"Goddard! ... Fetch a cloth!"

We had our first full-play rehearsal tonight - or, at least, that was the idea. We only got as far as the end of Act 2. Generally, all of us were much better at Act 2 than Act 1, so when we stopped for coffee at the end of Act 1, the director told us that, "you minor parts - disgusting." Then a few minutes later, when she was going to each of us individually, she had a go at me. I didn't notice her having a go at any of the others, and they were just as bad. I've got the third biggest part after the two leads, and it's just so scrappy - it's the worst kind of part to learn. I know my lines, I'm just not so hot on when I say each particular one. About half of my lines are half a dozen words of semi-topical interjection. I play DC Goddard, and I'm first on the scene of a murder investigation - and I do no investigating. I ask three pertinent questions, then my superior (DSupt Baxter) arrives, and I spend the rest of Act 1 as a doorman. Still, we are in Z Division for a reason. The line in the title of this post was spoken by Chris (who plays Baxter) near the end of Act 2, when he just went completely blank for the real line. For this play, Chris' maxim is "if in doubt, call for Goddard". Well, that time I was right in front of him, and he knew he had to say something to me, but couldn't remember what. And us "minor parts" are supposed to try and help the two leads (who are struggling with the sheer amount of lines they have) - but how could I have helped with that? In character, I didn't know what I would be ordered to do, there are no in-character hints for it. And everyone else - most of the time we're answering questions or being flippant, and there's not really any way we can anticipate in-character what comes next and lead the leads into saying our cue.

Aaannyway. I have at least found the loose connection in my rear lamp, so I'll be fixing that tomorrow.