This afternoon I took Monkey Number One along to rehearsal for the first time, and although the strings and control still need tweaking and the puppet needs to be decorated and the joints soldered, we were able to get a feel for how the monkeys will fit into Act One Scene Three and interact with the rest of the cast. Emma and I were delighted to meet our Monkey Wallah, Asif, and to begin working with him and to hear his suggestions as to what the monkey performance might entail. Just to explain, a monkey wallah is a man who earns his livelihood from busking with performing monkeys, and is a common sight in India. In Baba Shakespeare the monkey wallah appears with his two monkeys when the Buckinghams' car has broken down by the side of the road, and he wants them to pay for a performance, which they eventually agree to, despite being hard up themselves.
Our Monkey Wallah, Asif, has first-hand experience of monkeys, having had one as a pet, so we're confident he won't mind having puppet monkeys jumping on him, and will also be able to give us useful feedback about whether the marionettes are moving and behaving like real monkeys.
Emma, Asif and I will rehearse separately from the rest of the scene in order to devise our five to ten minute monkey performance, which will then slot into the main rehearsals, but it was important today to get an idea of how it will all fit together.
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