Collaboration in 365

SO, collaboration. For 365 there was varying levels for me, as it ranged from the 2nd constant, for which I collaborated solely with myself, to 9/11, which involved 5 other actors. However, for each of the plays, while other actors were involved, some distance was between myself and them. For Puja Play, Colleen and I both created separate actions and movements for ourselves, so that when we met, the ideas we were sharing easily were accepted and we could quickly move on to rehearsing our play. Not much collaboration was needed, as virtually the entire play had been worked out in each others minds. For 9/11, the collaboration was also quite different. I pretty much concentrated on working with Sarah, as she and I are the twin towers. We do interact with the otehr actors, but we are also somewhat separate from them. Sarah and I would primarily work on our physical score, and I would not really concentrate on what the other actors were doing, until it came to the point when we would respond to what they were saying. This did lead to some problems when we rehearsed before the class, as it was only then when we realized that no one could hear the other actors over Sarah and I, and that we were taking the focus off them. However, we did share feedback on each others physical scores, as Sarah and I worked off the feedback on how we should position ourselves at the end when we fall, as well as giving some advice on where the other actors might position themselves to the best effect. For Sin Collector, I really worked with Laura only, only recommending that Tom position himself closer to the bridge. Laura was the only one I physically worked with, so we primarily worked on our movements together, as she worked with Tom on theirs. For the 2nd constant, the only collaboration which occurred was with other members of the class who were performing the same play, asking them what their ideas for locations were. These conversations proved very helpful though, as they helped me find my location, as well as a good time to perform them. The biggest problem which arose from the collaborations was not clashing of ideas, which happened only once or twice, but was just meeting to collaborate. However, when the meeting did occur, they went very smoothly.

365 in class

As everyone has said, it's been very difficult getting everyone together for rehearsals, especially for the two i am in (7-11 and Intermission) since they are both large groups of people. We had spoken about it and gotten together to try to run through it and block it out in the small amount of time we had available. We ran into a lot of trouble deciphering the meaning of our play, which cut into our rehearsal time significantly. Though we agreed on most of the aspects of the play, it turns out that we had interpreted it differently than perhaps it was supposed to be understood.

The rehearsal in class helped cut through some of the confusion, and allowed us to focus more on our characters and their tasks. I think after discussing it with the class, each of us were able to be more specific and it should be much easier to create the scene now. I am curious to see if anyone pays attention or understands when we do it at Jazzman's. Actually, i do think it is entirely neccessary in the case of a lot of these plays to make it clear that a performance is going on; whether it be a sign, a designated area, or some noise , i think we need to alert people or they will just be confused . I don't know if we have yet determined how we are going to "announce" the Intermission, but if we do not i personally do not think most people passing by will feel invited to watch.

The rehearsal process has been stressful , but interesting...so now it is time to see how it all pans out..

On Site Performing.

I can tell you right now, I’m still having mixed feelings about 365. It’s interesting, different, confusing – a million things rolled into one. But the one thing that I can definitely say I love about it is the fact that we are performing on site… NO theatre whatsoever. That is the most attractive aspect. I love performing around campus and utilizing the spaces we already have instead of having to create our own sets. I love the challenge of finding spots that would best suit the world of our plays. And, what I love most of all, is catching people off guard. I love rehearsing on site and having unsuspecting passersby wonder what is going on. Some stop and pay attention, others look at us like we’re insane, especially in the case of 7-11. When we first rehearsed in the traffic circle, and we began running around humming our specific sounds, people across the street were stopping and turning to watch us, as if we were crazy kids who needed strait jackets or something. That’s what made it SO fun! No one understood what was going on because seeing performance out of the typical theatre space is completely unexpected, especially at a school like Fairfield, which is what will always stand out most in my mind when thinking about the 365 experience.

PPL

So the PPL session last Tuesday was my favorite on to this point. Maybe it was just because all the previous sessions are coming together so there is less instruction, or maybe the change in location really helped. Right when i got into the space, I began moving around, working with the architecture while looking at the pictures. My form gradually changed as I began walking around, and soon people were following me and copying my shape. In the Pepsico, I never have the urge to start PPL stuff before we even start. The pictures we were instructed to look at also helped me really shape myself when I had to. The picture I picked was of broken columns scattered across a hill, with dark clouds looming over head. I think the contrast of the broken vs standing columns was very striking, as well as the dark clouds which were quite foreboding. This picture made it very easy for me to find dynamic positions when I had to. I also was able to be more comfortable on the carpet vs the hard Pepsico floor, so various positions were able to be maintained for a longer period of time as well as with more comfort. The group part was slightly strange, as a number of us were grouped together, performing many of the same movements.

Taking Time.

Since we started work on 365, I have felt a little more challenged than I have been in acting all semester. Maybe it’s the stress of trying to coordinate all our schedules that has really made it tough, but I feel like I am being spread too thin. I feel like we are too scattered and trying to accomplish too much at once. Being involved with so many short plays at once, I feel like we are spending more time trying to find a few minutes here and there to meet with each other than actually trying to understand what it is we’re supposed to be conveying to our audience. We spend more time fixated on blocking than deciphering intention. Being such short plays, it takes a much more focused reading to fully understand what the playwright’s meaning may be. However, we have so many we must not only interpret ourselves, but we must also come up with a collective sense of what we want to portray, and with the difficulty of finding a rehearsal time that satisfies everyone’s schedule, that’s near next to impossible. If not for that, I think we could make this the most interesting and creative thing Fairfield has ever seen. I want to put so much time and effort into each piece, but no matter how much I concentrate, I will simply be dissatisfied in some way or another because I feel like my whole self and attention will be unwillingly divided between all the plays. So my main challenge and goal as of right now is to be fully present and embody each of my characters to the fullest extent.

365

The process of putting together the various plays for 365 Plays/365 Days has been a very interesting and new experience for me as an actor. Being fairly new to acting in general, I believe there is an extra challenge for me to accomplish what I wish to through this project. THough tough, I believe this series of plays that we will be able to push my limits as a performer and become comfortable with acting in front of people who I may or may not now in a public space. This prject will also help in opening up my level of creativity through the use of many factors to contribute to the overall feel of the play. These include time of day, location, custom and the performance itself. I feel that is important to grow creatively as well as just in acting out a creation and this project will help me keep focus on both aspects in the future.

Friday's class

Friday's class was a new way of approaching things, as Jon pointed out, and for me some of it worked and some of it did not.
I actually really enjoyed the time we spent embodying certain images like fire, snow, or cold syrup. At this point I was surprised how focused i was, and i found myslef just constantly visualizing that image in my mind while i let it control my actions. I thought that that was a good way of finding a physical movement to match and enhance your character's tasks and objectives. Like when we used the stick to focus our motions and kinesthetic response. What i found slightly odd is that after we switched partners, our stick kept falling. Perhaps it's becuase i have worked with one of them more than the other, but there was a big difference in the success rate of this excersize after i switched. I wouldl ike to figure out why exactly this is and how i can correct it, so that is something i am going to work on. I guess that would be just trying to find a connection with everyone equally and be able to build on that.

While the above was successful, i actually did not find the warmup helpful. I am not an easily self motivated person unless it is something i feel terribly strongly about, so in performing a warmup I need some sort of direction to focus me. And perhaps that is something i can work on, but i really do not think it is something that will change, as it hasn't yet in life.

Aside from that, i really thought that trying to apply my thoughts to my warmup was very detrimental to me. Perhaps it worked well for others. However, I am a fairly negative person, and when i allow myself to start thinking about things when i am trying to focus on something else, most of the time i will get very distracted and get pulled totally away from what i am doing. In order for me to do something successfully i need to ignore the thoughts that race through my mind and concentrate entirely at the task at hand. I am not good at leaving things at the door, but it is much worse if i try to employ them in what i am trying to accomplish. That is just not something that works for me. As this class has progessed i have gotten better at pushing things out of my mind and trying to only think of the excersize or the scene i am doing. By bringing all of these thoughts to the surface at the beginning of class, it undermines the goals i have been trying to accomplish. Again, this could very well just apply to me, but i will have to find another thing to do if we continue to do the individual warmups, and it will be a challenge that i will have to work on.