Now What?!

Thanksgiving is about to roll over us, along with the crush of work that seems to follow it. Something about the holiday season seems to breed both extra stress and extra work.

So amid everything else you have to do, you might be wondering "Now what?!" when it comes to working on your scene.

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Short and sweet, some things to work on in the next 3 weeks:

Location
I'm planning on doing these scenes on the big auditorium stage, but not in the way you expect.

I'll set up chairs in a rough U-shape on the choir risers against the back wall of the stage, facing out into the auditorium. The stage is deep, so that leaves several feet of "stage" space for the actors to use ... and that means you actors will be standing on the stage, with the steps to your back and your face toward the back wall of the stage.

Basically, I'm creating a small "stage" on the stage, facing the opposite direction.
Make sense? ;)

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...............-- (audience)--
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...............X (actors) X

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.............l ________l
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Line Rehearsals
Keep up the line rehearsals. If you & your partner know your lines well, still do a line rehearsal (completely from memory, as fast as you can, with no emotion or inflection) once a week.

And if you don't know your lines yet ... your assignment is to do at least 1 line rehearsal a day until you & your partner know your lines well.

poor memorization = bad characterization
bad characterization = bad scene

Blocking
Talk with your partner about blocking (the way you'll move around on stage).

Experiment with different positions during the scene:

• can you move around during the scene or must you stay in one position?
• use your position on stage to communicate who's "in charge" or "has the upper hand" at that moment -- an actor in the center of the stage facing the audience fully is in a "strong" position, for example ...
  
• don't block the audience's view of your partner
• *usually* the audience doesn't want to see your backside except in very special circumstances (examples: a character is totally isolated or alone ... a character who isn't "in the scene yet" but has to be on stage ... )
  
• try something unusual:

*lie down ...

or

*stand behind / beside your partner with both of you facing the same direction (like talking from behind his/her ear) ...

or

*try having one of you cross in front of the other and change sides while talking (the person talking crosses downstage) so you end up on opposite sides by the end of the scene

etc

In the Moment
Once you know your lines really well, push yourself to imagine what your character is feeling & thinking at a given moment ... and focus on that at that moment

For example,
If your character is supposed to walk on stage with a stack of presents, hide them behind a chair, and then pretend you didn't buy your friend anything for her birthday ....

try to focus on what your character would be thinking at that moment ... and THINK that as you walk on stage.

Like this:
*enter from stage left*
(thinking to yourself as you move)
"I hope I can convince Mary that I forgot her birthday. Won't she be surprised when I pull out this huge stack of boxes! ... I hope she's not in the living room .... No, the coast is clear. OK, where can I hide the presents? .... Behind the chair!! Perfect!!"


Why do this?
Because we humans instinctively show on our faces what we're thinking.
Some of you hide it better than others, but most of the time I can pick up at least a general sense of your mood based solely on your facial expression.

If you're thinking
"Don't trip . . . don't trip . . . set the boxes down behind the chair . . . look happy . . . . remember my line!!"
Guess What: THAT's what will play across your face as you walk on stage!!

So stay "in the moment." It takes practice (read: rehearsal and experience). You won't succeed perfectly when you're just starting out ... but remind yourself and your partner to work on it.


Rehearse!
Finally, a few rehearsal tips:

Don't "wear out" your scene during any one session. Vary what you do in rehearsals. You might just walk through your scene (especially if you need to move around a lot) and not talk. Or you might try doing one run at half-energy to give yourself a break.

Try to give your partner something new every time you rehearse ... even if it's just a new gesture ... a different facial expression ... a change in the way you read a line ... a different emotional subtext from what you did last time.
Why? It keeps you both "on your toes" -- otherwise, this is going to turn into a mechanical, robotic rehearsal of memorized words.... Bor-ing.


Next week is pretty much shot because of Thaksgiving. Yeah, we've got 2 days of school, but you know how that goes ....

so that means you've got 3 weeks of rehearsal time before performance. That's plenty of time if you work on characterization this week, give things a rest over the holiday, and then hit it again in early December.

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HOMEWORK this week
1. Survive. =)
2. Come to MND auditions.
3. Come to the PTO meeting if you can.
4. Rehearse your scene w/ your partner on at least *2* different occasions this week outside of drama class. And you will have a chance to rehearse during drama this week ...
5. Run a line rehearsal daily until you know your lines cold and without hesitation.

*****
I need to see you do your scenes ... so let me know if you're rehearsing during recess/lunch & I'll come watch. In order to fulfill my own responsibility (to make sure you don't kill each other or damage property during recess), you probably need to do your scene for me in the general area of recess. We'll go somewhere quiet.


I plan to ease up on English homework in general for the next few weeks ... and I'll ask the other teachers to be merciful to you on Monday (auditions) and Tuesday (PTO meeting).

=)