Blog #15: Characterisation... Please not again

Description:

The second week of July passed, which means that the rehearsals for the One Act Play continued. On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday we focused on characterisation and exercises that could help us to get into the character. We also decided how our characters should look physically and what clothes they should wear. In my case, there was a day in which Roberto helped me to start building the first scene of the play, in which I'm doing a monologue. This entry will be focusing on the things that were difficult for me and on how effective have been the things we've done so far.

Analysis:

On Tuesday was our first rehearsal of the week and we began by revising what we had so far concerning the script as Roberto told us to bring proposals. After reading out loud, part of our script Roberto pointed out some details that we should take into account. In my case, he gave me a structure that will help the monologue to not be too direct and give away so much information all at once. The structure went as follows:

1. Limpieza
2. Fiesta
3. Herido...?
4. Problema/Discusión
5. Golpes
6. Mujer
7. LÁGRIMA
8. Hermana
9. Cómo paso?
10. SUBE EL MELODRAMA
11. Cómo termino?
12. Razón
13. Descargo, Yo no fui

What this structure intended to do is to help give the monologue a sort of crescendo, a progressive increase in tension and dramatism. Since melodrama focuses on exaggerating actions and making little things into really big things; by going little by little and step by step, the melodrama will start to take over the monologue. For example, at the beginning my character could start by cleaning his bruises with alcohol and a piece of cotton; not much melodrama here as he is not speaking and just focusing on the actions, making them as clear as possible. However, when he starts to talk about the party and the unfairness of him getting hurt by a woman, things start to get intense as a tear starts to fall down his cheek. What we are intending to do by exaggerating little things and making them bigger is to create a feeling of absurdity, we want the audience to laugh at the misery of Spencer. Therefore, the characterization is going to be important in this matter; if the actions and the suffering looks fake then the scene will lose its funny essence. I should also take into account the setting, the place in which my character will be reflecting upon this conflict with his sister. We decided that the setting for the whole play is the bathroom, and we divided it into three sections: the section with the sink, the section with the shower and the section with the toilet seat. Spencer will be in the first section, therefore the actions he does should be relating to the sink and a potential mirror. I started to think about what actions could be possible, taking into account that everything should be exaggerated.

On Thursday, we arrived to the second rehearsal of the week with the improved script, the pictures of our character stimuli, and a sketch of our costume. In my case, I chose Nandito from "Maria la del Barrio" as a stimuli for the physical aspect of my character. Why? Because I perceived him as being in a way the typical, weak and delicate male that easily gets abuse by the power of a sister. Moreover, we also had in mind the idea of making this character sort of metro sexual, and the perfectly coiffed haird of Nandito gave this sort of impression of delicacy and extreme care for his own appearance. In the end, we decided to use pastel colors; therefore my costume ended up being light pink skinny jeans, a light blue shirt, a white sweater, white shoes and a blonde wig like Nandito. I believe that these aspects will help to present the personality of the character in a clearer way as these colors are soft and subtle giving this idea of weakness which my character should portray.

Nandito's face of pleasure and enjoyment.

Moreover, this day I also began to rehearse the first scene of the play. This process was somehow tiring and repetitive at first as I didn't seem to find the character very much. Roberto started dictating to me some of the lines that I wrote that he considered to be best. However, before Spencer starts speaking there is a previous moment in which he is cleaning the bruises. If we look back at the structure for the monologue, the cleaning goes first. Therefore, I started exploring, miming as if I had a piece of cotton on one hand and a bottle on the other. I explored using legato movements, making sure that I rubbed the areas where I had my bruises with delicacy and a slow pace. This intended to give the idea that I was suffering as the wek and slow movements gave the idea that I could hardly do it. The face expression that I maintained through out this moments was also important as I had to try and maintain a sort of poker face with the eyes looking apparently lost and the mouth in a straight line. what I wanted to do was to create the effect of confusion and sadness; Spencer is sad and feels bad for the whole discussion and misunderstanding he has gone through. The audience will therefore feel that it was not Spencer's intention for that to happen, and that now he is regretting everything. Likewise, I tried to implement my breathing in order to reinforce the idea of pain. By making the breathing louder and more consistent the idea of feeling pain could be intensified. In the end, exaggerating everything is better for this type of genre.

Connections:

I can connect this creative process to the one I experienced not so long ago in the school play rehearsals. It is always somehow difficult for me to start planning how to do a character but I think that once I get a stimuli an a starting point things get a lot easier. In the case of this year's school play, I wasn't sure about the character at first as I didn't seem to find the powerful and menacing characterization for "el jefe"; in this case at first I didn't seem to find a way in which I wanted to represent the character of Spencer. Now I have a vision for my character, by finding a stimuli the process of building the character has somehow become easier as how I have some guidance and the ideas are clearer. The challenge for me right now is going to be to implement melodrama to my acting, making sure that the majority of my actions are big and exaggerated. I should also be able to use the voice in order to depict pain and suffering, maybe a voice varying from high to low pitched will be useful...giving the impression that it is about to crack and the character is about to cry.

Reflections:

Linking back to one of the first performances we went to see this year, "Confesiones", I have managed to reinforce what Ana Correa meant when referring to theatre and acting. I understood that the character and us are basically the same as both of us share characteristics and emotions. I also realized that it is sometimes difficult to come out of our comfort zones, as I previously mentioned it was difficult for me to start picturing my character.  I would like to continue exploring the physicality of Spencer as I consider that the variation in pace and energy really manages to give ideas of weakness and power. Legato and staccato movements are important and manage to have a powerful effect.