Malapropisms (Classical Actings)

Kade, Abby, and I have picked the perfect scene! It is going to take some cutting down because it is currently a 4 person scene, but I think we can do it. It's from a show called The Rival and it is about this girl who falls in love with a soldier pretending to be a poor and lowly stature of a man. The scene that we are going to perform is when the girls caretaker--Mrs. Malaprop (played by myself) discovers that the young girl (played by Abby) and the young soldier (played by Kade) have been secretly falling in love and planning to elope. Well it then comes out that Kade's character is really the soldier and Abby's character freaks out because she feels like he has lied to her and it's just a huge mess.

That being said, it is also farcical, so it's hilarious! Everything is over dramatic and non-sensical. and Mrs. Malaprop has this habit of using the wrong words in her sentences. One of her lines is "make no caparisons please" when she really means the word "comparisons". In fact, a malapropism is a real word which means: "the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effect, as in, for example, “dance a flamingo” (instead of flamenco)" and it came from this show and this character. How cool is that?

I love this scene because I never get to play these sorts of outrageous characters. I am usually the young lover character in scenes and shows. So getting to play this over the top woman was such a blast. I don't think I quite leaned into the absurdity as much as I could have--though believe me I did try--but I think we nailed the scene pretty dang close to the top of the head.

On top of all this, we learned how to communicate with fans. Which means I got to use one as a prop in our scene! I got to hide behind it or smack Abby/Kade with it to emphasize my points. I even fake cried behind it at one point. Fans are such a fun prop and I honestly had no idea that there is practically a whole other language written just for their use. How confusing that must have been back in the day. Certain gestures could mean more than one thing so how were you supposed to know which one the woman meant!?

Although, Ironically, you could argue the same point to today's society. Women, people in general really, have a habit of saying one thing while meaning another. So how do you keep it all straight?

Well, our scene is going to be great and I am loving getting to work on this project with Kade and Abby.

Improvisation (Classical Acting)

This is the first dance-like class that I have taken since my hip surgeries. When we first started I was honestly really embarrassed and worried because I knew I couldn't move fully and Improvisation is a subject that begs you to go all out and all in.

In our text book, there is an author, Zaporah, and she claims that the mind and body are inseparable. She says, “The body knows itself through the mind as the mind knows itself through the body. Sometimes it’s convenient to talk about the body and the mind as separate entities. We can talk about taming or disciplining the body, quieting the mind, relaxing the body, focusing attention. But can you imagine doing any of these things without both body and mind? (21)”

And I just started to think about that quote and wonder what it means to me and whether or not I agree or disagree. Well, in respect to my personally experiences and journey that I have experienced in the last two months, I decided that I agreed with her statement. 

The body reacts and responds to what we think and how we feel. You simply can’t have one without the other. You can certainly try, but I feel the results would be less than desirable. For example: if you are laying in bed trying to relax your body,it won’t matter how calm you are if your mind is racing. This happens to me all the time and it keeps me awake for hours at times.

Even though I know they are both integral, I feel very segregated between mind and body. Especially when any sort of dance/movement is going on. I have never been a strong dancer and as a result I have never considered myself “a dancer”. In fact I didn’t even feel like I could call myself “a mover” until a year or so ago. I always get caught up in my head with personal judgements and insecurities. I am constantly telling myself that I must look ridiculous which then results in a lack of commitment to movement. Let me explain a little bit.

Over the last 6+ years, I’ve been dealing with hip problems. My joints would painfully pop and lock and sometimes lock up on me. It made it difficult to enjoy dancing or movement for extended periods of time. Eventually I compensated because I couldn’t trust my hips to fully hold my weight. Because of that my body and my mind started to compensate as well. I held my weight higher so that I was always prepared to catch myself if my hip locked. I altered dance moves in musicals I was a part of so that I wouldn’t pull anything the wrong way. It became second nature to me. But then I finally said ‘enough is enough’ and my husband and I started to search for answers last summer. We found a doctor that knew exactly what was wrong and how to fix it. So I had two hip surgeries within as many months.

Now I find myself longing to be “a dancer”. Longing to reshape my mindset and my own opinions of my body and how it looks and moves and responds to music but I have a lot of bad habits to break and years of self-doubt and insecurities to overcome.

Needless to say, I know how powerful our minds can be. I am starting to truly understand that I have to find a way to mentally trust my body again and trust my muscles to know what to do; trust that I don’t always look completely ridiculous. Which is honestly one reason why I am so glad to be taking a dance improv class. What better way to begin trusting my body again, than in a class where all we do is explore how our bodies move and react. The mind and the body are powerful tools and are even more powerful when they are working together.

Acting Shakes II (Classical Acting)

I have never taken a Shakespeare class before, but my Acting Shakespeare II class is blowing my mind. We are studying all of these tiny and seemingly insignificant things that are changing the meanings behind the passages. Shakespeare was a genius!

We have been studying the importance of punctuation by reading a passage as a class while walking around the room. Then, when ever we get to punctuation we change directions. It is amazing how many passages then turn out to mimic pacing or the back and forth of an argument in your own brain.

We also did this really awesome exercise with the opening scene from Hamlet, the one between all the guards, but we did it with  most of the lights turned off. Then, two of us in the class were each assigned to those who were reading the scene and every time they started to talk we had to follow behind them. It was a seriously spooky exercise. What a powerful way to instill the heightened and nervous energy to the beginning of the show. Immediately the audience would know that something is going on and it would pull them in from the very start. I honestly wish that I had taken a Shakespeare class before now because I feel like I understand the language and the speaking SOOO much better.

We've also been talking about the "minimum effort" that is required to speak Shakespeare and I don't think I have ever enunciated or articulated that much in my entire life! And I always thought that I had great enunciation. But as we've worked through these pieces of text and as we have taken the care to really go over how to properly pronounce each sound of the words, it is like new doors have opened to me. Shakespeare takes a TON of work. But the beauty is: if you rely on the text, Shakespeare has already given you everything you need. He has literally written in to the text the sounds that you would hear from certain people or objects; the emotion the character is feeling; even some of the blocking is written right into the text. How much more innovative could you get!?

I am also a little embarrassed because I think back on the very minimal experience that I have with Shakespeare and the few monologues that I may have done and I just want to crawl under a rock because boy did I not understand what Shakespeare was all about. But now, I feel armed to tackle a Shakespeare show/scene/monologue and actually come out sort of on top. I feel like I understand, at least the very basics, and that makes me feel very well-rounded.

Not to mention it is always a boost to the ego when your professor tells you that you have a very good grasp of the language and enunciation. So that was pretty great=]

Five Women (Classical Acting)

I was wardrobe head for this production, so I only got to see a crew view performance. However, I did get to listen to the show every night, and that was a joy.

            Five Women was such an intriguing play to me. I went to crew view not truly knowing what to expect. I was a little wary because I knew there was a lot of language and adult themes but I hadn’t done any research so I didn’t know what that entailed. I assumed it was some sort of comedy about five bridesmaids and the craziness of a wedding day but I was quickly alerted otherwise.

            This show was, for the most part, very well written. Somehow, the playwright, Alan Ball, was able to take five female stereotypes; a Christian, a lesbian, a woman who likes to sleep around, a college grad who thinks she knows everything, and a woman desperate to find a better life; and break through those stereotypes. Each character had extreme depth and thoughtful characteristics. They were all honestly written and I can only assume they were difficult to portray. That being said, I felt that the actresses did a splendid job. I know each of those women fairly well and to see them each play their characters with such devotion and commitment was such a joy. Their portrayal of the emotional journeys each character has to experience was fascinating to watch. I felt as though I could relate to each of them in a different way. And then, to get to listen to them and hear how far they had come in the week between crew view and opening night; wow their growth was exponential. It truly is amazing what costumes and sets do for a show. Not to mention sound and lighting.

            My biggest complaint with this show was the language. And not just because I personally try to avoid using swear words. I felt that the f words seemed forced in some places. Like the playwright wanted to simply see how many could be written into the script. I think each of the actors did an excellent job with what they were given, but I wonder why there were so many. There were times that I believed whole heartedly that those words came from a genuine place. But at other times I felt that they hindered the story and got in the way of the true objectives in the scene.

            Overall I found this show to be deeply moving. By the end of the run I felt that I had been on that journey with the actors and that I had more confidence to be myself; to chase after what I truly wanted. And if an audience member can walk away from a performance feeling even just that much taller, then I would consider it a great success.

The Laramie Project (Classical Acting)

I had never read or seen The Laramie Project before this production. I knew roughly what it was about but only from the bits and pieces I had gathered from other people. And if we are to be honest, they did not get everything completely accurate. I went in with a perceived understanding of the show and its content only to have those opinions completely changed.

            First of all, I want to talk about the set. What a neat and minimalistic idea. When I walked in and saw only blocks and a couple of chairs I got really excited because I knew that I was in for a unique experience. Those blocks allowed the director, Scott Knowles, to put each scene in whatever kind of “place” that he wanted. He could create a bar space or a court room or a café table; the possibilities were endless. On top of that, it allowed the audience to fill in the blanks and use their own creative imaginations to create the space we were witnessing. In my mind’s eye I viewed the bar in a completely different way than I know my neighbor did. It was a beautiful experience. The best moment for me, however, was the building of the fence. Watching each character step forward with a block or a chair and place it in its correct position with such care and precision was breathtaking. And then, to watch them all collectively step back and “admire” this thing that they had built—it was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

            Aside from the set, I think there were a lot of other things that went well. The projector screen added such a cool effect to the performance, especially during the court scenes. When that screen came on and you saw real footage from that day and the actual newspaper headings and clippings, it truly made it real. Suddenly I felt like I was really there; like I was sitting in the court room waiting for the judge to give a verdict. Not only that, but the screen allowed the lighting to really come to life as well. Those colors swelled up and faded out in a beautiful array. The lights allowed us to truly get a feel for what time of day it was.

            Lastly, the characters.

            I was taken aback at first by all the characters in this play. There were so many actors and yet, each of them played a number of different characters. They each had different voices and vocal patterns. Not to mention physical stances and postures. It was such a neat experience to be able to watch all of those actors step in and out of whatever character they were playing. I can only assume they spent countless hours truly honing in on what made each character different from the rest; what their ticks were and how they felt about the situation.

            Several actors brought me to tears with their performances. They were so honest and vulnerable it was like meeting those people in real life. Their ability to switch from character to character, male or female was impressive to me. All they did was put on or take off a hat or jacket or glasses and suddenly, right before your eyes, you saw a new character. That doesn’t happen too often. Most times an actor will step offstage before changing into a different character and they will have changed several costume pieces. It was such a neat experience; such an honest piece of theatre.

Hippolytus (Classical Acting)

At the start of the semester, our Classical Acting class took on a very interesting project called Hippolytus. This was a very condensed version of the play and total it took about 30 minutes or so.

We started by learning this hunting chant in Latin. Which was quite difficult but actually really cool. As we started to piece this show together, it became very apparent that it was not going to be staged like a normal play. We had different people playing the characters and the layout was different (we sat on each side of our playing space while the scene took place). Being a part of this really opened my eyes to the creative liberties you can take with a piece of theatre. I never would have thought to stage it that way or direct it that way. But it was a valuable lesson to learn.

First of all, you never have to stick to the realms of "traditional theatre". It was fun to play all the different characters at different times and to watch this story unfold.

Second, never underestimate the power of using your voice or simple objects to create sound and add atmosphere. In several scenes we used wooden staves or our voices or the rims of wine glasses. Each item added a different effect to the scene at hand. On top of that, it was really neat to work together as a class to come up with the sounds and work through the scene transitions.

At first I was worried that no one would be able to follow the story line, but we had a small audience for our final performance and they assured us that they were able to follow everything. They knew who was who and what was goin on. It just goes to show that I think we assume our audiences don't really pay attention. But that's really not true. Our Audiences can follow story lines without everything being spelled out for them.

The other really neat thing about Hippolytus, was the struggle against time. We were challenged to move as slowly as possible across the room while continuing to fight for something. That exercise has always been one of my favorites that we do in Professor Bugg's classes. After that, he went on to explain that that is the feeling we had to infuse into all the Hippolytus scenes.

And he was right.

We had to consciously think about how slow we could move and then do everything even slower than that. At times I found myself kind of bored with the idea, but when I really stopped to watch and think about, it is truly fascinating. In this world where everything moves so quickly and is instantaneous, how often do we slow down and think about every muscle in our body and how it is moving and responding and reacting to our environment. By forcing us to slow down, we really got to focus on what it means for the whole body to be engaged.

I will admit that I don't think I quite grasped it as a whole; I think I was still moving too fast, but I was mostly laying down on the hard ground on my hip. Which, right after hip surgery, made things pretty difficult. So I moved as slowly as I could, but I bet I could move slower now.