This bodes some strange eruption to our
state.” – Hamlet (1.1. 69)
Day 5&6 (7-9/7-10-2016)
Exploring
lines is a fascinating exercise. Two different instructors = two different ways
of seeing. And we did it over two separate days.
Tim takes a
more literary, academic approach. Doug takes a more visceral, psychological
approach.
Tim led us
through scansion of our lines (or breaking them down into metrical feet) and
examining what the text offers us in the way of imagery, repetition,
alliteration, etc. All of these explorations to many students in a classroom may
seem just mundane (read: “useless”) academic assignments, but they help an
actor – or any active reader – get directions into the sound and meaning of the
text. Especially the “heightened text” that Shakespeare provides.
He told us
that each speech was an argument, and should be delivered as if you were trying
to convince a jury. That puts the lines in a new context. (I never thought of
it that way.) He asked everyone the point they were trying to get across before
they began.
Tim also
encouraged us to play with the text.
For example,
when Amy did a scene that showed inner conflict, he had colleagues run out at
her and she would have to push them back to their seats while she continued her monologue. Tommy was advised to look at a
different audience member each time he delivered one of a list of questions in
his part. The reminder of eye contact was good advice for a couple of us, as we
saw how it worked well to feed off the reactions of the audience and to engage
the audience members in what each actor was doing. And when Thalia started
wringing her hands as she performed a scene from Hamlet, she was directed to make it bigger, putting more of her
body into it. She ended up sitting on the floor with her second take.
Some of the
interns had time to perform a third time, but this time without the games that had triggered their better performance. This
worked very well because, as Tim said, the previous performance was already in
the actors’ muscle memory and can be recalled easily in a future performance.
When it came
to my turn and I shared my Iago soliloquy, Tim stood Tommy beside me: “This is
Othello. Now give him a big old man hug.” He then led Tommy away as I restarted
my soliloquy, but brought him back a few lines later and directed me that
Othello wasn’t really there but to imagine he was. I was amazed at how the
silent person acted as a prop that I could work with. I scoffed in Tommy’s
direction as I said, “He holds me well,/The better shall my purpose work on
him,” and moved around to his other side and got close to his ear with, “After
some time to abuse Othello’s ear,/That his wife is too familiar with [Cassio].”
These types
of games could be interesting back in my own non-acting classroom.
On the other
hand, Doug started with each actor asking about us personally. At times, I got
uncomfortable with the private nature of the questions. But then I recalled a
recent article in which actors on the new Suicide
Squad movie said their director, David Ayer, in their pre-movie
preparations would prod them with questions to reveal actors vulnerabilities and
use this information later to elicit strong emotions. During a key scene, for
example, he had one actor use profanity to call another actor names. “Some of
the stuff she said really pissed me off, and that’s exactly what he wanted me
to feel,” said Joel Kinnaman, who plays team leader Rick Flag. Ayers said he
uses this method “to create memorable characters, not just actors standing
around modeling costumes.”
With Doug, one
intern admitted that his internal voice always second guessed his choices. When
the actor recited his lines, Doug had him run to the corner and scream “Shut up
shut up shut up” before coming back to continue. When Josh second-guessed his choice
of soliloquies from Hamlet, Doug had him repeat “I’m a f------ genius!” and
then cued Josh to say it at various points in his piece.
The result for
each actor – as with movie director Ayer – was a more energized performance.
Doug also
worked on our breathing, sometimes massaging their shoulders to relax their
breathing or having them hold a hand on their stomach to feel their breathing
coming from a deeper place. He made sure that we thought of each line from our
monologues as individual thoughts, and breathing in between each line/thought.
I am
constantly amazed at the depths that these instructors are getting out of these
highly talented young actors. And me.
I actually
thought the interns were putting me on after seeing the vast difference in
their individual performances. It reminded me of handicap day in a bowling
league, making sure to underperform to ensure the advantage of a better
handicap for future matches. Difference here being that the interns’ first
performances, I thought, were great. The direction of Tim and Doug, and the
great adaptability of the interns, made the second takes just so much greater.
It’s the end
of Week One. Wow.
While all of
our work so far has been prefaced with the reminder that none of it is an
audition, and that there is no right or wrong, the instructors have been
looking at us to determine the casting for our production of Shakespeare’s
comedy Much Ado About Nothing. They
say that they will be casting parts based upon which they think will stretch us
personally. The Teacher Me sees this as great formative assessment. The Student
Me grows anxious to learn what I will be doing in the play. They gave us nice
bound green-cover scripts of a stripped-down, hour-long adaptation of the play
that Tim and Doug put together. I read through the full version in my Riverside
Shakespeare. I’m excited to see the difference in this new one.
Looking back
at my blogs so far, I feel a little like Dr. Seuss’ confused Green Eggs and Ham character. While
everything here is so different from what I normally do and my first reaction
is skeptical, I find that I’m loving it.
They say
they will send us our Much Ado roles
before we come back together next week. Whatever role I get, I trust that, like
the rest of this experience, it will surpass my expectations.
