The end of week 2

So having just arrived back after the end of our second week of rehearsals I am feeling lots of things. Excited, motivated, overwhelmed, nervous and exhausted!
The week has gone really well. Starting off in Cambridge we had the pleaure of working with Jeremy Thurlow our composer who has created some beautiful music, capturing the emotion, spirit and depth of each section of the play. It feels such a privilage to have music created specifically for the work you are doing, and so wonderful to have the chance to work alongside music which serves the play specifically as opposed to music from elsewhere which happens to fit with each scene.
As the process has continued I have been struck again and again by what a huge challenge this piece is. This being for several reasons. Firstly, the fragmented nature of the script requires some huge leaps emotionally, and in terms of the characters age. As well as this, I have felt a huge responsibility to do justice to Virginia in my portrayal of her. Necessarily we are having to find a line between a character who is historically accurate, and one who can be interpreted and imbelished. It is taking me time to begin to trust in my instincts during rehearsals, and having read what seems like mountains of diaries, letters, biographys, novels and essays, I am tyring to use that as a basis for my own interpretation.
Towards the end of the week we began looking in much more detail at the voices of these two women, paying particular attention to the clipped, bright R.P accents which they require. This took a hold innitially as we delved into finding the emotional basis and impulse of each section, but necessarily now we have begun to embark on the challenge of marrying these two factors together.
One thing that strike me as we work further through the text is the relentlessness of the lives of these two women. It has also been encouraging to begin to see the entire piece, to get a feel for the whole story, to begin to see it up on its feet and living. Next week promises much more detailed revisiting to articulate and cement the work we have already done. Then on Friday we return to Cambridge to work once more with Jeremy and the music. All very exciting!