Now that I have acquired my monologue material from Like Dreaming, Backwards by Kellie Powell, I have begun work in exploring the piece (below).
When I first read the material, I loved how beautifully and emotionally it was written. I really shared a connection with the piece, however, I found it quite difficult to first perform as I wasn't sure exactly how to go about it. I felt lots of empathy for the character of Nell who, from this monologue, is clearly in despair with no hope of getting over her depression. I want to make sure that this empathy is what the audience feels when I perform the monologue, as I believe that that is what Powell indented them to feel when she wrote it. Nell is a very intelligent character, but has a very negative outlook on life, and I find this very interesting.
To help with breaking the dialogue down, we looked at dynamics of language, phrasing, clarity and diction and units.
Units create a dynamic shift in the language each time an emotional or thought process changes. This can be represented by phrasing and be made clear through clarity and diction. Units are very subjective and so each person will interpret a script differently.
We used a section of the script Pump Girl by Abbie Spallon to explore these techniques.
The brackets indicate each separate unit. By breaking down the thought process of a character you can understand how they would say each line and what they are thinking and feeling during each line.
To then break each unit down, we used stresses, bends and phrasing. Stresses and bends add texture and colour to the delivery of lines whilst phrasing helps to break up the dialogue and add appropriate breaths or pauses.
I found that using this technique with Like Dreaming, Backwards helped to lift the monologue out of a cold read and into a performance with much more emotion and complexity.
I have found it very beneficial to lay the ground work of objectives, units, character and other techniques before acting. It has made me consider my actions when performing and has helped me to understand why characters say and do certain things. I feel like I now have a deeper understanding of how to work with a script, which I can only benefit from in performance.
Through reading Like Dreaming, Backwards several times I have noticed a crucial detail that I previously did not pick up on. As the other characters in the play are figments of Nell's imagination and don't say anything that she doesn't already know, all the other characters thoughts about Nell must be what Nell thinks about herself. The more I read the play, the more this quite confusing idea makes sense. It adds an interesting complexity to the play and allows me to understand why Nell is so depressed as a character.
It is important that we set the conditions before we act. If we cannot see or feel where we are in a scene, then the audience will not be able to see or feel it either and the performance will lack truth.
Antonin Artaud and Semiotics (the 'Sign')
Antonin Artaud was a french playwright, actor and director who believed that theatre should effect the audience emotionally as much as possible. He used heavy imagery and signs in his work to do this.
To explore semiotics and how they are used we did an exercise where a chair was placed in different positions on a stage. We saw that with each position a new sign and emotion was created and we as the audience read that emotion.
For example, when the chair was upright, facing the audience, central, we felt it to be quite a friendly and inviting setting and made us ask why the chair was there and who was going to sit in it.
When the chair changed position to down-stage but still central, turned over so that the legs stuck out at the audience, we could sense an angry emotion and the space looked a lot more violent and uninviting. It left us wanting to know why the chair was turned over and what had happened previously to leave the space in such a way.
This showed us how just the simple manoeuvring of a chair can change the way a space speaks and how it changes the audience's questions of purpose and reason.
We were then given a sheet which would help us evaluate our choice of space in the future:
Overall, the workshop made me realise how effective the use of space, body and time is on an audience. I have realised that things that I would never have previously considered make a huge impact.
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