Class 9/29

Monologues

• Kaitlyn
• Need attitude (defiant)
• Sell it- like you've been offended
• Lower register
• Physical changes- tough princess stance
• Maddie- New Girl (Jess)
• Physical shift (shoulders)
• Good pacing
• Mouth is too far ahead of her brain
• Naz- This is Our Youth (Jessica)
• Really good voice change
• Need to use whole body!
• Add nervousness from character
• Transformation of emotions
• Covering herself up physically
• Autumn- Paper Moon (Trixie)
• Talking to a kid- squat down
• Change stumble to getting up
• Good transitions
• Don't forget about injury
• Be sure of yourself, confident
• Have fun with the sexy- that's the character

Other

• Characters are led by a certain part of their body based on their personality/mindset
• Head
• Heart
• Groin

Observation 9/28

Girl A: ...didn't come home last night. Alex was worried so he call 911.
Girl B: For what? You didn't tell him?
A: No, I didn't know what to tell him. He had to go to his test anyway.
B: Well, he's probably really paranoid. You should tell him.
A: He asked me if I told everyone to not go home. But Marie is out of town for the week anyway.

I just thought this was an interesting conversation because these two girls came into my office and I have no idea what they were talking about and I couldn't figure it out. But it gave me an insight into what girls gossiping sounds like from the outside. They sounded like very typical valley girls.

If I had to make up what they were talking about, I would make it super dramatic like a girl was kidnapped and her boyfriend calls the cops. But it turns out that she was kidnapped by her secret lover and she was really running away with him and leaving her boyfriend.

Trifles by Susan Glaspell

This play revolves around the premise of a murder mystery. Mr. Wright was killed and Peters is trying to find out who the killer is. Everyone thinks it's his wife at first, but they don't have evidence. The men trying to solve the case tell the women (their wives) not to worry about it and that they should be thinking about nicer (less important) things. The women are upstairs and find a bird that was killed the same way Mr. Wright was, which is evidence to support the wife as the murderer. The women hide it because the men don't take them seriously. This play shows how women were oppressed back in this time; they were not taken seriously by men at all.

There are a few scenes between the women that are interesting, but taken out of context, I don't know how they would be.

Class 9/24

More First-Time Monologues

• Siena- Blair Witch Project (Heather)
• Fake crying voice
• Sitting on edge of seat
• Show emotions physically
• Syncopation puts people to sleep
• Alexis- Time Stands Still (Mandy)
• Great body movements (really created the character)
• Character takes over
• Good awkward pauses
• Ryan- Star Spangled Girl (Andy)
• Nice clear voice
• Create character or be your persona
• Underlying anger
• Scarlett- Crimes of the Heart (Meg)
• How to begin
• Use diff lines that you think have same emotions (to get the hang of it)
• Good vocal range
• Jacob- Mad Men (Leonard)
• Good fluid motions
• No huffing (not natural sounding)
• No character history- make it up?
• Everything starts closing in
• Speaking freely for the first time
• Burst of anger
• Layers of notes (emotions, movements, richer character)
• Erin- The Greatest Play Ever Written
• Emphasize fig newtons

Other Notes

• Auditioners want you to be the solution- so act like the solution to their problem
• KNOW your character and all the words/phrases they say
• Pause in between lines instead of before

Class 9/22

• Do as many auditions as you can!
• Reels
• Can be just Youtube scenes, but not very professional (or if you have nothing else)
• Be just you (if scenes, only focus on you)
• 3 minutes is good
• Diversify- drama, singing, comedy scene
• Character analysis- about whole character
• Find all facts, read entire play
• If from a show, watch the whole episode (or season if you can)
• Character journal- what is going on in life

First-Time Monologue Performances

• Larissa- Summer and Smoke (Alma)
• Repressed emotions (anger, love)
• Something holding her back (physically and emotionally)
• Trying to get out of hugs
• Nate- Breakfast Club (Andy)
• Trying to sound macho
• Don't play the end character (because you know where it goes), play the current one (pretend you don't know where you're going)
• Pick one moment when you become vulnerable
• Ugly energy that he puts on at school
• Matt- The Laramie Project (Jedidiah)
• Good awkward energy
• Sitting down (what you feel is right)
• Needed pauses
• Itzel- The Mirror Has Two Faces (Rose Morgan)
• Good movements and expressions
• Don't wander
• Know where the joke is
•  Summer- Grey's Anatomy (Meredith Grey)
•  Good body movements
• Attitude
• Don't try to play actual character, play her your way
• Carter- Hurricane Season (Coach)
• Good voice (creates character)
• Don't shuffle, move forward if you're going to move
• Good gestures
• Good change of voice quality

Introduction to Acting

http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/spd130et/acting.htm

A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen

This play was kind of a revolution of sorts for women's rights. It's about Nora and her husband Torvald. Their marriage is typical of the 19th century, where Torvald works at the bank to make the money and Nora stays home as a housewife. Torvald was sick and they had to travel but didn't have a lot of money so Nora borrowed from one of the bank employees but told her husband it was from her father. This is a scandal because women weren't allowed to sign their name on loans or deeds or anything without their husband's approval. The employee she borrowed from gets fired and threatens to tell Torvald about their deal. Nora distracts her husband by being silly and girly. And that's all that Torvald sees her as anyway. In the end, she leaves her husband, saying she needs to work on herself because she can't be a wife or mother without knowing herself. This was such a big thing in those days because divorce was unheard of.

There are a few good monologues from Nora that I could cut together to make long enough.

Class 9/15

• Should have 12-20 monologues in your pocket after you graduate- can perform anywhere any time
• Can splice/dice monologues if needed (except Shakespeare)
• Don't require any dialogue from others 
• Do a piece for what you look like- ethnicity, age, gender, etc.
• Can be a memory, a rant, a monologue, a prayer....

Reading Monologues

• Autumn- Paper Moons
• kiddo, cosmetics, bone structure
• really good
• Nate- Breakfast Club
• dad/beat up kid
• really good
• used to be overdone when movie first came out but not anymore
• Naz- This Is Our Youth
• easy, liar, new friends
• Siena- The Blair Witch Project
• emotional
• Kaitlyn- Aida
• princess, pharaoh, sailing
• Erin- Greatest Play Ever Written
• fig newtons, sums up marriage
• Jacob- Mad Men
• metaphor in the fridge, family
• Liza- Enigma
• didn't want to love you, heart in your pocket 
• good, emotional
• Larissa- Summer and Smoke
•  love as kids, questions
• good soft accent
• Scarlett- Crimes of The Heart
• good morning, run away with him
• Ryan- Star Spangled Girl
• born 150 years too late
• Jessica- Laughing Wild
• life, people, tuna fish can
• overdone, pick another
• Maddie- New Girl
• Jess to Nick's uptight girlfriend
• Monica- Overruled
• dinner, husbands
• Matt- The Laramie Project
• need a scene, parents come to everything, homosexual
• Rodrigo- Walking Dead
• your way, fight
• Carter- Hurricane Season
• basketball playbook, coach to players
• Mico- Good Will Hunting
• art, Michelangelo, you wouldn't know, cancer
• Me- And Turning, Stay 

It's important to read monologues first to know if it's a good fit for you and what you're aiming for.

Observation 9/12

I saw a girl waiting outside Yogurtland for 15 minutes. She was just sitting at a table and looking around, people watching, and checking her phone periodically. Then a guy walks up like "Sup, babe. Sorry I'm late" and she replies "It's okay, I just got here like a minute ago." And they walked into Yogurtland.

This just represented all girls to me. When I saw her lie to him about not waiting 15 minutes for him, I realized a lot of people do this. They lie like this to make people (maybe themselves) to feel better. Or they just don't want to start a fight over a little thing that should mean a lot more. People's time is valuable and if they're choosing to spend it with you and you aren't there, that's sad.

This was just an interesting observation of human (female) behavior.

And Turning, Stay by Kellie Powell

I read this play mostly for my character research of Amy for my first monologue. But it was very interesting and modern. The whole play is very short and mainly consists of the tumultuous relationship between Amy and Mark. I really think that Amy is overreacting to a small thing that Mark did. They danced together once and Amy thinks they're boyfriend and girlfriend all of the sudden. And they have a big group of friends that all chime in on their situation. The girls all seem to be on Amy's side and the guys on Mark's. Anyway, at the end they all relate this poem they read in class to the situation and I guess everything's okay.

I really liked the Amy monologue I did about telling Mark to man up and do something if he likes her. It's full of anger and passion and I love it. That's really the only monologue in the play.

Class 9/10

Machine: make a machine as a group that moves and makes sounds- but no talking to each other (sat out because of injury)

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Played Buffy game (like Mafia)

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Class 9/8

• Proactive listener brings attention back to the speaker (Marlon Brando)
• Learn that:
• 25% of people watching you will hate you (maybe even before you do anything)
• 25% will love you
• 25% are indifferent/apathetic
• Other 25% come in with an open mind- do your performance for them

Class Intros (part 2):

• Jacob- writes and performs own music (in a band)
• Anna- journalist, radio host
• Maddie- filmmaker, Youtuber
• Jessica- youngest of 8 kids, oldest is 44
• Summer- lots of different ethnicities (African, Middle Eastern, etc.), switching to nursing major
• Erin- switched from Comm. to Music to Theatre
• Alexis- compulsively steals lighters from parties, learning ASL
• Tabatha- just watched Harry Potter for the first time
• Larissa- OCD, accidentally went to Blacks Beach for first date, draws
• Itzel- filmmaker
• Siena
• Liza- works at KPBS
• Diana- pot head, nudist, steals from restaurants

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tenessee Williams

I've heard about this play a lot before but had never read it. It was surprisingly good and even relatable even though it was written 60 years ago. This crazy lady Blanche goes to visit her sister Stella and Stella's husband Stanley. At first, she seems normal. She acts innocent and perfect, and is appalled by how her sister lives (working class). Blanche and Stan do not hit it off at all and are suspicious of each other. Blanche falls for Stanley's friend Mitch and they date before he finds out she lied about everything- her age, why she came to visit (she got fired and ousted from her town), her alcoholism, how she used to be a prostitute, among other things. Stella is pregnant and has her first baby, and while she's in the hospital, Stan comes home and rapes Blanche (or so it's insinuated). Blanche goes crazy and thinks a millionaire is coming to pick her up but a doctor from a mental hospital picks her up instead.

There is one monologue of interest- Blanche talking to Mitch about her old lover that killed himself because he cheated and she caught him.

Class 9/3

To clear your mind and get into character:

• Lie on left side
• Close eyes and picture your favorite color filling up the space
• Then imagine yourself floating up in a bubble away from everything
• Imagine your favorite song filling up the bubble- getting louder and fuller as you float down
• Imagine your bubble going back down to Earth and setting you down in your fetal position
• Then think about your character in that position- become your character and slowly sit up as your character (physically and mentally)

When figuring out a character:

• Come up with your story first
• "Beat up" script
• Write down your first thourhgs- mark it up good
• Relate yourself to the character

A page I found about "beats":

http://www.screenwriter-to-screenwriter.com/2009/06/what-technically-is-a-beat-in-a-screenplay/

Class Intros:

• Nate- always happy and smiling
• Martha- passionate
• Kaitlyn- talks a lot
• Lizette- Youtuber (more outgoing)
• Miko- Dsney lover, president of improv club
• Carter- loves old music (jazz), and makes own music
• Kat- make-up lover, former Youtuber
• Rodrigo- cross country and football
• Monica
• Scarlett- sleep talker/screamer
• Nazanine (Naz)- wants to be a lawyer, Middle Eastern parents (Iran)
• Matt- Dodgers fan from birth, has a twin brother
• Jesse
• Ryan 
• Autumn- lifeguard

Oedipus the King by Sophocles

This was an overall deeply disturbing play. Oedipus is trying to solve the mystery of who killed the former King. In the end, it turns out it was him and the King was his father and the Queen (his wife) is his mother. There was a prophecy that the King and Queen's son would kill his father and marry his mother and it came true. They thought they had solved the problem when they sent their son off to be killed, but he was really just adopted. So now flash forward and Oedipus really did kill his father and marry (and have kids with) his mother. But they don't know that he is their son until the very end. The whole play is about Oedipus trying to find the King's killer and failing to see the truth. In the end, they figure it out and his mother kills herself and Oedipus gouges out his eyes.

There really aren't any monologues for women in this.

Class 9/1

Warm-Ups

• Massage jaw, temple, eyebrows, under eyes (inward, not outward)

Monologues

• Use your body as your character would
• No huffing/sighing- sounds like you forget lines
• Be convincing
• Use your whole voice
• Don't use random gestures (even as physical connection to your character)
• Don't do monologues that are overdone
• Think about who you're talking to in the monologue instead of to a room of people (movement will become more natural)
• Don't lock people's eyes (look over heads)
• Can cut up monologues (except Shakespeare)
• Be comfortable with silence/pauses
• Turn nervous energy into the character
• Connect the top of your body to the bottom
• Pauses for laughter
• Mugging (getting the audience to laugh on purpose) vs. deadpan (funny, but the character doesn't realize it)
• From the beginning, make it seem like it's already the middle of the scene/dialogue
• Connect voice quality to natural gestures
• When listing things, make them sound different (variety)
• Picture what you're talking about

 Reflection