So, it’s like this: right at the beginning of two,three, that is, of the final scene where everybody converges on Mrs. Higgins, Pickering and Higgins go to sit down. The way it has been blocked, Pickering sits in the far chair, and Higgins and the center one. There is also a sofa that seats two; at the time of this sitting-down there are three characters on the set, but Rich Alfie is about to come on and make four.
We have changed the blocking every single time we’ve run this scene. Every time. It’s not a particularly complicated scene (although there are a fair number of entrances and exits), but we haven’t managed to get everybody in the same room for it very often, and for some reason, even when we do, something doesn’t work right.
This time, it was that move to the chairs. It was awkward. And it was awkward, no question about that. Jane solved that awkwardness by simply switching chairs. Now Higgins is in the far chair, Pickering up center. All solved. But wait…
Rich Alfie comes in, takes up the last remaining seat, on the sofa with Mrs. Higgins. Then Higgins, frustrated and impatient, gets up, and I chase him, flinging my top hat in the center chair that he vacated. Only he hasn’t vacated it. He has vacated the other chair. So I have to fling it all the way into the far chair. And then I go and sit in that chair (but not on the hat), only it’s the far chair. And then Mrs. Higgins gets up and I lead her back to the center chair, only Pickering has to get up and get out of that chair, because otherwise she’d be sitting on his lap. So. Now he’s up, and over by the sofa, so instead of pushing Higgins over on the sofa, I go and sit in the vacant chair. Now Mrs. Higgins is up, Pick and Higgins are over by the sofa, which is good, but I’m across the stage, which isn’t as good. And when she finishes and sits down, she wants to sit in the far chair, but now I’m in the far chair, so she sits in the center chair. So when I get up to go, instead of crossing from the sofa (remember the sofa?) I’m crossing from the far chair, which means I’m going all the way to center before turning around and exiting on the same side I just came from.
I have a feeling that we’ll be changing the blocking again, next time we do the scene.
Tolerabimus quod tolerare debemus,
-Vardibidian.