Extremities by William Mastrosimone

This play was so weird and crazy. Marjorie is in her apartment when a man breaks in with the intent to rape her. Instead, she ties him up and traps him in her fireplace. Her roommates come home and find them. They all have different opinions on what they should do with him. One wants to call the police but the other believes that nothing will happen to him because he did not actually commit rape. He has been stalking them and makes them turn against each other throughout the play.

There are few good monologues and scenes between the girls when they are fighting with each other.

Class 11/24

Read New Monologues

• Larissa- Anne of a Thousand Days (Anne Boleyn)
• Interesting language
• Troubles/issues
• Fight against getting mad
• Slow between loud/mad and soft/restrained
• Matt- The Gym Teacher (Mr. Orlando)
• Not a teacher, just a regular guy
• Throw medicine balls
• Funny and offensive
• Voice of authority
• Smart

Amy (And Turning, Stay- monologue)

• First read- 9/15
• First performance- 10/1
• Deeper register, not breathy 
• She's had it with him
• No huffing
• Watch the rocking back and forth
• Separate words more to add emphasis (anger, hurt)- "God. knows..."
• Move with gut/heart
• No fake movements, be sure
• Second performance- 11/10
• Forgot lines, but recovered
• Still huffing
• Purpose
• Think about character traits, physicalities

The Woolgatherer by William Mastrosimone

This play only consists of two characters- Rose, a quirky, crazy lonely women, and Cliff, a crude truck driver. They supposedly meet at the convenience store where Rose works when Cliff's truck breaks down. She brings him back to her sad little place where they have odd conversations. This is the only setting in the play- Rose's little room. It's obvious Cliff is trying to sleep with her but she's oblivious and just wants to talk. He makes jokes about everything and she doesn't share his sense of humor. He leaves and comes back some time later because he missed her. She missed him too. They reconcile and end up talking about driving cross country together.

The whole play is full of great two-person scenes because there are only two characters. We chose the first part of the first scene because it's interesting to see how they first interact. There is one monologue by Rose that really stuck out to me. It's about when she saw these boys murder birds at the zoo and was very upset about it. It's a very emotional piece.

Class 11/19

Scenes

• Nate & Summer- A Lie of the Mind
• Nate- a lot better with working with her and emotional/facial expressions
• Summer- good gibberish! Way better
• Good pauses/take time for movements
• Summer needs to give in to Nate- let him control her body
• Jessica & Kaitlyn- The Odd Couple
• Jessica- needs to work on expressions (always smiling!!)
• Kaitlyn- react more to neck pain
• Hypocondriac- believes she's really hurt
• Know characters better
• Jacob & Tabatha- 
• Lots of improvement on expressions/deliver
• Tabatha- act like you're talking (announcing) to someone
• Act/developing through scene
• Make characters unique
• Jacob & Jesse- Zoo Story
• Jesse- acting like himself, not a character
• Jacob's character is pretty good/developed
• Some parts, not others
• Everything he says is very calculated
• Jesse has good uncomfortable movements
• Jacob- find something that makes him different
• Naz & Martha- Five Women Wearing the Same Dress
• Good job taking notes from last time
• Really good physicalizations
• And characters
• Martha- good job reacting to the lifeguard's death
• See pain from past
• That's why she is the way she is
• Look at same spot for out the window
• Naz- good monologue

Observation 10/1

Boy A: My sister turned into a mom. I was afraid this would happen. She just stopped being fun. She always texts me like "bring a jacket."
Boy B: That's a bummer, dude.

I had to write this down because it was so funny. I imagine this is exactly how my little brothers think of me. I baby them so much and I can see them talking like this with their friends.

This would be fun to make into an exercise. Think of a person you know really well and then think of them as a different role in your life. Like you mom being your best friend. Or your sibling being your teacher. Or etc.

Class 11/17

Monologues

• Jesse
• Intense
• Seems like he didn't remember his exact lines, like he was making them up as he went
• But good natural vibe
• Good funny parts (not too played out)
• Lots of "um"s, "you know"s

Scenes

• Erin & Autumn- Stop Kiss
• Good attitudes toward each other
• Good characterization
• Find how your character moves different than you do
• Work on diction
• Anna & Lizette- Uncommon Woman
• Good reaction at beginning
• Anna uses same voice throughout whole thing
• Lizette has good body movements
• Cute song Anna sings to Lizette
• Itzel & Rodrigo- Barefoot in the Park
• Good funny parts, emotions
• Read magazine during fight?
• Perfect anger and cluelessness
• Break character?
• But don't act passionate/chemistry of being married
• Turned back to audience
• Larissa & Carter
• Soooooo good
• Little scary but cute
• Hits need to be more realistic
• Carter needs to be more touchy?
• Passion! Kiss?
• Talking about neck- good
• Carter needs to be bigger (fill room)

Class 11/12

Scenes

• Alexis & Ryan- 
• Good changes with movements
• Fully memorized!
• So comfortable around each other
• Awkward when she's lying on him- just an awkward position in general
•  Great movement around stage
• Grab in anger- work on showing that anger
• Good at happy and sexual, but work on anger
• Matha & Naz- Five Women Wearing the Same Dress
• Martha- good bored lok
• Naz- react to her lifting dress
• Chemistry is better, but not all the way there
• Martha's facial expressions don't always fit
• Naz's movements and hand motions are great
• Good character development for both
• But not really BFFs
• React to lifeguard dying?
• Dress to fit part (dresses)
• Monica & Scarlett- A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking
• Soooo much better
• Monica's expressions are so good
• Scarlett needs to feel her character more
• Don't buy it as much as I want to
• Better toward the end
• So amazing at the end
• Be condescending?
• Diana & Siena- Stop Kiss
• Siena's expressions are so good (even when Diana messed up)
• And good hand movements
• React to "sleep with me" line
• Amazing tension
• Pretend to be asleep and roll over on her

Monologues

• Autumn-  Paper Moon
•  Still need to react to injury
• Kind of robotic movements
• Switches to anger real fast
• Sexuality? - be sexy (not detached)
• Nice light accent
• Itzel
• Huge improvement
• Amazing pauses, looking around
• Really like a lecturer/professor
• Hand at side is moving weird
• See behind tough woman?

Class 11/10

Monologues (3rd time)

• Summer- Grey's Anatomy
• Sighing/huffing
• Good monologues and voice changes
• Scarlett- Crimes of the Heart
• Moving back and forth
• Too casual?
• Ending was cheesy
• Matt- The Laramie Project
• Character is a lot like his personality
• Good pauses/timing
• Too factual, not as much emotion as expected
• Voice raises are good- what is important
• Nate- Breakfast Club
• Smiling to serious real fast
• Really good meaningful pauses
• INTENSE
• Larissa-  Summer and Smoke
•  Head movements- okay?
• Amazing facial expressions
• Liza-  Enigma
• Good pauses
• Lizette- Hairdresser
• Amazing dramatic pauses with movements
• Good job not trying to make the funny parts funny
• Martha- Passion Type
• Deadpan beginning
• Anger in middle, sweet at end
• Kaitlyn- Aida
• Good excitement
• Good hand motions in second half
• Carter- Hurricane Season
•  The voice- literally changes into a basketball coach
• Voice of authority
• Good looking around like talking to team
• Jacob- Mad Men
• Good- hands in pockets
• Good voice type (not Jacob voice)
• Steps forward are motivated
• Still needs to talk like he doesn't get a chance to talk this much
• Maddie- New Girl
•  Same voice
• Weird movements
• Anna- Curse of the Pharaoh's Kiss
• Change up voice for listing things
•  Good job showing that she's off in her own mind
• Erin- The Greatest Play Ever Written
• Forgetting lines or pausing/huffing on purpose?
• Way to come out strong
• Naz- This is Our Youth
• Natural arm movements, stuttering
• Good- gets faster as it goes on 
• Ryan- Star Spangled Girl
• Good emotion right away
• Alexis- Time Stands Still
• Facial Expressions on point
• Playing with sweater is good
• Amazing voice switch ups
• Siena- The Blair Witch Project
• Shifting in seat
• Not too believable facial expressions
• Rodrigo- The Walking Dead
•  Good cockiness
• Shifting feet still
• Good chuckling
• Jessica- Colorado 
• Eccentric, crazy movements
• So good

"Into the Woods" Critique

Class 11/5

Scenes

• Diana & Siena- Stop Kiss (end of scene 7)
• Awesome nervous energy
• Awkwardness more as beginning too
• Decide when you're going to take a shot
• Siena- telling herself she is crazy, doesn't want to get rejected
• "lucky"- me or the cat?
• Little choices make it good
• Carter & Larissa- Fool for Love
• SO EMOTIONAL
• Carter- try to look bigger than the room
• Good personalities/emotions
• They've been through this before
• Walk away when you don't want to hear what she's saying
• Make her passionate (hit or kiss)
• Rocking back and forth?
• Get rough with her and swing at him
• Wanted her to beg and now she is
• All the torture people can do, they have done to each other
• Knows the physical stuff (familiar), not so much the emotional

8 Acting Techniques

http://www.backstage.com/advice-for-actors/resources/8-acting-techniques-and-stars-who-swear-them/

Class 11/3

Scenes

• Kat & Matt- The Glass Menagerie 
• So much tension before they even spoke!
• Matt- give yourself an action to do before speaking
• Ritual, reason to sit down
• Change in Mom when she crosses style
• Know objective/s
• Touch him like your child
• Good- getting ready while talking, trying to leave
• Jacob & Jesse- Zoo Story
• Jesse- don't do it just for the laughs (even if it is funny)
• Jacob- don't be faking, be annoyed
• Jesse- make him uncomfortable
• Both of you- react
• Jacob- turn red, like someone's junk touching you on the trolley
• Jesse get in Jacob's face
• Jesse- head nod but he ignores you
• First say like you know he can hear you (calm)
• Then be the annoying older brother ("I'm not touching you")
• Autumn & Erin- Stop Kiss (Scene 11)
• Set the scene before
• Autumn- wants to get dry and doesn't want to go out
• Erin- annoyed but further- time isn't valued, doesn't matter to her (hurt and mad)
• Erin- look out window waiting for her, kind of clean up (but not), anxious
• Erin trying to leave while Autumn is taking off her coat to stay
• Erin- attitude
• Tabatha & Jacob- 
• She's in her own world and doesn't listen to anyone
• Her world is alive and animated
• He's trying to make her grow up and protect her from their dad
• He doesn't actually believe in her world
• Don't let her do crazy stuff while the dad's around
• "Little hummingbird woman"
• Don't wait for him to talk (no pauses)
• Mico & Liza- The Good People
• Liza- good story telling, taking over the conversation
• It isn't going where he wants it to
• Grab him, hug him, kiss him
• He wants the power but she took it
• She needs to make him feel like a little boy with no power
• He sets up the room just as he wants it/pictures it
• So good