This session, A.B.L.E. has three different ensembles - 2 for teens (ages 15-21) and one for adults (ages 22+). Each ensemble is led by a pair of teaching artists, and supported by a team of volunteer facilitators. These groups will work together to devise two original shows. Each week, we share updates from the rehearsal room. Click here to read past installments, and read on to learn about week 3 of rehearsals!

The fun thing about a devised play is that you get to try out many different things in rehearsals before you settle on what's best. Our ensembles are testing out all sorts of ideas and stories to see what could be compelling for an audience.

TEEN ENSEMBLE

We've been doing a lot of talking and sitting during rehearsals to answer questions and learn more about our ensemble members, so it was fun to get up on our feet and try something different this week. Along the theme of ASSUMPTIONS, this week we explored stereotypes and what people might not know about us. During check in everyone shared a secret talent. These ABLE actors have lots of hidden skills – everything from backflips to splits to painting and singing! Then we played Here to There and practiced walking like different high school stereotypes like jock, cheerleader, geek, goth and others. Maybe these characters will end up in our show?

Here to There is a favorite game that gets us thinking how different characters move through space. Our Friday ensemble experimented with different stereotypes. Here we are moving here to there as cheerleaders.

Our big group activity this week was learning music and choreography for a giant group number in our show. It’s from a universal favorite - High School Musical - so pretty much everyone knew the lyrics already. We just had to plug in some dance moves. If you’re not familiar with the song, it features characters revealing that they have unexpected talents and interests you might not assume. We highlighted some of our own secret talents during the song, and will keep playing with how to feature our diverse group in the weeks to come.

ADULT ENSEMBLE

Our adults packed a lot into this week’s rehearsal. We came in with a lot of good energy that we put to a stimulating Check In conversation, and a great round of one of our favorite ensemble games, Center! In addition to revisiting the stories we created about our objects last week, and improvising some new scenes about each of them, we also tried out some Shakespeare scenes that feature the same objects. We saw Romeo & Juliet’s final moments, Puck using his magical flower on a sleeping Lysander, a brutal streetfight between the Capulets and Montagues, and a despondent Ophelia. We also worked in teams to try out choreography for a potential movement segment that could bring to life one of Shakespeare’s most famous stage directions – “exit, pursued by bear.”