In today's lesson, we did a variety of activities, from Naturalism exercises to recieving our parts in Hedda Gabler.
Walking around the room
We started our lesson off by walking around the room with our normal pace. When asked to walk 'normally', I have realised that my legs then all of a sudden forget how I usually walk for a bit before they get back into the typical rhythm of my walking.
Continuing walking, we were then asked to rate our pace from 1 to 5 (5 being very quick); as I have small legs, I usually have to move my legs very quickly in order to keep up with my friends however, since they are small steps, I do not travel as fast as my legs go therefore I rated my pace to be at a level 4.
We then were asked to rate our concentration level from 1 to 5 (5 being very intense). Unless I am in a rush to be somewhere, my thoughts are not very overcrowded as I tend to relax while I am walking so I rated my concentration level to be at a level 2.
I found it interersting that my pace and my concentration levels did not match as physically I look like I am having very intense thoughts however mentally, I am very relaxed in the way that I think.
This has taught me about how complex many characters are in the way that they may look and think differently to each other therefore giving the characters many layers that I must take into consideration when playing different characters.
Naturalism exercise
We were first told to stand in a space facing the window. In this exercise, the window acted as the train tracks, while the space that we were standing in acted as the train platform.
We were first told that we were all waiting for the train but then the train was delayed. Although this was just an exercise, it made me begin to feel tense as it reminded me of how frustrated I usually get when I hear that the train is delayed. The light above acted as the board with the train times on it and I all of a sudden fell into my habit of continuously looking at the board to check how much time had passed and how much longer the train was going to be. To show how impatient I was, I began to do actions, such as shaking my leg, to show my impatience.
Jack later told us there was a rat on the tracks. Although I don't have anything against rats, I began to feel nervous as I cannot imagine myself enjoying the feeling of a rat close to me. When we were then told that the rat had climbed up the wires and was now on the platform, my first instinct was to run away, however I was then reminded of the other people on the platform and how I wouldn't like to embarrass myself in front of them, although they were strangers, so I just moved my feet slightly to avoid the rat.
The next thing that happened was that there was an attractive male, who had just woken up naked with his curtains open, on the bottom flat of the block of flats nearby. At first, it was obvious that I had seen him and that I was looking at them, however I then realised that it would be embarrassing, not only for them but, for me to be seen watching them so I moved my head down, moving it up occassionally to look at them.
We were then told that there was a man on the other side of the tracks 'time-roping' across the platform, possibly drunk. My mind and heart began racing at the thought however I did not want to move as that could put me in a position of danger. The panic registered on my face however I felt frozen and powerless. My concentration level at this point was 5! Soon after, the train came and the man was gone.
I began to feel very sad that I just watched a man die although the attractive male was then on my platform standing next to me. Even though they were standing next to me, I felt as if my mind were in two places as I still felt upset.
When the train finally came, I felt a wave of relief. The attractive male then smiled at me and improved my mood however the doors then closed and the train left them on the platform.
In this exercise, I really felt as if I was using previous experiences (eg. trains being cancelled) in my acting as I can clearly remember how I usually feel when I see that my train has been cancelled. I finished the exercise feeling almost distressed due to the mix of different emotions that I had encountered throughout. This has taught me a lot about concentration and energy levels and how they differ in certain situations.
Recieving play parts
We were then given our parts in Hedda Gabler. I was given the part of Thea Elvsted.
In my following blog posts, I will show my character research and my character development.
Reading the play
For the rest of the lesson, we all read our parts when we read the play.
I found this really interesting to experience since it helped me to visualise the characters even clearer due to the vocal choices the cast made.
At certain parts, I felt as if it was quite confusing to follow as the characters' voices kept changing as the cast would change however I enjoyed comparing the different choices and approaches the actor's took when given the script.
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