Week 3: "The Dance of Discovery" - ARCADIA - Tom Stoppard | The Rehearsal Room - The Working Actor's Journey

Episode Transcript
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>> Nathan Agin (00:00):
Well, we're back for week three. wonderful to see
everybody. And, you know, I was, I had
such a good time. you know, after the last session, I've just been thinking about
a lot.

>> Brendon Fox (00:09):
Of the work that you guys have.

Been talking about and re. Listening to different things.
And, you know, I. I
wanted to make the comment that, you know, this
work is not impossible, but
it just takes time. And I'm
sure any one of you, if you were doing a production,
you'd all be brilliant in your own ways, but they're
just. You just be given. Given the constraints of,

(00:33):
Constraints of a production, you just wouldn't have the time to unearth
all of this stuff and. And so to
be able to see how granular you can
get and to figure out what is what
exactly, you know, how. What led to this moment.
it's so thrilling to experience as an audience member. And I
hope those who are. Who are listening or watching, you
know, have an appreciation for that, because this

(00:55):
isn't, This doesn't always happen, but it's just when
you take the time to do it, it's. It's really exciting
work. and I think maybe a lot of times
it falls on the shoulders of the artists
or actors or director, outside of
rehearsal, you know, what are they thinking about in between
sessions? But if you do take the
time, like I said, it's not impossible to, you

(01:18):
know, find some of this stuff.

>> Geoffrey Wade (01:19):
It just.

It just takes, Takes real, thought to,

To do it.

So, you know, my hats off to all of you guys. You're doing such a great
job. I'm really enjoying kind, of rediscovering this
play and finding all these nooks and crannies
that I didn't even know were there before. So, I'm just loving
it. And, I will, I'll stop fawning over all of you.

And, I'll let you never stop fawning. Please just.

>> Chris Guilmet (01:40):
Oh, yeah, stop.

You can. You can pause, but. But don't fully
stop. That's.

Yes, well, I will pause for now and I'll
turn it over to you, Brendan, and hope you guys have a great, session
tonight.

Thank you, Nathan. well, it's
interesting that Nathan, mentions this about,
It's not impossible, but we all know the
constraints of rehearsal,
processes. And I think that
one of the things I've been thinking about the last two
weeks is that,

(02:13):
yes, we're only focusing on two scenes, right? And
we're spending a number of hours on just, you know,
what, an eighth or so of the play. But I
do think that what's valuable, and, I mean, I'd love
to talk even more about this maybe next week as we wrap up,
but I'd love for you all to be thinking about some of the takeaways
that are not just applicable to this play or
stoppered, but what are some things that we can take from this

(02:36):
potentially to work on other scripts, whether
classical or contemporary? Because I think this play
straddles both multiple,
styles. And one thing that
struck me is that there is some. There's
such value in slowing
down. And I don't know
about you all, but I know that, you know, I'm a huge fan of table work,

(02:58):
regardless of what the. What the play is. Yay.
Yes, Jen. And the. And I
really think it. I see a, change
happen when all it takes are a few actors
that slow themselves down,
that tap the brakes for
themselves. And I think it sends a message to
the cast, the rest of the cast, that

(03:21):
that's okay, because the director can say it all they
want. Take your time. Take your time. But it's another
thing entirely when people actually take you up on that
just from the director's point of view, and when they do, then
everyone goes, oh, okay. And then things can start
to float to the surface, and I
think it let things become less

(03:41):
daunting and dense. But I think
so much of what I want when watching you all
is. And I'm just thinking for you, Téa, in particular,
is you becoming so new to this,
giving yourself permission to not run
headlong or to achieve a result or to
understand it all fully, but just to actually
let yourselves breathe

(04:03):
in it and register what's
happening. Because I think that's another trap of Stoppard, Just
like with Shakespeare, it's like, oh, I know what I'm saying. So I'm just
gonna run to the end zone,
and then we're left behind, and your fellow actors are
kind of left behind playing catch up, and we're not actually
breathing in the thoughts with
you. And so I don't know any. If you have

(04:26):
any thoughts on those thoughts, but I just wanted to start with that, and
I think Nathan teed that up nicely
anyway. But I. It's just something I was thinking about that. It seems kind of
basic, but actually is so important and
kind of overlooked is the pace in which
we unpack, a
play. Any. Any thoughts
on. On that? And.

>> James Newcomb (04:49):
Yeah,
yeah, I worked With a number of directors, I think
that get nervous when they were.
Would like to have structure as soon as possible.
they want to get a sense of
what the structure of the scenes are going to be and jump
to blocking. And I remember,

(05:11):
when I did, Measure,
for Measure at the Goodman, Bob Falls was
directing. We, did two weeks
of table work. And it was
got to the point where people were sort of muttering, are we ever going
to stage this thing? But
the fact was, is that because we
did so much detailed table

(05:33):
work, all of the staging kind of just
fell into place, because
people knew why they were saying what they were saying and who they
were saying it to and instinctively knew.
And Bob knew as well that,
you know, where somebody needed to be to say what they needed
to say. And And

(05:53):
it really was a. Ah, you know,
on the other hand, I did have an experience once with Shakespeare and Company
where we were doing a Twelfth Night and we dropped the play in and we
took three weeks and we were going to take it to
Toronto. And suddenly, we realized we only
had about five days to stage
it. And so we were
staging scenes three,

(06:16):
you know, three at a time.
So, you know, you can get
to an excess, of course, but
I find that, you know,
when you take the time early on
with the text, a lot of the other stuff
falls into place.

Yeah, well said,
Jimmy. Thoughts? Yeah, go ahead. Sorry, Tam.

>> Téa Guarino (06:43):
I, When I did
100 words for snow with Brendan in
Connecticut, that was like my first show out of
school. So I was very. And it was just me
on the stage, so it was just like thousands of
words. Hundreds.

For an hour and 40 minutes, we should say.

Yes, probably longer.
it's like just me in the
words. So I. We took the time, like at the
table to. To digest it and
to. I was like, terrified out of my mind
because it was just. It was so much to. To
handle and I didn't know if.

>> Jennifer Le Blanc (07:19):
I could do it.

But we. But Brendan is amazing, as we all know,
and we just. We broke it down. And I think
that Thomasina is kind of in the same temperament that
Rory was. Like, my, my
character in the other show was just, like, always,
like, curious and wanting to know more
and just like finding where that more is,

(07:40):
but also finding where I can slow
down and where the words are kind of helping me and
kind of when. When things don't
make sense, how can I use the words to help me get there
and things like that. So I think
definitely, with. With this text that I'M
getting more familiar with just kind of the pace and how

(08:01):
things are going with, with each character in the arc of the
story. I think it's, a great
thing to throw in there, just like slowing
things down. Even if, like,
you as an actor know what's going on, your
audience still needs to catch up with you. So making sure that
you're all on the same page, that everyone is enjoying

(08:21):
it at the same time. So, yeah, I think
that's, that's fantastic.

It makes it a little less, daunting, I would think. Téa, just from what. Just
going off of what you were saying, that sense of these ice flow of words,
whether it's Shakespeare or a one or two person show or
Stoppard. And you look at that like, you
know, that ice flow, so to speak,
that like how do you chip away at that? And I think it is like a
beat at a time, one thought at a time.

(08:47):
And that's how we process watching a play too. It's
like. And we don't just, you know, take
in a speech in one gulp. I think that.
So I think it's like you said, it's reflective of the audience keeping up
too, but also the sense of like looking on the page going, oh
my gosh, I got this aria for two pages.
this, this feels intimidating, but I think letting yourself

(09:09):
give yourself permission to kind of back through it, a thought at a
time, and breathe through it. I've noticed that with actors
when they go, oh, that wasn't so bad, you know,
that was, that was now that I let myself
take my time through it, you know.

Yeah. And,

Go ahead, Chris.

Oh, okay.
well, I was thinking that, not necessarily
about going, slow, but when we're
given the time to sit and do table
work as a group, I think
actors can be somewhat
selfish with a text.

Right.

We're looking at our lines, what we need to say.
if you have a little bit of time, maybe page through and see what other people are
saying about us. But we're focused on our character and what we
are doing. And when we have the chance to sit in a
group and you can get different perspectives from the
other characters, stuff that we're not necessarily going to get. If
we're just blocking and staging,

(10:10):
we're like, we're all investigating the text
and there can be some dialogue and you can be
shown stuff that you never would have seen on your
own because you're getting the perspective
from someone else, across the table from you who isn't playing
the part.

I just.

I love, I love
this. Getting into the text and the words
and digging them and
talking about the characters and in this setting where,
like, we aren't necessarily invested.
This character is mine, this is my role. That we can talk
about each other's motivations,

(10:47):
what we're doing, and, oh, well, did you see this line? Like, what does that
mean? This is so much fun. and I
miss. I miss rehearsal processes
that leave that part out
because, you know, whatever reason, the budget is small. So let's cut a
week off and we'll just get it on stage first. We're
missing out if we're not digging into the words.

Yeah, I agree. That's largely what I
was going to say. I'm a nerd, so I'm always going to be team
table work. Yeah, it's like,
let's dig in and find more. But it's really exciting
when you get to listen to other scenes
because you can figure out, like,
things about your character based on what other people are saying,

(11:31):
things like that. But you can also tee up
things like if you know someone else, if you're
listening to someone else's scene and you're like, oh,
I can actually help that scene that I'm not in
if I really, like, pop this plot
point here in this scene. Like, that'll tee
that up for later on. And, you know, when you're
mostly concentrating on your scenes, you may not think of that

(11:54):
unless you're sitting around a room going, oh, that.
That's got a thread that links to here and that sort of thing.
That's fun.

As a. As a quick example of that, Jen, I love that you mentioned that, because
I'm right now, I mean, early stage of staging the
Winter's Tale with, high school conservatory in
Worcester, and they got interested. We just went through
table work recently, and one of the things that people were
noticing and throwing out was, oh, my gosh, people are talking about time a
lot. You people are talking about faith a lot. And it's exactly what

(12:21):
you said, Jen. I think you hit on the head of, like,
since we're all doing this together, I can help for the
audience to go, wow, I'm hearing this. I keep hearing this
time. I keep hearing these ideas. And same thing in Stop. Stoppard
loves doing that too. So I think it's another way to
not only help each other, but help the
audience with those big ideas. And if

(12:41):
everyone is aware, like, wow, we're. We're all
chiming in and taking our own stab at
this big idea. Then it's. To me,
that's a lot. It. Frankly, it takes the onus off
the director to be like, hey, by the way, you aren't aware of this, but in three other
scenes, they talk about time. So, it actually
saves time at the beginning to front

(13:01):
load everyone starting to clock that with each other and going, oh, my gosh.
Well, Jen, I can help with that. And let's all make. Make
that a thing and be mindful of
that. And I think that's. I think that's so true. And.
And Chris, just really quick, I feel like,
to me, what you just said is fascinating
because we have. We have a couple of
Septimuses here, but I. And I think it was just

(13:24):
exciting. And also, I feel like
there's something about the idea of, yes,
we're focused on our role, our lines and such, but at
the same time, we're ultimately Team Arcadia,
and how can we
collectively, whether we're the only person
playing the role or if we're going to divide it up and we're going to

(13:44):
go, you know,
in a more deconstructed way, either way, it's a sense
of, I'm a piece of this.
And it's a way to kind of also create
ensemble. I think that having the table work allows us not just
intellectually to connect, but start to feel
like, oh, here's a way we can all help tell

(14:05):
this story together and not
feel like, well, I'm playing Septimus, so I don't
really need to hear other people's thoughts, because
then what's the harm, right? That's
what I feel like. It's like everyone can just throw it into their
knapsack and maybe it's worthwhile, maybe it's not.
But that's, another reason why I think it's better. It's good to do
tape work with the entire group rather than just those

(14:27):
people in the scene. Because, like you say, because someone on the
outside might go, you know, it's funny, I just noticed this about this
character, and it's hard, right? When you have the tunnel vision
of, you see, you can only see so much,
right? Everyone can only have a
certain amount of what they've gleaned about a character, so
why not hide? Mind it, you know, yes,
ultimately a certain person will be doing those lines up

(14:50):
on stage and that blocking, but in the early
stages, why not all hands on deck?
You know, it's a. It's because these characters,
like Shakespeare are so rich and contradictory
and are full of
universes. So it's. The more we
learn about them from each other I think the better. Like
I'm discovering things about these characters I hadn't clocked and

(15:13):
I thought I knew this play. So
I think it's. It's. It's all to the good, you know, if we
allow ourselves to check our ego a little bit to just feel
like anyone can chime in about. About
this and it doesn't feel territorial,
you know. Kate,
Jeff, anything to. To add?

I'll just say a couple things. I don't have much dad, because
M. My thoughts have been pretty much
articulated already. But what you were just saying, Brendan,
reminded me this is a. There is a
directorial style of which I'm not
particularly fond where a director likes to
only. Only give information to one actor at

(15:58):
a time. Ah, I don't know. In the belief
that. That Characters
don't know each other's motivations or what's going
on in real life in a scene.
And I've. It's. It's a technique but I've
never liked it, for much the same reason that you were
saying. It's sort of the opposite of a
collaborative way of working

(16:20):
which Chris and you, Brendan
will be familiar with. What Antaeus used to
do. We can't do it anymore for various reasons.
Antius originally this is the theater company
that we are members of.
I'm still here so I still work with it occasionally. And

(16:41):
Their whole deal was to do sort of long term study,
lots of readings, lots of table work, you know, many
Mondays of getting together before doing a play.
It's much more of a conventional rehearsal
style now. But we also used to double cast
or partner cast or whatever you want to call it. They're different
names where two people would play be playing the same
part not as primary and understudy but as two co.

(17:04):
Equals. It made for longer
and Often for the director more trying rehearsal
periods. But
It was great seeing someone else do your,
you know, your character
and because you had to
be around and watch them do it.
and You. You learned. One learned a lot that way.

(17:25):
It was. It was a great technique. But again these are all sort
of luxuries and indulgences that
are hard to come by, you know,
when you're limited by time and budgets and all that sort of
thing.

It was amazing, Jeff. When I did the Noel Coward piece
with Antaeus and it was Double cast. And I think it was
a. I think it's a one act, and it
already has 10 to 11 characters in it already.
And then when we double cast it, it was
extraordinary. And I was not prepared for
how intense it was, but also amazing because

(17:57):
you'd have literally one cast would sit in the front row,
and then with a tag team, we'd just do a chunk at a
time. But, I love the fact that I was
so afraid people would feel like, what the hell are you doing with that character? That's
not. But actually it was. I, would watch how the
actress would think, well, what is the essential DNA of this
character that we both agree on?

(18:17):
And then we'll manifest it in our own way
that, you know. So if I suggested, well, you could cross to
your wife over there. How does that feel? Sure. And
I remember. No, I think it was the wife crossing the husband and one
pair. The wife. The one playing the wife was like, I think I
would sit on your lap. What do you think, honey? And then. And the actor would be like,
yeah, that makes sense. And the other couple tried it and they're

(18:38):
like, no, I perch on the chair, the
armchair, like. Like. And one was not good or bad, but it
was like, yeah, they both are totally valid. And it's.
It shows. It's like quantum mechanics. Right. It's a little like this
play of saying the multiverse is
right there that you can literally see. Like,
yeah, both are totally valid. And it works for those

(18:58):
particular people. Right. So if we were doing our production
of Arcadia, this is
Lady Croom, this is Thomasina, this is Jellyby.
Like, that's. And somebody else is
going to bring something else to it. So it really was a fascinating thing,
Jeff, to see that no one owns the character.
You know, there's so much there

(19:18):
that you can come at in a different way.

That's my argument that every production of any play
is definitive
because it's. It's definitive because these are
the people doing this play and nobody else could do that
play. Like, these people do it.

I love that. Yeah, that's beautiful, Jimmy.
Kate, did you have a thought?

>> Dr. Kate Moncrief (19:41):
I was thinking about the perspective of the
dramaturg, in all this, and
a little bit, like, what the actor would experience. I think
one of the. The interesting things about being a dramaturg is you are
in the room with a lot of different kinds of directors
who have a lot of different kinds of processes
and, you know, everything from the Brendans of the
world, where you do 10 days of table

(20:04):
work and then stage love slavers lost in three days,
for a two and a half week rehearsal period.
To people who do no
table work, literally just start with
scene one and figure out each scene as it goes
along. To folks who have the
method of table working each scene,
but only with the people in it. And

(20:27):
Jen, you're self identifying as a nerd. I think we get along
for some of those reasons.

Right.

Book people. This is my actual office at
work. This, is what happens to you when you get a PhD in
English. All the books,
the more processes I've been a part of, the more rooms
I've been in, the more I just double down on the
importance of table work and of a
long.

The.

I would argue in some ways that this is a luxury, right? We get to spend
four weeks on two scenes and talk about anything we want to talk
about and we don't have time
pressing on us. But in other ways, I would argue that it's not a
luxury because the more times I've experienced
it, that deep
understanding of the text, especially with Shakespeare, but really
anything that's, that's heightened and any text,

(21:13):
the more the actors understand exactly what they're
saying, the more the group understands what we're
trying to make together, the faster
the staging goes and the more magical it is, then you get
this cohesion that I think just doesn't
happen without this investment. So we could say that table
work is a luxury. We could also say that it's a

(21:33):
necessity and, you know,
not when you want to cut things. This isn't the thing
to cut. Like we need this time to do
this job well, to do the play,
you know, to do, to do. To do its service, to do each
other's service. So yeah, it's, it's
interesting as everybody was describing this process or that one,

(21:54):
that sort of dramaturg's perspective of watching a lot of
people do a lot of different things. And I, I
just double down on the value of, of
every little, every little word and doing it
together.

And I feel one of the things I hear you talk about, Kate, is it's,
that's so well put that the idea of specificity,
right. It's like to me. And that transcends
any, you know, any play,
to me rises and falls on how
much are we turning the screw moment to moment? How much are we
really understanding what, what we're saying?

(22:29):
And the more we, we understand it, it's, you know, by the time
we open, you don't not necessarily on day one or two or
eight, but it's by the time we are presenting
this for an audience. It's not just we first have to
know what you're saying, then you can make some choices about it. Right. And
then you. But the specificity is really,
I think a requirement. And I agree

(22:49):
with you, Kate, that this is a chance for us to
put under, the electron microscope two scenes.
But I think people could look at this and go, okay, we could extrapolate
off this to the whole play.
And some of this would be work people could be doing outside of
rehearsal, some of it in. But
also just the value of saying you don't know what's going on in this

(23:09):
moment. I'm not sure, but we've had moments of that
too, which I love and hope we'll continue to. Of like
drawing, you know, really, fessing
up to. I think. I'm not sure what
Septimus is exactly referring to here. Great.
Because I think exciting things happen when we don't
front. And. And because I think
Stoppard and Shakespeare, for example, will call us out on

(23:32):
that. You know, I've learned that as a director too
where like I will be found out sooner than later
if I go, oh yeah, well I think it's kind of like this.
And then like a day later people come back, including the dramaturg
being like, you know, I don't think that makes sense.
Like, yeah, I didn't really know what I was talking about. I. I
just didn't want to look stupid with stopward.

You know, I think one analogy could be how would you choose
to build a house from the foundation up or from the
roof down?

Wow. Yeah, right.
Exactly. Well, so
here's a. It was so going back to thinking about
foundations, I think we've done a lot of stop and start,
which is great and important. I
would love to propose that we use some, some
of tonight to take. Go back to sort of big

(24:21):
swings to go macro
again and let ourselves go
to. From beginning to end of each
scene and then we can circle back and address
particular, you know, points. So I would
just for those who are in the scene,
if we can have. If you have a pencil or pen at the ready

(24:41):
or something to mark so that I know we're in the middle of things of
a scene, but if can make a mark or a jot
something down. So if something occurs to you in the thick of it,
let's make the note. But let's see what happens if we just keep
Going. And then we can
circle back and unpack those. Does
that make sense? Are we good with that? And it's. So

(25:01):
we can use what I would encourage us as we
take these arcs through the scene,
we've really start. Now that we've started to dig into what
they're saying, let's see what happens. If we can keep
the stakes as high as possible, and
in every moment, whatever they're needing, they need
it a lot. And how many

(25:22):
epiphanies can we give them? You
know, how, How often can they be blown away
by themselves or by someone else? The more
we can, the more surprises could yield some
interesting stuff. So those would be the two things I would say.
Sound good?
okay. So,

(25:43):
when we're ready, Thomasina and Septimus.

Okay. Let me,
just apologize in advance in case the dog
barks. She's. She barks.
Sometimes.

There'S a dog on the grounds. It's, It's all good. You know, they. The
lady croom loves dogs.

Mine may as well so pretends it's the
tortoise. Excuse me? The
tortoise barking.
Okay.

Septimus,
what is carnal embrace?

Carnal embrace is the practice of throwing
one, one's arms around a side of beef.

Is that all?

No. Shoulder of mutton,
haunch of venison, well hugged.
An embrace of grouse.
Caro
carnis. Feminine flesh.

Is it a sin?

no, not necessarily, my lady. But when carnal
embrace is sinful, it is a sin of
the flesh. QED we
had Cairo in our Gallic wars.
The Britons lived on milk and
meat. Latte et carne
vivunt. I'm sorry
that the seed fell on stony ground.

That was the sin of Onan, wasn't it,
Septimus?

Yes.

he was giving his brother's wife a Latin lesson, and
she was hardly the wiser after than before.
I thought you were finding a proof of Fermat's last
theorem.

it is very difficult, Septimus. You have
to show me how.

If I knew how, there'd be no need to ask you.
Fermat's last theorem has kept people busy for
150 years. And I had hoped it would keep you
busy long enough for me to read Mr. Chaytor's poem
in praise of love with only the distractions
of its own absurdities.

Our Mr. Chaytor has written a poem?

He believes he's written a poem. Yes.
I can see that there might be more carnality in your
algebra than in Mr. Chaytor's. Was it?

Couch.

of Eros.

Oh, it was not my algebra. I heard
Jellyby telling cook that Mrs. Chater was
discovered in a carnal embrace in the
gazebo.

Really?
With whom did Jellyby happen to say?

What do you mean, with whom?

Oh, with what? Exactly. So the idea
is absurd. Where did the story come from?

Mr. Noakes.

Mr. Noakes?

Harper's Landscape gardener. He was taking bearings
in the garden when he saw through his spyglass,
Mrs. Chater in the gazebo, in
carnal embrace.

And do you mean to tell me Mr. Noakes told the
butler?

No, Mr. Noakes told Mr. Chater.
Jellyby was told by the groom, who
overheard Mr. Noakes telling Mr. Chater in the
stable yard.

Yes. Mr. Chater being engaged in closing the stable
door.

What do you mean, Septimus?

So, thus far, the only people who know about this
are Mr. Noakes, the landscape,
the landscape architect, the groom,
the, The groom. The groom, the butler, the cook, and of
course, Mrs. Chaytor's husband, the
poet.

And Arthur, who was cleaning the silver
and the boot boy. And now you,
of course.

what else did he say, Mr.
Noaks? No, not Mr. Noakes. Mr. Jellyby.
You heard Jellyby telling the cook?

Hushed him almost as soon as he started. Jellyby
did not see that I was being allowed to finish yesterday's
upstairs rabbit pie before I came to my lesson.
I think you have not been candid with
me, Septimus. A, gazebo is
not, after all, a. A meat
larder.

I never said my definition was complete.

Is Connor embrace kissing?

Yes.

And throwing one's arms around Mrs. Chaytor, huh?

Yes. Now. Female's last theorem.

I thought as much. I hope you are
ashamed. I. Milady,
if you do not teach me the true meaning
of things, who will?

Ah.

yes, Yes, I am
ashamed. Carnal
embrace is sexual congress, which is
the insertion of the male genital organ into
the female genital organ for the purposes of
procreation and pleasure.
Now, Fermat's last theorem, by
contrast, asserts that when X, Y, and Z

(30:46):
are whole numbers, each raised to a
power of N, the sum of the first two can
never equal the third when N is greater than
2m.
But nevertheless, that is the theorem.

It is
disgusting and
incomprehensible. Now, when I am grown
to practice it myself, I shall never do so without
thinking of you.

Thank you very much, milady. Was
Mrs. Chaytor down this morning?

No. Tell me more about
sexual congress.

There is nothing more to be said about sexual congress.

Is it the Same as love.

Oh, no, it's much,
nicer than that.
I am teaching. Jellyby.

You're muted, Jamie.

Jellyby. Jellyby. I
can't hear you. I'm teaching.

Sorry?

I'm teaching. I am teaching. Jellyby.

Beg your pardon, Mr. Hodge. Mr. Chaytor said
it was urgent you receive his
letter.

Oh, very well. Thank you.
Thank you.

Mr.

Chater asked me to bring him your
answer.

My answer? Oh, well,
My answer is that as is my custom
and my duty to his lordship, I am engaged
until a quarter to 12 in the education of
his daughter. When I am done, and if Mr.
Chaytor is still there, I shall be happy to wait upon
him in the gun room.

I will tell him so.
Thank you, sir.

what is for dinner, Jellyby?

Boiled ham and cabbages,
my lady. And
a rice pudding.

Oh, goody.

so much for Mr. Noakes. He puts himself forward as a
gentleman, a philosopher of the picturesque, a visionary who
can move mountains and cause lakes, but
in the scheme of the garden, he is as the
serpent.

When you stir, rice pudding,
Septimus, the spoonful of
jam spreads itself round, making red
trails like the picture of a meteor in my astronomical
atlas. But if you stir
backward, the jam will not come
together again. Indeed, the pudding
does not notice and continues to turn pink, just as

(33:26):
before. Do you think this is odd?

No.

Well, I do not
stir things apart.

No more you can, but, time must
needs run backward. And since
it will not, we must stir our way
onward, mixing as we go,
disorder out of disorder, into
disorder, until pink is complete,
unchanging and unchangeable, and we
are done with it forever.

(33:57):
This is known as free will or self determination.
Sit.

Septimus. Do you think God is a Newtonian?

An Etonian? Almost certainly. I'm afraid we must ask
your brother to make it his first inquiry.

No. Septimus. A Newtonian.
Septimus, am I the
first person to have thought of this?
No, I have not said yet.

If everything from the furthest planet to the
smallest atom in our brain acts according to Newton's
law of motion, what becomes a free will?

No.

God's will?

No.

Sin?

No.

Very well.

If you could stop every
atom in its position and direction,
and if your mind could comprehend all
the actions thus suspended, then if you were
really, really good at
algebra, you could write the formula
for all the future. And although nobody can be so
clever as to do it, the formula must exist just as if

(35:07):
one could.

Yes.
Yes. As far as I know, you are the first person
to have thought of that
it. In the margin of
his copy of Arithmetica Female, wrote that
he had discovered a wonderful proof of his
theorem. But as the margin was too narrow for

(35:34):
his purpose, he did not have time to write it down.
The note was found after his death and from
that day to this.

Oh, I see now. The answer is
perfectly obvious.

This time. I think you may have overreached yourself.

Nice. Yeah, that's. That's
lovely.

Yay.

Nice. Nice. Nice work.
Wow. It was just. It's. It's so. It's
already so. So rich from all
the moment to moment that we started exploring
the last two weeks. So what. What jumped out of you? What would
see, for those in it. Those listening. What was.
What was that like?

Well, I. I'll. I'll start. What I.
I find for Septimus is,
each time I do it, but particularly as
we find more details, his. His mind, M. Is
all over the place. It's not. Not in a bad way.
But he seems to have a lot of things to think about. He's
not distracted the way,

Ah.

Thomasina is kind of, you know, like
water in a hot pan. She's just shooting all
over the place. Jamie had some great note about
her. I actually wrote it down.

Ecstasy.

He's in a constant state of ecstasy. Right?
And,
there's just.
Septimus, is. He's. He's certainly engaged with her
and. And interested in her. I think. He likes teaching.
He also likes thinking about his own world
and. And then when, you know, in this whole

(37:14):
carnal. With the actual carnal embrace what. You know, what she's
actually talking about, when that comes up, that's a whole nother
a scenario. That's a more personal thing. I mean, he's partly in
his mind and partly in his. Again, it's like the whole
play. He's partly in this big
thinking stuff and, And partly in.
Oh, how do I. How do I handle this situation right here, right

(37:34):
now?

Yeah, yeah. Which you thought had no
consequences. You just found out.

Well, yes, I.

Out of the mouth of babes. You are. You have been
found out.

Exactly.

Yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah. Go ahead, please.

I think when we put it all together,
just because of all the ideas that we've been, like, kind of
stacking up for the last few weeks, I think
the. The concept of,
like, how can I
surprise myself each time, really
show this time, because it's just there's so

(38:11):
much in each little thing, and then I think something
that really stood out to me this Time was
when Thomasina
kind of grasps the fact that. Wait a
minute. Like, you weren't honest with
me because what. The definition that you just said
has nothing to do with what I just

(38:31):
overheard. So this is
weird. So I think just kind of the.
How. I think every single
thing that I'm thinking about can, like, be
discovered in a different way. Like, not. It doesn't all have to
be like. But it can be like.

Hm.

Like, it doesn't all have to be, like, one note in that
way, which I. I found with, like, the different
discoveries. but, yeah, just kind of the same as.
As. As Septimus. There's so much
to think about, and I think slowing it down, like we were talking about
in the beginning, really helped me discover that as
well.

And it feels like, Téa, When you taking that moment about when you
realize this doesn't add up, I. And this is something I
think we could explore maybe even
more when we do it again. But I.
You ought to be ashamed of yourself. The
choice of words, which is not, you know, I think
shame is not something that tends to come up with

(39:26):
her, but I love that, you know, And I think
there's an opportunity that. I mean, Stoppard loves
to play, I think, with these double meanings, right? Where one
character thinks, oh, crap, oh, my God, I've
been found out. Right? So I think that part of
what you were saying earlier, Jen, about how do we tee things up for each
other, something that's occurring to me on a macro

(39:46):
level is I think we could start to think more now
about those moments of irony.
And when you say shame on
you, I think if you lean more into
that, Téa, potentially of, That cuts so
deeply to you. You are truly,
honestly ashamed. That can read to you, Jeff, like,

(40:06):
she's discovered me. You know, I've been
found out. And then it
isn't until she explains, you have
committed the sin of, keeping me in
ignorance. Okay.
You know, I was. You know what I mean?
I feel like Septimus has to be.

(40:27):
Has to have his feet over the fire for a moment, and
that it's Thomasina who didn't realize
what she's doing. You know, she's kind of triggering him,
but it really comes from a place of shame on you.
So it works for both of you, but just for very different
reasons. Does that make sense?

Yeah. And, I. I love that the.
The shame is not. Is not the, you know, the act
of. Of having it off with the. The cheater. I
just love what they call it the cheater.

Yeah. The.

The sin is not being truthful with her. That's the sin.

Right? Yeah. I love it. That's.

That's the shameful thing. That's what I should do about that.
Because I think, I think it is. I think
you're. As you say, you're right. She catches him out there
and then.

I think you have the opportunity, Jeff, when we come back to us. The.
You have that, you know, you
have, you know. Ah, ah. Right. The,
And I, I wonder if there's
an opportunity there for, For Septimus to.
In the. In your relief to really
lean in and own. You're absolutely

(41:33):
right. I am ashamed of that now that I know what we're talking
about. And it's not about the act
of carnal knowledge. You know, I,
it's just, it's a. I'm always wondering, can he give her a
bigger gift there of.

Yeah, yeah.

You called me out and you're. You got me dead
to rights. This is, you know, it's like. And, and it's
a nice thing for you, Tay. I wonder if she feels real. Really feels
validated. She. You really went to an extreme place
of shame on you. And
how refreshing to see an
adult own it.

Yeah, I was thinking about that. I think the best gift
that anyone can give Thomasina is like
knowledge and more
just things in things that she
doesn't know or just more information about things that she
thinks she knows fully. So like, this is like a really
big letdown of.

Yeah.

Why would you do that? Like, don't you like the
best I can be. Like, this is like. What do you mean?
So I think just like someone, Septimus, who
I feel like I trust fully, just taking the time
to acknowledge my,
disappointment is like a big,
teller of our relationship as well. That he would take the

(42:48):
time to be like, you know what? I apologize
for that. Let me tell you exactly what it is in specific
detail, leaving nothing out so that you know exactly
what I'm talking about. And let's see if you, if you want really
want to know what it is now.

Right.

And I. Exactly. It's such a great different tack. Right. That's what
struck me too. That, that it's like, all right, I'm going to just
overwhelm you with biology
and just insert A into B
and it's like IKEA instructions. And,
and, and, and, and then I, and I think it's
so smart that, you know, he goes to the non shame place,
but he takes away any of the Eroticism,

(43:25):
you know, there's nothing hot about it. It's
literally like, you know, tabs
and that. And that was. That is it. And I. That way.
It's great. Jeff. I think you can potentially. I think you can
enjoy the fact when she gives you the ew.
I think there's the opportunity maybe, Jeff, to
relish that more. You know, that. Well, that's the theory,

(43:45):
but I guess, I guess you don't like it. I guess you're
going to stay away from that for a couple of years. Two points for
Septimus. You know, I think. I think there's more
opportunities, Jeff, to pat yourself on the back,
give yourself those moments. There's plenty of moments that we're
discovering when you slip up. I think there's also
those moments on the flip side of, damn, I'm good.

(44:07):
You know, her revulsion
was chef's kiss. Perfect.
Yes. That's. That. That. That's. I mean, it was maybe
even more than you had hoped for. Right. I love
Tay at that time that you just gave that full,
you know, 10 point in the Richter scale. I'm
going to hurl everything you just
said. You know, it

(44:30):
goes that deep for her.
Other thoughts from. From the group? Yeah.

I have some thoughts. I was. So before I speak, I
wasn't. I had to leave early last week, so I didn't see the work
on this scene. So if I say anything that's been
said already, you can just tell me to shut my pie hole.
but it was occurring to me listening to
this, this time. Like, what a heavy
lift these five pages are in this

(44:58):
play, the first scene of the play.
And you two have to establish
your relationship with each other, how, smart you
are. Like, you're kind
of giving the lay of the land. You're introducing characters that we're not gonna see
for a few bit. Like, there's a shit ton going on
in this scene, and still, you
guys have to have a relationship

(45:21):
happening here that's been lived in before we
get to this point. Yeah. Before we get to the
first light of the play. So good luck with
that. but,
Jeff, when you were saying that Septimus's, mind
is all over the place, I actually would
say that

(45:41):
that's. To my way of thinking, that's an
opportunity to show how quick Septimus is. It's not that his
mind is all over the place. It's that he can do these things. He can think
this, and then he can think this, and then he can have this, and he can keep them all in
the air all the time. So like
almost it's interesting to
me to see when he gets
information that then he fumbles

(46:03):
because he's such a smart man
that, Thomasina throws him off guard.
A 13 year old. Which also shows how smart the 13 year
old is.
and then I had a question. I don't know if you
guys brought this up last time, but,
on page 10 at the end when Septimus

(46:24):
goes from,
you're the first person to have thought of this. And then I know
it's stage directions that we might ignore in
a production, but we're doing table work. So I'm looking at the stage
direction. He says with an effort, like, what is. Why
is switching to Fermat's theorem and
effort?

(46:46):
I, I don't know what the. I don't know what the answer that is. I don't
know if you've discussed it last week or not.

We, we did not. And it's. That's very good
because that's, that's a place where I'm faking,
it till I make it because I'm not, I'm not
exactly sure myself
why it's such, an
effort.

Well, Septimus
leave like the little, like the note. Because we're
talking about the note. Like the note was found after his death.
And then in the scene that we're doing
next, like
there he's. He left a, note and something
like. I don't know. I, maybe he's
thinking. I, I know we said he's thinking about his death because,

(47:31):
you know, we're, we're going to something else after this.
But just like, maybe that's too
obvious but like the note was found after his death and
like something is about to occur with

I, I think that
refers back to it. And then Thomasina, of course will leave a
note, right? As, As a sort of
callback to it. But the way I've been
thinking about it is that he's.
She's made him
what she has said. He is recognized as something that
nobody's thought of before or that I've

(48:08):
heard about. Right. He said no,
no, nobody's. Nobody's thought about that as far as I know.
and this is one of those points where his mind seems to be ticking
over quickly is
in the sense of,
although, ah, nobody's found a proof of the theorem.
People have been trying and

(48:30):
maybe she's somehow already on the way
to, finding a proof
of this theorem. So am I Thinking, am I
sort of telling her this story?
While I'm thinking, God, I wonder if she's
onto something. the story is
there is a proof to the theorem. Supposedly,

(48:51):
even though nobody's found it,
Fermat found it.
so I'm. I.
I don't know. Somebody help me out here. It's.

Well, I was throw in,
that it's, the result of everything
that's come before, that
Thomasina has a way of turning up the heat. I mean, you know,
it's.

It's.

It's like temperature. The temperature of
the scene. You know, all scenes have an arc, of course,
but there's something about the way this starts, what Chris was
talking about, where somebody just turns the temperature up,
you know, on the gas stove.
She does with that question. And, you know, you're
like, you were saying that your mind's in all these different places

(49:38):
at once, and Jellyby comes in and gives you the letter.
And, you know, that. That, It just feel felt to
me like that the heat keeps getting turned
up and you're like,
simmering, you know, that there's a kind
of, You know,
because that's, Is what Thomasina
does, you know, he just

(50:00):
turns. Kind of turns the heat up throughout the
scene. And I'm. You know, I
think, it boils over.
That makes sense in the permanent thing where you're
suddenly, like, there was this
personal thing going on that, you know,
the event that happened and her wanting to know about

(50:22):
carnal knowledge. And, you know, like you said,
all this stuff is going on. You're just sort of simmering, and then
suddenly she comes up with a potential answer to
ferment theorem. You know,
it's just.

Yeah, that's excellent. And that. That
image is. Is very useful because I think that's what happens.
It's like, I think
he's trying to.
He's. He's talking to her, saying there is a
possibility that there is a proof of this.
And he's also. He doesn't want to say it to her, I don't

(50:55):
think. But he. He's thinking. He's at, The. He's also
processing. He's thinking, wait a minute, is she onto
something? Is there. Is this the. Is this the
beginning of the answer?

So it's roiling.

It's roiling. Yeah. Like you said, the
heat's gone up a little bit.

Well, and I think, Jeff, to connect to
what Chris said earlier,
if we want to lean into showing you being
a little More, for lack of a better
term, slicker. In your dexterity
of being able to multitask earlier in the scene,
you can be, you know. You know, he knows he's clever, and

(51:31):
he's able to. To do multiple things at once.
There is something different than off of what you
and Jamie are talking about, of, If you are giving this your full
attention in a way
that you haven't quite before, you know, you're
dealing with the cheater stuff, you're dealing with her, and you're having
to multitask. Okay, I grossed you out. But I'm also still on

(51:51):
Chater. So maybe some of the effort and some of the
boiling over and the simmering that I'm hearing you both talk
about is also the act of the
effort Septimus is putting in to just
focus on this with her and.
And being really mindful about sharing this with her.
Yeah. Kate, did you have a thought?

Yeah, I, I was thinking back to one of the first things you
said, Téa, about discovery. And in this
particular moment that you were
discovering the way Thomas Cena is
discovering. And there are different kinds of discoveries, and so
you were playing those different kinds of discoveries.

The.

The thing that she says to
Septimus before he has to have some
effort. When you are, breaking this
down that I had written in my margins, big
thought and. And build. You've
got all these little big words, right? You've got if
this and if this,
then. If this and then.

(52:51):
And there's not a then, but. And then it would be really
clear. And so, like, the way that she's putting the pieces
together is like doing a piece of math. And each
one of those phrases of this long speech
is a discovery. And her mind is so
quick, right? If you did this and then this
and then this, the formula

(53:12):
exists. You just have to do it with algebra and that
little, like, parenthetical. Although nobody can be
so clever as to do it. And of course,
she is right now she knows how to do it, and she's going
to start the algebra to put this
together. I think for Septimus, the
first realization. I've never heard

(53:32):
anybody say that before. You might be the first one to say
it when you were talking about how
clever he is. This moment she's more
clever, right? Like, what do you say to that?
He's been teaching her.

That's great.

I'll teach you what carnal embraces and I'm, you know, I've
got. It's like when the teacher has the handle on everything, and
then that incredibly smart student, it just
surpasses him in that moment. And how does he
gather himself and like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, from what
suggest he put it in the margins. He's kind of like trying to get
himself back on track. But she's had this moment of,

(54:05):
of of brilliance and of
insight that I think just
gives him pause and he has to think
about what to say next. He has to try to
explain to her something that she already
understands better than he does.

Great. Jen.

Yeah, yeah, I would say I was listening to it,
kind of zoomed out and my my teacher
brain kicked in. sometimes I get to
teach, Shakespeare to folks which I love at all different age
ranges. And there's something so specifically
delightful about teaching Shakespeare
to kids.
because it's equal parts inspiring and

(54:47):
totally humbling. Because you come in
or I come in with like a
curriculum, like, okay, and today I'm going to
blow your mind with scansion or something. And I'm really
excited. And then some 8 year old
comes out with a thought
that makes me go, okay, here's your
Ph.D. and thank you for

(55:09):
teaching me that. Like, I have
numerous times said to like a 9 or 10 year
old, if I ever played this role, may I have your
permission to steal that choice? Because
that's genius. And I've never seen
an adult make that choice. Can you
explain to me why? And then their rationale

(55:29):
is so clear, but out of a
different perspective. Right, so mine's coming
from dramaturgical. I looked up what that word
means. I'm thinking of an example like an
Oberon who was running off stage.
and right before the line, I'm invisible. And we'll overhear their
conference and this eight
year old just runs for the exit. And I

(55:52):
was about to stop him because he has to stay for the
rest of the scene. But I glad I didn't because
he screeched to a stop and went,
I'm invisible. I'll ever hear that conference.
And I was like, you know, adults go
like I'm a witch, like I've got
magical powers. And they do all this justification.

(56:12):
And I asked him and he goes, oh yeah, you just forgot.
He just forgot that he was invisible. I was like,
that's genius.
and no adult would ever make that
choice. Yeah,
so anyway, I was, I was just enjoying it like of that. Like my
teacher brain was like, yeah, sometimes you get that

(56:32):
student and you're like, I have nothing to
teach you. I'm grateful that you are
teaching Me for the next hour.

And they're not saddled with all of the back. The
lexicons and the scansion. And like you said,
Jen, they're coming to it so fresh. And I think, like,
that's exactly right on the money with Thomasina. And
I mean, and speaking of that, I. Tea, something for
us to look at next time is the
formula must exist just as if one could,
I think, to build on what Kate was saying. There's

(57:02):
a term I like to use, folks, with, Shakespeare and now
Stoppard, which I got from my friend Patricia delaure.
She teaches voice and speech at FSU Oslo, and she likes
to talk about little big words, the ands, buts.
You know, it's conjunction junction, right? And
those linking thoughts of doubling down or
pivoting. And I think this is one of those great examples,

(57:22):
Téa, of all of those things that Kate pointed
out, the ifs, ands.
But. And I think for everybody here, that could be
something we could think about heading into next week. Is that, like,
I think we're going to be surprised at how many of those
tiny words that then can send us in a different
direction? Or are we playing Jenga and

(57:42):
we're just building and building it like you. Like you're doing?
And I think that. Tea, just thinking
about when Septimus
says yes, right after that
first pause,
it. Is there something
interesting about that? But what just occurred to me
was, you know,

(58:04):
you are, You know, you offer this up, hoping
that, you know, either tell me I'm wrong or give me
some validation, but, you know, you're. You're reaching for the stars here.
He. And he says yes. And what occurred to me
just now is that could Thomasina be thinking
he's just saying yes to yes, the formula
must exist. Like, you know what

(58:25):
I mean? That small flashlight and then the next
big so that you're not prepared at all for.
And yes, you're the first
to think of this. So it's that
double whammy of, oh, my God, yes, I'm onto something. But then the
thing you're really not prepared for is you're the first
person to think of this. And

(58:46):
what struck me watching Te is I
love that you were exploring her sense of yay.
Is there also something a little scary about that?
Or something that you have no reference point
for? Does your compass spin? Because
what if you had never really imagined, ever
really, Septimus saying,

(59:07):
I have no response to that. I have no
answer to that. You are saying something I've never thought
of. You know what I mean? Like, in your
mind, maybe Thomasina fantasizes. Oh, yeah. But then
he'll go, no, jk, of course. I know, right?
Yeah. But he actually says,
you're the first person. I mean, if you really think about that. And

(59:28):
she's smart enough to go, what?
Like, what. What does that even mean?
It's not like the earlier victories of the scene of,
yeah, I'm smart and I've got it. To me, there's. It opens
up a door that I
don't. I don't. I don't know what that means, but I feel like it means
something to
witness him saying to you.

(59:52):
No one has ever thought of that before. I don't know what that would be like. If
someone said that to me, let alone the 13 year old
me. I'm, You know, I just offer that up in terms
of. I think there's. Does that, what
does that make sense, Téa? In terms of just.

>> Téa Guarino (01:00:06):
Yeah, it really does. I, think that's an
overwhelming sense of
responsibility that I feel like
falls on me. It's
like, oh, my gosh, am I gonna have to teach the rest of the
world my theory? Like, do I
become number one?
Like, what comes from. I feel like everything is

(01:00:28):
like, right, comes from this. This is right.

>> Brendon Fox (01:00:31):
You, you've become Keanu Reeves in the Matrix, right?
And you, you are. You are the. You are now the one.
And then the fun can be when you hear
him say, oh, and Vermont wrote it on the side of the
margins and you're like, oh, he was a
prankster.

>> Dr. Kate Moncrief (01:00:46):
Yeah.

>> Brendon Fox (01:00:47):
Oh, oh, right.
But for a moment, you glimpsed the
cosmos, right? You had your Carl Sagan
moment. And. And then I love that you come crashing
down to a 13 year old. Oh, prank. Total prank.

>> Téa Guarino (01:01:02):
Yeah. I think right deep down,
well, I feel like I want.
I feel like my. I've always wanted to reach that moment of
having Septimus be like, you're right.
I. I don't know what to say. But then when we finally reach
that, because I say it earlier in the scene, like, am I the first person to have thought of
that? Like, oh, my gosh. Like, nah. Yeah, yeah,

(01:01:22):
yeah. But then, like, now it's for real and it's like,
oh, no. Like,
I, Like, I can't accept this
right now. Like, I need to learn more. Like, I don't really have it
in me. Like, halt.
So I think it's. I, I think it's a,
A perfect choice. I.

(01:01:42):
I think that's awesome. I. I think that's, really fun.

>> Brendon Fox (01:01:45):
And it could be fun too, Jeff, for you of like, then
you're still on the fact that she's blown your mind, right?
So then her laughing could. You know, I
love that you're like. You might have overreach yourself now if you think this
is absurd. I think you've now gone into
hubris, right? It's
like, oh, you're so. You've. You. You've cracked

(01:02:05):
the secret of the universe so much that
now you're just laughing at Vermont. You.
You know, we might have. We might have. We might have
drunk our own Kool Aid a little too much here, you know,
in that moment. But. But yeah, I mean, I think there's
just. It's. It's something that's really fun to
explore in those pauses. I think that what was

(01:02:25):
great too. I just want to clock this, that both. All three of
you, even while we're still on script,
we're finding the. The use of can
not. Of trying to take the air out, right.
So that. Not that it's fast, but by keeping the cues
tight. When we had those pauses, Jeff, of the.
Yes, yes. Or that moment
of, you know, registering gun room, even

(01:02:48):
those meant something because I think, ah, that's. It's similar
to like those empty beats, you know, those, those, those beats
in Shakespeare where you don't have the text, but there's still those
beats on the line. There's something.
There's power in that, you know, so it's just something for
us to keep looking at.
great. Can we. Can we take a little break? And when we come back,

(01:03:09):
we'll, pick up with the next scene.
it's 9:08. How about we take, seven,
minutes and come back at 9:15?

>> Geoffrey Wade (01:03:18):
Good.

>> Chris Guilmet (01:03:18):
Sounds good.

>> Brendon Fox (01:03:19):
Thank you. Thanks, everybody. I feel like, you know,
it'd be amazing. Is like. Then 2.0 of this is. Then we pivot to
all of like the modern characters.

Yeah, right.

>> James Newcomb (01:03:30):
Yeah.

Nightingale's a great character, man.

>> Brendon Fox (01:03:34):
It's just.

They all are. They all are. They're all great.

>> Brendon Fox (01:03:42):
all right, so shall we jump into
scene, six? and, I'll read in some of the
stage directions since this has a little bit more of them.
Are we ready?

Yes.

>> Brendon Fox (01:03:58):
The room is empty. Early morning. A distant pistol
shot. The sound of the crows. Enters
the dark, dawn, dark room with a lamp. He goes
the window and looks out. He sees something. He returns to
put the lamp on the table, then opens one of the French windows and steps
outside.

Mr. Hodge.

>> Brendon Fox (01:04:15):
Septimus comes in, followed By Jellyby, who closes the garden door.
He's wearing a great coat.

Thank you, Jellyby. I was expecting to be locked
out. What time is it?

Half past five.

That, is what I have.
Well, what a
bracing experience.

>> Brendon Fox (01:04:33):
He produces two pistols from inside his coat.

Oh, the dawn, you know,
Unexpectedly lively.
Fishes, birds,
frogs, rabbits.
And very beautiful. If only it did
not occur so early in the day.
I brought Lady Thomasina a rabbit. Will you take it?

It's dead.

Yes. Lady Thomasina loves a
rabbit pie.

You were missed, Mr. Hart.

I decided to sleep last night in the boathouse.
Did I see a carriage, leaving the park?

Captain Bryce's carriage. With Mr. And Mrs.
Chaytor also
gone? Yes, sir. And Lord
Byron's horse was brought round
at 4 o'clock.

Lord Byron too? Yes, sir.

the house has been up and.

Hopping as I have his rabbit pistols. What am I
to do with his rabbit pistols?

You were looked for in your room.

>> Brendon Fox (01:05:36):
By whom?

M. By her Ladyship.

In my room?

I will tell her Ladyship. you are returned.

Jellyby. Did Lord Byron leave a
book for me?

A book?

He had the loan of a book from me.

His Lordship left nothing in his room,
sir. Not a coin.

Oh, well, I'm sure he would have left a coin if he'd had
one. Jellyby,
here's half a guinea for you.

Thank you very much.

What is the turn?

The, servants are told nothing, sir.

>> Brendon Fox (01:06:13):
Come, come.

Jellyby. Does half a guinea buy nothing
any more?

Her, ladyship encountered Mrs. Chater,
during the night.

Where?

On the threshold of Lord Byron's
room.

>> Brendon Fox (01:06:32):
Ah. Uh-huh.

Which one was leaving?

In which, entering Mr. Chater was
leaving Lord Byron's room.

And where was Mr. Chaytor?

Mr. Chaytor and Captain Price were
drinking cherry brandy. They, had the
fort.

The.

The footman to keep the fire up until
3:00. There was a loud
altercation upstairs and,

>> Jennifer Le Blanc (01:06:57):
Well, Mr. Hodge.

My lady.

All this to shoot a hare?

A rabbit?
No, indeed. A hare,
though. Very rabbit.

Like my
infusion?

Yes. My lady.

How dare you.

I cannot be called into account. What was written in private
and read without regard to propriety,
addressed, to me. Left in my
room in the event of my death.

What earthly ah, use is a love letter from beyond the
graves?

As much, surely, as from this side of
it. The, second letter, however, was not addressed
to your Ladyship.

I have a mother's right to open a letter
addressed by you to my daughter.
Whether, in the event of your life, your death or Your
imbecility. What do you mean by
writing to her rice
pudding when she has just suffered the shock of
violent death in our midst?

>> Brendon Fox (01:08:04):
Whose death?

Yours, you wretch.

Oh, yes, I see.

Do not know which is the matter of your
ravings. One envelope feel the rice
pudding, the other of the most insolent
familiarities regarding
several parts of my body.
And no doubt which is the more
intolerable to me
which.

(01:08:33):
Oh, aren't we saucy when our bags are
packed. Your
friend has gone before you. And I have dispatched the
harlot. Cheater. Huh? And her husband
and also my brother for bringing them the hair.
Such as the sentence, you see? For choosing
unwisely in your acquaintance.
Banishment. Lord Byron is a

(01:08:55):
rake and a hypocrite. And the sooner he
sails for the Levant, the sooner he will find society
congenial to his
character.

Has been a night of reckoning
indeed.

I wish it had passed uneventfully. With you and Mr.
Chaytor shooting each other with the decorum
due to a civilized house. You have
no secrets left, Mr. Hodge. They
spilled out between shrieks and oaths and
tears. It is fortunate that a lifetime's devotion
the sporting gun has halved my husband's hearing

(01:09:27):
to the ear. He slept on.

I'm afraid I have no knowledge of what has occurred.

Your trollop was discovered in
Lord Byron's room.

>> Brendon Fox (01:09:39):
Ah.

discovered by Mr. Cher.

Who else?

I'm very sorry, madam, for having used your
kindness to bring my unworthy friend to your notice.
He will have, He will have to give an
account of himself to me. You may be
sure.

>> Brendon Fox (01:10:01):
Shelby enters the room with her infusion.

I will do it.

>> Brendon Fox (01:10:12):
Jamie, you're muted.

I will do it.

Yes, My lady? Lord Byron left a letter
for you with the valet, sir. Thank
you.

When did he do so?

As he was leaving, your ladyship.

Allow me.

I do not know that it is proper for you to receive a
letter written in my house from someone. Not where.

Very improper, I agree. Lord
Byron's want of delicacy is grief to his friends,
among whom I no longer count myself.
I will not read his letter until I have followed him
through the gates.

That may excuse the reading, but not the
writing.

Your ladyship should have lived in the Athens of
Pericles. The philosophers would have
fought the sculptors for your idle
hour.

>> Brendon Fox (01:11:20):
Really?

Oh, really?
Oh,
really.

Now there's a thing. A letter
from Lord Byron. Never to be read by a living
soul.
I will take my leave, madam. At the time of
your Desiring it to the
Indies. The Indies? Why?

To follow the cheater. Of course she did not
tell you.

She did not exchange half a dozen words with me.

I expect she did not like to waste the time.
The chaitor sails with Captain
Bryce.

As a member of the crew?

No. As wife to Mr. Chaytor,
plant gatherer to my brother's
expedition.

I knew he was no poet. I did not know it
was botany under, the false colors.

He is no more a botanist. My brother paid
£50 to have him published. And he will pay 150
to have Mr. Chaytor picking fires in the Indies for a
year while his wife plays mistress of the
captain's quarters. Captain Bryce has
fixed his passion on Mrs. Chater to
take her on voyage. He has not scrupled to deceive the Admiralty of the

(01:12:42):
Linian Society. And Sir Joseph Banks,
botanist to His Majesty at Kew.

Her passion is not as fixed as his.

This is a defect of God's humor that he directs
our, ah, hearts everywhere but to those who have a right.

Indeed, madam.
But is Mr. Chaytor deceived?

he insists on it. And finds the proof of his wife's
virtue in his eagerness to depend it.
Captain Bryce is not deceived, but cannot help
himself. He would die for her.

I think, my lady. He would have Mr. M. Chaytor
die for her.

Indeed. I never knew a woman worth a
duel. Or the other way. About
your letter, to me
goes very ill with your conduct to
Mrs. Chater, Mr. M. Hart.
I have had experience of being betrayed
before the ink is dry, but

(01:13:45):
to be betrayed before the
pen is even dipped.
And with the village notice board.
What am I to think of such a performance?

My lady, I was alone with my
thoughts in the gazebo when Mrs. Chater ran me to
ground. And I, being in such a
passion, in an agony of
unrealized desire.
Oh, I thought in my madness that
the. The cheetah with her skirts over

(01:14:20):
her head would give me the momentary illusion of
happiness to which I dared not put a face.

I do not know when I have received a more
unusual compliment, Mr.
Hod. I
hope I am more than a match for Mrs. Chater with her
head in a bucket. Does she wear
drawers?

She does.

>> Brendon Fox (01:14:49):
Yes.

I have heard the drawers have been worn. Now it
is unnatural for women to be got up like
jockeys. I cannot approve.
I know nothing of Pericles
or Athenian philosophers.
I can spare
them an hour

(01:15:13):
in my sitting room when I've
bathed.
7 o'clock.
Bring a book.

>> Brendon Fox (01:15:28):
Lovely. Why, why, why, why should he, why,
why bring a book, Jen?

well, I think it gives an excuse
for rendezvous.

Ah.

And also,
I think intellect is
foreplay for her.
Those are my thoughts.

>> Brendon Fox (01:15:54):
Yeah, no, I mean that's,
yeah. So it's spoken, it's an alibi
as well as the foreplay.

Yeah, yeah, that's my thought. What do
you think?

>> Brendon Fox (01:16:06):
No, I mean I love that. Well, it's interesting that you
like that. The last thing you say to him,
you know, it, it feels like,
we definitely know who's, you know, who's
dictating the terms. And that's
both, not just in terms of yes, I will allow you to
visit me, but also, also this is exactly how we're going to do
it. And the only, you know,

(01:16:28):
and I, I, I could imagine that like you know,
you know, septimist is pretty
transparent at this point, as are most M
men in a situation like this. So I, I
think it makes sense that you have to spell this out to him of
like, I don't want you just running into my
boudoir.

It's not.

>> Brendon Fox (01:16:50):
Exactly right. And there, there, there are the servants to
consider and we are in this world and
like you know, he may just want to run
right into your room but like you
always have one part of your
bandwidth to. Everyone is
watching. Right. Like talk
about multitasking like we did earlier. It's like you can

(01:17:12):
have your desires and you want this, but also
decorum, right?
And it's, and it's a win win because we will use that book.
But also we are, we're not going
to, you're not, we're not going to make the mistake of like
Byron, you know, and that whole thing that happened. I love that you're
just like you have one job

(01:17:34):
and I am not. If I see you without a book at the
entrance to my room, no
admittance because, because people will talk
and I, to me that just is another beautiful indication of her
character of a sense of like I can have all this
and all this desire and, and banter and
everything. And as I'm sweeping away before I
go, I'm giving you direction

(01:17:56):
that's non negotiable. It's just,
it's so great that she can be, have that kind
of forethought. And then it ends with,
with you burning the letters which I don't think we've
really talked that much about, Chris.

No.

>> Brendon Fox (01:18:11):
Because it bring a book feels like that could be the end of the
scene. Right? It's this great kind of verbal button,
but it's not.
So we have three letters that are burned in this
scene. Yeah.

There's no need for the letters anymore on,
the most practical level, because he
doesn't need to leave a letter for Thomasina because he's going to see
her and she's
already read the letter
and burning it is
helping her, like, let's get rid of the
evidence, you know?

>> Brendon Fox (01:18:46):
Yeah, that's nice. Yeah, I love
that. And I love that you're not doing it with her watching. Right. That's just
like. You know this as well, Chris, of, like,
you're doing this for her and for yourself. And like, this
is not. Not something. The earlier
burning is
performative.

Yes.

>> Brendon Fox (01:19:04):
I mean, or it's for an agenda. These. These are
from. Are not for her eyes to see, but they just
need to. Need to be done. And as much as you want
to follow her up to her room, I love that
you actually like Septimus now that
you know what is going to be happening next. It.
It's. Yeah. I love that you are taking the
time to get rid of the evidence. You

(01:19:27):
know, there's. He's taking. It seems like, Chris, you're taking a page out
of her book of, like, bring the book, burn the
letters. We. We.
There's. We. You know, we need to keep this all very
airtight and discreet.

Yeah. I think also
there's so much,
talk about writing in this
scene, like the. The letters that I've written, the
letters that Byron has written, the letter to me. But
also her great. That great speech
about, about being betrayed before the ink is
dry or before the pen is dipped

(01:20:02):
and the notice board, that I. I also think that
the Bring a book is just a little bit of stopper
back to all that writing too, you know?

>> Brendon Fox (01:20:11):
Yes. I love that. It is. It is like
the. The cherry on top. Absolutely. Because it's.
It's. It's just. It really is part
of what you two now have as
your common language, which
is. Which is interesting because, of course, you were
there to. Part of your job as a tutor is to
educate Thomasina on a lot of subjects.

(01:20:34):
But it. But you're also very well read. Like we talked about last week or
the week before. Your side hustle is
reviewing. Right. So you're quite
erudite with that. And, you know, I
think, Janet, what struck me, too, is that for him to say that
thing about the, you know, the Athenian philosophers and the
sculptures of Pericles, you know,
for that to come from Someone like that who is very well

(01:20:56):
read too. It's hm. You know, he
hopes he knows his target and knows his audience
and it kind of hits the mark. You know, I
think there's something fun, Chris, that we can explore
more of. What if. What. What if we see
more, a little more of next time of
Septimus enjoying the fact that

(01:21:17):
she has done that callback to
your compliment, you know, about the Athenian
philosophers. She's listened so closely. She's
like, remember that thing from 10 minutes ago? I see you and I raise
you hello.
That's hot. Because it's not listening.
Reading is hot. Listening is hotter in this
world.

Yeah.

>> Brendon Fox (01:21:37):
Like everything is fair game. Everything has
been packed away and then brought back out.
It's very Oscar Wilde that Way too very Shaw, that
sense of like, I know what was in the back there and I'm
gonna, And all that is ready
to be deployed again.

Potentially stupid question. And I
should dig out the, dramaturgy packet. But
when we're talking about her drawers,
we're talking about underwear, right?
So basically underwear.
And I say, yes, she does. She goes, oh, I, wouldn't do
that. Come to my room. Like,

(01:22:16):
that's. That's also
nor for Septimus.

>> Brendon Fox (01:22:24):
Yeah, I don't think. I think it's good for us all to be on the same
page because I think what is. It is interesting that the way that like
Lady Croom shares her,
fashion proclivities
and. And you know, and the fact that you're sharing
this in a very intimate way. I mean, the
other thing that struck me for both of you this time is

(01:22:45):
there the. The intimacy that happens
here. There's so much. As much as there is the talk of
the double entende and sex and. And potential
invitations. What I saw you two start to lean
into is finding
or maybe re.
Realizing that this other person

(01:23:05):
really gets you like that
you're actually like. Like, look at this. Like the whole
section at the. At the bottom, of 75, top of 76.
He insists on it. Finds the proof of his wife's virtue
that, you know, I think my lady who would
have minister Chain or die for indeed. I never knew a woman worth the
duel or the other way about. I mean, that sounds to me like two

(01:23:26):
people who are already a couple in a
way of this sense of looking at the world
together, looking out. If that makes sense.
That sense of. Yeah. What is it. What's the deal with women in
duels? Right? I, mean, it feels like
you've it's interesting, Jen, to me that like you
share this with him, a man who

(01:23:46):
just went out to fight a potential duel.
But I love that you feel like, can we just
talk about all the toxic masculinity of
that and why any of that is even
necessary. Women and duels. It makes no sense.
There's something I think that was there and
I would encourage us to keep leaning into. And I saw you
both laughing at each other's wit and there's, there's

(01:24:09):
the more we can learn from each other and go, wow,
that's. You see that too? Or I
hadn't thought of it that way. You know, that also is part
of the gradual coming together of you two
in a way that's. That feels
like it's just flowing. Like when you first fight.
There's a flow. Right. You know,

(01:24:29):
Red. not read by you. Well, it should be read by me. There's that.
That sort of. You're playing the net in the tennis match that way.
So there's that kind of spark. But then
there's also the longer thoughts later where it
seems like you both are kind of dovetailing.
Like, does that make sense? It feels like a third date
in a good sense of like, you know, like, like.

(01:24:50):
Right. And also did you see that article about.
And it feels like there you, you both are.
No. We don't know where this is ultimately going to be leading. There's still that
question and I love Chris that I saw you sort of.
You're still on tenterhooks because, you know, I feel
like Lady Croom is holding all these cards
and you're, you're still in the dark
to some degree of like, well, things are getting hotter. But

(01:25:12):
yeah, at any moment she could pull the plug on
all of this.

There's. I think there's some The
thing you say about like this being a third date is interesting because
in this scene we both have new information about each
other. Letter. And I have
the fact that she went to Byron's room.

>> Brendon Fox (01:25:31):
Right.

Probably. I never would have imagined that she, she presents
herself as this one way. It's like, oh,
she sneaks around just like the rest of us.
She's this human
and oh, maybe there's
like we have. We. We see each other
differently now when, when we look m.

(01:25:54):
And we're ah, exploring that
new person that we see that new version of the person that we're.
That we're seeing.

>> Brendon Fox (01:26:02):
Does that track for you, Jen?

Absolutely. The fact that he
is. Didn't jump to
defend Mrs. Chater didn't
jump to defend Byron,
made his loyalties clear and chose
discretion proactively without me having to
request it.

>> Brendon Fox (01:26:24):
Hm.

Are all like, interesting
points suddenly become more interesting to
me? You know, like, that is
he's like in a very
precarious position, but doing all the right
moves for lady Croom.

>> Brendon Fox (01:26:43):
M. And in a way that you both start
off in a place of much more high
intensity, frenetic sense of out of
control chaos. And it's interesting
how over the course of the scene, your biorhythms start to
match and you do start to feel more in
control. You start to get to a place of. By the end, we're burning the
evidence like we are simpatico. But I like

(01:27:06):
that the more you two start off in a place
of high dudgeon and
tons of questions and. Right. All this to shoot a
hair. Explain yourself. How dare you? I mean, you're
coming in hot, Jen. I think it keeps you on the defensive,
Chris. And then I love. Then you push back as well so
that it's. It's messy. And I think

(01:27:26):
that with that knowledge, like you're saying Chris of each other that, oh,
you're human. But there's also interesting for you,
Jen, of like, oh, you, you. Can I hurt
you? Like, you're, You're.
That's. That's interesting too. Like, I think in some ways maybe the two of
you done have done too good a job of
fronting. And it's taken these
extraordinary circumstances to

(01:27:49):
push you both in this moment
of dawn, right? In this
liminal moment of not day, not night
is so beautiful by stoppard that this is
matching this betwixt between
hour and it's
exactly this moment of. Okay, so who are we?
Who are you to me? You know, things are being

(01:28:12):
redefined, but it's. There is a sense of, oh, I'm
getting. I'm starting to breathe now again. I'm starting to
feel like, okay, I'm getting some
control over. Over things. It's. It's
interesting how you both are doing that for each other coming m.
But it really helps with the arc if you both are from that
place of really being off kilter,

(01:28:32):
right. And, and letting the
disequilibrium keep, you vulnerable.
You know, like you said, Chris, not the cool cucumber lady
croom. Right. But I think
also, let's just, you know, it's hard to do this right now, folks in without
costumes or anything, but we got to remember you coming into
that room in your nightgown

(01:28:53):
at six in the morning. And when Jelloby steps
away, that scandal right there.
Yeah, that's. That's not appropriate. You
know, even if it's now just you, your deaf
husband, Thomasina, asleep,
right? Sleeping the sleep of geniuses. But
still, like that is. That's. That's. That's underneath
has got to be that frequency of. And I'm thinking

(01:29:16):
for, you know, for both of you, of like the elf in the room
is. You've never seen her, Chris, like this.
As the French say, desavier.
Right. That
is,
You know, the very few people would see her like that.

Right?

>> Brendon Fox (01:29:32):
And she is not taking any. If she.
You don't. She doesn't go away and say, I'll be back with my
rope.

Right?

>> Brendon Fox (01:29:40):
That's that. That's that. And I think that's kind of interesting. I wonder,
Jamie, if there's something a little fun about when
she decides to do the infusion.
Is there something a little fun about that?
You know, we talked about how much Shelby kind of loves the tea
as he's, you know, leaving. Oh, interesting.
Okay. So they don't want to chaperone, you

(01:30:00):
know, like, you know, it would only take
a few minutes. But I love that it's very unusual if she's like,
no, I got this. You can go. That'll be all.
Yeah, I bet. I bet that will be all.
Okay.

Yes.

Yeah.

>> Brendon Fox (01:30:14):
Right. I gotta tell Cook about. Something's going
on. Something is happening. But discretion. Discretion. Right.

But, well, all kinds of value in
how that when she comes in with Jellyby and how
it's staged.
Yeah, absolutely.

>> Brendon Fox (01:30:31):
Well, and I wonder too. I mean, Jamie, like, the fact that you've seen
all this happen. But like, I think for you and for
Chris, this. She
typically is the rock of the house,
right? And if she is the person that is pretty
unflappable, except for what happened
tonight. This is really unusual. Right.
And we kind of need. We, the audience looks to Jamie,

(01:30:54):
you and Chris to be our barometer of this.
That she is. The way that she just bursts
in the room, the way she's calling you out, the way that she's in her
nightgown like this is. This is
not.

And as those who have the calling to serve
do, their best to be unflapped.
This is flapping.
This is definitely a, unusual. And
it's getting more unusual by the moments in the
house. You know, it's getting more,

(01:31:28):
not untenable, but just
use. The foundation is a little shaky.
What. What was Known. And what
is now it's all sort of in flux.
And,

>> Brendon Fox (01:31:41):
Well, I love that, Jimmy, that time you and you shared the information. Once
you chose to share the information with Septimus, I
loved that you started to explore Jellyby's kind of
need to unpack this that
you. We let. We let just. We saw some of the cracks in his
veneer where he didn't go full Real
Housewives, Right. But he

(01:32:02):
was. I felt like, you
know, well, then this happened also. This. Don't forget that, like,
it starts to unspool pretty smoothly from him. And
I. I like.

Yeah, I agree with you. And it's not so
much that. I mean, I do make the reference, you know,
as, like the, you know, the,
usher, whatever, you know, in a,
In a hotel that re. Puts his hand out and
won't leave until he gets the coin. You know, I
mean, I make the reference to Byron left nothing in the room.

(01:32:32):
Not a coin, sir. You
know, but it's not really. I mean.
And that's something else maybe to explore is that. It's not so
much. I mean, yes, I have a crown. I mean, I have,
Is a lot. But
there's a decision to confide in
Septimus.

>> Brendon Fox (01:32:53):
Yes, exactly. That's what I'm getting at.

That I can be trusted with. M. This
information, you know, in some way.

>> Brendon Fox (01:33:00):
Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, I don't know. And that's maybe a
question, M. How long
Septimus has been in the house?

>> Brendon Fox (01:33:10):
well, I. I think that's interesting, too, Jamie. M. Because that is. And
I think, Chris, that's important for you to explore as well, right?
The fact that he could easily just say, thank you for the coin, Sarah, and
have a good morning. Right. And that would be
absolutely kosher for him to do and expected.
And the fact that each thing he gives you is. There is a
sense of, trust. And I wonder, too, Jamie, is

(01:33:30):
the fact that, like, you're still processing this as well, right? This
didn't happen yesterday.

Yeah.

>> Brendon Fox (01:33:35):
This is very fresh paint. So
to maybe. Is there.
Is there some agenda of sharing this with him in the
hopes that he might offer some perspective in return,
Right? Like, maybe he'll fill. Fill in some blanks that you don't
know.

Yeah, yeah, I agree. And, you know,
is my situation and those
in, who are in this, who are serving
this house, are our situations
tenable? I mean, are things, you
know, unraveling, you know,
within the status quo to the point where, you

(01:34:13):
know, there needs to be concern,
you Know.

>> Brendon Fox (01:34:17):
Well, yeah. And I mean in terms of what your duties are,
like doing the infusion. It struck me,
Jen, I meant to ask this last time. Why do you decide?
Why do you want to do it?

My gut reaction is I would like
to get, Jellyby out of the room,
in order to discuss these.
And I cannot discuss the content of these in
front of Jellyby.
So that is, that's
my, my impulse as to why.
Yes, we would like the room, please,

(01:34:52):
and a reasonable excuse.

Yes. Oh, I see.
Oh, I thought I might be included.
Right. Okay.

Can I. I say, this Jellyby
Septimus thing, something I noticed this time, which I thought was
interesting, is that I
think Jellyby is. I don't know
if this. Because they're all servants together, you know, they're. It's. It's
us against them or, you know, letting you know.
But he twice kind,
of warns Septimus when he says,

(01:35:28):
you were m. What? You were missed. Is that what he said?

You were missed? Yes.

And then again he
really, he goes another step further when he says,
you were looked for in your room. Which
are both things that
they struck me this time as I thought. Oh,
Jellyby's letting him know what's going on in
the house. So he's not walking on here, in here

(01:35:55):
unprepared, sort of.

>> Brendon Fox (01:35:57):
Yeah, that's it.

Their relationship.

>> Brendon Fox (01:36:02):
yeah, because you're right, Jeffy, that's a
great point. I didn't realize that he could have, he could have just.

He was taking the hair and gone. Right, right.

>> Brendon Fox (01:36:11):
And let Septimus twist in the wind.
Yeah, but, but, but, but he doesn't, he
does give him a little bit of ammo,
a little bit of a heads up so that, then what
he chooses to do with that information is up to him. Yeah, but,
but yeah, you're right. There's a. That twice he
actually you were looked for in your room. And like

(01:36:31):
that's pretty great information for you, Chris. Of like.
Wait, what? that, that. And, and
especially because then when Jen, you start
to tell him what happened in your
version. It's, it
allows you, Chris, to be like, oh, okay, so this is what you're
saying it happened. Okay. Because I've got, I've got it
from Jelly, who I think is pretty neutral in

(01:36:53):
this and doesn't have the same skin in the game as you
do.

Yeah. Because he's not only given a shield,
he's also given a weapon.
Right. So it's not just you Were looked for
and your room has been raided and your name
came up loudly. But it's also.
When asked who was leaving whose
room, like, the weapon is.
Well, she was on her way to Byron's house, so, like

(01:37:20):
shield and shield and weapon
delivered.

>> Brendon Fox (01:37:24):
Yeah, that's. And information
is power. Right? And I love that. When we can
make more of the fact of. In the midst of you
trying to keep catch up, Chris, with what's been going on in
your absence, there's also the. The
you acknowledging on the fly how amazing it
is that he's giving you this. You know, that's

(01:37:44):
the. All of this is
not expected. And it's. And then before
you can even fully process it, you know, you sweeping
in and. And Jen, what's that moment about with all
this to shoot a hair? Can you give me. Can you unpack
that a little bit for m. Me?

This is my impulse, but if other folks have ideas, I'd love
to hear them. My thought is.
So, dueling is illegal and
scandalous at this time. So
the ad. The admission that this is happening in
my home could be scandalous if it got about
because jelly beast is in the room.

(01:38:20):
Right. So, the pretense
has to be kept up that he
left early in the morning with two
pistols for the purpose of shooting
hairs, which is, I
mean, again, like, shutting the barn door when the
horses are out. Servants all heard at volume
the screaming that occurred last night. But we, like.

(01:38:43):
It is also creating the story of,
like, I can't believe you got up
early to shoot hares.
How dare you? Is
my impulse.

>> Brendon Fox (01:38:55):
and then.

And then if there's more to it than that,
you know.

>> Brendon Fox (01:38:59):
No, I love that. Because if you go. You go down that road, then
he's not playing along. And
that's even more frustrating. Like, really?

Really, dude, Being pedantic.

>> Brendon Fox (01:39:11):
Yeah. What are you, a teacher?
I'm trying to spin something for everyone's sake here.
And he's going, well, technically,
that tracks for me. any other thoughts from the group? I
mean, that helps me.

Oh, I think that's pretty good.

Yeah,
that sounds right.

We're all agreeing to this version of history, right?

>> Brendon Fox (01:39:34):
Yes. I also, like, can we look at the stage
direction she gives him one of her looks.

I was just looking at it.

>> Brendon Fox (01:39:40):
Which to me, it's like, there should be, like, a little trademark there,
right? One of the trademark lady croom, like, number
22 of,

Like, yeah, you got a number 22 there, buddy.

>> Brendon Fox (01:39:51):
I didn't clock that until just now of, like, not A
look. One of her looks, and she has many.

She's somewhere between Tallulah Bankhead
and Bette Davis.

Yeah.

Little bit of.

I like the idea of the. Like
the servants having a book, a sketchbook, of
going, so if you get a number 22,
this means it.

>> Brendon Fox (01:40:17):
And the eyebrow is up here, but pointed down.

Right.

>> Brendon Fox (01:40:22):
Kate, any thoughts?

>> Dr. Kate Moncrief (01:40:25):
nothing else for the group. This is. This is great. I love
that. That explanation, Jen.

>> Brendon Fox (01:40:31):
That's it, really. Ah, that. That is.
I love that. And I think the,
The I. I wondered, Jen, something to. To
play with in that moment of you have no secrets left.
I. I love that you two are both keeping the
stakes high and that you are pushing each other to

(01:40:51):
confess or to. To keep each other off
balance. Are there also moments. Moments between the
two of you of, enjoying the cat and
mouse, of. Of allowing. When do you
want to take your foot off the gas and just relish.
I've got you. Like, what else can you hide?
You know, I don't know what that would deal. But is there something fun

(01:41:11):
about the. I've got
these letters. I don't know what the hell they mean,
but there's something. And I
think you. You know, what are you going to do? It feels
a little like, you know, law and order or
homicide. When they. When the. When the. When the cops in
the. In the interrogation room go, you know,
I mean, we've got the evidence, we've got the

(01:41:34):
alibi, so what are you going to do? What's your next
move? Right, so there's a. There's a fun way to keep
still, keep his feet to the fire. Sometimes it's through intensity,
and sometimes. What's another way to throw him off of.
And the cat that ate the canary? And then Chris, it
could freak you out of. What else does she know? You
know, what is she not. I feel like she knows

(01:41:54):
something that I don't know. And so it's a. It's another.
Just another tool to. To play
with.

Yeah.

>> Brendon Fox (01:42:04):
The. Yeah. I'm curious, Téa,
as you were watching this time around on the outside, looking in, what.
What jumped out at you when they were piecing it together.

>> Téa Guarino (01:42:13):
I think the idea that you're talking about before
the. The small flashlight of
things is very, just like such a
helpful thing for me when I'm doing things
here, but also in this scene, because I feel like
Thomasina and Septimus's scene in the beginning
is very. It's just not as
like their scene is like

(01:42:37):
maze here, here, here. And like, me and Septimus is like, okay,
like, what's this? So I feel like the.
The small flashlight and discovering things about,
like, each other and like, the limits that
they're pushing with each other is just so fun
to see the choices that are being made. But,
yeah, every. Everything that everyone has said, I've

(01:42:58):
caught on. Agreed with.

Yeah.

>> Brendon Fox (01:43:01):
The little revelations mean so much. I love that,
Téa. That sense of no discovery is too
small about each other. And I think starting with
that hotness, starting with that sense of tempo and
intensity and. And when we come back to it
next week, I. I would encourage, on page
73, Chris and Jen,

(01:43:21):
I would encourage us to even
play the net more and see what happens of the. How dare
you propriety address to me left in my room.
What? You refuse much from this side of it. Just see
what happens if. Everything you're exploring, but just to
see what happens if. If you don't give yourself time
to reflect at all. Like, it's. It's very

(01:43:42):
much just heat of the moment. Heat of the moment, you know,
that you're just. You're. You're pinging off each other and
you're not giving yourself time to breathe or,
take a moment to think. Am I saying an
appropriate thing? If. Does that. If that makes
sense. it's. And
Jamie, before I forget, I'm not. I'm not

(01:44:03):
above this, but I think when you say the house has been
up and hopping, I couldn't help but
think, might you want to dangle the
rabbit a little? You know,
can there be a little Jelloby dad joke there
of, you know. Yeah, yeah,
that could be. Could be kind of,

(01:44:28):
the.

I just suddenly realized why it is. I think I trust
Septimus.

>> Brendon Fox (01:44:37):
What? Why?

Well, he says that Thomasina loves a
rabbit pie
and he's aware of what
she likes to eat. Like, I am aware of how
much priced pudding. you know, there's just something about
that. There's a sensitivity to her other than as a
student or as transactional, you know, that
he's. There's something about that rabbit. I suddenly saw

(01:45:02):
that rabbit pie and I thought, oh, that's.

That's.

That's insignificant.

Yeah, yeah.

>> Brendon Fox (01:45:08):
No, I. I love that. That sense of. Because you're right. Like,
Chris, Chris, you know, you're holding it at arm's length. Like, I
don't want to touch this. I don't want to deal with it. It's
dead. Not the way I wanted to start my day
or the eighth shift of my Day. And the
thing that immediately unlocks it for you, Jamie, is it's just the.

Way you take the rabbit from him. You know, it's
like I say it's dead, and then
he says that. And, it's a very, I think,
purposeful thing to take the rabbit.

>> Brendon Fox (01:45:36):
Right.

from, him, you know? I don't know.

>> Brendon Fox (01:45:39):
No, I love that because he's. Yeah, he says she loves rabbit
pie. All right, I'll take it. you know, that's.
That. It's, It's. That's the secret.

He truly cares about her.

>> Brendon Fox (01:45:50):
Yeah. Which is. Which is. I mean, you two
both are not just employees when it comes to her.

Yeah.

>> Brendon Fox (01:45:56):
And I love the sense of
that. Chris, you. You took time again, like we talked about
last week. I don't think you're someone who loves to hunt, but
you. I love that you shoot
the hair for her. Right? And it's.
It's really beautiful, actually. It's. It's. It's
making her. You want. You both want to make her happy. I mean,

(01:46:16):
everyone actually cares so deeply about
this young woman.
And, you know, even though she, you know, I love the job
is like, I don't know most of the stuff that comes out of her mouth, but I
know she loves rabbit pie, and I love. She loves jam and her
rice pudding, and I can do that.

The light of, of the world.

>> Brendon Fox (01:46:35):
Yeah. And that's what. When. When she smiles, when
she gets that jam that your
week is made, you know, and, like, and you don't need to
know all the stuff that, that she's
spouting, and it's above. It's above your pay grade,
but, like, but that she's. She relishes
things that you can do for her, which I think keeps

(01:46:56):
them all very human.

Oh, yeah, I agree.

>> Brendon Fox (01:47:01):
the, And. And just. I know we're. We're about a
time, but I, There was just one. One other thing about
the,
the when. You
know, starting on. On again. Like, we're backing up a little bit on
75.
once the. The. When you
two watch the. The. The letter being

(01:47:23):
burned. I, I, I would encourage you
starting with that beat up. Now, here, now here, there's a thing. A letter from
Lord Byron. Never to be read by living soul.
there's. I know it's hard right now on Zoom, but I would encourage you both
to just take that moment, breathe that in of
you both are on that same page of. Well, there goes a
letter from, you know, he was a star of his Own time. Right. So you

(01:47:45):
know what you're doing. And the fact that
if we have kept things pretty hot and
intense prior to that, that
naturally gives you a moment to breathe together
and look at that together. And then, and
then that's when I think a turn starts to happen
where you both start to have that intimacy of.

(01:48:06):
Wait, she's going with him? Well, not as a crew, as a
mistress. Oh my God, really? You know, and then you both start to
dish and start to kind of unpack.
And that great amazing moment when you
say jen, he insists on it. Right.
But is Mr. Chaytor deceived? He insists on it.
Sometimes we are willfully blind. We are

(01:48:26):
insisting that I am not being cheated
on. And I think that's,
that's. But to find someone simpatico to
go. Yeah, I understand the irony of that.
So I think there's just the opportunity when we come back to this,
that you both are. Yes. Ending each other even
when you don't have lines.

(01:48:47):
But it's, it's really beautiful just to see with both scenes
that can. The dots you're connecting. So thanks for the
great work today. I'm really glad we got to
pull the camera back and see these on the, you
know, the big picture again.

>> Nathan Agin (01:49:02):
Yeah, yeah, no, the, these scenes are, both of them are
just. Oh, sorry.

>> Brendon Fox (01:49:06):
Yeah.

>> Nathan Agin (01:49:06):
those scenes, these scenes are both just humming along and
it's, it's so fun to see
all the discussion that you guys have had, how that is
informing, the choices and then, and, and
the pauses people are taking and you know what
they're, what they're. It's just, just so, I mean, you
know, great material, great artists, you
can't lose, that, you know, if

(01:49:28):
nobody else watches this, I'm just sitting here going, this is so
much fun.
Yeah, well, you know, it's like it's my, my personal theater company.
It's like, yes, please perform. I, I want to know more, more about these
plays. These are great, but no, other people are enjoying these too.
It's it's, it's just wonderful though. Really, really,
excellent conversations and, and so enjoying it. So

(01:49:50):
thank you guys all so much for just another great
week work. And we'll come back next
week for the final, final session. But yeah,
really, really wonderful. Thank you all so, so much.

>> Brendon Fox (01:50:01):
Thank you everyone.

>> Nathan Agin (01:50:03):
Yeah, have a great night. See you again.

Thank you.

>> Brendon Fox (01:50:07):
Good night everybody.

Bye.

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Week 3: "The Dance of Discovery" - ARCADIA - Tom Stoppard | The Rehearsal Room

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Week 3: "The Dance of Discovery" - ARCADIA - Tom Stoppard | The Rehearsal Room