Hotting up

The temperature in the Rehearsal Room at the REP is high, as autumn has forgotten to bite, and the open windows cannot fully clear the air. There is a tiredness in evidence which is hardly surprising - the visiting team here came to work pretty much straight off their long flights, and the schedule has been intense. We have got a long way, and there will be some gritting of teeth in making the final push.

This morning we started with the scene in which Aka finds the place where his favourite tree once stood, and then Norang tells her grandmother's story. The actors first attempt at it is strong, and there are few big issues to debate. As we go further into the story it becomes clear that we are at a point where we need to make some more specific decisions about the design - they are improvising activities like digging, when we are not yet decided how we may really be representing them as yet. But Yeon reminds me that in a normal process the designer would not be expecting to be involved until there is a draft script at least, and her involvement to date will in the long run prove a real bonus.

At lunch time today there is a production meeting, and in some ways this emphasises how much is still to be decided. But the pace we have been working has felt high, and the amount of time wasted in fruitless exploration has been impressively small. Considering how complicated it would be to deal with conflict on any scale, across the three countries and languages, I think we have been really lucky in the degree of like-mindedness at the heart of the project, and the way our differences have felt like complementary forces.

In the afternoon we went back to the beginning, and readdressed some of the areas discussed yesterday. The actors ran through the first three scenes impressively, and again the day ended positively....

Ali, who was with us in Seoul and Tokyo, came and visited at the end of the day, and we went for a drink together. Tomorrow, the midday 'concert', and an afternoon of being visited by students on a careers day....