Well, just one performance left, the dreaded closing matinee. But first, to update on how the first two shows of this weekend went.
In sum, they went well. Friday night was a bigger and somewhat more involved crowd that tonight (Saturday) was, but tonight was galaxies better than last Saturday.
Truth be told I have more to say about tonight, than last night. That because that for certain moments of the play tonight to me represented my best acting of the run so far.
Not that I can fully explain how. A person in the audience who saw all of the performances so far may not have perceived much of a difference in tonight's performance I turned in. But for every actor, (I'd assume) there is a certain inner awareness of what they are and are not accomplishing any given play, any given night. It has a lot to do with how much of your theory for the character, built in your head and your heart over the process, is projected outward in the same way you see it inwardly. (In some cases, surpassing it.) So far i have no major complaints about my work in this show. I have been so far mostly satisfied with what I've done. But there haven't been as many moments of "inner" and "outer" matching up during this run as their have been with many of my shows.
Until tonight.
Part of this difficult-to-articulate experience relates also to proper ratio for me between automatic acting, and deliberate acting. I think I've said before here on the blog that a few times during this show I've been on stage for a few moments, and felt automatic; I felt that I was in the character, but responding in the exact moment to a few too many things, without having the grounded awareness that I am a performer in a role. As I said before it sounds great on some level, and it is a powerful tool. But the key word is tool. This vanishing into a moment cannot be a proper tool for me, if Ty vanishes too much under the surface, even if the acting is something to be proud of.
No, I strongly prefer to be just a tick or two ahead of the game, aware that I am a performer bringing a part to life. Controlling the magic, in other words, instead of the magic controlling me. A few times during the run the magic, if you will, ran ahead of me for a while.
The polar opposite problem of course is feeling nothing-being myself in a costume walking around a stage regurgitating something I've memorized. Aping more than acting. This also does little for me.
However, when just the right amount of "vanishing" mixes with just the right amount of conscious control over my performance, and ideal situation is achieved.
If you followed all of that, (don't be upset if you didn't) than what I'm saying is that I achieved this golden ratio more often, for longer periods tonight than I have in previous days of the run. So, by my own somewhat clumsy definition, I did, overall, my best work, had my best experience as an actor, tonight out of the five performances to date.
Not that this was happening every single minute. In fact, one usually must be satisfied with a ratio a few ticks below this golden. An entire evening within the golden is rare. But barring any major problems otherwise, an evening with at least an individual scene in the golden constitutes a successful night for me as an actor. Tonight was such a night, I'd say.
Now, what specifically about tonight made reaching the golden ratio possible more often than the other nights?
Hopefully you don't think I can answer my own question! For surely, it is one of the great mysteries of theatre, and indeed many of the arts. We don't always know why one crowd laughs and another doesn't, how a brilliant actor can pull off one role and not the next, or how and when we find the golden ratio I've talked about here. I can only say, if my experience matters at all, that being prepared as early as possible, and taking the work seriously increases the likelihood. And I have felt more prepared for this show than I have for my last few.
Tomorrow of course is that odd creature, closing performance. Matinee. I will naturally try to fight the fatigue and the expectations based on tonight, and everything else that has to be done after the show, and labor just as hard to give a good performance. I don't screw around in a show just because it's the final performance. But my honest instinct at this time is that tomorrow is not likely to be a better experience than tonight.
Check back in though, and find out.
Showing posts with label second half. Show all posts
Showing posts with label second half. Show all posts
Sunday, August 27, 2017
Thursday, September 08, 2016
Two Nights, Two Halves.
The last two evenings of rehearsal where some of the longest we've had so far. Tuesday was the first time we ran the entire first half of the show, last night being a rehearsal of the entire second half of the show.
Tuesday, for whatever reason, was rougher. More confusion, more "rust" from the pieces that hadn't been touched in a while. Personally I felt comfortable, but I do far less in the first half of the play than I do in the second half, despite playing three different characters. Still, the flow of the first half was virtually non-existent, and our director warned us ahead of time that it would be so.
One problem is that most of the exits, and maybe a fifth of the stage are still blocked by construction junk. Ironically, this is the second time I have been rehearsing a play in this venue during major construction. This time is a bit less stressful, nevertheless it is getting frustrating, not being able to rehearse in the space as it will be during performances. (Which begin in less than four weeks.) Things are what they are, and everyone means well, but for me, having space is one of the most important things for an actor to properly rehearse. We've been without that from the start. (Early rehearsals sometimes taking place in a space about one fourth as big as the actual stage will ultimately be.)
It is what it is, and I of course can't do anything about it, but I'm frankly weary of tripping over everything in the space. I'm more than ready to have all the space opened up, and am a little concerned at how little time is left. But I've been in far worse situations in theatre less than a month before opening, so I don't classify my feelings on the subject as worry. Annoying, maybe.
As is the fact that I have have addressed my very first lines, "This is the sergeant who like a good a heart soldier..." to thin air half the time, and to three or four stand ins the other half of the time. Only once, I believe, is the person who will actually play the part been present, and that was on the very day he was appointed to play the role. (Last week.) Absences in general are in fact one of my biggest annoyances in theatre. Maybe the shouldn't be, but certain people have hardly ever been at rehearsals, and the last two shows I was in suffered from extensive absences, so perhaps I'm just sensitive to it right now.
As for my performance, I put an eye patch on for the scene wherein I play a murderer for about five minutes. I wanted something to make him obviously different from Malcolm. And in the very next scene, I play a nameless banquet guest during the "Banquo's Ghost" scene. I'm going to use a cane to appear like someone totally different once again. I'd rather not be in the scene, honestly. I prefer some gear down time before intermission, so one or the other of the two scenes I mentioned would have been enough, but I hate having to hurry up and do tiny little bits of things leading into intermission.
Plus I've just been assigned sound effects duty for the scene right after intermission. Easy enough, but it's something else that takes time away from my main concentration in this production-being Malcolm. Two scenes later I have yet another sound effect job, newly assigned last night. What could have been a large amount of time to prepare for the challenging scene that is my biggest of the play, will not be broken up by tapping on sticks and bamboo. I know in community theatre everyone needs to work together and do multiple things, but there is "multiple things" and then there is "running around plugging all sorts of holes" kind of thing, and I'm feeling like this is the latter. A few more people in the cast and this wouldn't have been needed, but...too late to be concerned about that now.
As for the second half of the play, (everything after the Banquo's Ghost scene), last night, as I said was smoother on the whole. I expected my big scene to be rough, and it had some spots, but actually went better than I thought it would go, given that we haven't rehearsed it at all in about three weeks. I would have loved more chances to rehearse it, but I'm glad to know it is as solid as it seems to be for the moment.
The final speech that gave me so much trouble earlier in the week, (except for at the end of the night the other night) went well, though I did trip on it a bit this time. During it, as per this production, the witches appear from the audience, unseen by those on stage, and surround the action as the play closes. That was new last night. Might take away from my speech a bit, honestly, but I won't know for sure how it feels until after we've done it a few times.
Now that even problem lines are starting to smooth out somewhat for me, I must dive further into the process of becoming Malcolm, giving him emotion and making me performance deeper. I've had no complaints about it from anyone, and I suppose it is near satisfactory as it stands. But I feel the need as an actor to flesh our his personality more, especially given some of the new directions and blocking the director has given us for some of Malcolm's scenes. (Some of which will change, slightly, the nature of my performance.)
Tonight, it's the first half again. Saturday morning is the fake wedding of the Macbeth's to be video taped for the prologue film to show the audience before the start of the play.
Tuesday, for whatever reason, was rougher. More confusion, more "rust" from the pieces that hadn't been touched in a while. Personally I felt comfortable, but I do far less in the first half of the play than I do in the second half, despite playing three different characters. Still, the flow of the first half was virtually non-existent, and our director warned us ahead of time that it would be so.
One problem is that most of the exits, and maybe a fifth of the stage are still blocked by construction junk. Ironically, this is the second time I have been rehearsing a play in this venue during major construction. This time is a bit less stressful, nevertheless it is getting frustrating, not being able to rehearse in the space as it will be during performances. (Which begin in less than four weeks.) Things are what they are, and everyone means well, but for me, having space is one of the most important things for an actor to properly rehearse. We've been without that from the start. (Early rehearsals sometimes taking place in a space about one fourth as big as the actual stage will ultimately be.)
It is what it is, and I of course can't do anything about it, but I'm frankly weary of tripping over everything in the space. I'm more than ready to have all the space opened up, and am a little concerned at how little time is left. But I've been in far worse situations in theatre less than a month before opening, so I don't classify my feelings on the subject as worry. Annoying, maybe.
As is the fact that I have have addressed my very first lines, "This is the sergeant who like a good a heart soldier..." to thin air half the time, and to three or four stand ins the other half of the time. Only once, I believe, is the person who will actually play the part been present, and that was on the very day he was appointed to play the role. (Last week.) Absences in general are in fact one of my biggest annoyances in theatre. Maybe the shouldn't be, but certain people have hardly ever been at rehearsals, and the last two shows I was in suffered from extensive absences, so perhaps I'm just sensitive to it right now.
As for my performance, I put an eye patch on for the scene wherein I play a murderer for about five minutes. I wanted something to make him obviously different from Malcolm. And in the very next scene, I play a nameless banquet guest during the "Banquo's Ghost" scene. I'm going to use a cane to appear like someone totally different once again. I'd rather not be in the scene, honestly. I prefer some gear down time before intermission, so one or the other of the two scenes I mentioned would have been enough, but I hate having to hurry up and do tiny little bits of things leading into intermission.
Plus I've just been assigned sound effects duty for the scene right after intermission. Easy enough, but it's something else that takes time away from my main concentration in this production-being Malcolm. Two scenes later I have yet another sound effect job, newly assigned last night. What could have been a large amount of time to prepare for the challenging scene that is my biggest of the play, will not be broken up by tapping on sticks and bamboo. I know in community theatre everyone needs to work together and do multiple things, but there is "multiple things" and then there is "running around plugging all sorts of holes" kind of thing, and I'm feeling like this is the latter. A few more people in the cast and this wouldn't have been needed, but...too late to be concerned about that now.
As for the second half of the play, (everything after the Banquo's Ghost scene), last night, as I said was smoother on the whole. I expected my big scene to be rough, and it had some spots, but actually went better than I thought it would go, given that we haven't rehearsed it at all in about three weeks. I would have loved more chances to rehearse it, but I'm glad to know it is as solid as it seems to be for the moment.
The final speech that gave me so much trouble earlier in the week, (except for at the end of the night the other night) went well, though I did trip on it a bit this time. During it, as per this production, the witches appear from the audience, unseen by those on stage, and surround the action as the play closes. That was new last night. Might take away from my speech a bit, honestly, but I won't know for sure how it feels until after we've done it a few times.
Now that even problem lines are starting to smooth out somewhat for me, I must dive further into the process of becoming Malcolm, giving him emotion and making me performance deeper. I've had no complaints about it from anyone, and I suppose it is near satisfactory as it stands. But I feel the need as an actor to flesh our his personality more, especially given some of the new directions and blocking the director has given us for some of Malcolm's scenes. (Some of which will change, slightly, the nature of my performance.)
Tonight, it's the first half again. Saturday morning is the fake wedding of the Macbeth's to be video taped for the prologue film to show the audience before the start of the play.
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