Today’s Date: July 9th, 2025

Show Title: Richard III

Director: Austen Bell

Staff Crew: D. Scarlett Darling and Sara Bateman (RDAs), Alexa Palena and Allison Monfalcone (Production Interns)

What we did……………………………………………………………………………..

We began our first rehearsal in the Grafton library with a fun game of Defender. This game taught the campers about some of the early 15th century political motivations of these characters. After the game, our lovely assistant director Scarlett helped the campers create even more gestures to help build the world of the play. As a group, the kids created a gesture for when a character is bidding farewell to a king. Then we jumped right back into text work and blocking for Act 1 Scene 3. We continued on with this pattern with the final scene in Act 1, then did a speed run of everything we have blocked for Act 1. Austen closed out rehearsal with a circle of reinforcement and a clap out!

Quick and Quotable…………………………………………………………………

• From the play: “I fear our happiness is at the highest.” -Queen Elizabeth (1.3)

• From the director: “Everyone point to stage left. Point to stage right. Point to yourself. Say “I am doing a good job.”” -Austen 

Production Insights…………………………………………………………………

I have been in many rehearsal rooms as an actor, stagehand, stage manager, lighting operator, yet in this rehearsal room, as a dramaturg, I am having some of the most fun I have ever had. Austen leads the group with joy and never-ending excitement. The campers grab onto this energy and we spend most of rehearsal nerding out about this insanely epic show. Watching the beginning stages of the show come together feels so rewarding. I am going to begin to sound like a broken record, but I swear that I learn something new from these kids every day. Watching how many bold choices they make inspires me to use my creativity and bring some of my ideas to the table. This is one of the most collaborative shows I have ever been a part of.