25:00.004-04:00

If any of you were curious about the Shakespeare Retold version of Macbeth, if only to see three garbagemen as the witches, here's a clip:

The witches don't arrive until around 7:45 (sorry I couldn't find a more specific clip), so you might want to skip to there. Or watch some unnecessary footage of James McAvoy in no shirt and leather pants, Malcolm with a girly hairdo, the cutting open of a pig's head, and Macbeth kissing Banquo (which, while very amusing, I never could understand).
And you definitely can't get it from this clip, but McAvoy does eventually make for a convincing Macbeth. It's actually kind of scary. So there.

Official Image Post

2009-03-27T02:10:00.004-04:00

Maximus's wife and children, just like those of Macduff, were unjustly murdered. I hope to reach the pictured level of badassery.

Official Spring Break Post

2009-03-27T01:26:00.003-04:00

Life at the homestead has been pretty relaxing. The five main elements of my stay have been my quantum physics book, reading the script, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, eating, sleeping, and a book on libertarianism.

Oh yeah, I wrote this sweet riff on guitar yesterday.

I'm happy with the role assignments. This gives me my chance to reclaim my role in 6th grade as the heroic slayer of Macbeth, hopefully with a thrilling fight sequence. Or, more accurately, my role as a witch as Macduff.

Albums I have listened to so far this break:
"Amnesiac" - Radiohead
"The Red Album" - Baroness
"The Always Open Mouth" - Fear Before The Of Flames
"Law" - Cougar
"Kezia" - Protest The Hero
"Leviathan" - Mastodon
"Panopticon" - Isis
"Music Has The Right To Children" - Boards Of Canada
"A Celebration Of Guilt" - Arsis
"Void" - Intronaut
"Sol Eye Sea I" - Irepress
"Panopticon" - Isis

I had a dream it was Pain Day at Brown. Everyone was beating on a guy who crashed his bicycle after careening down the steps of a larger Barus & Holley 166. I only mention it because Mat joined in on the beatdown.

Mat Without the Second T

2009-03-26T11:17:00.005-04:00

Mat, I was wrong saying Mat McBriar was Scandinavian. In fact, I was off by most of the world. He's from Australia. They must put something in the water down there in Australia because they can uniformly kick ass with their kicking foots. Is the solitary T thing a family name, or do you just like being a shade different? HAVE to be so unique, don't you???

No one see the movie Duplicity that's in theaters right now. It stars the two red hot movie stars from that youtube scene I posted the other day (Clive and Julia), yet someone forgot to tell them they were supposed to be sexually electric together this time around. I don't go to Clive Owen/Julia Roberts movies to see them be coy, alright!! I want some sex, for the love of God!

I'm also sick and tired of hearing about LeAnn Rimes (whoever the hell she is) cheating on her damn husband. It's on every station and every magazine, and I hear about it every hour!! Can someone tell me who this woman is and why her illicit sex is something that warrants national attention? Even my mom (a fucking fifty-five year old lawyer) couldn't stop talking about it. Sick consumer culture we live in.

Spring break is weak. It's actually dull enough that I'm noticing as I type this that "break" and "weak" look the same but are pronounced differently. That pisses me off. Yesterday, Aubs and I spent like twenty minutes lamenting how the spelling of the word "one" makes no sense. What a bogus language; Shakespeare should have picked a more intelligible tongue.

Haha. Yeah, fuck spring break. All things being equal, I'd rather be in Providence.

Fun Times

2009-03-24T21:37:00.001-04:00

Yayy, I have an identity now.

2009-03-24T10:43:00.003-04:00

Thanks Arik for posting the who's who. Now I can start memorizing. After I finish my physics homework *bursts into tears...*

Ensemble Acting at its Finest

2009-03-23T19:09:00.004-04:00

I felt the urge to post this when I saw it on youtube for two reasons. Because it reminds me of the lady macbeth/macbeth dynamic somewhat, in the way they threaten each other and push each other away. Second, because the movie this is from, CLOSER (based on a play), is one of the best examples of ensemble acting in recent years. We should watch a movie like it together, come to think of it, to observe great actors playing off of each other.

Ok, Natalie Portman is not a great actor, but she fits her role in the movie fine. Meanwhile, she's not in this scene -- it's Julia Roberts and Clive Owen going straight at each other with sexual threats and taunts. NOTE ** the language is extremely, unbelievably vulgar. It all serves a purpose, but if the words "whore," "fuck," "bitch," "cum" and "suck" aren't your cup of tea, don't watch the scene. I'm sure there's even worse words I'm not recalling...

Witch Fun

2009-03-23T13:08:00.003-04:00

I remembered the other day that last semester when the chorus did Dido and Aeneas, I looked up some of the witch's scenes on youtube and found this gem:

For those of you who don't know the opera, the sorceress explains her plan to destroy Dido and Aeneas's love and then her witches do a dance and two have a duet. But this...is a "technopera" and so instead of a little orchestra bit we have modern dance and crazy lights and costumes. Sometimes the way they move is interesting...but a lot of the time it's just hilarious. I thought you all might be amused by witchy interpretations from a different show. If you have time, look at the Sorceress sing(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4k5E_Nwj6c&feature=channel_page), which is also funny because they're trying desperately to mix techno backgrounds with classical singing.

There comes a point in all productions when I start thinking up ridiculous hair and makeup for my character. It's inevitable. And then a couple days later I realise how weird the ideas are. So the other day I was watching Elizabeth (for the umpteenth time) and playing far too much Rock Band with my sisters, and so I started thinking about pure white makeup with a lot of emphasis on the eyes and a large mass of dreadlocks. Don't worry, Arik, you won't have to talk me out of it, I'm fully aware how silly it sounds now. But I am curious- do you have any ideas concerning costumes and the like, yet? (I know there was a mention of silver spandex for witches at the very beginning)

Apartment

2009-03-22T18:10:00.003-04:00

I see all the cast members are really knocking down the doors of this blog with their posts. I can see how important this show and this ensemble is to some of us. Maybe we need snappier headlines...

Alright, try this on for size. As a number of you know, I live in an apartment with my lovely girlfriend Aubrey over yonder in the PW vicinity. It's a nice large place that's real good for having people over (everyone seems to want to meet at our place since we moved in...), and the two of us were thinking why not have the cast come over to hang out some day -- like a Saturday or something when we're not drained from rehearsal.

We're on the second floor of a most-shittily insulated building, so I think loud music/dance party type of thing would not be welcomed by my downstairs neighbors. To say nothing about the fact that I hate those kinds of parties anyway, and even more when they're at my place so I can't leave when I want. If, however, people want to meet in a slightly quieter and more relaxed capacity (I don't use "chill" as an adjective on general principle, but you get the idea), then I think it'd be a cool place to go.

Of course, since Aubrey's not in the cast, this wouldn't be cast exclusive, but, as close to you all as I do feel, I'm not prepared to excommunicate my lady for you...

Not that any of us ever comment on posts, but what do people think of this idea?

'Allo!

2009-03-22T13:33:00.004-04:00

Oh...oh, hello. I didn't see you there. *puts down book in grandfatherly fashion and looks at the cast*.

I'm Kevin, the fight choreographer. I hope you're all having a lovely break. I wanted to let you know that I've now confirmed we're going to be working with fencing sabers for our weapons. Now, if you are familiar with these weapons, you might think to yourself "But Macbeth is about brutality! Strength! Vicious combat! Such flimsy weapons of the Renaissance Dandy could never do!"

...*This is where you either say "Yes! I was thinking that!" or "I was not familiar with them! But tell me more!". I'll give you a minute to do so*

Well, you would be correct. I'm spending part of break coming up with an unusual bastardization of traditional rapier technique that will make the fighting far more Macbeth-like. So be prepared for something a little weird. From when I talked to Arik, it sounds like we're going to start weapons training the moment we get back from break, which I'm most looking forward to!

So anyway, *shuffles feet awkwardly* that's me. If you have any ideas about fight scenes, or have things you want to communicate about your character through the battle, let me know. Also, if you have any questions about safety, technique, what we'll be doing, or how to break a man's neck in one smooth motion, I can also answer all of those.

Rehearsal Photos 3/18

2009-03-22T02:51:00.010-04:00

Grotesque Misspelling of "Dramaturg"

2009-03-21T08:14:00.002-04:00

...which is, in itself, a shortening of an altogether silly word anyway. However, at the evidence of the right toolbar, Emily is now a "dramatrug," which sounds like a theater school dropout's sailboat's name.

March 20 -- 7:07 AM

2009-03-20T07:07:00.001-04:00

Rising early to study for a sadistically scheduled midterm. Rehearsal last night was happening; maybe we shouldn't tell the witches that we gave them one day off a week so we could laugh at them mercilessly and mock their very existences. Oops, just told them.

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are very twisted psychological cases, and I don't know how well I'm gonna sleep while I have to live with this character. Good thing I'm not a method actor. If you'd cast Daniel Day-Lewis, there'd be dead bodies turning up all over the place so he could "understand what it's like to have killed someone."
-Nick

Mat's Posts/Late-night Rants 3/20

2009-03-20T02:38:00.000-04:00

March 20th, 2:38 AM

W00t. Officially the day I go home. Just wanted to say I hope everyone has a great spring break! And good luck learning the lines which we don't know about yet...*cough*Arik*cough*

Emily 3/20

2009-03-20T02:01:00.000-04:00

March 20, 2009

Because I can't get enough of fun images, here is another. This is a depiction of the Whirlwind Lovers from Dante's Inferno. The artist is William Blake (that crazy motherfucker with paintbrush). The scene shows the Second Circle of Hell, where all the lustful lovers swirl in an endless tempest. Blake depicts the windful souls gusting through ethereal streams. It's beautiful, and once again touches upon that connection that we're beginning to establish in our work. Their bodies spin together, wrapped about each other in endless movement. I always thought they got off fairly easy. Though in an neverending spiral, the lovers remain united in their punishment.

And pity, like naked new-born babe,

Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubim, horsed

Upon the sightless couriers of the air,

Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,

That tears shall drown the wind...

(Act II Scene VII)

Anon!

2009-03-19T11:27:00.007-04:00

Ha, ditto on the knee bruises Mat. Sorry I had to slip out early last night everyone! I thought that was a great rehearsal- especially that last piece we all did together. It suddenly dawned on me that the opening scene is probably going to be fantastically creepy. As for games, I've been a big fan of sound and motion, and think that using words instead of sounds worked out really well (Emma's whispering was stellar, by the way, and really did a good job of showing that getting progressively more quiet can be as striking as getting progressively louder). Vampire and Big Booty ...or should I say, MacDuffy... are always a blast. Once I get coordinated enough I'd like to bust out Mat's crazy dance moves in the middle of it. Hope everyone has a fabulous break wherever you're headed!

Emily 3/19

2009-03-19T02:00:00.000-04:00

March 19, 2009

The Temptation of St. Anthony By Salvador Dali

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about demons. Not in a satanic ritual kind of way, mind you. Yet they keep on popping up everywhere it seems. In my early modern history class, we've been discussing the fine line between the natural and supernatural in the mind of an sixteenth century person. In between these two points lies the idea of preternatural, that which stretches the boundaries of natural law. This includes angels, demons, and yes indeed, witches. These individuals twist and manipulate the elements, throwing the natural order off-balance without necessarily defying it. They remain part of the natural world. According to Thomas Aquinas and various other philosophers, God alone can break nature's laws. Therefore witches and demons can not perform miracles but rather produce "wonders" using their intelligence and power to create something extraordinary.

I've also been looking at images of The Temptation of St. Anthony. St. Anthony is a third century hermit, who lived as an ascetic in the Egyptian desert. While hiding in a cave, a pack of demons came to plague him with images of sin and torment. This temptation has been represented in art throughout history. The demons' mockery of Anthony reminds me a lot of the dynamic we've been creating between the witches and the Macbeth clan, a whirlwind of creatures twisting around these poor mortals. Here are some more pictures, in addition to the one by Salvador Dali at the beginning. Click the image to enlarge.

L: Martin Schongauer, 1470's R: H. Bosch, 1505

Olivia post 3/19

2009-03-19T01:53:00.000-04:00

MARCH 19-
I finally have time to sit down and type the lines I memorised:
Scene 5-
"Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be what thou art promised: yet do I fear thy nature; it is too full of the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way"
"Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here; and fill me from the crown to the toe top full of direst cruelty!"
"To beguile the time, look like the time; Bear welcome in your eye, your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under't"

Scene 6- (I only have two)
"All our service in every point twice done, and then done double, were poor and single business to contend against those honours deep and broad wherewith your majesty loads our house: for those of old and the late dignities heap'd up to them, we rest your hermits"
"Your servants ever have theirs, themselves, and what is theirs, in compt, to make their audit at your highness' pleasure, still to return your own"

Scene 7-
"Was the hope drunk wherein you dress'd yourself?"
"I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plunk'd my nipple from his boneless gums, and dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this!"
"But screw your courage to the sticking place, and we'll not fail"

March 18th, 2009

2009-03-18T17:18:00.001-04:00

Congrats to the Witches today, who had an amazing rehearsal. We started out with a game of Macduffy (Today's words: spot, knocking, paddock, anon, insane) and then went into impulse dancing. We partnered up, working with points of contacts for a while, and then moved on to discuss important characters in the play, with particular attention to Act 5. It was generally agreed that the important characters were Duncan, Banquo, Macduff, Lady Macduff and her son, Malcolm, and Ross. Those not as important were Hecate, Lennox, Donalbain, and the Siwards. In order to fully categorize the characters, we have to know what our agenda is for the play, so think about that.

We then started work on lines from each of the scenes in the play (though we skipped some), composing dances and often incorporating a line from the text: They went:

* Act I, Scene 1: Blood--Death, Cleansing, Reward -- "Hail, brave friend"
* Act I, Scene 2: Darkness--Discovery, Confidence, Gift -- "To betray's in deepest consequence"
* Act I, Scene 4: "There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face"--Delivery, Concealment, Bounty -- "There if I grow/The harvest is your own."
* Act II, Scene 1/3: Sleep--Doubt, Persuasion, Bravery, Fuck It! (antonym for hesitation), Murder -- Jen used the word urine, Mat used the words "a friend", Harry used the word bosom, Emma used the word horror, Quyen used the word building
* Act III, Scene 4: The Serpent--Struggle, Resurrection, Conviction --no text was used, but it was done to the song "Only the Good Die Young" -- Harry was the serpent, Quyen was a mouse, Emma was a tiger, and Mat was a rhinoceros

We did the creature exercise, using text for sounds. It started with pairs, as is typical of the game. It was then built into threes, with people rotating, and finally climaxed in all five witches performing at the same time, which was incredible to watch. Everyone got really into it, and that could be what the beginning of the show looks like.

For Act IV, Scene 1, we worked with the line "Be bloody, bold, and resolute", with one person standing in the center and the other three around them. The three people said the line, and the person in the middle reacted to them, pulling apart and contracting. This led to my favorite line of the night, when Arik said "And we just killed Harry without physical violence, which is cool." For Act IV, Scene 2, the witches performed another composition, with Emma as a mother and the text "Poor bird", Mat as a son with the text "Who must hang them?", Harry as a silent murderer, and Quyen as evil with the text "Know not what we fear".

The last thing we did was to create a (somewhat skewed) battle. For those who weren't there, it involved scarves used as deadly weapons, pushing chairs into a castle, and Harry hiding behind a desk. The rules might need to be refined, but it was a good time.

So this was the witches' last rehearsal before spring vacation, and it was a great way to finish. Tomorrow, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are called at 6:30. We will be meeting in TF Green 112, and will head over to swing at 9:00. Remember to bring the lines you memorized. See you then!

~Carolyn
----
Comments from Arik: Beautiful work today. We found a couple of really nice connections between people. Pictures will be up soon. I will also soon post a new working copy of the script.

Harry's Posts

2009-03-18T04:54:00.004-04:00

3/18/09

My lines for 3/17 were....

Scene II
pg. 3 DUNCAN: So well they words become thee as thy wounds.
pg. 4 ROSS: Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky and fan our people cold.

Scene III
pg. 8 BANQUO: Or have we eaten on the insane root that takes the reason prisoner?
pg. 9 BANQUO: What, can the devil speak true?

Scene IV
pg. 12 MALCOLM: Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it.
pg. 12 DUNCAN: More is thy due than more than all can pay.

Scene VI
pg. 17 DUNCAN: The air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself unto our gentle senses.
pg. 18 DUNCAN: And his great love, sharp as his spur, hath holp him to his home before us.

Is that last "holp" actually supposed to be "help" in the script?

Mat's Posts/Late-night Rants

2009-03-18T03:38:00.005-04:00

March 18th, 1:39 AM (Brazilian Time)

Yayyy...blogging. whooopie. Now everyone on the world-wide-interweb can know how much this lab report sucks. and my knees are still KILLING me from the farm bit in rehearsal yesterday.

Games

2009-03-18T01:31:00.002-04:00

Hey Cast! Please leave a comment with some of your favorite games/exercises that we've done. Please make note of if it was just fun, or if you found it useful in some way. How was it fun or useful?
Some things we've done:
Vampire
Sound and Motion (Creature/Monster) - also adding text
Big Booty (McDuffy)
Animal Environments (the Jungle/Kelp Forest, the Farm)
Three Chair Track (with the vocab of sit, walk, turn around, raise hand)
Impulse (letting the physical impulse guide you)
Energy Transfer (a point of energy guides you and then someone else takes it from you)
Three Steps

I made up the names to half of those... if you have alternate names, feel free to share those! I'm also sure I'm forgetting some.
-Arik

Moments

2009-03-18T01:30:00.002-04:00

Hey Carolyn, can you post a list of those moments that are dispersed through the rehearsal reports? I'll that picture i took today... eventually...

Emily's Posts

2009-03-18T00:08:00.024-04:00

March 17 2009

Hey everyone. Here some things I noticed in rehearsal today.
-Nick/Olivia balboa with everyone else doubling up and dancing around-possible opening? banquet scene?
-competition developing between Nick and Mat in Big Booty- pretty
intense, guys; Mat needs to channel that shit into the play, and Nick thrives off of competition (don't pretend to deny it).
-McDuffy= Blood, Heath, Wounds, Drunk, Choke, Betray- I liked the
moment at the end when the pace was sped up by Nick.
-hilariously wonderful spoon party and mocking loveliness

Cool word combos I was playing with/ noticed:
-Cling together and choke
-doubtful swimmers
-choking the words
-cling to the art of wounds
-heath blood

Olivia's Posts

2009-03-17T23:47:00.005-04:00

I was reading The Tain today for a class. It's the oldest piece of Irish literature. I actually see a few similarities between customs mentioned in the book and things in the play (for instance we talked in class about how there's a character Mac Roth (whose name is not too far away from our messenger, Ross) who announces the oncoming army in much the same language and in the same style as the Messenger announces the coming of Birnam Wood. But anyway, one of the main characters, Medb, is a powerful queen character married to Ailill. When a huge army comes to join their army, Medb says she doesn't want the new troop to come with them to help them fight the enemy, because the other troop would get all the glory. So then the couple have the following conversation:
"'Let them stay, then,' Ailill said.
'They can't stay,' Medb said. 'They would only come and seize our lands when we are gone.'
'Well, what are we going to do with them,' Ailill said, 'if they can neither stay nor come?'
'Kill them,' Medb said.
'That is a woman's thinking and no mistake!' Ailill said. 'A wicked thing to say.'
Oddly reminiscent of both "Bear men-children only" and "unsex me here" but in an extremely twisted-gender-roles-turned-on-their-head-way.
-March 15

Nick's Posts

2009-03-17T09:56:00.008-04:00

March 17

I think it's genuinely tragic that if an earthworm undergoes all the philosophical, moral and practical issues associated with suicide and then elects to end it all, that it does not have an easy option and must, as Emma discovered, dry itself up in the sunlight.

March 17th, 2009

2009-03-17T01:32:00.001-04:00

Just a heads up, someone left their script in List 110. I have it, and I can give it back to them, but for the next rehersal they should use the link to the script posted on the blog. You don't have to print it out, just study it. Everyone, remember to bring you scripts tomorrow. The Witches are called from 7 to 11. Remember to think about important characters to keep in the final production. We will be meeting in Barus and Holley 153.

Sorry I couldn't be here for the first part of the rehearsal. From what I understand, you guys continued playing the monster game, except with text added in. According to Arik, there was a *special moment* in thie middle, which he felt looked like the opening to the show. So good job. When I arrived, everyone was taking turns responding to impulses in their body while the others looked on. The important thing to remember from this exercise is to let one part of your body influence the rest, instead of just moving in isolation. The exercise was repeated to music, and then partners were added in. Eventually, the whole group joined in, which led to another *special moment*: the moving spoon/conga line. Arik tried to take a picture, but you guys moved on before he could get to it. He is planning on bringing a camera next time, but if anyone else wants to bring anything to document the rehearsals and post for the blog, feel free.

This exercise was followed by a roudy game of Macduffy. For those of you who weren't there, we started out playing Big Bootie but Shakespearified it: Instead of Big Bootie, you say "Macduffy", and instead of numbers, you choose a word from the text. In this case, the words were blood, heath, wounds, drunk, choke, and betray. Keep on thinking of words to use; they work best if they are one or two syllables. Finally, we ended with a game of word choice. The words chosen were prithee, hostess, betray, servants, heath, and wound.

Great job today everybody. Remember: only the Witches are called for tomorrow, in B&H 153. Bring your scripts. See you then!

~Carolyn

----
Comments from Arik: We also did some swing dancing surrounded by that Impulse thing. It was hot. We also let the witches manipulate the bodies of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. This was post Mcduffy and pre word choice. Also, Hannah worked with Nick and Olivia using the "All For" exercise. They also talked about beats.
In other news: BACK YOU YOUR DATA! THE CURSE HAS MOVED TO TECHNOLOGY!!! Members of the cast and crew have recently had some computer issues. We have decided it is because of the curse. Best of luck to us all.

March 16th, 2009

2009-03-16T01:31:00.002-04:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day! It is past midnight, so I can say that.

First off, a reminder that tomorrow's rehearsal will start at 8 in List 110. I can't come until later, and Hannah and Arik might be a little late as they have class right before, so when you get there just start warming up. Remember to bring the lines you memorized from the scenes in Act I. Witches, you are responsible for memorizing two lines from scenes 2, 3, 4, and 6. Macbeth, two lines from scenes 3-7, excluding 6. Lady Macbeth, three lines from scenes 5 to 7.

Today was another exciting day of movement and games. It was honestly amazing to watch. The first game was monster, followed by Three Steps In, Three Steps Out. Today we started working with our inner animals, which brings me to a special moment: Harry's snipping. (By the way, if you can think of a better name for these moments than just "special moments" feel free to suggest it to me). We then divided into groups to work on the Chair game, which involved another special moment: Mat's hand movement at the end of the sequence involving animals. We then worked on emphasizing different centers of the body, and followed that exercise by the one I have dubbed AAEZ: Animals in an Ambiguous Ecological Zone. I don't know if our "forest" really fit any realistic environmental description.

Then we moved on to the Barnyard scene. The first time, each person acted out a different animal, responding to text as it was read allowed. The second time was even cooler, involving a Nazi turtle and a pig-obsessed worm. Each person was assigned an animal and an objective and the scene that ensued was hilarious, and sometimes sad. Kudos to everyone. Special moment: Harry, as a porcupine, stabbing Jen with his spikes by purposefully falling on top of her. My favorite quote of the day came during the discussion, when Nick said, "It must be murder, being a suicidal earthworm."

We finished up the day with the Word Circle. The words used today were: screw, filthy, tyrant, murdering, man, secret, and tap. Hope those help.

Thanks so much for another great reherasal and see you tomorrow!

Carolyn

March 15th, 2009

2009-03-15T01:30:00.002-04:00

So today we continued with movement exercises, starting with the now classic vampire game. We moved on to monster instincts, and then worked on the grid. Focusing on time and later space, we explored the line "I have given suck" and then worked with just the word "have". And then it was Hannah time! We practiced walking through space, focusing on the different areas of the body and how adjusting their position affected the way we walk. Then we moved on to a game called Word Choice. I wrote down the words people chose (taken from the text). So you can remember them, here they are:

Raven; Hurly burly; Beast; Prick; Conceal; Scorpion; Unsex; Treacherous; Rip; Monster; Tick; Thumb

Hope that helps jog some memory. Remember for the next rehearsal, we will meet in Wilson 106 and hopefully move on to a better location. Scripts are needed. And, obviously, I am now available by email as well as text. Have a good rest of the evening!

~Carolyn

March 13th, 2009

2009-03-13T01:30:00.001-04:00

Awesome job at our first non-read through rehearsal! Sorry for those of you who couldn't be there, but hopefully we will see you tomorrow. THe next rehearsal is Sunday at 2 o'clock. We're meeting in the TF Green lobby, and you won't need your scripts.

What you do need to do for the next rehearsal, however, is find three lines of the text that you find particularly powerful and email me with the lines and page numbers. Also, find an image from the text and bring it in. We now also have the finalized rehearsal schedule, which, thanks to Arik, is posted on the blog, so you can check it out there.

Yesterday's rehearsal was pretty fun, if I do say so myself. We practiced in a room in TF Green, just getting acquainted with moving through space and reacting to each other. We played the Vampire Game (those of you who were in the second call back group should remember it), Monster, and did a Sound Symphony, as well as worked on the Grid with movement, space, and time. One thing to point out that we discussed yesterday is that if you ever feel a moment was particularly powerful, or an activity particularly useful, let me know so I can record it. This time it was Nick's crazy person laugh in the middle of Monster.

So have a nice Saturday, and find those lines in the text. I'll see you tomorrow, and, as always, you can email me, Hannah, or Arik with any questions.

Thanks,
Carolyn
----
Comments from Arik: Monster is also called "Sound and Motion" or at least according to John Emigh it is...

March 12th, 2009

2009-03-12T01:29:00.002-04:00

Nick, Oliva and I went to Swing and learned Balboa basic. We all have the basic step down. Just gotta work on making foot movements slower.
-Arik

The Cast

2009-03-11T02:20:00.005-04:00

Macbeth
Nick Schoenfeld

Lady Macbeth
Olivia Harding

Witches
Emma Brown
Jen Fallon
Harry Mickalide
Quyen Ngo
Mathew Reiss

March 11th, 2009

2009-03-11T01:28:00.001-04:00

So, for this rehearsal, we handed out scripts, discussed the concept of the show and read through the first four acts, discussing possible interpretations of the characters along the way. Basically, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth exist in a dream world where they are manipulated by witches. For our rehearsal process, we're going to be using lots of different sources, not just the text (remember the smashed up/pushed over cake illustration). These sources can be posted on the super awesome blog that we have: http://sotgmacbeth.blogspot.com/! Feel free to find sources in movies, music, images, whatever!

Anyways, the rehearsal schedule is as follows (Note: if you listed a conflict, you are not called for the hours you wrote down):

Monday: Witches and Macbeth called, Lady Macbeth later on--ensemble work with the Witches; Hannah will work with Macbeth; when Olivia arrives at 8:30, Lady Macbeth can join him
Tuesday: All called--work together
Wednesday: Witches and Macbeth called--ensemble work with the Witches; Hannah will work with Macbeth
Thursday: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth called--will work for a few hours and go to Swing; witches are NOT called
Friday: All called--work together
Saturday: No rehearsal
Sunday: Witches and Macbeth called--ensemble work with the Witches; Hannah will work with Macbeth

Who is working with whom may change slightly depending on how the rehearsals go, but these are the days you will be called on.
~Carolyn
-----
Comments from Arik: http://www.sixviewpoints.com/Theory1.html

Images from Callbacks

2009-03-10T01:26:00.001-04:00

The Show

2009-02-24T01:59:00.002-05:00

A small hand full of people try to live an ordinary life in a world full of witches. What happens to these people when the witches start to have a little fun?

Auditions

2009-02-24T01:38:00.005-05:00

Sunday March 8th from 5pm - 8pm
Monday March 9th from 7pm - 10pm

Callbacks will be on Tuesday March 10th. Times TBA.
Locations TBA.
Stay tuned for more info soon!

There will be an ensemble cast of 6-8 people. Feel free to read the SCRIPT.

Rehearsals will start Wednesday March 11th!

Rehearsals

2009-02-24T01:34:00.005-05:00

Monday (6-10pm): Witches and Macbeth called, Lady Macbeth later on--ensemble work with the Witches; Hannah will work with Macbeth; when Olivia arrives at 8:30, Lady Macbeth can join him

Tuesday (8:30-11pm): All called--work together

Wednesday (7-11pm): Witches and Macbeth called--ensemble work with the Witches; Hannah will work with Macbeth

Thursday (6:30-10pm): Macbeth and Lady Macbeth called--will work for a few hours and go to Swing; witches are NOT called

Friday(6-10pm): All called--work together

Saturday: No rehearsal

Sunday (2-5pm): All called--work together