One Week On

After a week of investigating the text and beginning to wander through the play in chronological order – the piece jumps from the early nineties to present day throughout – we began the process of standing up each scene in its order of the play today. Already, the practicalties and intricacies of staging Glyn’s text are seeming overwhelming: the number of costume changes required, the specificity of space on a relatively small playing area, the shifts in time and mental cohesion within the character of Mimi and the props required for the story to make sense. Aside from the task of keeping up with all the physical elements and how they might gel together in performance, the central revelation amongst all of this is the task Marianne has undertaken in playing the part. She is on-stage throughout, thrown from one time period to another, all the while leaping from a playing a confident and utterly beguiling 18-year old to a delusion and reclusive woman fifteen years later. Marianne is a brave actress, jumping headfirst into scenes and constantly challenging herself to better her last go at a moment. Her task seems daunting now, but the hope is that Michael’s careful direction, the support of Guy and Dom, and her own skill as a performer will guide her into the final performance.