A Reflection from Lindy Girman: THE WINTER'S TALE

Lindy Girman

Beginning in November, I had the opportunity to shadow Young Company’s production of Shakespeare’s THE WINTER'S TALE.

It was enlightening being a fly on the wall throughout the rehearsal process. I relished the opportunity to observe this play grow and morph over four weeks. Each day I took note of specific steps the actors were taking to further their character development. For example, each cast member found new elements through their character's “voice print” or the way in which they speak. Insight into each role is informed by whether speeches are in verse or prose, where the “end stops” lie in the text, or even what their favorite word seems to be.

Piecing together the puzzle that is Shakespeare's work is challenging but rewarding. This brought everyone even deeper into the two worlds of Sicilia and Bohemia. Watching this as an outsider increased my appreciation for the craft even more.

One thing I found particularly interesting was the collaboration between all of the performers, regardless of their previous experience with Shakespeare. Each actor brought something unique to the table. I particularly enjoyed the table work at the beginning of our process. It was quite impressive to see how the first through fourth years in the program worked together on the text and collaborated to build this beautiful language. Students who have studied scansion, the action of scanning a line of verse to determine its rhythm, all throughout high school learned new things, along with those who were experiencing it for the very first time.

THE WINTER'S TALE is heavily with the motif of fairy tales and gets quite dark and heavy at times. The young performers tackled this with accountability and maturity. It was incredible to watch them work through themes of friendship, love, and forgiveness in the rehearsal room. I think this is an excellent example of  First Stage's motto: “life skills through stage skills” in action. Though I have seen my Young Company peers perform Shakespeare in class on Saturdays, it was inspiring to see them bring it all together to create a truly magical piece of art.

Piece submitted by Lindy Girman, a member of Young Company.