In this blog, reflect on your rehearsal process. Figure our what you and your partner do to establish a scene. Do you both agree that there is a "mirror" in the corner, or are you living in two different rooms? As Hagen states, work together to "build your space for your game of make-believe"(194). You don't need to discuss your objectives and intensions with your partner. You must use your actions to tell the other character who you are. Remember, just because you have the whole script does not mean that the chracters you play do...they may have no idea what they might say in a given moment, or precisly the opposite, they might know exactly what they will say. The goal is to erase the visibility of the lien between "you" as the "actor" and "you" as the character on stage.
By now, you should have established a relationship with your scene partner and begun the process of rehearsing your scene. Ask yourself how much you rely on your scene partner to complete the tasks in front of you. Do you show up on time when you are supposed to meet? Do you notify your partner if you cannot make a rehearsal time? Are you prepared to work when you meet? Have you done any more work on your scene from the last meeting time? If you answered yes to all of these questions, then you are well on the way to crafting a professional work ethic that will open many opportunities for you as a professional artist.
If you have not done this work, you enter into the rehearsal process at a disadvantage because you have not made the appropriate steps to secure your own success. If you are constantly directing your scene partner, then you are not being professional. In fact, you are asking your partner to play his/her part and yours. As Hagen states, you don't have time to be both actor and director.
Our job is not to guide or direct our partner, but to present our best choices and to repond to the choices that are presented to us. Acting is doing.
One of the things I like best about working with Anna is I feel she is true and genuine when she acts. I think all of us have been with those scene partners where it is constantly a fight to be able to explore yourself because they make the scene entirely about them and his or her choices. She is direct and confident which is something I respect and admire in her acting. I think I have discovered that I have played so many eccentric, crazy over-the-top characters in most of my past that it is almost...very difficult to play a 'normal' person. I think I feel like I am coming off as fake or unsincere which, truthfully, is probably my biggest fear in acting. I think I just realized that I use the eccentric characters as a mask to hide behind; because it comes easy to me. I don't mind making an idiot out of myself and I have done some very extreme characters and situations in my life but when it comes to playing dramatic or even just an everyday person I feel scared to death of my sincerity and geunity coming across as rehearsed or vividly untrue, which is funny because I have been an every day person since the day I was born. Wow...this is such a discovery that I have literally made while typing this blog. I think I sort of almost feel ashamed now that I think about it. The toughest characters for me to play are the most normal and sometimes dramatic characters.
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ReplyDeleteWorking with a scene partner to me much of what acting is all about! The potential for anything to happen, for your partner to make any possible choice at any given moment seems to me so much more exciting in many ways than real life even. In an everyday conversation, people can be generally predictable. You could make an educated guess as to their physical or verbal reactions to things. In a scene however, everything is based off a more or less 'imaginary world' in which each character completely gets to create the potential for predictability. For example, in my scene with Taylor, I can of course make choices as to my own character's reactions and feelings and such. I can't make decisions on Taylor's character, but what I can do, is decide how much I know about what she is going to do. In the context of the scene therefore, if I make the choice that Taylor's character is predictable, I may not necessarily be surprised by a reaction or comment she makes. There's any number of combinations that can occur throughout the rehearsal process. The exciting part is getting to filter out the ones that organically feel right, and trying to eliminate the ones that just don't work!
ReplyDeleteDanielle Cooper
ReplyDelete“Rehearsal”
March. 3. 2010
I know that with working with other people they see different aspects about your scene or your acting abilities that you could have never seen before until they addressed it. I know that with working alone on a scene it can be challenging because you think you are doing all the right things and don’t need improvement, when really its great to have that partner with you to analyze and give you feedback so that you can improve the scene as much as possible. My scene partner and I have not worked together yet, but we are getting together soon, and I really want to hear what she has to say about what we could do as far as blocking and script reads so that it can be a good performance. And I know that for me it is hard to take criticism but I think that this class has helped me with accepting the good and bad so that it can benefit me to do great things instead of dwelling on the remarks. And with that development I think it can move me forward with rehearsing and performing this scene.
I always like working with another person in rehearsal because it helps me out a lot figure out who I am in the scene. We have met once and have gone over blocking and basics which is helping me get more ideas on how to go about creating the scene. We worked together to "make" the room so now we have a complete vision of the setting we are in. There is still a lot of work left to do but having the basics set helps make things feel calmer and makes me feel more confident. I am working on fully establishing my character which is a day by day learning experience. Each time I work on the scene whether in rehearsal or by myself, I find new things to try and new ways to deliver the lines. I'm hoping the rehearsals will continue to help me grow into this character by being able to work off of Garrett and having the setting around me.
ReplyDeleteI really like working with a scene partner because it forces me to work with someone else’s acting techniques and ideas. It also teaches me responsibility in the sense of being on time and going to class. This semester has been touch because I was very ill for three weeks. However, I pulled through it and I am stronger than ever to work and to get to the point where I need to be. Also, working with other people helps me realize that I do not have to take control of the scene all of the time. I am working with a team and we are in this together. I have learned so much about not only my character but also myself. When I read a cold read, I am really trying to work on not using and “acting” voice right off the bat. I need to just read it naturally and see where it takes me. That is a weakness I have and I am thriving to overcome it. Also, watching other people doing exercises helps me identify things about myself and my character. We can all help one another.
ReplyDeleteWorking with both my scene partners has been a good start to the semester. I enjoy working with new people because if they have a unexpected (by me) reaction my next reaction will hopefully change so the scene becomes more true/ genuine with us as actors and the character. In one of my scenes I am a very laid back and easy going and working with Adrian has been very eye opening to see where his lines break or change and where I pick up from there. With Jackie in my other scene, working with that character and her as another actress is interesting because she in this scene is very interesting to watch her to see what emotion she will portray. I feel like in that play we both rely on each other for the gauge of how far the emotion will stretch and how big the emotion will get. Also in that play my character is very driven and that seems to be more true to my personal real life character then the scene with Adrian but what is the eye opening thing about that is the emotion I have to get to for the scene with Jackie is harder because it is closer to me then the emotions for the scene with Adrian. Working with new actors in general is interesting. I feel like anything you do in acting whether it be improv, scene work, exercises, etc. will help you change and grow and also help you see a new way of being/acting. People are willing to help you change (even if they don’t know it) but as people and as actors we just have to be open and receptive to it!
ReplyDeleteIn the first part of reading about rehearsal it made me think of my scene Brother/Bar with Joe. In that scene I really have to use my listening skills in rehearsing together because I have very little lines with him in the scene. I have to make sure I am not reading this script like I know what I am about to say, which can be very difficult. It is also a contradiction because this scene actually talks about acting. I have to explore my relationship with Joe, and the more practice we have together the better. In creating my “professional work ethic” I have fell at fault from recent events, and have done everything I can to regain practice between Joe and David. We haven’t had much time in class to rehearse together, so if they are willing we will be taking the rehearsal as homework outside of class. Getting this scene is very important to me, and given the circumstances of my semester I am ready to get back on my feet again. Acting is doing, and I feel that it is true that we shouldn’t judge or critique our partners because if I focus on what I am doing in my scene, while still listening to my partner then the scene should appear so much better.
ReplyDeleteThus far, both my partner and I have been very busy and have not been able to meet outside of class to rehearse our scene. I have had rehearsals for my senior recital and she has had rehearsals for Rock Chalk Revue. Now that my recital is over and Rock Chalk Revue has opened, I hope we can get together and get this scene memorized and staged! The work we have done in class has been extremely helpful, especially the improv we did as two sisters having an argument. To me, that exercise felt more like a real argument that I’ve had with my sister, as opposed to just playing an argument that has been written out on a page. I think it might be helpful to do more improvs like this one in our own rehearsal time outside of class. I will admit that I have not done nearly enough work on my scene outside of class. I rely on my partner to have done her work, so now I must do the same. I have spent some time thinking about the scene and what it means for my character, but have not spent any time memorizing it. I know what needs to be done these next few weeks and I look forward to accomplishing it.
ReplyDeleteAs of yet Danielle and I have not met. However, blocking the scene and agreeing on the set up I feel should be one of our priorities. I prefer to be off book as soon as possible, but it usually takes a few rounds off book to feel comfortable. I've spent some time with my character by myself, but working with my partner will help our characters to life. I am excited get together on saturday to start working.
ReplyDeleteI feel as far as this blog goes I’m right in the middle of it still. With crazy schedules my partner and I have barely had a chance to meet and work together. We have a fine relationship but we’ve yet to really explore our relationship as characters. As well, having done my homework in my scene I’ve found that the scene for me has become vague. I think I’m over thinking it now honestly. When it comes to rehearsal I always try and be professional about my work ethic and the way that I interact with my colleagues. Although you wouldn’t guess it, because I have studio class right before our acting class, I try to show up 5 minutes early to everything I go to. I heard once that if you show up on time in the performance world, you’re already late. That really stuck with me. Without having been able to meet a lot with my partner so far, I’m starting to run out of things to say. However, I find that it is always a challenge to create a scene with two people if you haven’t met…obviously. What I mean by that exactly what has happened to me. Schedules being what they are, I prepare on my own for rehearsal. Trying to learn my lines, memorize, inflect, emote, etc. Then what happens is I get a certain way of thinking about the scene, which is sometimes hard to get rid of and just react during the scene with a live person. It’s a work in progress, it’s all about the process right?
ReplyDeleteSince Alisa dropped out of the course I was now working with Celsie on On the Ledge. She was pretty much in charge and helped me a lot with the pronunciation of phrases. We worked together on staging the scene. At first we weren't agreeing with most of the choices but in the end we always found a compromise both of us were happy with or ether of us convinced the other one of the own idea being better. I'd say that we had in the end the ideal way to perform for both of us. I chose not to show Celsie all of my choices about my character in the rehearsal in order to keep it fresh. Since we were prepared for Tuesday but performed one week after we had a lot of opportunities to practice. I found it an interesting scene and I definitely learned a lot.
ReplyDeleteWorking with a scene partner independently of class is very helpful and rewarding. You get to know each other's strengths and weaknesses in a different way than doing exercises in class. For me, I like to come to the first rehearsal either memorized or very close to it. I believe once the words are out of the way, you can discover a lot more of what the scene is about. Megan and I were both well prepared for our first rehearsal together. We both had established “rough drafts” of our characters and had a very solid understanding of the script. We were always able to resolve scheduling difficulties and were professional about the whole process.
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