This week has been intense, the school play is only days away and there is still a whole lot to do. 

Above all, these last few rehearsals we have been experiencing technical problems, puppets that break to pieces, costumes which make acting difficult on stilts, props which don't stay in place, and unfinished scene changes. Not to mention we still haven't seen the play on one go, we struggle to make it past the first Act without running out of time. 

Something interesting we've noticed is that actors and backstage seem to be fully concentrated in the scene changes, even though they are not all complete, and some things are left undone, the actors are focused. Maybe its the time pressure, maybe its the apparent simplicity of only  moving a few things around and each person doing only one task. But what I do know is that the only moments where I've seen the play come "alive" so far is precisely in the scene changes. The scenes themselves, even though complete, or at least close to completion, lack that factor which changes a stage, actors and words into theatre. And I'm pretty sure that concentration and focus have a lot to do with that transformation. 

Its somewhat frustrating to see actors "pretending" to act, only performing "make-believe" actions, and not immersing themselves in the situation. Where all they need is that little extra push of focus, of believing what they are doing and stop being the actor on the stage, and becoming the character in the scene. I've discussed this with some friends and they all seem to believe that this lack of concentration disappears when the play is shown to an audience, and all the pressure seems to instantly translate into concentration. But I have my doubts about this assumption. First of all I believe that in order for the actors to develop their characters and explore their actions, they have to be in this state of focus beforehand. That in order for there to be coherence or an actual understanding of the subtext the actors must be immersed in their character and the situation around them.

Due to a lack of this concentration, what we seem to get is actors reading out lines, without the right intention, performing actions which have no significance, and expressing empty emotions. The play itself goes nowhere, and the audience's attention will most certainly be lost as well. 

I do not blame the actors entirely, it was our job as directors to express this vision to the actors, to surround them with context, giving them space to play and explore. But our vision was not clear at all, the plot kept changing, some parts seemed unnecessary, some parts seemed to contradict others, and so, due to a lack of vision and understanding by the directors, the actors found themselves confused.

I'm unsure as to how the "last-minute concentration" as my friends suggest, will transform what we have into a working play, or at least an appealing performance for the audience. Now I realize how crucial it is for a director to have a clear vision from the get go and stay true to it throughout, since it is that vision that translates into a play, and it sets the path for the actors to follow. 

To what extent are actors ever a character and not just a person pretending to be a character, and who does this transformation depend on? the actor or the audience? The concentration of the actor or the state of fiction which the spectator automatically creates when going to see theatre?