Laughing in Rehearsal (Uncontrollable Laughter #1)
02-24-2020
I find that every time I return from rehearsals for my current show, Miss Molly, I am in a brighter mood, and I am certain that laughter is a major contributor to that. While ultimately the goal of our rehearsals is to produce a successful play, that doesn't mean we aren't allowed to have fun and enjoy ourselves. We laugh and joke with each other, and on occasion, the laughter doesn't stop.
That very thing happened to me at rehearsal just the other day. Miss Molly is a comedy, so it is only natural that our characters, dialogue, and situations are laughter-inducing. The final act of the play sees one character, Aloysius, dressing up as another, Molly, in order to fool my character, Lady Houseington. In the midst of my character trying to determine which person is the real Molly and her daughter, another woman speaks up, Mrs. Manley, and asks me if I have considered that the two are actually twins. I am supposed to respond along the lines of, "I would remember giving birth to twins," but instead, I burst out laughing. Despite the fact that I have known the line and been saying it for weeks, I couldn't manage to get control of my laughter. Perhaps it was the expressions on the other actors' faces as Mrs. Manley spoke. Maybe it was something in the way the other actress said her line. Whatever, it was, I couldn't stop myself from giggling. Then, after a few moments, the feeling passed just as quickly as it came on, and we resumed our rehearsal.
Acting in a comedy is not as simple as the average person might imagine, and this serves as a perfect example. There are plenty of written works by great theatre artists about how a good comedy is one of the most difficult things to pull off for a multitude of reasons: perfect timing, reading the audience, etc. However, one of the simplest of the comic actor's struggles this: staying in character and not laughing at one's own lines!
I find that every time I return from rehearsals for my current show, Miss Molly, I am in a brighter mood, and I am certain that laughter is a major contributor to that. While ultimately the goal of our rehearsals is to produce a successful play, that doesn't mean we aren't allowed to have fun and enjoy ourselves. We laugh and joke with each other, and on occasion, the laughter doesn't stop.
That very thing happened to me at rehearsal just the other day. Miss Molly is a comedy, so it is only natural that our characters, dialogue, and situations are laughter-inducing. The final act of the play sees one character, Aloysius, dressing up as another, Molly, in order to fool my character, Lady Houseington. In the midst of my character trying to determine which person is the real Molly and her daughter, another woman speaks up, Mrs. Manley, and asks me if I have considered that the two are actually twins. I am supposed to respond along the lines of, "I would remember giving birth to twins," but instead, I burst out laughing. Despite the fact that I have known the line and been saying it for weeks, I couldn't manage to get control of my laughter. Perhaps it was the expressions on the other actors' faces as Mrs. Manley spoke. Maybe it was something in the way the other actress said her line. Whatever, it was, I couldn't stop myself from giggling. Then, after a few moments, the feeling passed just as quickly as it came on, and we resumed our rehearsal.
Acting in a comedy is not as simple as the average person might imagine, and this serves as a perfect example. There are plenty of written works by great theatre artists about how a good comedy is one of the most difficult things to pull off for a multitude of reasons: perfect timing, reading the audience, etc. However, one of the simplest of the comic actor's struggles this: staying in character and not laughing at one's own lines!
Thanks for sharing your rehearsal laughter. sounds like the rehearsals are as entertaining as the play.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is difficult to act in a comedy. Comedy requires such particular execution that it is difficult to bring humor from the page to the stage. The line "I would remember giving birth to twins" is quite humorous. Laughter in rehearsal is a good sign of the future of the play. I enjoyed the blog post!
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