AAS (12) - "He's Talking"

In this lesson we worked on Scene One of "He's Talking". We looked at the playwrights notes at the beginning of the play to help understand our characters better. I learned that my character is Afrikaans, and is the spirit of the group. She is like the glue that holds them all together. Rosie is an extremist and is using this as a personal rebellion against her family. We went through this scene in a lot of detail and stopped at every little hurdle.

Positioning:
We changed our blocking again slightly due to what we learned about our characters. We made sure will still sat in the same order to ensure that our positions worked for when Luke states that we should go "systematically round the room one by one". Initially we just had chairs positioned in a semi-circle around the room. However, to make the space look more like a living room, we put some of the chairs next to each other to form sofas. We had a separate chair for Skeets to sit on in the corner of the room, to separate him from the rest of the group We also had a separate chair on the other side of the room for Luke as he is singled out by Deon (when he has an argument with him, stating that the rest of the group disagreed with him). We decided that Tanya would sit on the floor to create levels and to show that she is most comfortable there (as it is her parent's house). However, we positioned her by Deon's legs, as they are in a relationship.

Character Intention:

• Pg 218 - Tanya: We changed the way that Kat said the first line on this page. Although she said it really meaningfully, we got her to say the line more emotionally, as if she is really hurt by everything that has happened and is struggling to hold it together at this point. This made Luke's line "Well, thanks for inviting us" seem more awkward, but make him seem like a really caring person (despite him being an extremist).
• Pg 223 - Deon: Initially Rob said his line "So, Luke" as if he was a little bit smug that Luke had cracked. However, to make the scene more awkward and to take it on more of an emotional roller-coaster, we decided that Rob would say this line as if he is scared that whatever he says next will result in Luke biting his head off again. This enabled Lewis to say his line "What?" more aggressively, thus making the audience feel a little bit tense and unsure on what will happen next. 
• Pg 224 - Miles: Charlie said the lines "Nice meeting you guys. Have fun" as if he was a bit confused as to what the meeting was about, and a bit disappointed that he couldn't join in. However, although this did show Miles' naivety in the situation, we changed it so he would say these lines as if he was a bit miffed that he was being told to go in his own [parent's] house. This made the audience feel a little bit of sympathy towards Miles as well as adding a slight comedy element to an otherwise very serious scene. 

Creating Tension & Movement:

• Pg 223 - Luke & Deon: To make the argument between Luke and Deon more tense, Lewis now stands up on his line "You know bloody well for what!". Rob then walks towards Rob at the beginning of his line "Yes, we all know that! But -". Lewis will also walk towards Rob, so they are fact to face in the middle of the room. At this point, my character tells them both to shut up and states that they're "worse than ever". By adding this movement, we are creating more tension and also portraying that my character is the glue that holds them together (as Luke backs down slightly after Rosie speaks out). 

Next Lesson:
To improve this scene further, we need to be off of script so we can completely focus on our movements. Therefore, by next lesson, we shall all learn our lines off by heart.