ABSTRACT
In order to understand how to do a soliloquy, we must start with the audience. The front row of the Dress Circle in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST),
now demolished, was known as ‘Death Row’ among the creative teams of directors, designers and choreographers. After weeks in a studio, the whole company would move into the theatre for technical rehearsals and dress run-throughs. The ‘creatives’ would camp out in the stalls (‘orchestra’ in the US), in close proximity to the lighting desk. For the first preview in front of an audience we would move upstairs to the Dress Circle, in order to get a better perspective on the show. It’s like switching to long shot after working almost exclusively in close and medium shot. It allows you to observe the whole event with more clarity: you can tell when the storytelling is imprecise or confused; where the staging is clumsy or dull; and where the lighting, costuming or decor can be improved. But crucially, the first preview brings in the first paying audience and, without fail, this acts like a gigantic searchlight playing on every aspect of the proceedings. Especially the acting.
