Fight Scene and Audience Engagement Questions, From Process Notebook 1.29.13

When it came time to rehearse the fight/ end of the play, Jenn and Krissy brought the questions they were struggling with to the cast and rehearsal room at large. 

1. How do we move the audience (when the fight happens) in such a way that it engages them in the space? 

2. How do we activate the audience so that everyone is up and out of their chairs, watching the fight? 

Since the end of the play only takes about 20 minutes, at most we're asking audience members to stand for 20-25 minutes. We discussed having a designated sitting are but felt that that might give away the ending. We don't want people to expect that their going to be asked to move. 

 K & J (Directors, Krissy and Jenn) shared that they want the audience to feel like it's an upheaval. They want the audience to feel displaced. 

We worked out that Ben and the American Dream will come down to the edge of the stage, and the AMD will informed the audience, "We are going to have a fight, right there in 30 seconds." Then they'll begin the countdown, ":30-29-28-27..."

While that's happening the remaining cast members will verbalize to the audience the necessity of moving while literally pulling tables and chairs out of the way. Our goal is that the disruption and verbal commands to move will be enough to engage the audience in the fight.