Facial expressions
-This will be hieghtened in Harry's Christmas as because I am not moving around the stage as much the spotlight will focus the audiences attention on the facial expressions and make the slightest move very significant.
Exaggerated gestures
- This will be shown in Harry's Christmas because of the Berkoff influences of suing an animal. Because my animal is a turtle I will be using my arms in a more outstretched way than usual
- This will be shown in A Midsummer Nights Dream because these gestures will be used to help the audience understand the shakespearian language that I am saying and the situation that has this happening.
Emotive characters
-This will be shown in Harry's Christmas because Harry is very emotional when he is dying I am showing this by crying on stage this builds the actor audience relationship as this will create a sense of catharsis with the audience.
- This is shown in Closer as Larry becomes very angry with Anna and then breaks down and tells her he loves her. This emotional pitch will be reached by using Stanislavski's technique of emotion memory.
Bringing historical to a contemporary audience
- This is shown in the character of Puck and his 'jack-the-lad' qualities instantly recognising the class and the stereotype assosiated with this type of character. The gestures and empahasis on certain words or phrases will help me perform this.
Accents
- This is shown in Closer through Larry's londoner accent this allows me to build upon the cockney accent used in Saved but relate to a more specific class group
Working with props
- Harry's Christmas will emphasise the props used as when I am using them I will be using a Berkoff gesture to show how important each of these props are to his life.
- A Midsummer Nights dream shows this with either a broom or a travelling bag states the class and time of the piece (along with costume) straight away so an audience can recognise what is happening and then concentrate on what Puck is saying.
Puck's soliloquy is took short to be able to perform in 5 minutes so I have added to it the monologue before hand when he enters the scene. These two monologues flow together well and create a sense of story.
Friday, 6 May 2011
Monologue research - Midsummer Nights Dream (cultural, rehearsal and how I am playing the character)
A Midsummer Nights dream was written as a comedy for Shakespeare's time meaning that some references are now out dated. Get the obvious comedy is still in place (such as when Bottom turns into an ass). The language is also very different but much as the Rivals and Richard III understanding the play will enable me to perform it so that an audience will understand the play more easily.
The play itself is set in Athens this is far away from the audience of Shakespeare as these would be english persons, setting this play in a far off land lets the audience believe the story as they could not believe it for themselves. Now we are in modern day and are able to travel to Athens easily this setting looses is belief slightly and this is what makes Puck's soliloquy most important as it reminds the audience that the play is not real but a dream. The plays time is set when there is a lot of political changeover and this is reflected within the lovers as change between the power couple frequently.
During rehersal using a prop of a broom or a travelling bag on stick sets Puck in context of being a servant not a high class of fairy.
From my feedback this really helped the audience identify with the character straight away which is what needs to happen from the monologue so that they will understand that Puck is talking to them and not introducing his character.
From the research I am going to play Puck with light footing so when I travel the stage I am very light as quick on my feet. I will also be in a reflective tone throughout the solioquy as Puck is reflecting on the whole play. I will be using gestures and body language greatly throughout to show the understanding of the piece.
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Monologue research - Midsummer Nights Dream (first thoughts, understanding the monologue)
'Puck is a clever and mischievous elf and personifies the trickster or the wise knave.'
This is the description of Puck shown in the he is a more lighthearted, mischievous character. Throughout the play Puck is the only character to address the audience directly showing that the audience-actor relationship between this character is strong. Puck is the servant to Oberon and confused the story of the 'the lovers' by using the infatuation flower under order of Oberon. Puck is also very famous for his line 'o lord what fools these mortals be'.
Because of this research I am going to play Puck as a 'jack-the-lad' type character that is light hearted and warmed by the audience.
To help me understand the soliloquy I took apart the Shakespearian language and tried to make into something I could understand, therefore allowing me to add gestures that my audience would understand.
'If we shadows have offended'
- This is referring to the actors in the play suggesting that they may have offended the audience
'Think but this (and all is mended) That you have but slumber'd here, while these visions did appear'
- This is suggesting to the audience merely think that they were asleep during the play and that the actors were just figments of there imagination
'And this weak and idle theme, no more yielding but a dream'
- That the themes with in the play be less important and that the worrying they felt can go away and imagine that the play was just a dream.
'Gentles, do not reprehend'
- Gentles is referring to the audience members again, often in Shakespeare's time the upper classes sat on seats in the global not addressed to the commoners standing on the floor.
'If you pardon, we will mend. And as I am an honest Puck, if we have unearned luck'
- If the audience thinks this then then Puck and the audience can forget the themes in the play and bring back the actor-audience relationship. Puck is referring to the fact that throughout what he has done in the play, Puck has still been honest and he has been lucky in what he has done.
'Now to scape the serpent's tongue, we will make amends ere long:'
-To scape the serpent's tongue is to avoid what the audience may say about the play, then Puck tries to reinforce that he tried to make amends by saying it was just a dream.
'Else the Puck a liar call'
- This is talking about if the audience then retaliate and call him a liar or think he is a liar from the actions he had performed in the play.
'So good night unto you all. Give me your hands, if we be friends, and Robin shall restore and amends'
- Puck closes the show and asks the audience to believe what he has just said and that he will make it better. Robin refers to 'Robin Goodfellow' which is another name for the same character as Puck therefore he is talking about himself.
This is the description of Puck shown in the he is a more lighthearted, mischievous character. Throughout the play Puck is the only character to address the audience directly showing that the audience-actor relationship between this character is strong. Puck is the servant to Oberon and confused the story of the 'the lovers' by using the infatuation flower under order of Oberon. Puck is also very famous for his line 'o lord what fools these mortals be'.
Because of this research I am going to play Puck as a 'jack-the-lad' type character that is light hearted and warmed by the audience.
To help me understand the soliloquy I took apart the Shakespearian language and tried to make into something I could understand, therefore allowing me to add gestures that my audience would understand.
'If we shadows have offended'
- This is referring to the actors in the play suggesting that they may have offended the audience
'Think but this (and all is mended) That you have but slumber'd here, while these visions did appear'
- This is suggesting to the audience merely think that they were asleep during the play and that the actors were just figments of there imagination
'And this weak and idle theme, no more yielding but a dream'
- That the themes with in the play be less important and that the worrying they felt can go away and imagine that the play was just a dream.
'Gentles, do not reprehend'
- Gentles is referring to the audience members again, often in Shakespeare's time the upper classes sat on seats in the global not addressed to the commoners standing on the floor.
'If you pardon, we will mend. And as I am an honest Puck, if we have unearned luck'
- If the audience thinks this then then Puck and the audience can forget the themes in the play and bring back the actor-audience relationship. Puck is referring to the fact that throughout what he has done in the play, Puck has still been honest and he has been lucky in what he has done.
'Now to scape the serpent's tongue, we will make amends ere long:'
-To scape the serpent's tongue is to avoid what the audience may say about the play, then Puck tries to reinforce that he tried to make amends by saying it was just a dream.
'Else the Puck a liar call'
- This is talking about if the audience then retaliate and call him a liar or think he is a liar from the actions he had performed in the play.
'So good night unto you all. Give me your hands, if we be friends, and Robin shall restore and amends'
- Puck closes the show and asks the audience to believe what he has just said and that he will make it better. Robin refers to 'Robin Goodfellow' which is another name for the same character as Puck therefore he is talking about himself.
Monologue research - Harry's Christmas (rehearsal)
I have decided that when ever I am taking a depressive turn I will sink down to the floor by the chair so as if you can see clearly that my life is getting more depressed, yet staying up for when Harry dies so that he dies in his chair, as though he could be sleeping. This is what makes the death more relatable because it looks so peaceful.
This has proven to be effective as feedback shows that this movement really helped relate the piece to the audience.
This has proven to be effective as feedback shows that this movement really helped relate the piece to the audience.
Monolgue research - Harry's Christmas (cultural, props)
I have come to believe that Harry is suffering from Bi-polar / manic depression. So i felt to set this into soical and cultural context I should find out the symptoms of how to spot someone who is a manic depressive and include this in my monologue.
Harry is always in a state of depression throughout the play as I believe he has been for several months, the interview with how this woman was going to commit suicide I will be using some of her personal experience in my monologue such as;
crying
written a suicide note. (inside the box)
From the signs and symptoms of depression I am heightening;
lack of interest in any activity (this is why he is always in his chair)
fatigue or loss of energy (every move I make must be a big struggle)
The other symptoms are expressed already through Berkoff's writing and the behaviour of Harry.
The play is written without a time yet was first performed in 1985. I am performing my monologue in modern day as this will be more relatable to a contemporary audience.
Most other Berkoff plays the props and set are imaginary such as in the Trial and Decadence, yet for this monologue I feel it wouldn't work without the props as I will be using my exaggerated turtle like gestures when using the props so that when without them the audience still feels a sense of catharsis for when Harry dies.
6 Christmas cards as this is how many Harry has at the beginning of the whole play and I want the monologue to stay within context. I will be drawing these out at the beginning to emphasise how many cards Harry has.
Telephone as this is what Harry uses to call Clara and his mother on.
Shoe box containing. christmas cards, pills, suicide note I will be reading the suicide note whilst on the phone to Ma to show reference that the note is for her. The pills are what I will be using when taking them to over-dose Harry. I will be shacking them out sharply as regretful for taking them.
Beer this shows how old the character is and what drink he has to 'how about a drop to wash it down with' the mixture of alcohol and drugs also heightens the chance of death
Harry is always in a state of depression throughout the play as I believe he has been for several months, the interview with how this woman was going to commit suicide I will be using some of her personal experience in my monologue such as;
crying
written a suicide note. (inside the box)
From the signs and symptoms of depression I am heightening;
lack of interest in any activity (this is why he is always in his chair)
fatigue or loss of energy (every move I make must be a big struggle)
The other symptoms are expressed already through Berkoff's writing and the behaviour of Harry.
The play is written without a time yet was first performed in 1985. I am performing my monologue in modern day as this will be more relatable to a contemporary audience.
Most other Berkoff plays the props and set are imaginary such as in the Trial and Decadence, yet for this monologue I feel it wouldn't work without the props as I will be using my exaggerated turtle like gestures when using the props so that when without them the audience still feels a sense of catharsis for when Harry dies.
6 Christmas cards as this is how many Harry has at the beginning of the whole play and I want the monologue to stay within context. I will be drawing these out at the beginning to emphasise how many cards Harry has.
Telephone as this is what Harry uses to call Clara and his mother on.
Shoe box containing. christmas cards, pills, suicide note I will be reading the suicide note whilst on the phone to Ma to show reference that the note is for her. The pills are what I will be using when taking them to over-dose Harry. I will be shacking them out sharply as regretful for taking them.
Beer this shows how old the character is and what drink he has to 'how about a drop to wash it down with' the mixture of alcohol and drugs also heightens the chance of death
Monolgue research - Harry's Christmas (first thoughts, Berkoff's techniques)
As apposed to Closer there is little research to be found on the internet for Harry's Christmas so I had to find the research from the play itself and my drama teacher.
After reading the whole play I have come to the conclusion that Harry is a manic depressive and He is desperately in love with Clara yet something has happened that has made him not able to ring her, this being the break-up with Clara. Harry is 40 and although he loves his mother he doesn't want to see her as he feels as though going to spend christmas with her is a embarrassing as Harry says 'a single man nearly 40 and still sees his mum' in disgust at a thought of ringing Clara.
Berkoff's techniques;
Giving the character an animal.
The use of an animal extension lets an actor be able to move like that animal.
I have decided to give Harry the animal of a turtle.
A turtle is suiting for Harry as he does not necessarily move very fast yet uses over exaggerated arm movements (such as when displaying the cards). Also I am going to be using the chair as a turtles shell and never leave this shell as I feel as though this is protection to Harry. Harry speaks in ebs and flows much like the turtles walk.
Duologue research - Closer (rehearsal)
We decided from our rehearsal that Larry would always be in control and the person with the more power this is why Anna would never leave the sofa until she confesses to Larry what she has done with Dan and then leaves again when she is ready to fight back with Larry.
This proved to be very effective in our rehearsal as it meant that Larry would never sit on the chaise-lounge affording me as an actor to use more of the space and fill the open plan living.
This proved to be very effective in our rehearsal as it meant that Larry would never sit on the chaise-lounge affording me as an actor to use more of the space and fill the open plan living.
Duologue research - Closer (cultural, costume)
The play is set within the 1900's making the play quite modern. We were not in a recession at this point in time therefore disposable income was more readily available to spend on fancy houses and nice furniture. Closer was released 1997 when Sarah Kane - Blasted (1994) and Anthony Neilson - Penetrator (1993) were in their hay-day making Closer seem far more tame than most plays yet it was the most drastic romance play to come out since the restoration sex comedies in the 20th century and the ruthless sexual comedies of 17th century.
'Closer fulfils the promise of a cultural critique that is given in the title of Mark Ravenhill’s Shopping and Fucking (1996), a promise never really made good in that much inferior play.'
- Peter Paul Schnierer
For my costume I am going to be wearing a suit to begin with as this shows that he has just returned from a business trip, and shows that he is rich enough to afford a suit
When coming back on for my second scene I will be just wearing a shirt and trousers as this shows that I'm about to have a shower much like is said in the previous scene
For the final scene I will be wearing a shirt jeans and a jumper, this shows that he is always sort of at work and keeps up an appearance by wearing a shirt.
'Closer fulfils the promise of a cultural critique that is given in the title of Mark Ravenhill’s Shopping and Fucking (1996), a promise never really made good in that much inferior play.'
- Peter Paul Schnierer
For my costume I am going to be wearing a suit to begin with as this shows that he has just returned from a business trip, and shows that he is rich enough to afford a suit
When coming back on for my second scene I will be just wearing a shirt and trousers as this shows that I'm about to have a shower much like is said in the previous scene
For the final scene I will be wearing a shirt jeans and a jumper, this shows that he is always sort of at work and keeps up an appearance by wearing a shirt.
Duologue research - Closer (first thoughts & set)
The first thing I did when researching Closer was watch the film so I understood Larry's character;
Larry is a character that looks for sex and finds love, he gets his heart broken and resolves never to be hurt again. He is strong, self-assured, blunt but gets straight to the point. Larry doesn't like playing games as apposed to Dan's character. He has a sexual encounter with Alice but his true love is for Anna as he tries to win her back later on in the play.
Marber wrote Closer with very naturalistic characters to make them believable, relatable to an audience. Marber didn't write the Closer as a love story it is more better described as an adult story about love. Sex and relationships are a huge theme throughout and take place in every conversation.
After closely studying scene 6, the thing that takes away from the naturalism is the split staging and chopping and changing between Dan and Alice and Larry and Anna, because we are cutting this from our performance this makes the scene far more naturalistic. Therefore together me and Gemma decided to have naturalistic set. and play the performance with a forth wall.
Here is a draft of our set. As opposed to Patrick Marber's set we are using the whole stage as we are only performing Larry and Anna's section.
Chaise-longue and a throw. This is taken from Marber's original director of using a chaise-longue, we decided to add a throw as this makes the room more expensive, as Larry and Anna are a well off couple with high paying jobs.
Table. This is used so that when Larry brings in the gifts he puts them on there to give Anna the postcard. This is also used to display candles as Anna is a very arty person I feel she would have candles in their home.
Chest of drawers. The chest of drawers we've chosen to use is quite ornate and quirky again much like Anna it's placed beside the chaise-longue so when Anna hides the photo of Alice she does not have to move far away from the chaise-longue as we decided that Anna would never leave the chaise-longue until she starts to argue back with Larry.
Stairs. This was an idea taken from the film of Closer as this has been a great influence on our acting. I affords somewhere for Larry to go to get changed in the blackouts so that he doesn't just walk into the next room. The again gives the idea of elegance and an artistic feel to Anna's influence on the house as these aren't ordinary stairs they hardly lift off the floor and have no banister suggesting that if the relationship falls apart there is nothing to stop it. The stairs are also used to represent power within the play that when Larry is at the top of the stairs is says a cheeky remark to remind Anna that she's in her place 'don't you ever forget it'.
Bar. This was suggested because Larry and Anna are quite sociable people they host openings for gallery's they go to expensive restaurants we felt that drinking would be a big part of their life and felt a bar was appropriate into their home.
Photos. Anna is a photographer and much like the film she displays her work on the walls, we have tried to show this by having photos along the back of the wall.
The rug was originally in our drafts yet was taken out as the rug cheapened the feel of the room where as it would be more open plan. The rug also made the room feel more homely and secure which it isn't in this scene is it open and brutal.
All of the set is something Anna would have chosen for their home as Larry lets Anna walk all over him and this is reinforced by the set although we wouldn't think this of them when throughout the duologue Larry has the power over Anna.
Each piece of set is used throughout the duologue there is nothing there without reason.
Larry is a character that looks for sex and finds love, he gets his heart broken and resolves never to be hurt again. He is strong, self-assured, blunt but gets straight to the point. Larry doesn't like playing games as apposed to Dan's character. He has a sexual encounter with Alice but his true love is for Anna as he tries to win her back later on in the play.
Marber wrote Closer with very naturalistic characters to make them believable, relatable to an audience. Marber didn't write the Closer as a love story it is more better described as an adult story about love. Sex and relationships are a huge theme throughout and take place in every conversation.
After closely studying scene 6, the thing that takes away from the naturalism is the split staging and chopping and changing between Dan and Alice and Larry and Anna, because we are cutting this from our performance this makes the scene far more naturalistic. Therefore together me and Gemma decided to have naturalistic set. and play the performance with a forth wall.
Chaise-longue and a throw. This is taken from Marber's original director of using a chaise-longue, we decided to add a throw as this makes the room more expensive, as Larry and Anna are a well off couple with high paying jobs.
Table. This is used so that when Larry brings in the gifts he puts them on there to give Anna the postcard. This is also used to display candles as Anna is a very arty person I feel she would have candles in their home.
Chest of drawers. The chest of drawers we've chosen to use is quite ornate and quirky again much like Anna it's placed beside the chaise-longue so when Anna hides the photo of Alice she does not have to move far away from the chaise-longue as we decided that Anna would never leave the chaise-longue until she starts to argue back with Larry.
Stairs. This was an idea taken from the film of Closer as this has been a great influence on our acting. I affords somewhere for Larry to go to get changed in the blackouts so that he doesn't just walk into the next room. The again gives the idea of elegance and an artistic feel to Anna's influence on the house as these aren't ordinary stairs they hardly lift off the floor and have no banister suggesting that if the relationship falls apart there is nothing to stop it. The stairs are also used to represent power within the play that when Larry is at the top of the stairs is says a cheeky remark to remind Anna that she's in her place 'don't you ever forget it'.
Bar. This was suggested because Larry and Anna are quite sociable people they host openings for gallery's they go to expensive restaurants we felt that drinking would be a big part of their life and felt a bar was appropriate into their home.
Photos. Anna is a photographer and much like the film she displays her work on the walls, we have tried to show this by having photos along the back of the wall.
The rug was originally in our drafts yet was taken out as the rug cheapened the feel of the room where as it would be more open plan. The rug also made the room feel more homely and secure which it isn't in this scene is it open and brutal.
All of the set is something Anna would have chosen for their home as Larry lets Anna walk all over him and this is reinforced by the set although we wouldn't think this of them when throughout the duologue Larry has the power over Anna.
Each piece of set is used throughout the duologue there is nothing there without reason.
A Midsummer Nights Dream - William Shakespeare
This is my contrasting monologue to Harry's Christmas
Puck's soliloquy
Puck - Dominic Rose
Puck's soliloquy
Puck - Dominic Rose
Harry's Christmas - Steven Berkoff
This is the choice for my first monologue
End scene
Harry - Dominic Rose
End scene
Harry - Dominic Rose
Choosing appropriate material; Monolgues
For my monologues I wanted my examiner to feel that the examiner can see the full extend of my dramatic ability by selecting different contrasting monologues that used abilities from my existing repertoire.
Mark Ravenhill - Handbag (phil's speech)
Jim Cartwright - Road (skin lad's speech)
Paul Rudnick - I Hate Hamlet (andrew's speech)
Steven Berkoff - Decadence (restaurant scene)
Steven Berkoff - Harry's Christmas (ending scene)
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Nights Dream (puck's soliloquy)
Mark Ravenhill - Handbag
Mark Ravenhill's Handbag is famous as being a different spin on Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Ernest' using similar characters such as Prism. The monologue I was looking at was Phils speech from when he is living with the victorians and how be crys out for attention.
This scene shows In-yer-face theatre but almost shouting at the audience. It uses my strengths of emotive characters and also gives me the option to use my strength of accents because Handbag isn't set in a specific area.
I decided against choosing this piece for my monologue because after reading the examiners report I felt that this involved material which was not easily accessible to me as I could not relate to the emotion of loosing a child or being a drug addict.
Jim Cartwright - Road
Road is a play that I have previously done for my AS module yet the speech from Skin Lad was cut out. Road shows social realism through the 1980s and Skin Lads monologue shows an boy that is obsessed with fighting.
My teacher suggested that if I wanted to perform this monologue that I should research into Bronson starting Tom Hardy. This is based on a real story so I can look into the research Tom Hardy did to get into character for the role
This much like Handbag, this showcases my talent for In-yer-face theatre and expresses my strengths for acccents and emotive character, this monologue also lets me explore another strength of exaggerated gestures.
I decided against choosing this piece for my monologue because I don't feel that I would be able to do as much intense preparation for the role in the amount of time. Also I would need to shave off my hair which would result in me not being in character for my other two performances.
Paul Rudnick - I Hate Hamlet
I Hate Hamlet is comedic play that is set in america. The scene I was looking at was Andrew's speech from the end of the play after he has played Hamlet he is reflecting upon this.
This monologue lets me show all my strengths as in the script it says that 'Andrew is walking home in his costume' therefore he could have a sword letting me use props
I decided against choosing this piece for my monologue because I did not feel it would showcase the best of my ability as I feel I could have a monologue that would involve the audience far more wether this is a sense of catharsis or talking directly to them.
Steven Berkoff - Decadence
Having decided not to perform Decadence for my duologue I felt I should look further into this play for a monologue as I like berkoff's style and I felt I could portray the character of Steve well. I was looking particularly at the restaurant scene as I felt this encompassed Berkoff's style into one monologue.
This monologue showcases my strengths of facial expression, accent and exaggerated characters. I loved how this monologue was so far apart from any other.
I decided against choosing this piece for my monologue because this dose not relate so well to an audience as I would like. I also feel that the performance in the video is done almost to perfection and I don't feel that I could beat it. If I did attempt this monologue then I would simply be trying to reciprocate the style shown above and it would not be my own personal monologue.
Steven Berkoff - Harry's Christmas
My teacher suggested that I look at Harry's Christmas as I liked Berkoff's style yet this had a far more emotional side to his style and creates a great sense of Catharisis with the audience. I chose to look at the ending scene.
'It's Christmas day and Harry has still not seen anybody over christmas. He becomes more deprressed to the point at where he takes an over dose and dies'
This monologue showcases my strengths of;
Facial expressions
Exagerated gestures
Emotive characters
Working with props
Harry's disorder is what makes his character become far more Nitty Gritty much like Larry's character. Harry's disorder is something that can be relatable as everyone has mood swings.
I decided to choose this piece for my monologue because it showcases my strengths within a style as which I have experience from when working on Road (where we chose to take influence from Stephen Berkoff). This is also a monologue that creates a great sense of catharsis with an audience as this is something I was lacking with the other monologues.
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Nights Dream
A Midsummer Nights Dream is one of Shakespeare's most famous comedic plays. I was looking at the character puck and his last soliloquy.
'If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber'd here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
if you pardon, we will mend:
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call;
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends'
I decided to choose this piece for my monologue because it showcases my strengths it also has a connection to the audience which is what I wanted from my previous monologues. I am doing doing a monologue that is a challenge as I have performed shakespeare before this is simply improving on my abilities and showing the examiner what I can do.
Mark Ravenhill - Handbag (phil's speech)
Jim Cartwright - Road (skin lad's speech)
Paul Rudnick - I Hate Hamlet (andrew's speech)
Steven Berkoff - Decadence (restaurant scene)
Steven Berkoff - Harry's Christmas (ending scene)
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Nights Dream (puck's soliloquy)
Mark Ravenhill - Handbag
Mark Ravenhill's Handbag is famous as being a different spin on Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Ernest' using similar characters such as Prism. The monologue I was looking at was Phils speech from when he is living with the victorians and how be crys out for attention.This scene shows In-yer-face theatre but almost shouting at the audience. It uses my strengths of emotive characters and also gives me the option to use my strength of accents because Handbag isn't set in a specific area.
I decided against choosing this piece for my monologue because after reading the examiners report I felt that this involved material which was not easily accessible to me as I could not relate to the emotion of loosing a child or being a drug addict.
Jim Cartwright - Road
Road is a play that I have previously done for my AS module yet the speech from Skin Lad was cut out. Road shows social realism through the 1980s and Skin Lads monologue shows an boy that is obsessed with fighting.
My teacher suggested that if I wanted to perform this monologue that I should research into Bronson starting Tom Hardy. This is based on a real story so I can look into the research Tom Hardy did to get into character for the role
This much like Handbag, this showcases my talent for In-yer-face theatre and expresses my strengths for acccents and emotive character, this monologue also lets me explore another strength of exaggerated gestures.
I decided against choosing this piece for my monologue because I don't feel that I would be able to do as much intense preparation for the role in the amount of time. Also I would need to shave off my hair which would result in me not being in character for my other two performances.
Paul Rudnick - I Hate Hamlet
I Hate Hamlet is comedic play that is set in america. The scene I was looking at was Andrew's speech from the end of the play after he has played Hamlet he is reflecting upon this.
This monologue lets me show all my strengths as in the script it says that 'Andrew is walking home in his costume' therefore he could have a sword letting me use props
I decided against choosing this piece for my monologue because I did not feel it would showcase the best of my ability as I feel I could have a monologue that would involve the audience far more wether this is a sense of catharsis or talking directly to them.
Steven Berkoff - Decadence
Having decided not to perform Decadence for my duologue I felt I should look further into this play for a monologue as I like berkoff's style and I felt I could portray the character of Steve well. I was looking particularly at the restaurant scene as I felt this encompassed Berkoff's style into one monologue.
This monologue showcases my strengths of facial expression, accent and exaggerated characters. I loved how this monologue was so far apart from any other.
I decided against choosing this piece for my monologue because this dose not relate so well to an audience as I would like. I also feel that the performance in the video is done almost to perfection and I don't feel that I could beat it. If I did attempt this monologue then I would simply be trying to reciprocate the style shown above and it would not be my own personal monologue.
Steven Berkoff - Harry's Christmas
My teacher suggested that I look at Harry's Christmas as I liked Berkoff's style yet this had a far more emotional side to his style and creates a great sense of Catharisis with the audience. I chose to look at the ending scene.
'It's Christmas day and Harry has still not seen anybody over christmas. He becomes more deprressed to the point at where he takes an over dose and dies'
This monologue showcases my strengths of;
Facial expressions
Exagerated gestures
Emotive characters
Working with props
Harry's disorder is what makes his character become far more Nitty Gritty much like Larry's character. Harry's disorder is something that can be relatable as everyone has mood swings.
I decided to choose this piece for my monologue because it showcases my strengths within a style as which I have experience from when working on Road (where we chose to take influence from Stephen Berkoff). This is also a monologue that creates a great sense of catharsis with an audience as this is something I was lacking with the other monologues.
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Nights Dream
A Midsummer Nights Dream is one of Shakespeare's most famous comedic plays. I was looking at the character puck and his last soliloquy.
'If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber'd here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
if you pardon, we will mend:
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call;
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends'
This monologue showcases my strengths of;
Exagerated gestures
Bringing historical to a contemporary audience
Working with props
Puck speaks directly too the audience which neither my duologue or my Berkoff monologue do. Shakespeare is something that I have done in the very first part of the course yet not to a completely high standard doing shakespeare again lets me reflect back on my previous work and improve upon it.
I decided to choose this piece for my monologue because it showcases my strengths it also has a connection to the audience which is what I wanted from my previous monologues. I am doing doing a monologue that is a challenge as I have performed shakespeare before this is simply improving on my abilities and showing the examiner what I can do.
Closer - Patrick Marber
Larry and Anna break up scene is our final choice for a duologue.
Dominic Rose - Larry
Gemma Kaye - Anna
Dominic Rose - Larry
Gemma Kaye - Anna
Choosing appropriate material; Duologue
For my duologue I am working with Gemma Kaye, an actress whom I have worked well with in my most recent performances.
Rivals - Acres and Sir Lucius O Trigger
Saved - Harry and Mary
We decided that we wanted to look into a performance of a couple as we felt we were both better actors in our performance in Saved.
Using both of our strengths and personal interests we finally came down to three options;
John Osborne – Look Back in Anger
Stephen Berkoff – Decadence
Patrick Marber – Closer
We felt that these looked at my styles of interest - Naturalistic and Berkoff and my strengths facial expressions, exaggerated gestures, emotive characters and accents.
Rivals - Acres and Sir Lucius O Trigger
Saved - Harry and Mary
We decided that we wanted to look into a performance of a couple as we felt we were both better actors in our performance in Saved.
Using both of our strengths and personal interests we finally came down to three options;
John Osborne – Look Back in Anger
Stephen Berkoff – Decadence
Patrick Marber – Closer
We felt that these looked at my styles of interest - Naturalistic and Berkoff and my strengths facial expressions, exaggerated gestures, emotive characters and accents.
John Osborne – Look Back in Anger
Look Back in Anger, is a play that is well known for being ‘kitchen sink realism’ which is a form of social realism of the 1950s to early 1960s. We were looking at Act 1 of the play;
‘As Act 1 progresses, Jimmy becomes more and more vituperative, transferring his contempt for Alison's family onto her personally, calling her "pusillanimous" and generally belittling her to Cliff. It's possible to play this scene as though Jimmy thinks it's all a joke, but most actors opt for playing it as though he really is excoriating her. The tirade ends with some physical horseplay, resulting in the ironing board overturning and Alison's arm getting a burn. Jimmy exits to play his trumpet off stage’
We think that this scene has similar intentions to that of Edward Bond in Saved (the play me and Gemma have worked on together before), therefore we will be able to understand the concept better as we have the knowledge of from Saved. The difference between Saved and Look Back in Anger is that the characters are more upper class creating a different feel of how to build tension within the piece.
We decided against choosing this piece for our duologue because we felt it was too similar to Saved. Even though we should play to our strengths we felt that this would be almost repeating the same scene with different characters would lead us to have no motivation and not perform the piece to the best of our abilities.
Stephen Berkoff - Decadance
Decadance as much of all of Berkoff's work expresses the style of 'total theatre' where the actor-audience relationship is immediate, this also showcases his expressionist techniques.
We were looking at the first scene between Steve and Helen.
'This scene shows Helen on a white leather sofa talking firs to the audience and then with Steve, Steve remains frozen in this first monologue apart from to light Helen's cigarette these are mimed as to extract the greatest amount of absurdity to the physical response. Acting should be sensual, erotic and flamboyant'
We liked the characters with in this piece as they are characters that had a lot of depth to them and this would allow us to be able to play them with more understanding.
We decided against choosing this piece for our duologue because we felt that because Gemma had not previously performed Berkoff she would feel out of her comfort zone and this would be seen as a challenge and as something new to try.
Patrick Marber - Closer
Closer is a play thats Characters are heavily influenced by Konstantin Stanislavski by having very naturalistic characters. We looked at Larry and Anna's break up scene.
These characters are again in the same situation as that of Saved and Look Back in Anger yet the context is totally different. These characters are much what we liked from the Decadence that they are nitty gritty.
We decided on choosing this duologue because it shows a style that I have interest in (naturalism) it also showcases my strengths which are emotive characters and accents. This is also a similar set up to previous performances therefore we will be able to build upon our those performances.
Working to personal strengths and recognising personal weaknesses
I felt that before I looked for my duologue and monologues I wanted to look at my existing repertoire and see what my strengths are and what weaknesses I need to avoid when selecting my pieces.
Strengths;
Facial expressions
(shown in previous performances - Marat/Sade, Road, Rivals)
Exaggerated gestures
(shown in previous performances - Road, Rivals)
Emotive characters
(shown in previous performances - Saved, Rivals, Marat/Sade, Richard III)
Bringing historical to a contemporary audience
(shown in previous performances - Rivals, Richard III)
Accents
(shown in previous performances - Saved, Road)
Working with props
(shown in previous performances - Road)
Weaknesses;
Physical theatre
(shown in previous performances - Marat/Sade)
Set changes
(shown in previous performances - Romeo and Juliet)
After realising these strengths and weaknesses I have a better understanding of what performances I should choose.
I would like to look into performances styles such as;
Naturalistic
Greek
In-yer-face theatre
Brecht
Commedia-del-arte
Berkoff
Shakespeare
Melodrama
Strengths;
Facial expressions
(shown in previous performances - Marat/Sade, Road, Rivals)
Exaggerated gestures
(shown in previous performances - Road, Rivals)
Emotive characters
(shown in previous performances - Saved, Rivals, Marat/Sade, Richard III)
Bringing historical to a contemporary audience
(shown in previous performances - Rivals, Richard III)
Accents
(shown in previous performances - Saved, Road)
Working with props
(shown in previous performances - Road)
Weaknesses;
Physical theatre
(shown in previous performances - Marat/Sade)
Set changes
(shown in previous performances - Romeo and Juliet)
After realising these strengths and weaknesses I have a better understanding of what performances I should choose.
I would like to look into performances styles such as;
Naturalistic
Greek
In-yer-face theatre
Brecht
Commedia-del-arte
Berkoff
Shakespeare
Melodrama
Explaining the blog
I decided to put my preparatory notes for my G386 unit of my OCR performing arts; 'producing a showcase' because I felt this would be easier for an examiner to access and would save the risk of loosing the work. This is also easier for me because I am producing my media work on a blog and it saved me from writing everything down.
Candidate Name; Dominic Rose
Candidate Number; 6023
Centre; Ryde High School
Candidate Name; Dominic Rose
Candidate Number; 6023
Centre; Ryde High School
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