Monday July 2nd
Show Title: Volpone, or The Fox
Director: Mary Finch
Assistant Directors: Miranda McPherson and Chase O’Neill
Production Intern: Abraham Joyner-Meyers
Rehearsal Room: Old Masonic/Blackfriars
What we did
Today was a long two-rehearsal day. In our first rehearsal, the cast worked on strength, energy, and a sense of urgency throughout the play. Despite the confines of the smaller space, our pre-show song and Chase’s choreography went well. “Caroline [on bass] has serious groove!” In the evening, we moved onto the Blackfriars’ stage, where we worked through the final court scenes in preparation for our first fully costumed run tomorrow.
Quick and Quotable
From the play
CORVINO: The man is mad! He is possest.
[20 lines later] The devil has enter’d him!
[The next scene] Grave fathers, he’s possest; again, I say.
From the director
FINCH: [to Voltore]: The court is your field. Own it.
From the cast
CARINA: I’m sorry! Abe’s face [as the non-speaking Commandadori] broke me.
Production Insights
It was exciting to be on stage with the our excellent cast in my cameo roll this evening. The freedom of not having lines (and only being on stage to fulfill minor stage directions and support the actors) let me focus on reacting to the narrative of the play. All I had to do was be honest, expressing my surprise, excitement, confusion, and satisfaction with Jonson’s play and each campers’ powerful choices.
Abraham Joyner-Meyers
Abraham Joyner-Meyers is a fiddler, a juggler, and a huge Shakespeare nerd. He completed watching the Shakespearean canon in the fall after seeing ASC’s production of The Fall of King Henry (Henry VI, Part 3). His passion for the Bard also led him to attend ASCTC for two summers, where he acted in Two Gentleman of Verona and Much Ado About Nothing. When Abe is not furiously reading, seeing, or acting in Shakespeare plays, he’ll often be found teaching himself to play new instruments, dancing at contras and with Morris teams, or training with his school archery team. He just completed his freshman year in the dual degree program between Harvard University and Berklee College of Music.