Death of a Salesman - Biff's Blog: Day 4

posted by Jeremy Holm

February 1, 2008

First day on our feet beginning the blocking process. This is usually the slowest day of rehearsal. Not so in this case. We stopped around page 33 and will pick up there tomorrow. A great many little discoveries about use of the space. How to solve scenic hurdles with implication and gestural moves. We get no real bedroom for our bedroom scene which at first was distressing to me. Then Tim and I worked out a cool way to be in the bedroom without the beds, and also to be in a space where brothers have heart to heart talks and walks down old memory lanes. Great image work on what this room looks like and how the things, the objects in this scene are distinguished from scenes in the past. Lines Lines Lines. One never knows the lines well enough or soon enough, and I feel like I'm rushing myself a bit, and yet I'm not keeping up with myself either. Strange. A great day where the size of the work is more clearly defined and the chisels are now dirty and the callouses are being thickened by the work. A very nice Dinner Party was held for us after the rehearsal at Board Intern David Shiffrin's home. A great chance to talk with our castmates and people who are really interested in Miller and in Arena Stage. Sometimes I get some really cool revelations about the work during these sorts of events. Sometimes things that have stewed for a few hours become clear during and because of a conversation in a different context. This happened tonight.