Dessa Rose - Blocking Rehearsals

We finished blocking Act I today. It's always so much fun to see how shows start to come together, especially seeing what my fellow actors bring to the table from the first moment. I'm also learning a lot seeing how Rick takes his vision and allows it to join with the actor's ideas about their character to create some really poignant moments.

We've been talking a lot about the role of women during slavery, and the realities of life in that time are horrifying. We talked about the process of childbirth - it often left women bedridden for months. Slave women were raped, mutilated, and suffered unimaginable tragedy. It's shocking and incredibly sobering to think that these things actually happened to real people. Rick and the production team placed photographs on the walls of the rehearsal hall that put a face on this time period. It's such a contrast of images - stately plantation houses next to a slave's scarred back, a minstrel cartoon of a smiling black man next to photographs of stone-faced slave families.

Even in the face of all of these depressing images and the realities of the life, we as a cast are finding those moments of celebration and joy in these people's lives, the things that made them wake up each morning and live this semblance of a life. Yesterday, we played with one scene where the slaves use their household chore materials as instruments to celebrate Dessa's liberation. It was a great exercise in listening to your fellow actor, calling and responding, all while creating a common rhythm together. It's still coming together, but it's one of my favorite moments so far.

Tomorrow is our off day, which means a full day of school for me :) but I love being busy, I wouldn't have it any other way! Tuesday we'll resume Act II blocking. I really can't believe that Week I is over already! Only two more weeks of rehearsal and then our first preview!