AAS (23) - PP&T - Additional Scene

In this lesson we ran our entire scene again a few times. We were trying to improve our characterisation and add more depth to our characters by applying the character decisions we made last lesson. We worked on the movement side of things as well and decided that we want to get off of script as soon as possible to enable ourselves to really commit to the movement and character. It would also enable us to use props - this is something we would like to start doing soon, as a lot of props are involved in this scene, and we need to be comfortable with what we are doing with them.

Another aspect of performance we worked on today was volume. At the beginning of this scene, Ollie and I are having a conversation about smoking, whilst Lewis's character is shouting frantically to anyone and everyone. What we had to work out was how we could make Ollie and I heard over Lewis's shouting. In the play we watched, both Foster and Emma were miked. However, we decided to bring mine and Ollie's conversation further down stage, and Lewis further upstage. Also, now that Lewis is using his diaphragm more now, his shouting is slightly lower in pitch, thus making it less piercing and over-powering. In addition, Ollie and I are projecting more. I found it quite challenging to present my character's confused and disorientated state whilst speaking louder, but after practising this a few times, I began to get the hang of it.

Moreover, we have added another two pages to the end of our scripts. In this scene, Foster settles Emma into her new room and tries to make her feel at ease. Ollie and I didn't get much time on this scene but we ran through it once to learn what happens, and once to do it with our desired blocking. We know how we shall stage this scene now, but shall also learn this scene off by heart, as soon as possible, to enable us to practise this scene without any restrictions.

What I shall do between now and next lesson is label my script with my character's intentions, objectives and feelings throughout the play, as well as trying to learn as much of it as I can off by heart. Next lesson, we shall work through the script in small sections to really perfect each little detail and moment (for example, where and when the Doctor refers to her clip board / notes; what she thinks when she reads the notes and thus what facial expressions she would pull whilst reading).