365 beginnings

So the past week we've been trying to figure out where the 365 plays are going, and as of today I really have started to get a good feeling for this. The analysis of each play really helped me discover how to embody the play more fully than I probably could have from simply reading it. The most interesting part of that assignment was probably the finding of pictures, as during two of my plays, I rely solely on my image, so seeing different ways of stance helped give me ideas. The general finding of each characters goals also helped focus me on which direction I should take my character and how he should react to various lines and actions. This whole process seems to be slightly rushed, since as of now, a number of groups still have yet to meet. Time management is definitely an issue for a number of us in the class right now, as four of us have We Won't Pay rehearsals on top of all the 365 performances and rehearsals.

The time spent in class discussing 365 has definitely left much to be desired, as I think some more class time should have been dedicated to some of each play, instead of just Jayson and Kira's play. While watching them work through the rehearsal process was interesting, I think the time could have been better spent looking at maybe more than one of the plays, or more probably, one of the plays that has a number of the class members in it.

Embodiment as an Ensemble.

Lately I have been noticing something – something that not only applies to acting class. It comes into play when I am with a group of people who must work together, but do not participate with the same level of commitment. I’ve felt the imbalance in acting, as well as in my piano class. Every time we must all play out loud together, we mess up. Someone hits a wrong note or plays too fast, and then we all lose the tempo and end up resembling a five-year-old banging on the keys with their elbow. You can feel the lack of concentration and connection in the room. Some are very sure of themselves and plow ahead, while others hesitate and throw off the rhythm. Only after multiple tries do we finally begin to come together and harmonize as a whole. I felt the same sort of disconnect in acting class, as well. On Friday, when we were doing the new exercises dealing with embodying a certain characteristics, I didn’t feel like we were all putting the same amount of effort into it. When it comes to PPL, you can feel how everyone is equally as engaged in what we’re doing. We feel as if we are completely aware of what everyone else is doing, and therefore can participate fully. However, on Friday, I felt like because we didn’t know what to expect, we all weren’t as engaged as we tend to be, which threw me off a bit. I wanted to fully envelope myself in what we were doing, but I also felt like we were all so unsure of what to expect, that we were looking to each other for guidance and acceptance of what our next moves should be… just to make sure we were doing it all right. And through this, while I do feel like I personally developed a better grasp on how to embody an emotion, I feel like we were still all very wary of each other and therefore not as engaged as I wished we could’ve been.

Performances

One of the biggest things I realized over the past week was that I need to focus my energy. While I know that I always have a great deal of enthusiasm on stage, where I direct that enthusiasm is sometimes a mystery. My goal for the first time Jen and I performed our piece was something I just said to have a goal, but I soon realized, after it was pointed out by Jon, that I have way too many extra motions in my acting which can dramatically decrease the energy and focus of my lines in a negative way. On our off days, Jen and I worked the scene a few times, and we really focused on our body positions, as well as having very specific and sharp motions which can convey the emotion in the most effective way, which I think went very well.

On the 365 Plays focus, I'm quite excited about the ones which I have been cast in, as all the roles are quite different and challenging in their own ways. The second constant will probably be the toughest role, as there is not a specific movement; in fact no movement at all. The idea which popped into my head for this scene would be for some music playing while the actor stares either blankly into the distance or focused intently upon a point, depending on the music. I'm also excited for the Puja Play, as just the character which I am playing seems so extreme and foreign. It's not everyday that one gets the opportunity to play a gorgeous fat guy with the head of an elephant. And since the lines for me are so short and abrupt, they have to be extra strong, as they have to be delivered fully present and in tune with the scene.

scenes and goals

Once I read the scenes we were given, I knew I would like this exercise. I was given the male/female scene to perform with Jason, and there were so many humorous and eccentric bits to this piece that i knew whatever lines we chose we be fun. I like the fact that we kept it fairly simple and used some of the shorter lines, because that allowed us to play with them without spending too much energy on memorizing lengthy lines.

However, i enjoyed using the short lines to focus on emphasizing different words or using long or short pauses in between them. There is always so much one can do with the words and phrasing; just a longer pause can create a totally different feeling. One of my favourite words in the English language is "Oh." Seriously. You can pretty much have a full conversation using only the word "Oh." It all depends on the way you say it. Luckily, this word was my first line, and i think every time i said it, it was a little bit different.

Now that we've moved further away from silent, breathing and movement based work, i think it is important to focus on what we're saying and how we're saying it without losing those earlier skills. One of my goals was to keep up my breathing..but i think i forgot about it the minute i started speaking. So either i have trained myself well enough to breathe properly without focusing it ( i doubt it), or i was able to breathe somewhat successfully (as a classmate told me) due to the fact that i had shorter lines. Either way, judging from the scenes in class and the reflection afterwards, I think everyone is constantly improving on their goals and i enjoy watching everyone do so.

Tom's & Stacey's Acting Goals.

I would like to begin by saying that I felt both performers did a fantastic job the second time around! For Tom, I believe he managed to incorporate his old goal and his new goal. While paying attention to his facial expression, I could also see his improved posture. When it came to the facial expressions, I could see that he was trying to incorporate different feelings, but I think Tom is just so good with his deadpan expressions, that his true gift lies in the fact that he can be comedic without ever moving a facial muscle. So working on facial expressions may be a challenge in the future, but I can already see improvement. As for Stacey, I thought she did a great job. She was hilarious from the start. I don't think she would've been able to get the audience laughing so quickly if she hadn't been fully invested in her character. During the middle I felt the energy drop a little. But then, when Jayson moved in toward her and she stopped him from getting closer, her reaction was genuine, fully reconnecting her with her character in the end and making us, the audience, laugh once more at the true emotion that peeked through.

Improvising.

As I mentioned in my actor reflection, I am a perfectionist. With the natural instinct to be a writer, I find comfort in the fact that I can re-read, go back and fix what doesn’t sound right… even if I’m never satisfied with the final product and wish I could keep improving what I do. And, as I mentioned in an earlier blog – the personal gift and gauntlet entry – I threw in the notion that, if given a chance, I may be able to showcase a much more comical side of myself.

So what did I decide to do that would throw both these ideas into the fire and leave me standing outside my comfort zone? Your Mom Does Improv!

Yes, that’s right. I decided to embrace my funny bones and throw my perfectionist tendencies to the wind and jump into something I’ve never, EVER done before! And I must say, the experience was the most fun time I’ve had in quite a while. For there is no going back and re-doing your skit – there’s hardly even time to prep yourself! And while it seems like it may be a painful sort of experience for an introvert like me, I realized that my openness to the situation is what kept me comfortable the entire evening.

At first, I was messing up some of the games we played before we dove into long and short form improv, but I did not feel embarrassed. Everything about improv is acceptance and helping each other out, that I think as I continue down this road, I may learn even more things about myself and how to interact with others. It is such a non-judgmental atmosphere, that one can let go of themselves and learn more about themselves and the world around them by letting the experiences play out naturally, instead of forcing things in life to happen.

viewpoints in ravenous

I enjoyed discussing Ravenous in class, and being able to hear some of the directors/actors original ideas and how they went about implementing them. Since it was a different kind of show than most i have seen, there were a few bits in which i got lost, though i understood the majority of it. Having the discussion cleared up some confusion for some people, and brought back memories of the play that i could replay in my mind. As i stated in class, i was a bit irked about the anachronism of Jane dying in childbirth and Eddie verbally mourning her at the funeral. I assumed this was an artistic choice, where they decided to go for the emotion from the scene insteasd of following the literal timeline. I understand this, and it was a moving moment, i just had trouble getting into because it was not believable for me. In any other situation i would have just stayed frustrated with this, but having the ability to discuss it with the actors allowed me to ignore this fact a bit and look back on the scene as an example of great acting.
Another thing that clearly paralelled between class and the production was the use of the Viewpoints. While doing Viewpoints in PPL, I can understand how they can be translated into a performance , but it did not become truly clear to me until i saw Ravenous. Even though i was focusing on understanding and enjoying the play i found that i kept subconciously noticing viewpoints. Every time Jon did the wave of his hand while asking if we wouldn't mind entertaining a question, i thought of gesture and repetition. I noticed the spatial relationships between actors like when they were all lined up, or when 'uncle' was presenting a new 'niece'. As well as the use of architecture when the actors used the curtains so often. I also came to the conclusion that it seems Viewpoints must be done barefoot. I wonder if this is true or if this is just a choice that the Ravenous actors made. If it's something that just goes along with training, then i wonder why this is so. I am not sure if the method would be any different with shoes... i suppose it would be a bit harder to be lighter on your feet, but what if you decided to use viewpoints and it is neccessary to the costume to have shoes? these are just the odd things i was thinking about during the show that i wondered about.
Next PPL i will try to remember more about the show and how to place the things i am learning into possible scenarios. That and i am going to continue to work on my astonishing physical weakness that becomes more and more apparent every time we do anything. hah. oops.