In today's lesson, we did a runthrough of Hedda Gabler with the notes Jack had given us last week.
While watching the others perform, I really learnt about how crucial it is to have our lines learnt as soon as possible. I learnt this when I was watching people forgetting their lines and how the play then suffered.
I also learnt that you need to learn your character inside and out so, if the other actors forget their lines, you can improvise lines that the characters would be most likely to say.
General feedback
After we did a full runthrough, Jack gave us all some general feedback.
This included, 'earning the pauses'. This means that we have to create an atomosphere so great that when there is a pause, the audience are left wondering what the next moce will be and what the mood change will be.
We also have to clue into each other and learn the thoughts of the character. As I mentioned before, this is so that you can speak your character's thoughts if either you or the other actors dry up. Cluing into each other means that you can quickly detect their next move so you can be ready to react to it (whether it's forgetting lines, etc).
We were told to 'have the moment' meaning we should own the moment and enjoy it instead of rushing through it to get onto the next thing in the play
Also, we should all ensure that every sound is properly rooted and muscular so that we are pronouncing every syllable. This is because the characters that we are playing are so upper class and posh so they would not slip up on any sounds therefore we should do the same.
Finding the stakes is very important as we are not properly understanding how high the stakes are in this play; how if they slip up, everything they have is at risk.
We all need to find the contrast more. We need to show the beat change and the change in emotion. Also showing that sometimes our characters may be feeling different to how they are acting so you must also play the hidden emotion.
As the space we are performing in is a large space, we must all ensure that our voices are properly projected so that we can fill the space on the day of our performance.
Lastly, we were all told to feel the beat change and not just show it. This means we should actually be feeling the mood change within us and, again, not rush it.
Personal feedback
I was told that I bring a very good nervous energy to the stage shown through my character. This made me very happy to hear as I had been working on that through the week so it was good to get recognition of that.
To improve, I must keep thinking about my circles of attention - not just what's going on but what is going on as a whole. To do this, I must pull bits apart and analyse where my circles of attention are at these points. I must also find actions to go with the emotions I am feeling to further express my feelings.
Another thing I was told to improve on was my voice and keeping is muscular so that the constonants are 'nice and crisp', as well as being told that I need to keep working on moments.
Lastly, I was told about individual moments in the play. I was told to ensure that I bury my head fully into Thaliqua's (Hedda's) lap when my character is distraught, and also not to be so happy at the end as she has just found a glimmer of hope at the end but Eilert is still dead so she is still very upset.
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