Steppenwolf Theatre Company Blog – Chicago Theater, World-Class Ensemble

Well, here we are in the middle of the second week of rehearsal for Sonia Flew. I am writing from the rehearsal room on a lunch break–this morning we’ve been going over the staging in act one, trying to solve problems, looking at the actor’s traffic patterns as they move around the stage, defining the timing of action and words: does he say, “I love you” before or after he puts the silverware down, and does she look at her watch first, or reach for the phone? How did we do it last time? Very unromantic work sometimes, and it can start to feel like a huge SAT logic problem with 5 actors, a christmas tree, a roast, 3 wine glasses, several coats, a trivet and a driedel. If the driedel’s on the coffee table when we start, which wine glass will move to the desk when the yellow scarf is put on the hat rack? Everyone is tired and retreats to seperate corners to chill out on the break, instead of chatting. The actors are taking notes in their scripts and trying to remember these dances with objects they have to learn, and then learn to do lightning fast.

It’s funny for me to be embroiled in this kind of work now, because the last week has been emotional for all of us. We have had two different guests come to speak with us who left Cuba for the United States when they were children, without their parents. The stories are different, but the tellings are very emotional. And it is the little details that we remember about the past that carry the emotional weight. What it felt like to quickly take family photographs before leaving your home forever at the age of 13. Did you think you would never see your parents again? What was the final good bye like in the airport? These stories are full of tears, and strange moments, and funny things also, of course. It felt like we were painting out the emotional world of the second act, where the events of one day in Havana in 1961 result in a young girl being put on a plane and sent away from her home forever. (more…)