Scene 2 Staging

General Staging for Scene 2 (pp. 6-13, m. 8 - 18)

In this scene, we meet Noye's Sons (Sem, Ham & Jaffett) and their Wives (Mrs. Sem, Mrs. Ham and Mrs.Jaffett) We also meet Mrs Noye and her friends, known as The Gossips.

The Sons and Wives enter from the House Left door closest to the stage, hereafter known as HL front door. Each individual should enter at the time noted in the score and with the prop that is mentioned. The basic movement is that each enters, comes to Noye and shows him the tool and/or idea they have to help with building and continues to sing to their respective partner and the others.

We discussed character ideas - how will you enter? Are you running, walking, skipping? All of you want to help Noye, but you might have different ways of showing that.

At M. 13 (bottom of p. 10), Mrs. Noye and Gossips enter from the HL back door. The Gossips are carrying 2 bunches of kindling and one wooden flask. They walk through the audience, initially not noticing what is happening on stage. When they are halfway through the audience, Mrs. Noye notices her family and her mood changes. The entire group must be Stage Right (hereafter known as SR) on the floor by M. 15. Mrs Noye walks up the steps, carrying one small twig to tease Noye with. The Gossips stay off the stage (there's a good chance there will be a SR platform that they will stand on). At M. 16, Mrs. Noye torments Noye a bit and the Gossips move into the SR stairs. Mrs. Noye then crosses to join the Gossips. They need to be there by M. 18.

End of Scene 2!