THIS IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!!

Description

We are back from holidays and ready to start rehearsing for the one act play! This week we started with characterisation and basically having clear our intentions in each line we say. My scene was practiced in three rehearsals this week. This was very useful for me as I know that my scene is starting with the right energy, this is why nathalie and me need to focus and put more effort to it as we are starting with 40% of the melodrama we need in our scene.

Analysis

Getting to act this scene is very fun, but I still can´t flow with the melodrama thing. I don´t know whyyyy!! its as if my body was blocked from exaggerations and big movements and when I try to make them they seem forced, at least for me. Maybe I need to start relaxing my muscles with warming up or something like that. OR maybe its because I still don´t see my character, I only have the basics of a mother who is angry with her daughter and talks with a "high society" voice.

On friday, we did an exercise on creating our own biography, and it was very complicated as it forced you to create your personal life story in the second you got asked a question. This helped me to recognise and choose what is my relationship with everyone in my family and it goes like this:

SPENCER ALEXIS II (husband) : I think he is not useful, he just go to the gym all day long, no time for me, he just talks to Berlinda to make him shakes, OUR RELATIONSHIP IS DOOMED

SPENCER ALEXIS III (son): I JUST LOVE HIM!!! He is my favorite son, as I hate my daughter, this is basically because of appearances, I love my son because he is beautiful and the mother will have a certain favouritism to him.

CAROLINE ELIZABETH SHANIQUA (daughter): HATE HER. Feel that she will never accomplish anything, and if she does is because people want something from her. When my sons fight, it will always be her fault. I dont like her because she is ugly

GRANPA ALPHIE (dad): I don´t have a touchy relationship with my dad, I make my husband take of him as he is the one who pays everything in my house so my family needs to take care of him until he dies.

BERLINDA JONES (the maid): MY WORST ENEMY IN THE HOUSE. Always fight with her an we accuse each other of doing things, I hate her as she cooks amazing and I want that. So, my own family hates my food but love hers.

So, by having more clear my relationships with the characters, I can understand why am i like that with them. In the end, ill only share a scene with Nathalie (CES) but that doesnt mean i dont need to have a clear relationship with the rest. Basically i also need to understand my intentions of everything I tell to my daughter....most of the times I use a pitty or anger tone with her. Tones are very important when exploring intentions as a single change in your tone can change completely the meaning of what you want to say.

I also wonder, why the need of exaggerating everything? how melodrama can work in that work? Its very interesting to think how taking things to an extreme can have a humorous connotation. Its quite weird to see how taking something that isn´t THAT serious as something SUPERARCHIMEGAULTRA- SERIOUS can cause comedy.

Connections

Maria La Del Barrio: I remember when I first watched and episode from MLDB and I couldn´t stop laughing. It was sooooo funny and they were talking about serious situations but its just as if you can´t take them seriously because of their face expressions and tones.

CHILDHOOD!!: When I was younger I remember playing with my sister and my cousins to act. We used to play that they were the students and I was the "funny" teacher. I used to put exaggerated make-up and do grotesque faces that would make them laugh until they were blue! It was very funny and pleasant and It´s simillar to the effect we are trying to give to the audience

SCHOOL PLAYS: The whole process of creating a play is so similar but yet so different to the process we experienced in school plays. The main difference is that we are a cast of 6 actors that are in charged of production and part of the script writing. It´s our play, we create it  and we produce it. It adds more pressure on you as the results of it will go directly to you. However, this also motivate us to do it excellent as we expend awesome results from this OAP as we are trying to change the rhythm of traditional newton´s OAPs

Reflection

This week, while reflecting on what we have done, I reflect on my actual learning on the subject theatrically and how that connects to my practical work. Basically, the thing is that know I reflect upon my characters as I see them in a different way. I am starting to notice that now I am more analytical with myself when building a character as I can FEEL when I have a character and when I don´t, which makes think of the possibility of having being the character vs. trying to be a character. I am starting to notice how my movements don´t flow with my characters energy, they seem to forced and tight.

ALSO, I start reflecting on until what extend do outer states affect inner states, I always have this feeling, that i am not 100% my character until I perform it with a costume, make-up and everything. I don´t know why but it affects me and my acting, as if I feel that in that moment, I am not me any more, I am the character. Perhaps it´s because you are not dressed as yourself and when you look at the audience you know THIS IS IT. So, I was wondering....

Until what extend do design elements help acting? why do i have this feeling? is it unprofessional to have it? how do you know when you ARE the character? are there ways to adapt you body to a theatre practice? am I wrong when I say I can´t? maybe i´m not trying enough? how do intentions and relations affect the rhythm of a play? if there was a very small change in the play will it be completely different? why?