Today was spent performing our one minute monologues that we could use for auditioning for an agent and occasionally a CD. Everyone in the class found monologues that were perfect for their type, it was really cool.
My monologue went really well, I felt very alive and in the moment as I spoke, but I didn't have a clear understanding in my mind of who I was talking to or why, and that was the note I recieved from Josie. I did have a specific person intellectually picked out, as well as a specific action, but somehow those slipped away from me during the performance. I guess I didn't rehearse enough. To be honest I didn't spend a whole lot of time rehearsing this monologue. I already had it memorized from an acting class I took 3 or 4 years ago, but it definitely needed tweaking and improvement. And after today, I realize that the minimal work I did wasn't enough to bring the performance up to where I knew it should be.
My scene partner and I rehearsed Misery again for a short while after class. I haven't seen the movie yet and the more we rehearse, the more I want to. But I have been forbidden to do so by Carrie. I'm really not sure where to take the character of Annie. My orginal thought was to play her subtly, calmly, like Anthony Hopkins in Silence Of The Lambs. But my scene partner has made the comment that I need to play her more psychotically. Which I know could be a very big mistake if I focus on the outward manifestation of being psychotic instead of looking into the reasons she acts the way she does and personalizing those. I'm worried about going too big, but at the same time, my scene partner has seen the movie (and Kathy Bates performance) and has made the comment that I need to be more psychotic, and one of my dear blog friends quite innocently made the comment: "How fun to play such a wild character!" (which tells me that Kathy Bates' performance may have been big) And so now I have all these invisible expectations in my head (when I know I shouldn't have any expectations at all) that I feel I need to live up to, which is frustrating since I don't even know what the performance I'm supposed to be living up to looks like. And I'm mad at myself for allowing my scene partner's approval of my performance to be a factor in the choices I make. GRRRRRRR...
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Okay, so we're supposed to memorize a 2 page neutral scene for the Meisner Plus class tomorrow, both parts. So I'm lying on the floor, memorizing the script, and I decide to give one part to each of my hands, so I can keep the roles separate. So my left hand speaks the first line, then my right speaks the next, and of course each hand has a different Muppet voice, then I give the first line to my right hand, so that the lines don't get specifically attached to one hand over the other--and I suddenly realize how ridiculous this would look and sound to anyone but me.
Crazy crazy crazy.
1 comment:
I'm so sorry my comment may have made your scene study more confusing for you. I think you read the book, yes? I can't recall and it's 2:30am - yes I'm reading your blog in the middle of the night - and don't have the strength at this point to check back. I know watching the movie is probably not right - it will only confuse you in where you want to take the scene... but reading the book again might refresh you and help put you in the mind of the character again.
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