This week is the last week of Jim Cartwright's play 'Road'. This play has given so much confidence because I have gone out of my comfort zone and tried a more challenging part for my personally. I feel that I have improved in my character by trying out different ways of taking the monologue and having a new perspective on each line and point when I want to change the tone of the monologue.
The feedback that was given to me was on the whole much better than my previous attempts at this monologue however my accent did slip slightly at places where I wasn't as confident which was mostly near the end. On the other hand I know this and I will use this feedback to make my character better.
I have a prop in my scene which I am struggling to use because the prop either looks too rehearsed when I get angry or it looks funny. So I acted on this and tried to involve the washing more by stretching the clothes when angry and folding them angrily. I think that this will have my character more as it is her responsibility to do the washing, cleaning and ironing etc around the house. From a audience point of view they seems more interesting rather than sitting in a static position.
I have had some other feedback which says that I wasn't believable with the experience that Valerie is going through. For an example when Valerie's husband comes home Valerie would be more scared and quiet rather angry and loud. The reason why I should do this is because I researched on youtube the 'Sons and Lovers' by DHLawerence which showed what a relationship similar to Valerie's. The video clip showed that when the husband comes in the room he wanted the centre of attention. It helped me realise what the husband's view is and how a he would come home from a long day at work and then go to the pub. Equally I can see how Valerie is when the money is spent on drink rather than on food,clothes and entertainment for the family. She must feel so embrassed to ask for money when she has no choice but to provide for her family. This makes sense as she is 'always scrimping and scarping' for her husband to give her some money. She doesn't seem to have family to turn or on any prospects which doesnt help on her mental state and her ability to cope.
Sunday, 17 May 2015
Tuesday, 12 May 2015
Week 7- Road
This week is the final week of rehearsing before show week. Personally I think the show is coming together really well however we still need to practise with energy, accent work and relationship with other character that need to have the chemistry between the two characters.
The two character I was referring to are Joey and Claire. From rehearsals I have seen I haven't found the relationship between because they still not entirely confident with there lines. They need to work with each other more to get the relationship right. I think that the scenes they have with each other is suppose to make the audience cry because there scenes are very sad to watch. I think that Claire needs to be more emotional and more caring for Joey because Claire is going on a diet for her boyfriend. Also there is a part of a scene where Claire stands up quickly and then feels dizzy. This looks not naturalistic because the spinning of her head suddenly comes too quickly. I feel she need to feel the dizziness before getting up so then she is knowing how she is feeling. I think Joey's reaction is not a obvious to see. I have a idea to maybe Joey gets out of bed and helps Claire in to bed again. This idea will give some movement to the scene and wont be boring to watch. Joey and Claire need to be similar to the character Romeo and Juilet. The relationship between Romeo and Juliet is so powerful because of the love they share. Romeo and Juliet are similar age to Joey and Claire. Also the reason for the both couples are that they die for the other person in the relationship. For example Romeo kills himself for Juliet because I thought that she was dead. Claire went on the diet because of Joey.
In order to improve Claire and Joey's relationship watching this clip will make them improve the scene.
The scene that we worked on was the scene between Helen and the Soldier (Curt). This scene has come on leaps and bounds. The reason why this is because the physicality is so strong in this scene it makes the audience be drawn in and see what Helen's character is about. I has humour this scene but at the same time you feel sorry for Helen. the way to improve this is to work more on the accent and slow the speech down because the speech can be lost if Helen speaks to fast. The awkward climb up on the soldier is my favourite part of this scene because it is funny and something to different to watch. This one thing that I would say is to work on the northern accent at time because the accent can be dropped.
This week was putting all the scenes together and running the whole show in one go. I performed my monologue and I thought that this was my best so far. The reason why it was my best attempt of the monologue was because I felt confident for the first time with my lines and my character. In my feedback Kirsty said that it was brilliant and made her cry which I think was a great reaction which I needed. Also to bring the emotion in to the monologue helped and made me cry to. The whole monologue came out more naturalistic. The only improvements that I need to make was to articulate on certain words such as 'swallowing and throwing'.
Before this feedback I had to think of ten items in my washing basket to show anger but then sadness. For example turning the washing inside out and fold it and just stroking clothes when daydreaming.
Target for this week are:
Keep going over the lines to avoid forgetting them in the performance
Practise with the washing and get use to using the clothes on what parts of the monologue.
The two character I was referring to are Joey and Claire. From rehearsals I have seen I haven't found the relationship between because they still not entirely confident with there lines. They need to work with each other more to get the relationship right. I think that the scenes they have with each other is suppose to make the audience cry because there scenes are very sad to watch. I think that Claire needs to be more emotional and more caring for Joey because Claire is going on a diet for her boyfriend. Also there is a part of a scene where Claire stands up quickly and then feels dizzy. This looks not naturalistic because the spinning of her head suddenly comes too quickly. I feel she need to feel the dizziness before getting up so then she is knowing how she is feeling. I think Joey's reaction is not a obvious to see. I have a idea to maybe Joey gets out of bed and helps Claire in to bed again. This idea will give some movement to the scene and wont be boring to watch. Joey and Claire need to be similar to the character Romeo and Juilet. The relationship between Romeo and Juliet is so powerful because of the love they share. Romeo and Juliet are similar age to Joey and Claire. Also the reason for the both couples are that they die for the other person in the relationship. For example Romeo kills himself for Juliet because I thought that she was dead. Claire went on the diet because of Joey.
In order to improve Claire and Joey's relationship watching this clip will make them improve the scene.
The scene that we worked on was the scene between Helen and the Soldier (Curt). This scene has come on leaps and bounds. The reason why this is because the physicality is so strong in this scene it makes the audience be drawn in and see what Helen's character is about. I has humour this scene but at the same time you feel sorry for Helen. the way to improve this is to work more on the accent and slow the speech down because the speech can be lost if Helen speaks to fast. The awkward climb up on the soldier is my favourite part of this scene because it is funny and something to different to watch. This one thing that I would say is to work on the northern accent at time because the accent can be dropped.
This week was putting all the scenes together and running the whole show in one go. I performed my monologue and I thought that this was my best so far. The reason why it was my best attempt of the monologue was because I felt confident for the first time with my lines and my character. In my feedback Kirsty said that it was brilliant and made her cry which I think was a great reaction which I needed. Also to bring the emotion in to the monologue helped and made me cry to. The whole monologue came out more naturalistic. The only improvements that I need to make was to articulate on certain words such as 'swallowing and throwing'.
Before this feedback I had to think of ten items in my washing basket to show anger but then sadness. For example turning the washing inside out and fold it and just stroking clothes when daydreaming.
Target for this week are:
Keep going over the lines to avoid forgetting them in the performance
Practise with the washing and get use to using the clothes on what parts of the monologue.
Sunday, 10 May 2015
Character Study
Name: Valerie Johnson
Age:35
Martial Status: Married
Ethnicity:White British
Martial Status: Married
Ethnicity:White British
What does your character do for a living?
Valerie is a mum with three children who she picks up after in a flat whilst her husband is working for the family. Valerie doesnt see her children too much because he is drinking at the pub all the time. I know this because Valerie cant do go out and get food to provide for family because the money is spent on drinks for her husband. Valerie is a working mum at home to make sure that the washing,cooking and cleaning are whilst the children are at school.
What is the relationship between her and her husband?
I think Valerie struggles to bond with her husband because Valerie is hesitate about him because of the way her husband treats her such as his 'fat hard hands in bed at night'. Valerie says that her is a 'rough dog' which I think it means that her husband is using her for sex which is horrible to think about for Valerie. If Valerie had a choice she would leave her husband but then she would feel guilty and want to come back. She feels confused about what she wants to do because she saying 'I blame but I dont blame him'.
Religion
I think that Valerie is a Christian because she prays for money and asking for money from her friends and neighbours. The neighbours are Christian because when they ask to help they are there to help for Valerie and that is a reference from Bible which is 'Love thy neighbour as you love thy self'. This means that neighbours believe that if Valerie needs money and help the neighbours will help.
Education
Valerie was brought in a poor part of the north which made it very hard to be in school and go to school. Valerie didn't have the best education because of where she lived and the environment around her. She received no qualifications because of the way she was living and her attitude towards school. Now she regrets all of this and she wants her children to have the best education possible so they dont make the same mistake as there mother did.
Religion
I think that Valerie is a Christian because she prays for money and asking for money from her friends and neighbours. The neighbours are Christian because when they ask to help they are there to help for Valerie and that is a reference from Bible which is 'Love thy neighbour as you love thy self'. This means that neighbours believe that if Valerie needs money and help the neighbours will help.
Education
Valerie was brought in a poor part of the north which made it very hard to be in school and go to school. Valerie didn't have the best education because of where she lived and the environment around her. She received no qualifications because of the way she was living and her attitude towards school. Now she regrets all of this and she wants her children to have the best education possible so they dont make the same mistake as there mother did.
Social Life
Valerie doesnt have a social life because she is always at home looking after the children who she loves very much. She sacfices are social life because she doesnt want her children being left alone by her husband because he will be "pissed drunk".
Valerie doesnt have a social life because she is always at home looking after the children who she loves very much. She sacfices are social life because she doesnt want her children being left alone by her husband because he will be "pissed drunk".
Tuesday, 5 May 2015
Road- Week 6
This week we focused in individual scene to refine them ready for the show.
I focused on emotion on my monologue this week. Deborah said to come up with six points on where I need to change the pitch or emotion. She suggested one point which was the part of 'Rough dog' because that part is telling a story and changing the emotion slightly brings the characters differences. I thought about the other five point and about how it would flow into the monologue.
I chose the other 5 points:
The second point that I thought changing the perspective of the of that sentences. The words of 'What a life' is a line that makes Valerie review her life and her daily routine after that line. The line follows by 'get up feed every baby in the house'. The daily routine is tiring and is very lonely.
The couple of times I have said the line "Im fed up" sounds very depressing and not realistic. Issie said a good point about not showing the right reaction of the word. I thought if i changed to be more angry and burst in with the monologue. Bursting in with the monologue will allow the audience to be more interested.
Another point that I thought I could change was the last final words in the monologue which was 'oh my man'. Laura gave me some feedback on changing the line slightly to be more sacrastic and bring more volume to that line. The volume will bring the monologue up and build up the emotion more. I think that Valerie loves her man but she is heart broken because of what he does and her experience with her husband.
The fifth point that I thought was changing the perspective of the line 'He'll come home soon'. I thought that Valerie could be a little nervous for when he comes in because she knows what he is like when he is drunk. I thought that to feel that I am nervous I thought bring the pace faster and look around her to see if he comes home.
In my monologue I say 'drinks it' three times. I thought to change the tone slightly on every time I say it and a reason for saying it three times. For example a memory that my character that didn't like and show that emotion in my voice and facial expression and body language.
I took part in a audition workshop with Max Lewendel who is the artistic director of Icarus Theatre collective. He said to consider the space and imagine what room I was in. When he said this I thought that I was in the washing and that would make sense considering I look static at the moment.
I had feedback to have a prop so the monologue wont look as static which could be boring.
I focused on emotion on my monologue this week. Deborah said to come up with six points on where I need to change the pitch or emotion. She suggested one point which was the part of 'Rough dog' because that part is telling a story and changing the emotion slightly brings the characters differences. I thought about the other five point and about how it would flow into the monologue.
I chose the other 5 points:
The second point that I thought changing the perspective of the of that sentences. The words of 'What a life' is a line that makes Valerie review her life and her daily routine after that line. The line follows by 'get up feed every baby in the house'. The daily routine is tiring and is very lonely.
The couple of times I have said the line "Im fed up" sounds very depressing and not realistic. Issie said a good point about not showing the right reaction of the word. I thought if i changed to be more angry and burst in with the monologue. Bursting in with the monologue will allow the audience to be more interested.
Another point that I thought I could change was the last final words in the monologue which was 'oh my man'. Laura gave me some feedback on changing the line slightly to be more sacrastic and bring more volume to that line. The volume will bring the monologue up and build up the emotion more. I think that Valerie loves her man but she is heart broken because of what he does and her experience with her husband.
The fifth point that I thought was changing the perspective of the line 'He'll come home soon'. I thought that Valerie could be a little nervous for when he comes in because she knows what he is like when he is drunk. I thought that to feel that I am nervous I thought bring the pace faster and look around her to see if he comes home.
In my monologue I say 'drinks it' three times. I thought to change the tone slightly on every time I say it and a reason for saying it three times. For example a memory that my character that didn't like and show that emotion in my voice and facial expression and body language.
I took part in a audition workshop with Max Lewendel who is the artistic director of Icarus Theatre collective. He said to consider the space and imagine what room I was in. When he said this I thought that I was in the washing and that would make sense considering I look static at the moment.
I had feedback to have a prop so the monologue wont look as static which could be boring.
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