Today in Acting we watched the rest of our classmates’ Private Moments. Brian, Andrea, Taylor, and Michael Reep went. Brian in particular did a fantastic job of taking Matt’s note from the previous semester—that he should take more time in preparation and allow the moment when he trips to actually affect him more profoundly. This he certainly did. Brian maintained a “blue steel”-esque mask incredibly well, which was surprisingly effective for his blue heron character, and his dancing was simple and specific to his bird. When he fell, he channeled that sense of the wounded animal superbly, and hobbled off with every scrap of dignity he could muster. So much was revealed about his character from this performance. We saw him in his element, enjoying the groove, and we saw him recovering from a setback. We knew exactly who he was.
That’s what needs to be aspired to—finding the highs and lows and committing to each in order to most accurately communicate a character to the audience. I also still need to work on keeping the mask alive in my human character.
Another thing we’ve been talking about in class is how important it is to prepare for this work. Matt has noted that in a lot of exercises in class (such as General Hospital, for example) it takes us one or two go-rounds to warm up and really sink into the character. With that in mind, it’s clear that I need to step up my outside preparation. Matt suggested that each of us do at least 15 minutes of in character improv by ourselves or with others every day this week before Friday, and I definitely hope to live up to that.
Today for dinner, Sam and Kyle and I went to wing night as our characters, and that was certainly helpful. I found, though, that my attention was focused distinctly inward, as I kept thinking about what I was doing, how I was doing it, and how I was speaking. I’m trying out the Italian accent, for one thing, and I need to practice that a LOT more for it to feel natural. That being said, there were a lot of nice reactions to what JP or Stetson said, which didn’t feel forced or contrived at all. I just need to keep practicing and exercising as Lawrence until I maximize that sort of natural receptiveness to outside stimulus and minimize the amount of inward self-analysis.
The other thing we did for Acting today was we went around and shared the three songs we picked for our animals. Lawrence’s playlist included the final song from Don Giovanni, Fidelity by Regina Spektor, and Anything for You by Ludo. I think the three nicely contrast and add to each other: Don Giovanni provides for the grand, dramatic opera-lover in him; Fidelity is his gentler, tidy, stylish and put-together side; and Anything for You represents his unabashed social drive and his hopes of finding a life-partner.
(Lawrence rises from his morning bath.) Lawrence has signed up to be on the Entertainment Committee for Friday’s dance. I’m thinking the Entertainment Committee should meet in character to discuss plans and prepare.
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