Friday, September 18

VOICE
We got out scores back from our Standard American Dialect exams using Lady with the Lapdog. I did pretty well. I missed the "z" in "music" (probably too much of an "s"), the "aw" in "morning" (I used a hard Midwest "or" sound), and the "z" in "eyes" (also probably too much of an "s").

We have begun working on the principles of vocal extremes (things like screaming, shouting, and wailing).

We're starting with Screaming, based on Screaming Without Suffering and The Sounds of Violence, both by Bonnie Raphael. Everything below is copied from my handout:

Screaming must involve warm-up and warm-down

Warm-up:
1. warm up the physical body, particularly shoulders, neck, jaw, ribcage
2. get the breath and the body connected
3. vocalize in both the speaking part of range and in the screaming part of range

Warm-down (to restore balance to the vocal mechanism)
1. hydration
2. humming in middle of pitch range
3. yawning
4. gentle neck release and shoulder rolls
5. drop forward and hang with easy deep breathing

The elements of the scream:
1. the sound impulse must originate from the center of the body with deep low breathing behind it
2. always maintain optimal breath flow
3. base your scream on a vocalized yawn with lots of space in the back of the mouth
4. proper alignment
5. hard-palate focus (breath comes from the center, the tone is focused on the hard-palate in head voice)
6. INaudible inhalations
7. breath support
8. relaxed jaw
9. relaxed tongue
10. choose clarity over volume (part of this includes keeping consonants clear and keeping vowels from being choked)

First practice the scream without the sound. Once the technique is achieved, the noise element can be added. When you add the sound, remember to keep that free yawning quality. A very minor degree of constriction will occur in the throat, but it should be super-imposed on a free, yawned sound.

Remember (with discretion), it is perfectly okay to mark screams during rehearsals (particularly during things like tech rehearsals where you would be doing it over and over again).


MOVEMENT
We continued doing contact improv using the Shakespeare monologues. Some people seemed a little frustrated. It's tricky in that you have to find a way to listen both to your partner's words AND their body, and you also have to be finding your own impulses to move and speak while keeping them safe. There's also a tricky line to walk on what is "acting" and what is not (we're not supposed to be acting in this exercise). We need more work with it, but I think it's going to be good for us.

We need to have our poems memorized by Tuesday.

ACTING
Iceman gave a "Great Actors Series" presentation on David Garrick. He introduced something that he called "natural acting" (because every time someone in history came up with a new idea about acting, it was something that they thought was more natural than what came before it, but isn't something we would call natural today). What Garrick did was took observations of people going through experiences and imitate it on stage. He is also notable for having high expectations for both the actors in his company and the audiences coming to his theatre (Drury Lane). He was the first person to require actors to attend all rehearsals, and he had a strict policy on them memorizing their lines and blocking instead of relying on prompters. He made the audiences be attentive and respectful, and was the first to prevent people from coming into a performance after it had started.

We worked on Helen, and it was going really well. It's got some good comedic moments in it.

One of the things that Acting Professoressa really wants us to work on in The Greeks is picking up cues (or as 1st-year Acting Professor would have said, catching faster impulses). She says we should only build in pauses if they are agreed upon by the director, and you must earn the pauses (which is generally done by not abusing them or over-using them). This is especially true in classics. Deep listening is the key. You have to get the impulse to speak BEFORE your partner is done speaking, while still listening to what they have to say. That way, you gain a sense of momentum and become part of the rhythm of the play. This does NOT mean that you should be rushing; you are just so alive in the moment that you are caught up in the need to respond and solve the problem.

Acting Professoressa said that over the weekend, she wants us to really look at our tactics (or "doings", as she calls them) in The Greeks. She wants us to ask the question, "How many ways can I get what I want?"

My biggest goal for Andromache for the weekend is to make her more likable. I'm too forceful right now. I have to find greater ease, and generally make her more empathetic. Acting Professoressa says that she thinks it's all a matter of "point-of-view" work.

The other big goal for the weekend? Getting off-book by Tuesday. Wish me luck. (Wish us all luck, actually.)

Schedule for next week:
Tuesday: Andromache
Wednesday: Electra
Thursday: Helen
Friday: TBA