‘YOU ARE ABOUT TO ENTER AN AA MEETING’
The lesson began with an improvised activity wherein we had to enter the room as if we were in an AA meeting. We introduced ourselves as characters on the spot, where Martin interrogated us for our stories and backgrounds and reasons for being here. He asked us to tell him our goals and what we are going to do to change our positions.
This task was so helpful for our imaginative exploration, the spontaneity of the task helped to not think too deeply into a character, it was just whatever came to us in that moment. What i found difficult however, was that an AA meeting is one all too close to home for me and my experiences. In turn, this helped me massively develop my own creative ideas. My concerns with the future, and daydreaming and keeping hopeful are always being effected by the amount of empathy i have as a person.
During this time, i had been struggling with coming to terms with my situation at home, my father, being an alcoholic who is receiving help. Unfortunately some awful things had been happening as a result of this that i had struggled dealing with. What this task reminded me, was that as much as this is at the back of my mind, acting/drama is something that i can use as an escape. And i never want to lose sight of that. I’m terrified of letting things affect me so much that
i lose sight of myself and my dreams and goals in life.
Which is what this had recently been doing to me- particularly with my dissertation. Without this being a focal point- i have considered mentioning how struggles in life can make you lose sight of yourself in my final piece. I want my final piece to be a message, that no matter what we face,
if you have talents, goals and dreams, don’t let them die.
3HATS
For the next task we had to bring 3 different hats into the lesson, and have a prepared stint of three different characters (represented by each hat).
I had a cap, for which i portrayed a boy- a ‘chavvy’ procrastinator, who was convincing the audience not to bother doing work, to stay up and get drunk with ‘me’.
I then moved to the middle chair and put on a ladies day hat, of which i played the part of My mums friend from work. I used verbatim, to tell the story of which she had said to me recently, upon giving advice on my dissertation. She is a Indian lady, so of course i adopted her accent and style of talking. Her soft voice, her movements, and the way she held herself. Of course this contrasted very much from the stance i took as a young male where i sat with legs spread, kissed my teeth, and held my posture as a male. For this character i sat upright, legs crossed and moved my arms as i spoke in a slow feminine manner.
My final character was of James Crawford- a friend and fellow student. I vamped up his personality, of hippie-type persona,
“peace and love maaaannn”
I represented his gangling features within my arm movements, and spoke of how
“i dont even worry about the future man you know, it is what it is, go with the flow, see the world, believe in yourself, travel man relax man its all good baby”
This task was so fun, yet taught me so much about crucial differences within characters and how one person can portray other people so simply. I noticed, when watching other people that it comes down to the simplest of things. tempo of voice, style of voice, the way you hold yourself etc. I learnt that i have a natural ability to imitate others well. I have been told that i do great impressions of others, and so i know that this talent is something i definitely want to incorporate into my final piece. It is so compelling to see others jump from one persona to another, just by simply holding themselves differently. The sheer power that comes from that style of acting i found brilliantly entertaining. No theatrics, just a simple hat that made all the difference. Even without an accessory, it showed to me that our bodies are our main accessory for acting. We do not need to rely on all the (as Tao put it) ‘decorative bullshit’ in order for something to be affective. What it actually does, is take it away from the actors talent, and within solo performances it is better to rely on thyself, as an open actor that isn’t trying to lure the audience into believing that the performer is a character. To dip in and out of characters is honest. Your body is the tool and i intend to be honest with my audience.
My feedback told me that it was interesting that i had the same narrative throughout, as it was the topic of dissertation that connected all the different characters together. It was a solid through line, and my classmates liked how they all had different views but the topic was the same.
So, like with the songs that have previously influenced me, i love the idea of having authoritative voices that come in and out of my performance, performed by me. I intend to include interruptions from these voices. For example, If my speech was to say
“i believe i can be an actress”
i imagine i could respond with questions like
“But darling you should really look into a job that is more reachable”
by just changing my tone.
At this stage i am still developing my ideas concerning an office setting, i imagine myself sitting at a desk daydreaming, wishing there was more. I want to come out of the real world and into my daydreams in the spoken word form. I like the idea of having authoritative voices that interject my daydreams, played by me. I have considered using a micophone to present this, where i can perform as my thoughts to the audience, and when another character interjects i will speak on the microphone to show this.
Considering staging, i have pictures office desks surrounding the stage, with desk lamps that i can go over to and turn on. when my face is lit underneath the light, i can portray that character that is sitting at that desk. This enables me to go in and out of character, and use the stage more. These ideas are still developing, and i have faced mind blocks lately of where to take this performance. I know what i want to say, but not yet how to make it into a show…
More on this as my thoughts develop more.