Friday, 1-14-11

Friday, 1-14-11

Today’s class was interesting. We began by performing our stranger monologues, half of us going at once with the other half of the class walking around the room observing along with Matt. I had interviewed a young man about his employment, and I took on a softer, more breathy vocal quality along with a physicality where I particularly emphasized the hands and the movement of the head. What was particularly intriguing about the performance was that I realized something about the character, about the person I was portraying, that I hadn’t even thought of while I was jotting down notes on what he said and how he moved during the interview (I had told him I was taking a survey for my “Occupational Psychology” class. No idea if that’s a real thing). Chris Douglass put it best: “I could tell that you were uncomfortable about talking to people about it, but that you were really passionate about it.” It wasn’t until I had adopted his physicality and tone that this became clear to me, illustrating the fact that technical choices can lead to emotional discoveries, which is in turn stronger and more reliable than relying on emotion to carry a scene.

Additionally, it was very telling to see what the other half of the class had done with their performances. Some focused almost entirely vocally, or had a distinctive facial expression, or a single repetitive behavior that they kept up consistently. I would posit that this might serve as an anchor for the character, holding it down when the performer was unsure of other choices in a particular moment. And this worked quite well. Taylor Rose fidgeted with her wallet the whole time, as well as using the slouch and the dull vocalization. Ashley’s leg bounced. I’d say for me, it was probably the vocalization. From there I added in particular hand movements and thinking positions like casting the eyes up and to the left and right of my audience when coming up with an answer.

For the rest of class we talked Animal Projects. For Animal Projects we each need to choose an animal that differs from us enough to challenge us in personality and physicality, and then study it carefully and effectively become it in class. The project culminates with The Watering Hole, where all our animals will meet together and interact and eat; and then finally with a Formal Dance, where we create human characters out of our animal characters—that is, humans that have the same personal/physical qualities of the chosen animal—and interact as them.

I had originally been thinking a meerkat or rabbit, because I was looking for something small, quick, and nervous or submissive. Good instincts, but as Matt pointed out a meerkat already fits my basic body shape, and a rabbit is too focused—they tend to stay in one place without moving for a while. So the first isn’t really challenging enough physically and personality wise I should be looking for something more ADD as well. Matt suggested a marmoset, or a small bird, like a sparrow. So I’ll be looking at those when I go to the zoo on Sunday to observe. I need to find something that takes up little physical space, has a short attention span, an erratic quality movement, and that is both submissive and active.