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This entails giving the actors something to do physically while they work on a speech or scene. It must be something clear and simple, not requiring a lot of thought. Berry (2008:108,109) suggests rearranging chairs or clearing up a pile of books while speaking or even picking up some potatoes that have been thrown on the floor. We had some props linking to the ideas in the play which could be used such as a suitcase, some sheets, books, candles, keys, a bowl and plate. This exercise was combined into the story-telling improvisation at the beginning of our rehearsals, where the cast used the props and available furniture in the rehearsal room to create a structure in a forest setting, reminiscent of the Knysna forest mentioned in the text of Sorrows and Rejoicings (Fugard 2002:12,13). We did not use this on the text at first, but the idea was similar in application during the improvisation. The actress playing Marta, at a later stage while speaking her monologue at the table, used the large candlestick, lighting it, carrying it, placing it differently on and around the table while speaking. This had an effect on the ease and tempo of her blocking and gestures and the symbolic value of the prop was highlighted. The candle became a source of light and safety and brought the family together in one space. It also created a sense of intimacy in the story of the stinkwood tree and the forest and added to the value of the words themselves. The candle was also used again in the Prologue we created to start the play, by

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the character Rebecca. Here she was one of the women in the speaker Ovid/Dawid’s life and also symbolically blows the candle out at the end of his speech before the play commences. In one of the early rehearsals the idea of performing a task worked well for the actor playing Dawid, as he recalled the Karoo landscape of his childhood. This was improvised speaking but as he picked up scattered books one by one, and took them to a specific point in the room he remembered more places and things and people. The other actors then removed the books again and placed them in different spots. One had the clear visual and aural picture of a man who remembers and then loses his dear memories or misplaces them. This activity could also be applied later when working on scene 2 when character Dawid returns to South Africa and charts his journey back to his Karoo hometown (Fugard 2002:13–16), trying to find his sense of place and self again. Picking up and repacking the books, losing and finding them, all contributed to finding the images in the lines more clearly and not rushing. This activity was also especially valuable, employed as a strategy by character Rebecca, who for the most part of the play does not speak and must occupy herself by performing small tasks and listening to the other characters and watching events unfold. She is deliberately placed quite far upstage in the space as she refuses to enter the room properly in a moral stance of defiance against her mother Marta and her father, Dawid. It was necessary for the actress playing her to create and evolve many small tasks that she could do within this space that were true to her character and would not detract from the main focus of many scenes. Some of these were suggested by implication in the text but most were not. She had to establish a strong presence that also conveyed some comment about her feelings within the tension of the scenes. This was difficult to do and had to be improvised along Rebecca’s thought processes and reactions throughout the whole play. Some tasks seemed casual at first, then more telling e.g. how she played notes on the piano, used certain books and magazines and handled photos, etc. The actress was complimented by various members of the public on her excellent presence both while not speaking and during the spoken scenes, as well as her handling of space and props during the performances.

We also used the idea of performing a task(s) with character Dawid’s activity of dressing and undressing on the side of the playing space when not in main focus, or entering the acting space during and between scenes. All the characters remain in the playing space and transitions needed to be flowing and often in full view of the audience with only subtle lighting changes. The actor early on used the time and transition needed to take off items of clothing, or to add more and this instantly helped change the idea of time to the past or the present, youth or age, sickness or health, Karoo or London environment. His character was the most changeable in this respect and contributed a sense of variation both in characterisation and

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visually assisting the audience in following these transitions. A simple activity suggested by Berry which became a clear aspect of the visual and acting approach to the production.