Home Stretch

CLASSES
Movement:
We did a quick warm up and went into our character monologues. I did two things in choosing a piece making it harder. I picked poetry, and I picked one I'd worked on for years. It was a challenge, and I failed spectacularly. Maybe not a wonderful failure, but it was certainly wretched. We worked, and played, and got it better. I was doing the tight mouth thing which limits my voice. Damnit. That pursing of the upper lip is something I avoid because it has unpleasant associations. (Thanks mom.)

There was a "Doh!" moment. It is heightened text (Robert Service's The Ballad of Blasphemous Bill). That is what we have been working on all quarter, and I'd have done much better if I'd made that obvious connection. That and the things we worked on like thinking in prose instead of meter tells me I could do a decent job of it in the future. A couple classmates actually complimented the visualizations I created, so at least the came out despite the rhyme and my deep familiarity with the piece. That poem is in several ways what one of the big factors which got me started on acting.


Combat:
More review of the single sword choreography. We are now getting to the finer details, safety things which an adjudicator will notice (this has always been stressed) and technical and acting type things which make the fight more believable. Honoring the weapons and opponent so there is a sense of danger, being the linchpin. I'm getting better at planting and working from my center instead of leaning, and this needs more practice.


Tutorial:
Lori and I worked together. Neither of us were feeling real hot, so her suggestion of working on our connection, through seated Meisner-like readings, and discussing our shared history was welcomed by me. We tried a flat read at my suggestion, but it drove us nuts after a couple sentences. We've progressed too far, and our lines are too lopsided. I'll probably start doing this by myself on my soliloquy next week. It was helpful work.


OBSERVATIONS/CLICKS
We are getting close to the end of all our classes except combat. Speech is done. Voice finishes on Friday. Audition and Movement are done on Sunday. I think we are all looking forward to focusing on the recital pieces. The different classes have been wonderful and exhausting, and the chance to really focus on something is exciting.