Saturday, December 6

The class of 2011 has successfully completed the first semester of grad school. And no one died. (Although a couple of us haven't mastered the concept of not blinking when photos are being taken.)

(Platform Row: All-The-Way, Wifey, The Pro, Iceman, D-Train.
Ground Row: Me, Killer, O.D., Two-Shots-Up, Thrill, Big Show.)

Well, I suppose I should play a bit of catch-up, after skipping the last couple of days...

So here's most of what happened Thursday and Friday...

Movement
Thursday we did Acting work in Movement class. We did scenes from the play that we used in our Showing (Late: A Cowboy Song by Sarah Ruhl) as though they were etudes. Our Movement professor did side-coaching and gave us feedback from a Movement perspective.

She told me I wasn't breathing (when I WAS! I swear!), which she amended to say that my breathing was too shallow. By the end, she said I was breathing lower. She also said that I have a tendency to lock my knees (I bad habit of mine both on and off stage). And that when I turn my head, I'm not letting my eyes and head go a different direction from my body (rather, I'm moving everything as one unit). I had no idea I was doing any of that... More to work on, I suppose.

She also warned D-Train and I of "rushing to touch" in our etudes. She said that sometimes, going straight to touching your partner is a sign of nervousness, and for some people it's a default (also known as a "habit" or a "crutch").

She told some of my classmates that they had too much tension. She said something about how a kinesthetic response to releasing tension can actually create impulses. It was interesting, but I'm not sure I understand how to apply it... But that's probably because I'm the opposite of tense...

In lieu of Friday's class, we all had private meetings with our professor to discuss our progress. She knows I'm working and appreciates my positivity in class, but she says my body needs a lot of work. Most people in my class need to loosen up, but I'm TOO loose (hence why I've never gotten a note about tension). She wants me to build muscle and have a better concept of where my arms and legs are in space.

I told her that the thing I think I need to work on the most is my endurance. I'm great at giving everything I have to an activity, but then I'm worn out after a very short period of time. She says we'll get there.


Voice
Thursday was spent preparing for Friday's exam. Our exam was on "sending and landing text". Basically, our professor walked around, put one hand on your side and one on your stomach, and had you recite the first part of "Twinkle Twinkle". I think my body has figured it out now, so hopefully I did alright.

The tests here are so strange, when you think about it. They're not things you study for, so much as they're things you TRAIN for. You rehearse. You practice. But study? Nope.

Over the break, we've been told to keep reviewing our consonants and continue to work on finding space in the back of the mouth.


Acting
On Friday, we spent the entire 3 hour class just talking. We discussed everything that happened in everyone's etudes during the showing. He said there were moments of "great artistic polarity". And I wrote down that he used the word "ascetic", though I can't recall why. He seemed proud of us. I was, too.

Then we discussed our assignments for over the break.

First of all, as always, we are expected to be doing our "scales" over break (15 minutes a day of Chekov exercises).

Our primary assignment is to observe a professional skill well enough that we could recreate it on stage. We have to find someone to observe who is "not just a craftsman, not just a master, but an ARTIST." Their job has to be their calling, and they have to treat it as an art. (Which would involve certain finesse and economy of movement that someone who just KNOWS HOW to do it wouldn't possess.)

The exercise is to develop our skill of handling props on stage.

In the past, other students have observed professions such as:
- baker
- barber
- costumer
- florist
- hair stylist
- instrument repairman
- make-up artist
- massuese
- mechanic
- pedicurist
- phlebotomist
- pizza maker
- sushi chef
- tattoo artist
- wig maker

Our professor's "dare" profession for us was surgeon (although the prospect of recreating that in class seemed complicated... All-The-Way suggested stitching up a banana).

Anyway, dear readers, if you have any suggestions on professional skills for me to observe, please let me know.

The other observation assignments don't have to be QUITE as well-prepared when we get back. One is to observe an animal (I guess I'll be going to the zoo...). The other is to observe an inanimate object (my first thought was a pair of scissors, but then I realized how complicated that might be physically).

Lastly, we've been told to pay attention to other actors (in television, film, and stage) as they deny impulses. It's not really a formal assignment. We're just supposed to notice how they WANT to do thing, but DO another (either because they've been directed that way, or because they're fighting against it).


Analysis
On Thursday, we discussed Men of Tortuga by Jason Wells. It's an excellently written play, but I didn't really connect with it until we talked about it in class. It's a political thriller, about some men who have hired someone in order to assist them in killing a member of the opposition.

And Friday, I turned in my paper on Something You Did. It was about 6 pages (which is SHORT for that class... one of my group-mates wrote over 20), but I'm pretty confident that I said everything that I needed to say.

Really, I'm not worried. I don't care about grades here. I care about the education. The training. And as I know that I have the thought process right and care articulate it verbally, it doesn't matter all that much to me if I'm not as successful at it in writing.


Tech
My new assignment for Tech Crew is... Box Office. Which isn't really like Tech at all. I think I'm actually going to miss real tech. Oh well.

I had my first Box Office duties Friday night. I just had to go in and help at the Will-Call window for about an hour. I'm scheduled to do it again for tonight. Hopefully after that I'll be able to sneak in to the production of Barnum (starring Brad Oscar -- I keep passing him in the parking lot, which is vaguely surreal, as I've known who he was for awhile). I'm really excited to see it. The other show that the Rep is doing is This Wonderful Life (which is a one-man stage version of the movie It's a Wonderful Life). I'm pretty geeked to see that one as well.


Understudying
My understudy work kicked in to high gear today. We had the first understudy read-through for The Imaginary Invalid in the morning. The understudy cast is me, Wifey, O.D., D-Train, Two-Shots-Up, Killer, The Pro, and two 3rd-Years. It was a lot of fun, actually. Director-A is the assistant director for that play, so she'll be in charge of the understudies.

I also attended 4 hours of an 8-hour rehearsal of The Winter's Tale today. Unfortunately, the character I'm understudying didn't have a ton to do in that rehearsal. I think she'll be on a bunch tonight, but I'll be in the Box Office. Oh well.




So now "break" begins. But is it really a break when I have plenty of responsibilities and just as crazy of a schedule as ever?

~A~


P.S. We had to take a goofy picture, too.