Final Performance, 11/29

We did our final showing of the scenes on Tuesday. It was a good performance and things went according to plan. The response from our classmates was good. They noticed the improved blocking (thanks Tamera!) as well as the work we did on objectives and characterization. They made a few suggestions about vocal levels for me (specifically, when Iris has her short monologue toward the end of scene 2, being louder and more aggressive). They also suggested that Stefan end the final scene. I think we did a good job at showing what we've worked on and learned this semester with these two scenes.

Rehearsal Journal 11/28

On Monday Stefan and I rehearsed in NC19. We ran through our scenes twice and practiced slating. We tweaked a few things in timing and generally just went over what we needed to do.

Rehearsal Journal 11/25

During this rehearsal we worked in the chapel on our two scenes. We ran through each scene a few times, specifically focusing on the awkward parts. We asked Sarah Lerch to come and see the scenes and tell us if anything stuck out to her as specifically awkward. She didn't think there was anything in particular, although she pointed out a few small things. We made sure that we had our lines and blocking down.

Rehearsal Journal 11/23

Today during rehearsal we worked on some blocking ideas for the sections that continue to feel awkward to us. We also made sure we ran through the second scene with our set and the new blocking we've done with Tamera.

Rehearsal Journal 11/22

Rehearsal 1: During class we took notes on what the other classmates had seen in our play. They mentioned that we should work on making the blocking less static while at the same time finding places for Starbuck, specifically, to plant and say his lines. They also suggested that I project more. We also did a little work with shaking up the scene for our second scene. We attempted the scene without look at one another, which was an interesting exercise because of the play on honesty and lying in the scene as well as the need for one another's approval.

Rehearsal 2: We met with Tamera after class to work on our second scene like we had done with the first. She suggested a few changes in blocking, specifically working with Stefan on the telephone part. We need to work on making the end less weird and creepy as well as finding the subtext in our lines and bringing it forward. We tried to say the subtext rather than the lines and found that our characters are telling vastly different stories despite talking about the same thing.

Rehearsal Journal 11/21

On Monday we worked with Tamera on stage, working on our first scene. She helped us work to make the blocking more realistic for the characters and less static. Specifically, Lizzie spends a lot of time in her psychological space and Starbuck spends a lot of time moving about the stage dramatically, often invading her space. One part that still needs work is the rather awkward part near the end just after Lizzie's dream mini-monologues.

Rehearsal Journal 11/18

Because the stage was in use today we did some things to mix up the energy on our scene. We talked about possible blocking changes and then we did one of the exercises from our book to mix up the scene. We threw a ball back and forth at the end of each line. Except for the fact that I can't catch or throw balls and I kept scratching Stefan when I tried to take a ball from his hand it went well. We then talked to Tamera a bit about what she thought of our scenes from yesterday. She suggested that in the first scene we change some of my blocking to make Lizzie less active and more isolated with her loneliness. We also set up a time for her to work with us on Monday. After that, we did another mix-it-up by switching roles and reading each others' lines. This helped clear some stuff up for me with lines that I have been struggling to say realistically.
Then we worked on the blocking suggestions given by Tamera. We took a place where I had been moving and let me stay put, since I wouldn't indulge Starbuck's childish behavior by reacting to it, anyway. We also gave Stefan a prop to work with when he's telling his made-up story. I think these things will work quite well.