Basic plot: Evelyn Farrant, a down-on-his-luck actor, hates his exceedingly rich twin brother, Rupert, and has devised a scheme to take his place. He has enticed Major Powell to murder Rupert. Evelyn will then make it look like a suicide and can then take over Rupert's life and money, but not his fiancee. Will he succeed? Come and find out.
So there will be a lot of me running around backstage, changing costume in order to come in as the other brother. The big challenge, so far, has been finding their voices. Evelyn is flamboyant and prone to fits of the dramatic while Rupert is charming yet staid. I've been wandering through a whole bunch of archetypes and inspirations trying to find one that works and that I can do.
The first thought was that Evelyn would be more like Tilda Swinton while Rupert would be more like Alec Guiness. Given Evelyn's androgynous nature (he makes his entrance in full drag...yeah, I'm wearing a flippin' dress again), Swinton's Protean portrayals seemed to be where to go. But the voice isn't quite it. I'm too much of a baritone to pull it off. So while I'm still looking at her for physical type, I've had to go elsewhere for the voice.
And it seems to be Carol Beer. She's the character played by David Walliams in Little Britain:
Now, Evelyn is more dramatic, higher toned in pitch, and speaks faster, but the inflection is where I'm going for. Very declasse. But then, I'm realizing that there are about four distinct personalities in Evelyn: The schemer, the actor, the priss, and the child. It's going to be a lot of work finding them all.
There was a bit of a discussion the first time we worked Rupert. The director and I both agree that Rupert is everything Evelyn is not. But, his vision was along the lines that the stick up Rupert's ass has a stick up its ass, too. The problem I have is that much of Rupert's dialog doesn't really support that. He has a bit of a racy conversation on the phone with his fiancee. And while there certainly is humor in watching someone who doesn't value emotion going through the motions ("Of course I'm alone, you naughty thing"), there are a couple problems: We should like Rupert. The play isn't about Evelyn actually doing the world a favor by getting rid of Rupert. And during Evelyn's pitch to Powell, he goes on and on about how everybody is charmed by Rupert. So we have to see that.
Now, it certainly wasn't a fight. And I honestly did try to play Rupert as bloodless as requested, but it really wasn't working. After struggling and explaining, I put it this way: When Evelyn does something nice for you, it's because he wants something out of you. When Rupert does it, it's because he actually cares. Evelyn is all about surfaces. There is plenty of depth, but the the surface needs to be arranged just so in order to ensure the effect is made. All artifice. Rupert, however, wouldn't know how to be shifty if he tried. While he's pleasant to the policeman and playful with his fiance, Evelyn brings out his colder side. So a lot of the attitude the director wanted is still useful, but it is only directed toward his neer-do-well brother.
And yesterday, we did the first scene of Evelyn pretending to be Rupert. These scenes will be the hardest. Very Victor/Victoria. An American (me) pretending to be a Brit (Evelyn) pretending to be another Brit (Rupert). I'll have to plot out those points where the mask slips and how it gets reset.
But, we've still got two-and-half months to go. Yeah, it's a long rehearsal period. Given the physicality of the piece, we're starting now so that when we get into the theater and focus on the quick changes, the characterization will be pretty well defined. It's going to be a bit like the second act of Noises Off! A study in choreography.
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