18. Dressed Rehearsals and Audience Testing
Lessons of the 'Troupe 1931' Theater Ensemble
The original author of these essays was Ingeborg Franke von Wangenheim.
We began rehearsal of “The Mousetrap” on August 28, 1931. After 85 sessions over three months, we ended — on December 20. By German standards, three months is a very long time to rehearse a single show. This was only possible for us because we were all doing so much more than the usual theater work and, yet, still working like amateurs.
Dressed rehearsals for “The Mousetrap” began during the last week of November 1931. After the first dressed-rehearsal of any work, we say “The play has its legs.” Even so, the actors or director can open the floodgates of new, intense discussion during this time of final rehearsal. This is why we generally refrain from making any criticism of our performances — either our own or each others’ — once dress- and technical rehearsals begin. Any loose comment by one colleague to another has the possibility, at least, of opening doors to misunderstanding or flat-out error, creating relationship-injuries that sometimes require years to correct and heal. Especially considering the work of our young, still-insecure Troupe31 members, we decided that such criticism was best left to our director.