Casting The Cagebirds
Braham Murray suggests ‘Cast a play right and seventy-five percent at least of the job is done. Cast it wrong and the play will never work as it should’ (2011, p. 21). Casting The Cagebirds was not something which I took lightly. Murray’s comment on the importance of casting is a view that I share. Therefore it was with very careful decisions that I compiled the preliminary cast list for Retold. I had already made notes about each of the characters and developed a ‘vision’ for each one:
Gloom – A hypochondriac, possibly a ‘germophobe’. A strong accent (probably Northern).
Gazer – Beautiful, proper, refined, long hair, tall, good posture. A softer voice.
Guzzle – Overeater, culinary expert, common.
Gossip – Simple, can only repeat tasks, talkative, loud.
Thump – Old, bit of a pervert, a Conservative. Tries to sound knowledgeable. (Most appropriate role for a male)
Twitting – Social anxiety, possible Asperger’s syndrome, indecisive.
Wild One – Angry, a strong distinctive voice, normal in comparison to others.
Mistress – Sadist, Patronising, well spoken.
As much of the play is reliant upon characterisation it was vital that the casting was as good as it could be given the limited amount of actors available. Frank Hauser and Russell Reich explain ‘An important distinction, then, to make at this early stage in the process is not, “Is he convincing as the character?” but “Can he play it?” (2006, p. 18). While I had a mental picture of the superficial qualities I wanted for each character, it was also important to bear in mind the styles and abilities of each cast member. After reading the play and considering the actors available to me I drew up a preliminary cast list. These preliminary casting decisions became the focus for our first rehearsal.
I asked each actor to come to rehearsal having thoroughly read the play and gained a loose understanding of each character. I then gave each actor a temporary role from my preliminary cast list and we performed an initial read through. It became clear from this first rehearsal that my casting choices were correct. All of the actors had by the end of the reading gained a sense of their character and even started to experiment with vocal changes. The final castings were as follows:
Gloom – Gina Mason
Gazer – Emma Chadaway
Guzzle – Melissa Clarke
Gossip – Victoria Turzanski
Thump – Alex Halsall
Twitting – Philipa Gale
Wild One – Alice Barnett
Mistress (voice of) – Laura Murphy
Works Cited:
Hauser, Frank and Russell Reich (2006) Notes on Directing, London: Atlantic Books
Murray, Braham (2011) How to Direct a Play: A Masterclass in Comedy, Tragedy, Farce, Shakespeare, New Plays, Opera, Musicals, London: Oberon Books