Eleanor Hyde and director Gary Griffin watch a rehearsal of Private Lives. Photo by Helen Drysdale

Moving into tech is a major shift in the rehearsal process. In this stage, we layer in all of the production elements—costume, wigs, lights, and sound. This always brings the world of the play into an entirely new level of reality. With the stage lighting the playing space on stage feels contained and separate from the audience space. The costumes and wigs bring a new world onto the stage and with it subtle changes in actors' physicality and performance. With just a few days remaining until our first audience it is exciting to see all of the pieces come together to support the story we are trying to tell.

Private Lives is particularly affected by the addition of sound. Noël Coward wrote hundreds of songs throughout his life—a number of which are being used in our production. The majority of the first act is underscored by the sound of an orchestra playing beneath the couples' balconies. The second act contains a number of critical moments in which Amanda and Elyot play records in her apartment. The music brings different emotional tone and rhythm to the play.

Layered in addition to the music are all of the ambient sounds that make the world feel real and complete—the sound of the ocean below the balconies or automobiles driving by the windows of Amanda's Paris apartment. In the midst of the very private moments of the play, we are occasionally reminded that the outside world continues on offstage. This rich texture really makes the world come alive with a new depth.