Do Actions Speak Louder Than Words?: Characterizing the Components of the Theatrical Rehearsal Process

Abstract

It is argued that a primary goal of a theatrical production is the making of meaning by the audience through the vehicle of multiple media (i.e. staging, design, sound and lighting effects and so on). Effective rehearsal of these elements affords the greatest opportunity for a coherent interpretation of the text. Although individual rehearsals will by their very nature be unique, it does not follow that the characteristics of the rehearsal process cannot be identified, modelled, and applied in a range of contexts.Theatrical rehearsal practices, so often compartmentalized in the academic literature and reduced in the craft literature, are theorized in this article by reference to the rich literatures of pedagogy, educational multiple media development, and group communication. This iterative analysis will serve as a first step towards constructing a better understanding of the heuristic nature, the purposes and effective uses of rehearsal.