Today, I helped direct a section of the shop scene featuring Weinberl, Christopher and Zangler. We warmed up with a game of Buzzy Bees which involves becoming a specific object/person/animal when a letter or collection of letters is shouted. The game ends for a person if they cannot immediately think of an object/person/animal or select one which someone else has selected. This helped me by warming up my imagination and to help me isolate unique and useful ideas, which I would need to direct with.
We began with a part where Zangler had left the shop leaving Weinberl and Christopher alone where they relax with some drinks. I contributed the idea that smooth Jazz should play after Christopher says the line: "He's gone", because I thought it would contrast the intense atmosphere of Zangler's shop earlier in the scene. It tells us more about Weinberl's suavity and is a good accompaniment for their relaxation.
We progressed to a part where Weinberl is monologuing about how he sees the merchant's place in the world. This speech has occasional interjections from Christopher. I noticed that whenever Christopher spoke, the actor playing Weinberl would freeze his face and body entirely until Christopher had finished. I suspected that this was probably because he had no idea how to react to Christopher's interjections so I walked him through Weinberl's speech to help him realize how absorbed Weinberl is in his own monologue. This then led to the actor changing his facial expressions and body language to reflect how he is planning ahead on his monologue and is completely ignoring Christopher.
In a later part with Zangler, Christopher is trying to ingratiate himself to Zangler by giving positive comments on his uniform. However, Zangler completely ignores him. I found that with the current position of the actors, Christopher's efforts didn't come across to the audience properly and the comic value was lost. So I suggested that Zangler and Weinberl make a tight arrow shape at the centre stage while they have their conversation. Then I placed Christopher slightly upstage of them in the centre politely trying to break into the conversation but failing. This comically makes him look like an outsider and makes his lines funnier.
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