You Go About to Torture Me

Tonight was the night that we formally presented our long and short Liverpool scenes. I always wonder if these performances are necessary. Everyone sees and hears the work done in class and I find it hard to believe that it would be interesting because they’ve seen it a lot. At least, that’s how I feel sometimes. I’ve seen so many people working on their scenes, and sometimes Raymon just stops everyone and says watch these people. It’s really not all that interesting to watch the performance if you’ve seen it over and over. But I guess maybe it’s the process and progress that counts.

Anyway, we began the class with a little bit of practice and then Raymon split us up and took half the class down to another room and gave the other half more practice time. I was in the first group in the other room. We just discussed things that we should look for in other’s scenes and what makes a good scene. I’m often really incoherent when there isn’t a lot of time to think about something, and I am a much better writer than I am a speaker. I find it hard to explain my thoughts and feelings when I have to give an oral response right away. I knew what I was trying to say, but I couldn’t get it out and no one could understand me. It was frustrating. We decided that the qualities of a good scene are connection, concentration and chemistry. The hard thing is to gain these attributes.

Then we went upstairs to the room and watched the scenes.

Then it was our turn to practice. Dan and I originally did our apple scene as a starving couple who only have an apple left between them. They each want the other to have it and are willing to sacrifice their own lives so the other can eat the apple. During our rehearsing, Dan and I decided to change it to a scene where these two people want an apple, the only apple left, and they are telling the other to have it, when really they are sneaking towards it to get it. In the end, we jump on the apple and fight over it. It was great and great fun.

I feel as though Dan and I accomplished what we wanted to. We wanted it to seem like the Saw movies, and that came across well. I remember hearing someone say “OMG It’s like Saw!” and I really want to smile, but I didn’t.

It was really good and really fun, even if it wasn’t a “real” scene.

I Will Repeat Then

Tonight we did more work on our world theatre scenes. I don’t remember much of what happened, but I remember the parts that were powerful for me.

We began the night with our partners and the opening exercise. We did it with our backs turned to each other and were told to feel each other. During the entire time, I kept wondering if we were moving in sync. I felt connected, but I am not sure if Graham did.

We got our scripts and just began saying lines. We were told to pick a line and keep repeating it. I chose “Why I should fear I know not.” We were supposed to try different ways of saying the phrase. I said it like I was scared, unafraid, while laughing and all girly like. It was fun. I love acting stupid and ditzy. Then we had to pick a different phrase. I picked one that I felt was strong; “No, by my life and soul.”

We had to find some sort of gesture to do with the phrase. I kind of stamped my feet and had my hands by my face. Raymon asked Graham and I to do our lines together, and ironically we picked two lines in succession. It was crazy. It was so powerful, I hope that came across to everyone watching. It was really intense too. Graham got really scary and I was actually scared for a while.

Then we were supposed to work on the scene together. Graham and I just figured out a basic set up and tried to work in a bit of blocking so that everyone would be able to see our scene well.

It was a really good night, followed by some more good times at Louis….

'Tis A Playing-Day

Tonight we spent time developing our short Liverpool scenes. Although, most people were not aware of what the exercises were leading up to. Keen people (like yours truly) knew that we were building up to the short Liverpool scene.

The exercises involved in this class were to do mostly with positions (get your mind out of the gutter). We took positions of power and dominance, each ‘partner pose’ having a dominant and a submissive person. We experimented with these poses and began to string them together, running between each one.

When we had a set pattern of poses, we began to add speech to them; just insignificant speech like numbers. It didn’t mean anything, but it was to get us to add words to what was happening or what we were feeling.

The next step was to do some improv. Woo! Man do I love me the improv. It was great. Our speech was hilarious. I was pushing Dan in the opening. Wait, back up the bus. I’ll explain our scene of poses first. It began with me pushing him, then he went to a corner to cry, then I went to comfort him, then he ran away and started praying, then I went up to him, he ran away again, I ran to him and posed all provocative like, then he came to me and I went away from him. So, back to the speech. I was like “Get lost creep!” then he started crying and what not. It was great. Like we were at a club. Not only was it fun, it was funny.

When it was time to make the transition into using the lines from the Liverpool scene, we had a hard time making it work. I said to Dan right before we started to try that it wasn’t going to happen. I put a wall up and it would have led to our failure had I not included a door. We began to just use the words and keep the actions. Then the actions evolved to fit the words and I guess out bodies just took over. It was ‘organic’ as Raymon would say.

We began with this club provocative scene and it changed into this touching scene of this couple dying. We both saw it as some sort of life or death situation. We were both starving and our only food left was this one apple and the both of us wanted the other to have. We were willing to die so the other could live for a few minutes more. But in the end we both died.

I never really understood what Raymon meant by organic until tonight. I guess I just pretended that I got it. But organic is just allowing to live in the moment, to submit to change that no one is initiating, it just happens.

Out Damn Spot

We started this class the same way we have been, with word association. Word association lets us let go and act on impulse; lets us play. Like children. Acting should be play and this ‘game’ lets us enter the mindset of kids.

Unfortunately, I don’t remember what else happened in this class, except the end (or maybe we worked on it so long that it really was the only thing we did?) when we worked on the nothing scenes.

My partner was James, who I might add is fantastic (I am obsessed with the Sheaf, haha). The nothing scene we decided one was the second one, because that was the only one James knew, and I sort of forgot the first one.

We played with the scene a lot, just trying out different variations on a similar idea. Like, first I was getting chased, and then my dad was chasing me, and then I ran past my dad upset and that’s why he chased me.

We made wonderful use of the door. There was this one line where he asked me if I wanted some Aspirin. I opened the door (he was on the other side) stuck my head out and said, “No. Don’t be so helpful OK?” and then I slammed it shut. James almost got his finger caught a few times. Raymon was worried, haha.

Then James started to bleed mysteriously. And that’s all I remember

Order to Associate

This class we started off with Word Association. Now, coming from an improv background, I have played this game numerous times with many different people in many situations and I can truly call myself a seasoned word association player. Sometimes we randomly play it in the dorm when we’re bored. Brace yourself for this next sentence though! Although I normally talk about things I hate (I’m a pessimist what can I say?), I truly, devoutly and utterly…. LOVE WORD ASSOCIATION! The spontaneity, the randomness everything about this game is so intense. I love the twists you can put on this game too. I’ve played it once where someone said a word (apple) and you thought of a word (banana) but you didn’t say that word (banana). You thought of another association with your word (banana) and said that instead (yellow). Get it? Oh well, I tend to be slightly incoherent when I am excited.

Anyway, we played this many times with many different partners and it was never the same. Ok, that’s a lie. I was in one group were someone said the same word and we went through it all again. But it was funny.

The second part of the class focussed on using the contentless scenes we had already learned in different ways. Such as changing emotions and expressions. I always put emotions into things and have preconceptions about how to play a scene. It was challenging to play it the way someone else told me to.

For That Was My Meaning

Our first class of the new term started with a brief run through (literally RUN through) the main elements of 116; open vibration, sending out noises etc. This was more for the new people I think because they may have forgotten 116 or perhaps they did not do this in 116.

We began working on our first scenes tonight. Although, they were content less scenes, or what we Sheldonites used to call them, Nothing Scenes. We got a set of text that was as plain as it could be. There were no stage directions, just lines that could be used in literally any setting.

“Hi”
“Hello”
“How are you?”
“Fine”

Of course there was more too it than that. We weren’t specifically instructed to give any of it meaning, but I think that goes against human nature. We give meaning to everything from catching a leaf on the first day of autumn (apparently that will prevent you from getting a cold all winter) to things like Kraft Diner (maybe it was the last thing you ate with your grandfather before he died). Meaning is everywhere. If humans didn’t give this symbols meaning, you wouldn’t be able to read them. But enough of this philosophising.

At the end of class, we began to ‘perform’ these scenes. Random people would jump up and volunteer to be in a scene that they only knew the lines to. Not the setting or anything. Raymon gave them a setting or a situation and they were to play off that and each other. With the same lines of text we saw a couple fighting, roommates fighting, a mugging and a brother comforting a brother. It’s amazing to me how simple these things can be, but how complex our minds make them out to be.

This class barely scratched the surface of what is yet to come. I am banking for, and hoping for, scenes upon scenes upon scenes. I love scene work because it’s predictable, but on the other hand, I love improv because it’s unpredictable. Oh the hypocrisy that is me!

I’m looking forward to this class. The work (which won’t really be work if you love acting ((which I do)) and meeting new people. Drama kids are some of the best kids and I know (also some of the worst). And I really hope that those of us who have been together before can open our tight knit circle to let a few others in. Everyone has something to offer and cutting people out will only hold the entire group back.