This week has been a bit challenging, to say the least. It got off to a great start with Mike's workshop which, as he has said, took Stanislavskian and Brechtian techniques and applied them to our historical characters. It was nice to be able to get away from the scenes for a rehearsal and just spend some time getting in to our characters, and also learning about how the other girls see their characters. I think it also gave us a bit of a chance to get to know each other too. Mike led the workshop without the slightest hint of fear, so much so that we didn't suspect he was nervous. If anything, he was making me a bit nervous as he really was applying the techniques just as I remember learning them years ago in college and being quite the teacher-figure.
It was helpful to think about Gret and her movements and gestures, and to some extent the world from which she emerged, despite her being an entirely fictional character. I think, however, I am going to need some help from Mike to get me into character as Angie. I am finding her increasingly difficult to fathom out as the rehearsals go on. She is described a 'slow-witted', 'lumpy' girl. She is regularly referred to as being thick and shows it on occasion. But she shows very different sides to her character depending on who she is with. Her first appearance with her younger friend, Kit, shows her being aggressive and dominating. She's moody and full of attitude. This is continued with Joyce, her 'mum', who she despises and threatens. It's anger she shows more than slowness with these two. But with Marlene she is desperate to impress, sweet and polite and her lack of intelligence really comes across . It makes me wonder that perhaps she is not just stupid, but maybe there has been no one around to notice that she is struggling and to help her. Her Dad has left, her Mum blames her for not being able to have a life and kids of her own and the only kid around is 4 years younger than her, it's not surprising that she is a bit angry. But to portray all these traits and emotions and still keep her a realistic and rounded character is proving difficult. Not to mention that I am playing a girl more than 10 years younger than myself! It will require quite the stretch of the imagination by the audience and I really hope I can make it work.
Well, I have had plenty of time to work on Angie this week, with three consecutive rehearsals during the week and I am already exhausted! I have rehearsed Act 3 over three nights, but because not everyone is able to do rehearsals on the same day we rehearsed once with Emma and myself, with Mike being Liz, once with Liz and myself, with Mike being Emma and then slotted it all neatly together with myself, Liz and Emma. Well, maybe not so neatly as Leasa would have liked. It is a really difficult and emotional scene and brings the whole play together. However, watching the confrontation between Marlene and Joyce as a spectator gave me shivers so I think it will turn out well.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Character work-shop
Sunday was a bit of a daunting prospect for me, as I had been asked to lead a work-shop with the girls, by the director. She was hoping to get the girls to develop a 'gesture' which they felt best represented their characters, plus help them understand a little of how, developmentally, Leasa was intending to focus the action and acting in the differing scenes of the play. The daunting aspect of this for me was two-fold; One, I was doing a work-shop with teachers (most of the girls professions) of which two of them are Drama teachers, and Two, This was my first official work-shop session that I had ever lead. No pressure then.
I decided early, and with Leasa's lead, that I should focus on the different acting techniques Leasa was looking to adapt to the performance; Stanislavski and Brecht. I also knew that I had a limited amount of time in which to convey a general idea of these techniques to the actresses.
I therefore began with having the cast stand in a circle and imagine a beam of light around them. The only things they could see were the clothes their 'historical' characters were wearing, taken from each of their characters periods in time, eg; Pope Joan's attire from 854-856ad. Each actress then chose a single moment from their particular characters period and focused on their clothes from that moment. For Marlene and the Waitress, their particular histories began 5 mintues before the resturant scene began (The Waitress), and one hour before the scene (Marlene). This technique of visualisation and imagination is a technique mentioned in Constantin Stanislavski's book 'An Actor Prepares', in the titled section 'Imagination'. In order for an actor to fully immerse themselves into becoming a character, Stanislavski believed in using certain methods, including 'Circles of Concentration'. In this technique an actor or actress is encouraged to fully engage their imagination and visualise the world around them in great detail. Obviously to start with a blank page as it were and blindly come up with a characters surroundings would be asking a lot. So each character is given a reference point from which to start. For the historical characters in this play, this was easily created as they had time periods, places and cultures from which to work. As the technique also called for a lot of detail, the Circle of Concentration method was divided into three seperate circles. The first one being the beam of light mentioned above.
I asked each of the actresses to not only describe the clothes, in detail (patterns, colours, etc.) that they were wearing, but also the feel of them, the state of them, their weight and comfort, etc. Each actress in turn took a good few mintues describing in detail their attire, with some of them even phyiscally feeling or animating the clothes to the rest of the group in order for each of us to 'see' what they had.
From that I moved onto the Second Circle of Concentration, the immediate world around them. I told them that the beam of light around them was expanding to reveal what they could now see to their left, right and front. The images they produced were from the period they came from, rather than the time they appear together in the resturant scene. And again not only did I ask them for what they could see, but also things like the weather, the temperature, sounds and the like.
For the final Circle, I altered the technique a little and asked each of the characters how they felt emotionally about the world around them. Where they comfortable in the place they found themselves? Did they recognise it? How did they feel about their life up until this point? What were their immediate thoughts and feelings? What might they be thinking about in terms of their future?
It must be noted that there is no right or wrong answers for any of the questions or descriptions that any of the actresses came up with. This is a technique designed to encourage the actress, or actor, to see, and feel, a little more of the character they are portraying. One of many of Stanislavski's methods.
Now I wanted to introduce a little of the acting techniques of Brecht, a very stylised method designed to introduce audiences to the injustices and questionable practices of the world around them. One particular technique that Brecht wanted his actors and actresses to do, was NOT to immerse themselves in the world of their characters. He wanted his audiences to be fully aware that they were watching a performance, not to get lost within a world of fantasy and fiction that appeared on the stage. In order to achieve this, one method he wanted to employ involved getting his actors and actresses to 'demonstrate' characters. For example, take the comedian Billy Connolly, one of the best exponents of this particular type of acting (though funnily enough he may be unaware of it). Whenever Billy describes his past, or people he has met, he breifly acts out the encounter for humourous effect. The audience are fully aware that they are watching Billy portray someone else. They never, for a second, forget that it is Billy they are watching, because he doesn't immerse himself into the world of that character and therefore draw the audience into a fictional world where the audience start feeling sympathetic towards that someone. So, for an actor or actress using this technique, when they themselves are seen doing something decidedly uncomfortable on stage, the audience, rather than sympathise with the character, question the reason for the actor or actress to do what they are doing, and what kind of world would allow that to happen.
The actions that Billy Connolly performs on stage, Brecht called 'gestus'. Each action performed by the actresses during the resurant scene would also be 'gestic' in nature, stylised and exaggerated. The resturant scene lends itself more towards Brechts methods than Stanislavskis, mainly because the scene involves characters from different time periods. A little illogical for Stanislavski's methods.
I asked each of the actresses, in two groups of two, and one of three, to come up with a gesture, 'gestic' in nature, that best represented their individual character. A tall order indeed, considering the vast histories and achievements of their characters. So I also asked them to narrow down their choice to a gesture that was either symbolic of their character, and what their character represented to women, or metaphoric of the struggles or feelings of their character, or representative of what their character might be seen doing normally within their particular culture and time.
After asking each actress individually what gesture they had come up with, I then asked the particular groups to devise a short 30 second performance, devised around the imaginary situation they had created for themselves previously using the Cirles of Concentration. Each actress also had to incorporate the gesture they had come up with into the performance.
These techniques, that I adapted and used, were to help, not only demonstrate a little of the acting methods Leasa wanted to utilise in the play, but also to introduce any of the girls that were not aware or knowledgable about them, some of the techniques Stanislavski and Brecht used. It may seem slightly bizzare to have used a Stanislavski method for what will essentially be Brechtian historical characters, but as the girls will be playing the 'Top Girl' agency staff and applicants naturalistically, a brief introduction to Stanislavski himself would allow the girls to utilise to technique of Circles of Concentration for these characters, and possibly seek out more techniques along similar lines. The gestures that each of the cast developed for they own historical characters will also be seen and used during the performance as well, specifically during the resturant scene. This possibly includes the Waitress and Marlene.
I personally thought the work-shop went very well for my first, but its benefits can only be felt by the actresses involved, and possibly seen by the director and audience. I invite them to comment honestly about the experience. I hope this blog proves useful in any research, debate or discussion you wish to use it for. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
I decided early, and with Leasa's lead, that I should focus on the different acting techniques Leasa was looking to adapt to the performance; Stanislavski and Brecht. I also knew that I had a limited amount of time in which to convey a general idea of these techniques to the actresses.
I therefore began with having the cast stand in a circle and imagine a beam of light around them. The only things they could see were the clothes their 'historical' characters were wearing, taken from each of their characters periods in time, eg; Pope Joan's attire from 854-856ad. Each actress then chose a single moment from their particular characters period and focused on their clothes from that moment. For Marlene and the Waitress, their particular histories began 5 mintues before the resturant scene began (The Waitress), and one hour before the scene (Marlene). This technique of visualisation and imagination is a technique mentioned in Constantin Stanislavski's book 'An Actor Prepares', in the titled section 'Imagination'. In order for an actor to fully immerse themselves into becoming a character, Stanislavski believed in using certain methods, including 'Circles of Concentration'. In this technique an actor or actress is encouraged to fully engage their imagination and visualise the world around them in great detail. Obviously to start with a blank page as it were and blindly come up with a characters surroundings would be asking a lot. So each character is given a reference point from which to start. For the historical characters in this play, this was easily created as they had time periods, places and cultures from which to work. As the technique also called for a lot of detail, the Circle of Concentration method was divided into three seperate circles. The first one being the beam of light mentioned above.
I asked each of the actresses to not only describe the clothes, in detail (patterns, colours, etc.) that they were wearing, but also the feel of them, the state of them, their weight and comfort, etc. Each actress in turn took a good few mintues describing in detail their attire, with some of them even phyiscally feeling or animating the clothes to the rest of the group in order for each of us to 'see' what they had.
From that I moved onto the Second Circle of Concentration, the immediate world around them. I told them that the beam of light around them was expanding to reveal what they could now see to their left, right and front. The images they produced were from the period they came from, rather than the time they appear together in the resturant scene. And again not only did I ask them for what they could see, but also things like the weather, the temperature, sounds and the like.
For the final Circle, I altered the technique a little and asked each of the characters how they felt emotionally about the world around them. Where they comfortable in the place they found themselves? Did they recognise it? How did they feel about their life up until this point? What were their immediate thoughts and feelings? What might they be thinking about in terms of their future?
It must be noted that there is no right or wrong answers for any of the questions or descriptions that any of the actresses came up with. This is a technique designed to encourage the actress, or actor, to see, and feel, a little more of the character they are portraying. One of many of Stanislavski's methods.
Now I wanted to introduce a little of the acting techniques of Brecht, a very stylised method designed to introduce audiences to the injustices and questionable practices of the world around them. One particular technique that Brecht wanted his actors and actresses to do, was NOT to immerse themselves in the world of their characters. He wanted his audiences to be fully aware that they were watching a performance, not to get lost within a world of fantasy and fiction that appeared on the stage. In order to achieve this, one method he wanted to employ involved getting his actors and actresses to 'demonstrate' characters. For example, take the comedian Billy Connolly, one of the best exponents of this particular type of acting (though funnily enough he may be unaware of it). Whenever Billy describes his past, or people he has met, he breifly acts out the encounter for humourous effect. The audience are fully aware that they are watching Billy portray someone else. They never, for a second, forget that it is Billy they are watching, because he doesn't immerse himself into the world of that character and therefore draw the audience into a fictional world where the audience start feeling sympathetic towards that someone. So, for an actor or actress using this technique, when they themselves are seen doing something decidedly uncomfortable on stage, the audience, rather than sympathise with the character, question the reason for the actor or actress to do what they are doing, and what kind of world would allow that to happen.
The actions that Billy Connolly performs on stage, Brecht called 'gestus'. Each action performed by the actresses during the resurant scene would also be 'gestic' in nature, stylised and exaggerated. The resturant scene lends itself more towards Brechts methods than Stanislavskis, mainly because the scene involves characters from different time periods. A little illogical for Stanislavski's methods.
I asked each of the actresses, in two groups of two, and one of three, to come up with a gesture, 'gestic' in nature, that best represented their individual character. A tall order indeed, considering the vast histories and achievements of their characters. So I also asked them to narrow down their choice to a gesture that was either symbolic of their character, and what their character represented to women, or metaphoric of the struggles or feelings of their character, or representative of what their character might be seen doing normally within their particular culture and time.
After asking each actress individually what gesture they had come up with, I then asked the particular groups to devise a short 30 second performance, devised around the imaginary situation they had created for themselves previously using the Cirles of Concentration. Each actress also had to incorporate the gesture they had come up with into the performance.
These techniques, that I adapted and used, were to help, not only demonstrate a little of the acting methods Leasa wanted to utilise in the play, but also to introduce any of the girls that were not aware or knowledgable about them, some of the techniques Stanislavski and Brecht used. It may seem slightly bizzare to have used a Stanislavski method for what will essentially be Brechtian historical characters, but as the girls will be playing the 'Top Girl' agency staff and applicants naturalistically, a brief introduction to Stanislavski himself would allow the girls to utilise to technique of Circles of Concentration for these characters, and possibly seek out more techniques along similar lines. The gestures that each of the cast developed for they own historical characters will also be seen and used during the performance as well, specifically during the resturant scene. This possibly includes the Waitress and Marlene.
I personally thought the work-shop went very well for my first, but its benefits can only be felt by the actresses involved, and possibly seen by the director and audience. I invite them to comment honestly about the experience. I hope this blog proves useful in any research, debate or discussion you wish to use it for. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Pope Joan - rehearsals begin
This complex and interesting character can seem a little daunting on first reading, so it was vital i did some research to fully understand her story. Pope Joan is a medieval 'legend' that is unconfimed in many publications. It would seem there isnt enough evidence to state that the story is true, nor that it was because of a female Pope that the hole in the chair was created. Some criticise that this famous story was told for scandals sake, to challenge the religious hierachy that stood its ground at the time. You can imagine, Pope John, of high intelligence, above his elders in integrety and deliverence is asked to lead a procession through the streets of Rome. He stops mid-way, complaining of pain in his stomach, he steps off of his horse while the crowds watch in fear - is he being blessed, or perhaps ate too much at the banquet the night before? Then something falls out of him - a small living creature - a baby! Its no wonder they shouted 'The Antichrist!' But then they discover that John is a girl, born Joan.
In this research my first impression is that Joan died quite young, perhaps early to mid-twenties as she only reigned for 2 yrs 4 months. It seemed more appropriate to think of her as this age after my discussion with Leasa in our first meeting.
After this research i also realised the importance of this character, something again that was emphasised by Leasa. I began to read her lines with solitude thinking that i needed to demonstrate her power and weakness. She makes many religious references in her opening lines and i began to preach these. Leasa then explained that Joan needed to have two things in the opening - strength of will but also an ability to laugh! This gave me a new insight to the character.
Her speech about the famous procession then became almost a comical story that she is telling at a party. This gave room for drama when she delivers her final line 'they tied me to a horse by my feet and stoned me to death'. The others characters pause here in recognition of what has happened. I wondered how much Joan cared about the baby, and whether she should have an emotional response when mentioning it.
It was rewarding to experiment with these ideas when the cast got together for our first rehearsal of the restaurant scene. Despite the detailed language of this scene and the many sections of overlapping dialogue, it seemed to flow very well, with each character bringing an underated significance to the table. It was decided that Dull Gret should sit next to Joan. A decision i quite enjoyed, as it gave more scope for comedy moments among the dramatic stories.
An interesting beginning.
In this research my first impression is that Joan died quite young, perhaps early to mid-twenties as she only reigned for 2 yrs 4 months. It seemed more appropriate to think of her as this age after my discussion with Leasa in our first meeting.
After this research i also realised the importance of this character, something again that was emphasised by Leasa. I began to read her lines with solitude thinking that i needed to demonstrate her power and weakness. She makes many religious references in her opening lines and i began to preach these. Leasa then explained that Joan needed to have two things in the opening - strength of will but also an ability to laugh! This gave me a new insight to the character.
Her speech about the famous procession then became almost a comical story that she is telling at a party. This gave room for drama when she delivers her final line 'they tied me to a horse by my feet and stoned me to death'. The others characters pause here in recognition of what has happened. I wondered how much Joan cared about the baby, and whether she should have an emotional response when mentioning it.
It was rewarding to experiment with these ideas when the cast got together for our first rehearsal of the restaurant scene. Despite the detailed language of this scene and the many sections of overlapping dialogue, it seemed to flow very well, with each character bringing an underated significance to the table. It was decided that Dull Gret should sit next to Joan. A decision i quite enjoyed, as it gave more scope for comedy moments among the dramatic stories.
An interesting beginning.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
'Dull' Gret?
We ran through the restaurant scenes for the first time tonight; something I was a little apprehensive about, as I knew that we would be rehearsing with food. We all have to eat throughout the scene, but Gret is something else; she manages to polish off a couple of baskets of bread before the starter even comes out. And I did my very best. Despite only having bread rolls to rehearse with I was determined to eat throughout the scene, but by the second run-through I was already feeling weighed down!
Gret is not restricted by social conventions and is uncomfortable in this traditionally formal setting and continues to eat and steal whatever she can get her hands on, which gives me quite a lot of scope for physical comedy. It has to really, as Gret has very few lines, nearly all of which are just one word. So, in order that Gret doesn't get lost in the action between the other girls, or forgotten, she has to be something other than 'Dull'! I enjoyed getting into character tonight but I am going to regret it when I have put on a good couple of stone by the end of this run!
My biggest challenge so far has been trying to portray a character through one-word lines. It is difficult to glean any meaning from just one word. I'm trying really hard to make just one word sound sarcastic, or grateful, or enthusiastic and its not as easy as I thought. It's also difficult to form an accent around just one word. Much like Liz, I feel that the accent is really helpful for the audience to understand a character. But I don't really get to speak in sentences until the very end of the act.
I suppose it's a huge bonus to not have a lot of lines to learn for this very complex scene as I have quite a lot to learn for Angie. However, I'm so busy eating, drinking and stealing that I'm worried I may miss my cues! Not so far though...
Gret is not restricted by social conventions and is uncomfortable in this traditionally formal setting and continues to eat and steal whatever she can get her hands on, which gives me quite a lot of scope for physical comedy. It has to really, as Gret has very few lines, nearly all of which are just one word. So, in order that Gret doesn't get lost in the action between the other girls, or forgotten, she has to be something other than 'Dull'! I enjoyed getting into character tonight but I am going to regret it when I have put on a good couple of stone by the end of this run!
My biggest challenge so far has been trying to portray a character through one-word lines. It is difficult to glean any meaning from just one word. I'm trying really hard to make just one word sound sarcastic, or grateful, or enthusiastic and its not as easy as I thought. It's also difficult to form an accent around just one word. Much like Liz, I feel that the accent is really helpful for the audience to understand a character. But I don't really get to speak in sentences until the very end of the act.
I suppose it's a huge bonus to not have a lot of lines to learn for this very complex scene as I have quite a lot to learn for Angie. However, I'm so busy eating, drinking and stealing that I'm worried I may miss my cues! Not so far though...
Friday, February 15, 2008
Marlene - accented warrior?
I've spent three days this week on a course for work about leadership and creativity. A model of 4 archetypes of leaders was used - Analysts, Warriors, Creatives and Mothers. I think Marlene's default setting would definitely be the 'Warrior' archetype.
Warriors lead assertively, with a clear vision of where they want themselves (and everybody else) to get to. They aren't afraid to take risks or hurt the feelings of those they lead and they don't avoid confrontation. Warriors are more likely to be men than women. At their worst, Warriors lack empathy towards others and can bully. They are not good at tolerating failure or learning from their own mistakes. I think this final point is a defining feature of Marlene, she shies away from introspection and so risks never learning from her past mistakes. She lacks the ability to empathise with Joyce and struggles to acknowledge that Angie is, by Marlene's terms, a failure - 'She won't make it.'
I've also this week, rather optimistically, been starting to learn the lines for the dinner party scene (Act One). I'm having trouble working out Marlene's 'voice'. Is there a trace of a regional accent? There is mention of the family being near Ipswich yet Marlene says 'It's quite down here.' when comparing where Joyce lives to London. I need to learn the lines in the character's voice. I'm worried that an RP accent will just be my own voice and I think the character needs something diffferent from that. I'm quite an audio learner so this is a big hook for me in terms of something to hang my characterisation on.
Warriors lead assertively, with a clear vision of where they want themselves (and everybody else) to get to. They aren't afraid to take risks or hurt the feelings of those they lead and they don't avoid confrontation. Warriors are more likely to be men than women. At their worst, Warriors lack empathy towards others and can bully. They are not good at tolerating failure or learning from their own mistakes. I think this final point is a defining feature of Marlene, she shies away from introspection and so risks never learning from her past mistakes. She lacks the ability to empathise with Joyce and struggles to acknowledge that Angie is, by Marlene's terms, a failure - 'She won't make it.'
I've also this week, rather optimistically, been starting to learn the lines for the dinner party scene (Act One). I'm having trouble working out Marlene's 'voice'. Is there a trace of a regional accent? There is mention of the family being near Ipswich yet Marlene says 'It's quite down here.' when comparing where Joyce lives to London. I need to learn the lines in the character's voice. I'm worried that an RP accent will just be my own voice and I think the character needs something diffferent from that. I'm quite an audio learner so this is a big hook for me in terms of something to hang my characterisation on.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
More character exploration
Second rehearsal went......mostly without problems ( apart from my uh hum...masterpiece of a rehearsal schedule being a little off..)
Spent some time with Becky to start and discussed the role of Lady Nijo in the Restaurant scene.
We decided that she relates to most characters on some level throughout, but were very sure that it was unlikely that she would address Gret at all throughout until she is slightly drunk and listening to Grets tale at the end. She never really speaks to her and when Gret enters we imagined that as she is so obsessed by clothes and appearance, she may be quite appalled by Grets peasant, dirty and careless appearance - thus alienating her from Gret throughout the scene - later (when discussing the same relationship with Andrea - Gret - we decided that we could play on this quite often in a comical way)
Becky and I started to understand a pattern in Nijo's status thoroughout the scene and her struggle to be the centre of attention. I also expressed that I would find it interesting to see if she could portray Nijo in a very theatrical way. Nijo most likely had lots of theatrical training whislt preparing to become a concubine to the Emporer - thus giving her a lot of scope to use dramatic gestures and emphasise her stories with graceful clarity.
It was decided that Nijo would very likey be able to do this with the use of a fan - an obvious choice for her dramatic, traditional and oriental character.
We discussed that she is probably at her most relaxed when Griselda enters, as she identifies with Griselda's views on women being loyal and subservient to thier husbands, and more importantly, her children being taken away from her.
In the second half of the rehearsal
I had an oppurtunity to speak to Andrea about the character of Gret.
Andrea expressed her concern about what Gret might be doing throughout the scene as she rarely engages in conversation and when she does, it is mono syllabic words - hard to find meaning in some of them such as 'SAD' following the women talking about wanting thier lives to be over.
Andrea felt that this may be said in a sarcastic way, as thier excuses for wanting to die (at the time) appear to be feeble compared to what we imagine her war might have been like.
We plotted moments in the scene where she might be interested in the conversation and decided that whenever there was
- gruesome conversation - off the back of her gruesome descriptions of decapitating going to the depths of hell
- religion - As this involves heated debate and reflects the crusade war that she was entangled in
- sex - We had already decided that judging by her inability to converse intellectually, and he basic love of potatoes and simple foods, that she is barabric and crude- this conversation may have been more on her level.
NEXT
Caroline (Kit) and Andrea ( Angie) ran through the garden scene. We played with status and body language. We decided that Angies body language is negative whereas Kit's is mainly positive; with moments of Kit imitating Angies.
We explored the dark side to Angie, her obsession with death, and Kit's naeive attempt to identify and share Angies morbid nature.
The girls did brilliantly depicting teenagers, and in turn we tried to include choreography ( with some difficulty as it's early stages and they are still on books).
Its still early days, but the girls have already got a great bond, which makes it all the more believable.
Am really looking forward to Sunday
Spent some time with Becky to start and discussed the role of Lady Nijo in the Restaurant scene.
We decided that she relates to most characters on some level throughout, but were very sure that it was unlikely that she would address Gret at all throughout until she is slightly drunk and listening to Grets tale at the end. She never really speaks to her and when Gret enters we imagined that as she is so obsessed by clothes and appearance, she may be quite appalled by Grets peasant, dirty and careless appearance - thus alienating her from Gret throughout the scene - later (when discussing the same relationship with Andrea - Gret - we decided that we could play on this quite often in a comical way)
Becky and I started to understand a pattern in Nijo's status thoroughout the scene and her struggle to be the centre of attention. I also expressed that I would find it interesting to see if she could portray Nijo in a very theatrical way. Nijo most likely had lots of theatrical training whislt preparing to become a concubine to the Emporer - thus giving her a lot of scope to use dramatic gestures and emphasise her stories with graceful clarity.
It was decided that Nijo would very likey be able to do this with the use of a fan - an obvious choice for her dramatic, traditional and oriental character.
We discussed that she is probably at her most relaxed when Griselda enters, as she identifies with Griselda's views on women being loyal and subservient to thier husbands, and more importantly, her children being taken away from her.
In the second half of the rehearsal
I had an oppurtunity to speak to Andrea about the character of Gret.
Andrea expressed her concern about what Gret might be doing throughout the scene as she rarely engages in conversation and when she does, it is mono syllabic words - hard to find meaning in some of them such as 'SAD' following the women talking about wanting thier lives to be over.
Andrea felt that this may be said in a sarcastic way, as thier excuses for wanting to die (at the time) appear to be feeble compared to what we imagine her war might have been like.
We plotted moments in the scene where she might be interested in the conversation and decided that whenever there was
- gruesome conversation - off the back of her gruesome descriptions of decapitating going to the depths of hell
- religion - As this involves heated debate and reflects the crusade war that she was entangled in
- sex - We had already decided that judging by her inability to converse intellectually, and he basic love of potatoes and simple foods, that she is barabric and crude- this conversation may have been more on her level.
NEXT
Caroline (Kit) and Andrea ( Angie) ran through the garden scene. We played with status and body language. We decided that Angies body language is negative whereas Kit's is mainly positive; with moments of Kit imitating Angies.
We explored the dark side to Angie, her obsession with death, and Kit's naeive attempt to identify and share Angies morbid nature.
The girls did brilliantly depicting teenagers, and in turn we tried to include choreography ( with some difficulty as it's early stages and they are still on books).
Its still early days, but the girls have already got a great bond, which makes it all the more believable.
Am really looking forward to Sunday
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
In the begining.....
Yay...the first rehearsal went really well. Was great to work one on one with the girls before we start the dreaded restaurant scene.
Having spent time with Caroline and Paula tonight - I feel really positive.
My time with Caroline was spent working on the contrasts and similarities between Kit and Shona.We also discussed briefly which characters in the Restaurant scene she- as the waitress would moslty interact with.
My time spent with Paula, I felt was extremely valuable, as we had discovered that we had very differeny interpretations of Pope Joan.
I remember distinctly that when i offered Paula that part of Joan, she seemed at the time a little dubious - I discovered tonight that her pre conceptions were that Joan was; Older than she was and supposed to look like a boy. No wonder she must have taken it as a bit of an insult!
She also felt ( as i did) that at times some of what Joan say is very difficult to understand. Her intellect is clearly above any othe woman around the table, and it takes her a while to adjust her language to suit the tone of the conversation.
I explained that as Joan makes a joke about her tragic public pregnancy, and her emotions very much stifled when talking about anything traumatic, I wanted Paula to play Joan in a more laid back casual way.
I see Joan as a character that leads the conversation throughout the restaurant scene - She is self assured, confident and doesnt feel that she has to prove herself like Nijo and sometimes Isabella.
Questions that we addressed:
Is Pope Joan really unaffected by the loss of her child? or does she just see it as one of the inconveniences of being born a woman?
We decided that as she gets terribly drunk following the revelation that she was stoned to death as a result of an unexpected childbirth - she was affected but not nessecarily for the death of the baby. More for the memory of being stoned to death and falling from grace.
Who does Joan address the majority of her speech to? and who does she identify with?
Marlene - she has the most in common with Marlene who has sacrificed woman hood for playing the role of a male in a still predominatley male world.
We discussed that the other women in the room were very different to her and had different ideals. Isabella Bird and Nijo talk about thier love of clothes and looking feminine - as does Griselda. Joan has never dressed like a lady and expresses her joy at being able to dress as a boy and get away with it.
The ladies all discuss what they did for men - the sacrifices they made and hardships they went through out of loyalty and love for thier men. Joan makes a trivial joke that she shared beds with men and clearly had secretive romantic relations, however, she was never made to sacrifice anything for a man, as she was supposed to be one.
At the end i felt very positive that all the jigsaw puzzle pieces are falling into place before Sunday - when the Restaurant scene kicks off!
Having spent time with Caroline and Paula tonight - I feel really positive.
My time with Caroline was spent working on the contrasts and similarities between Kit and Shona.We also discussed briefly which characters in the Restaurant scene she- as the waitress would moslty interact with.
My time spent with Paula, I felt was extremely valuable, as we had discovered that we had very differeny interpretations of Pope Joan.
I remember distinctly that when i offered Paula that part of Joan, she seemed at the time a little dubious - I discovered tonight that her pre conceptions were that Joan was; Older than she was and supposed to look like a boy. No wonder she must have taken it as a bit of an insult!
She also felt ( as i did) that at times some of what Joan say is very difficult to understand. Her intellect is clearly above any othe woman around the table, and it takes her a while to adjust her language to suit the tone of the conversation.
I explained that as Joan makes a joke about her tragic public pregnancy, and her emotions very much stifled when talking about anything traumatic, I wanted Paula to play Joan in a more laid back casual way.
I see Joan as a character that leads the conversation throughout the restaurant scene - She is self assured, confident and doesnt feel that she has to prove herself like Nijo and sometimes Isabella.
Questions that we addressed:
Is Pope Joan really unaffected by the loss of her child? or does she just see it as one of the inconveniences of being born a woman?
We decided that as she gets terribly drunk following the revelation that she was stoned to death as a result of an unexpected childbirth - she was affected but not nessecarily for the death of the baby. More for the memory of being stoned to death and falling from grace.
Who does Joan address the majority of her speech to? and who does she identify with?
Marlene - she has the most in common with Marlene who has sacrificed woman hood for playing the role of a male in a still predominatley male world.
We discussed that the other women in the room were very different to her and had different ideals. Isabella Bird and Nijo talk about thier love of clothes and looking feminine - as does Griselda. Joan has never dressed like a lady and expresses her joy at being able to dress as a boy and get away with it.
The ladies all discuss what they did for men - the sacrifices they made and hardships they went through out of loyalty and love for thier men. Joan makes a trivial joke that she shared beds with men and clearly had secretive romantic relations, however, she was never made to sacrifice anything for a man, as she was supposed to be one.
At the end i felt very positive that all the jigsaw puzzle pieces are falling into place before Sunday - when the Restaurant scene kicks off!
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