Rabbit Resource Pack - Frantic Assembly
Rabbit Resource Pack - Frantic Assembly
Rabbit Resource Pack - Frantic Assembly
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We need performers that<br />
can place themselves<br />
within a busy creative<br />
process and not feel<br />
separate or superior to<br />
the demands of any<br />
other component. We<br />
need team players. Since<br />
the company started it<br />
has found collaboration<br />
to be the most exciting<br />
way to work and this has created an atmosphere where an interest<br />
and understanding of the other practitioners’ input leads to a greater<br />
understanding of the work as a whole.<br />
When casting for the Cave family members we looked for<br />
individually talented people. We looked for a brooding darkness<br />
within Paul but equally a suppressed sensitivity that would hint at a<br />
possible salvation. For Madeline we had to look for a performer who<br />
could capture the qualities of someone who has not quite come to<br />
terms with the transition from girl to woman and who can fluctuate<br />
between the two. For Kate Cave we wanted a woman who exuded a<br />
sexual charm with just a hint of psychosis.<br />
Sometimes it is not simply a task of matching our performers to<br />
what we have discovered about the characters from several readings.<br />
Sometimes the people you meet can change what you thought you<br />
were looking for. For the character Spin we were looking for someone<br />
who could carry off the streetwise unwashed feel that he exudes from<br />
the page. When Sam Crane auditioned he came across as polite,<br />
handsome and possibly well to do. He threw himself into the<br />
physical side and when it came to the readings we gave him a section<br />
of text essentially written as a rap. We gave him the option of reading<br />
it straight but when he offered to rap it we prepared ourselves for<br />
what could be the longest five minutes of our lives. What followed<br />
completely blew up away. Sam rapped brilliantly and subsequently<br />
opened up the possibilities of what Spin could be! We realised Spin<br />
could also be a mess of contradictions, of denials and aspirations, just<br />
as much as any of the Cave family.<br />
Similarly, for the part of Driver, we were initially looking for a big<br />
bruiser performer as the script dictated but that search was proving<br />
difficult. We thought again about the quality that the character of<br />
Driver brings to the piece. We talked about an other worldly quality,<br />
something distinct from the rest of the group, a quiet dignity and self<br />
possession that keeps him composed when faced with the madness of<br />
the Cave family. Importantly, under this composure lies a violent,<br />
powerful potential that could easily overturn Paul’s world of<br />
definition and order. This distinction suggested to us that Driver<br />
would even move in his own way, exist at a different pace more in<br />
tune to the outside world, far closer to ‘the real world.’ With these<br />
thoughts in mind we turned to Karl Sullivan, a gentle giant we had<br />
worked with on a show called Hymns. (Ok, he may not be a giant<br />
but we are quite a small company!). Karl is a fantastic mover and the<br />
idea of working with a performer who could express the world of<br />
Driver to the audience physically and not just through the few words<br />
he has became a very exciting prospect.<br />
With Karl on board we now had a complete cast. Having cast the<br />
show based on the abilities of the performers alone we then noticed<br />
the startling similarity that existed between the performers playing<br />
the Cave family! Paul and Kate Cave did not look like each other but<br />
Madeline was definitely their daughter, taking various features from<br />
each! The resemblance was unnerving but also a massive stroke of<br />
luck. We took this as a good sign!<br />
All of the performers have surprised and inspired us during<br />
rehearsals. Their vast performance skills are bolstered by an incredible<br />
speed at picking things up, things they may never have done before!<br />
Susan Kyd (Kate) and David Sibley (Paul) may not have felt<br />
immediately comfortable with the movement tasks but we have<br />
found both to be absolute physical theatre naturals. Both are fully<br />
committed to the moves, allowing them to inform their performance<br />
without it taking over. They probably don’t know this but in<br />
rehearsals they are all, with a grace that borders on the offensive,<br />
achieving what it has taken us years to even appreciate existed.<br />
Namely a fully rounded physical performance.<br />
FROM PAGE TO STAGE<br />
Stage Directions<br />
We are notoriously slack with stage directions. Early in rehearsals a member of the cast<br />
suggested we mark the kisses in a scene as we read through it. We suggested that we<br />
shouldn’t worry about that now.<br />
It was at this moment that we realised that we probably have an unusual relationship<br />
with stage directions. By ignoring them at the beginning we try to get into the meat of<br />
the text. What tends to happen then is the stage directions come back as welcome<br />
suggestions, not just appearing as hurdles on day one of rehearsals.<br />
Of course this is only possible thanks to the open mindedness of writers like Brendan<br />
Cowell and Abi Morgan. We realise that some writers’ feelings about their stage<br />
directions would probably make it impossible for us to get to grips with their work.<br />
The ‘problem’ of the second half<br />
<strong>Rabbit</strong> is certainly a play of two halfs. The first half is about a clash of cultures and<br />
manners. In the second half the evening has been blown apart and the characters are<br />
found in ever more extreme situations.<br />
Dealing with the madness of the second half was always going to be a sizeable task. We<br />
wanted to avoid a general sense of the surreal taking over and dwarfing the characters.<br />
After a particularly good run in the rehearsal room we suddenly realised that the<br />
madness of the second half had to be something that the characters had to create<br />
themselves. This is not mad things happening to them. This is all a self-made situation.<br />
They are all responsible. They are lying in their own mess.<br />
This realisation raised the stakes considerably. It meant that each of the little scenes in<br />
the second half had to really fizz with energy. The concept of the visual transition from<br />
room to woods is not enough to carry the Act and it was time for the actors to claim it<br />
back as their own.<br />
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