Thursday, November 6

Movement
We've all had to bring one-minute monologues to class that we'll be using in a "movement monologue" piece over the next several weeks. We're using pieces of the text of the monologue in our Viewpoints work now, and have started applying the qualities from our Michael Chekov work (flowing, flying, molding, and radiating) to them.

I'm not sure how I feel about my monologue. It's a surgical intern who is trying to save a patient who attempted suicide. I was looking for something a little different from things that I would normally be cast in, so it's not like any monologue I've worked on before. The monologue is actually 4 pages long, so I'm just taking a paragraph from the third page. I think it's interesting, but I'm a little concerned that it starts at a heightened place where the stakes are already high, and there's very little context to go off of. But my professor likes it and my roommates (who have done this project before) think it's going to work out well, so hopefully it'll work out.

The class ended with the whole group trying to toss balls down two parallel lines in zig-zags. Our professor changed the way she phrased the task since our last trial, and everyone ended up being incredibly confused as a result. But as my classmate Thrill pointed out, it was one of the first times that we have truly had a group impulse and acted as an ensemble; we all looked at our professor with a look of utter confusion and bewilderment. I guess it's positive in a small way.


Voice
I think Folded Leaf is my new favorite rest position (previously it was one that our professor called "Man in China Resting under a Tree after Tai Chi Practice", or something equally ridiculous).

We started doing a new stretch that was previously nameless. Wifey has coined the term "Rib Reach" for it, which is the perfect name.

Honestly, I don't remember what else happened in Voice today. I lost my notebook, and I feel completely discombobulated without it. I remember that the classroom was cold. And that's pretty much it. *shrugs*


Acting
Our professor told a story involving a violin maker who spent more time sharpening his tools than anything else, so that he could be prepared to make a great instrument whenever an order came in. He sharpened his tools far more than he used them. Our professor says this is the way that we have to treat our abilities. We must constantly be sharpening our skills so that when we need them, we can use them.

Our professor says that you should work for 15 minutes every day outside of class. He says it's not about the amount of time, but rather how frequently you practice. I've been practicing on my own, but I'm always concerned that I'm doing the wrong things, or that it isn't enough. I'm having a lot of trouble with the quality of radiating, so that's what I decided to focus on tonight with my homework. But for all I know, I'm doing it wrong and screwing myself up even more as a result. *sigh* Oh well. I'll just keep working and hope for the best.

I did an etude with Thrill that apparently went well, although I'm not sure why. I'm not sure I did anything differently than I normally do.

Killer and The Pro had a really interesting one that they attempted a few times in which Killer had lost $800 in cash, and The Pro seemed to be the only one who could have taken it. By the third time they did it, The Pro seemed to have finally accepted that he was the one who did it, and there was a sort of evil about him. It ended up being creepy and intense.

Our professor reminded us that, under certain circumstances, ANYONE would steal. There is a thief in everyone. Actors have to know that, and be able to find the thieves within themselves. But audiences don't have to know that. It's a secret about human nature that they can deny when they watch us explore it, thinking to themselves, "Oh, I would never steal," when the reality is that they certainly would if they needed to.


Analysis
We've been reading Heartbreak House by George Bernard Shaw. It's completely different from everything else we've read, as Shaw was very much against Naturalism. The play is sort of an allegory on social classes during World War I.

For next class, we've been assigned specific characters to track throughout the play, making note of their intentions, the movement in thought, and what changes that causes them to move forward.


Tech
Now that the show is open, it's difficult for me to gauge how any specific performance went. I'm not allowed to be anywhere that I would be able to see it, and in the second act I'm not allowed anyplace that I might be able to hear it, either. So I would say that it was a good run, but that's just for my rather insignificant slice of it, so I don't know, really.