RADA Weeks 4/5
Voice
Last week in voice, we continued to find our natural breath rhythms through exercises that helped us identify tension areas and work to relieve those newfound tensions. I've learned that the key to finding a deeper connection to my breath is thinking about Alexander while doing the Linklader work. This week, we also looked at the movement of our articulators, working to relieve as much tension in those areas (jaw and tongue for most students) as possible. We looked at our mouths in tiny compact mirrors and went through a series of movements and massage techniques until any tension that had been present prior to class was no longer getting our way. The difference those tiny muscular tensions make in terms of your breath and your physical and emotional availability is truly astounding.
Voice into Text
We didn't have room in our schedule for this class in Week 5, but last week, we explored the way our voices color words by taking advantage of the specific vowel and consonant sounds each word provides us with. We looked at how certain sounds make us feel and consequently, what messages are sent to our brain when we hear certain combinations of sounds. Finally, we looked at a piece of text and found out how we can paint a picture with our voices by really using the sounds we're given. Trusting the text is the most important lesson I've learned since I've been here, in terms of every playwright. However, it is especially important not to waste your words when working on Shakespeare.
Character into Text
Last week, we accidentally spent the entire class discussing Macbeth. Ordinarily, I might have been bummed that we didn't get to discuss the character I've been studying, but with Hilary, I'm thrilled to listen to whatever she wants to talk about. It's also an incredibly valuable play to look at because, as Hilary said, all of the women will forever be looking for an opportunity to play Lady M and all of men to play Macbeth. It's undoubtedly one of the greats, and we could have spent months analyzing it if we had had the time. This week, Hilary wasn't able to be with us, so we had Zoe Waites, an incredible young actor/teacher who talked to us about how to infiltrate all of the work we do with Hilary into the character that ultimately stands on stage to begin the journey of the play. She talked to us about the importance of character lists (what you say about yourself, what you say about others, what others say about you, and statements of what you believe), which allow you to find the specificity of this human being you're inhabiting. She emphasized the fact that we have to be careful not to pass judgments on our characters that keep us from accessing the whole of who they are. It's so easy to develop a theory about your character that you spend the entire rehearsal process trying to prove through your portrayal of this person. But, the minute you do this, you deny yourself access to many aspects of the character that the playwright included for a reason. Zoe says it's important to create the human being the playwright gives you, and not the person you want them to be. This was quite eye-opening for me.
Laban
Laban is just FUN. To me, this class is all about finding the inner life of your character through external explorations. In the past two weeks, we've been investigating our characters' physical and emotional lives through dance and movement. The most interesting part about this class for me is the amount of depth I've found in Joan La Pucelle, simply because I've been forced to dance to music that I would never associate with her inner life. Playing with different types of music has allowed me to discover things about Joan that I never would have discovered otherwise. For example, Katya put on a very light and quick, playful piece of music which helped me to find that energy within Joan. I immediately went into the excitement of battle and how incredible it feels to have that magnitude of strength and confidence. I suddenly found this sense of battle being a joyful, playful cat and mouse game. Yes, I am strong and I take this God-given duty to free my country very seriously. However, there's also a feeling of this young shepherdess having a blast testing out the limits of the gifts she's been ordained with. And I found all of this depth through music! I definitely think I'm going to work with music in the future, as this was a major moment of discovery for me.
Monologues
Lois is one of my favorite teachers, without a doubt. Last week, we did an exercise in which members of the class who weren't working at the moment stood before the actor at work, acting as rocks. The job of the actor working was to get each seemingly immovable rock to take a step back using only their words. This helped us to specify each one of our images, forcing us to repeat the words in different ways until we had found the needed specificity in each image - enough to MOVE the immovable rocks that stood before us. Of course, you would never deliver the speech in such a measured way. But, finding that precision of words was incredibly helpful as a starting point. From there, we've been doing our speeches for Lois and getting feedback each day. I do most of the work on my monologue in the evenings and then come back to class the next day with whatever discoveries I've made. It's been so wonderful to watch my classmates grow. We've been working so hard on these speeches and this week, it became clear that we had all done the work and we had all transformed quite drastically since the beginning of the course. And we still have three weeks left!
Scenes
Erica and I continue to explore Viola and Olivia, making new discoveries with each run. We've come a very long way with this scene already, and I'm excited to see how the last few days of rehearsal transform it before we go to showings this coming Wednesday!
Singing
We are nearly ready to show our madrigals. Last week, we finished learning all of the parts, and this week, we put everything together. There's quite a bit of work to do in terms of cleanliness, but we have the basics down, which is a necessary step! We only have a quick brush-up rehearsal this week before our showing, so we're all hoping that will be enough time for us to feel fully prepared.
Alexander 1/2
Our culminating Alexander classes have really solidified this skill set in my mind and body. I can't possibly express how valuable these classes have been for me. I feel like a different actor and human being and am now willing and able to trust the simplicity of a moment. I've learned that far more meaning can be found in simple strength than in the many physical contortions we often feel are necessary to emphasize a point or intention.
Stage Fighting
We have officially finished our full fight sequence, the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet with flight attendant Montagues and passenger Capulets, and are preparing for our Tuesday showing. Each class is doing the same scene with a different premise, and we're all looking forward to seeing how they've turned out. It's been really great to get some fundamental stage combat training, because I didn't have any prior experience. I find combat really fascinating, and look forward to future explorations including sword and rapier training!
Shakespeare Workshop
We've officially started working on our final production which is... The Two Noble Kinsmen! Nick decided on this lesser known Shakespeare-Fletcher collaboration because he didn't know much about it and because he wanted the experience to be one of exploration and discovery for all involved. This is terribly exciting to me, and I couldn't be happier to be working on a piece that is as strange as it is awesome. The other group is working on Henry V, and they are equally stoked! Their group has already received roles, but we won't find out about casting until this coming Friday. We've started table work on the play as a whole so far, and will begin blocking and such once classes are officially finished and the rehearsal period has begun.
Acting Shakespeare
We finished up our last Acting Shakespeare class with Nona last week. Both groups worked together on a final showing of the work we did on Hamlet - all of the soliloquies, scenes, and movement pieces combined into one hour of awesome creativity. Unfortunately, I was not able to be there because I came down with the truly awful Acting Shakespeare Plague, which has been circulating recently. It took me down for a solid 24 hours. But, I heard the showing was magical, and I don't doubt that it was just that!
Last weekend was fairly uneventful on the whole, simply because I was sick. I sadly spent the Fourth of July in bed with my Complete Works and a large box of tissues. However, I was able to rest up enough to attend the midnight showing of Titus Andronicus at The Globe, which was undoubtedly the most incredible theatrical experience I've ever witnessed. That was all I could have asked for last weekend!
This weekend was about exploring new areas of London. After heading to the pub with the director and cast of Two Noble Kinsmen on Friday afternoon, a mandatory end to our day of rehearsal, I went to a burger restaurant with some friends in an area very near RADA. On Saturday afternoon, I caught the matinee of The Curious Incident of the Dog at Nighttime, a captivating and innovative production produced by The National at the Gielgud Theatre, which is where I saw Angela Lansbury in Blithe Spirit the first night I arrived in London. After the show, I spent some time exploring the South Bank with friends, having a delicious dinner at a Greek restaurant near The Globe, and walking along the River Thames. Today was all about final work on my monologue and scene, including reading plays a third (or fourth, or fifth) time, writing character lists (Zoe's aforementioned formula, one that I've found useful at Webster as well!) and doing external research (mostly looking into Joan of Arc's past and reading Shaw's Saint Joan).
It's been a beautifully exhausting past two weeks, and I'm beginning week 6 of 8 with an overwhelming sense of excitement and gratitude to be doing what I love every day!
Here are some photos from recent events:
Voice
Last week in voice, we continued to find our natural breath rhythms through exercises that helped us identify tension areas and work to relieve those newfound tensions. I've learned that the key to finding a deeper connection to my breath is thinking about Alexander while doing the Linklader work. This week, we also looked at the movement of our articulators, working to relieve as much tension in those areas (jaw and tongue for most students) as possible. We looked at our mouths in tiny compact mirrors and went through a series of movements and massage techniques until any tension that had been present prior to class was no longer getting our way. The difference those tiny muscular tensions make in terms of your breath and your physical and emotional availability is truly astounding.
Voice into Text
We didn't have room in our schedule for this class in Week 5, but last week, we explored the way our voices color words by taking advantage of the specific vowel and consonant sounds each word provides us with. We looked at how certain sounds make us feel and consequently, what messages are sent to our brain when we hear certain combinations of sounds. Finally, we looked at a piece of text and found out how we can paint a picture with our voices by really using the sounds we're given. Trusting the text is the most important lesson I've learned since I've been here, in terms of every playwright. However, it is especially important not to waste your words when working on Shakespeare.
Character into Text
Last week, we accidentally spent the entire class discussing Macbeth. Ordinarily, I might have been bummed that we didn't get to discuss the character I've been studying, but with Hilary, I'm thrilled to listen to whatever she wants to talk about. It's also an incredibly valuable play to look at because, as Hilary said, all of the women will forever be looking for an opportunity to play Lady M and all of men to play Macbeth. It's undoubtedly one of the greats, and we could have spent months analyzing it if we had had the time. This week, Hilary wasn't able to be with us, so we had Zoe Waites, an incredible young actor/teacher who talked to us about how to infiltrate all of the work we do with Hilary into the character that ultimately stands on stage to begin the journey of the play. She talked to us about the importance of character lists (what you say about yourself, what you say about others, what others say about you, and statements of what you believe), which allow you to find the specificity of this human being you're inhabiting. She emphasized the fact that we have to be careful not to pass judgments on our characters that keep us from accessing the whole of who they are. It's so easy to develop a theory about your character that you spend the entire rehearsal process trying to prove through your portrayal of this person. But, the minute you do this, you deny yourself access to many aspects of the character that the playwright included for a reason. Zoe says it's important to create the human being the playwright gives you, and not the person you want them to be. This was quite eye-opening for me.
Laban
Laban is just FUN. To me, this class is all about finding the inner life of your character through external explorations. In the past two weeks, we've been investigating our characters' physical and emotional lives through dance and movement. The most interesting part about this class for me is the amount of depth I've found in Joan La Pucelle, simply because I've been forced to dance to music that I would never associate with her inner life. Playing with different types of music has allowed me to discover things about Joan that I never would have discovered otherwise. For example, Katya put on a very light and quick, playful piece of music which helped me to find that energy within Joan. I immediately went into the excitement of battle and how incredible it feels to have that magnitude of strength and confidence. I suddenly found this sense of battle being a joyful, playful cat and mouse game. Yes, I am strong and I take this God-given duty to free my country very seriously. However, there's also a feeling of this young shepherdess having a blast testing out the limits of the gifts she's been ordained with. And I found all of this depth through music! I definitely think I'm going to work with music in the future, as this was a major moment of discovery for me.
Monologues
Lois is one of my favorite teachers, without a doubt. Last week, we did an exercise in which members of the class who weren't working at the moment stood before the actor at work, acting as rocks. The job of the actor working was to get each seemingly immovable rock to take a step back using only their words. This helped us to specify each one of our images, forcing us to repeat the words in different ways until we had found the needed specificity in each image - enough to MOVE the immovable rocks that stood before us. Of course, you would never deliver the speech in such a measured way. But, finding that precision of words was incredibly helpful as a starting point. From there, we've been doing our speeches for Lois and getting feedback each day. I do most of the work on my monologue in the evenings and then come back to class the next day with whatever discoveries I've made. It's been so wonderful to watch my classmates grow. We've been working so hard on these speeches and this week, it became clear that we had all done the work and we had all transformed quite drastically since the beginning of the course. And we still have three weeks left!
Scenes
Erica and I continue to explore Viola and Olivia, making new discoveries with each run. We've come a very long way with this scene already, and I'm excited to see how the last few days of rehearsal transform it before we go to showings this coming Wednesday!
Singing
We are nearly ready to show our madrigals. Last week, we finished learning all of the parts, and this week, we put everything together. There's quite a bit of work to do in terms of cleanliness, but we have the basics down, which is a necessary step! We only have a quick brush-up rehearsal this week before our showing, so we're all hoping that will be enough time for us to feel fully prepared.
Alexander 1/2
Our culminating Alexander classes have really solidified this skill set in my mind and body. I can't possibly express how valuable these classes have been for me. I feel like a different actor and human being and am now willing and able to trust the simplicity of a moment. I've learned that far more meaning can be found in simple strength than in the many physical contortions we often feel are necessary to emphasize a point or intention.
Stage Fighting
We have officially finished our full fight sequence, the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet with flight attendant Montagues and passenger Capulets, and are preparing for our Tuesday showing. Each class is doing the same scene with a different premise, and we're all looking forward to seeing how they've turned out. It's been really great to get some fundamental stage combat training, because I didn't have any prior experience. I find combat really fascinating, and look forward to future explorations including sword and rapier training!
Shakespeare Workshop
We've officially started working on our final production which is... The Two Noble Kinsmen! Nick decided on this lesser known Shakespeare-Fletcher collaboration because he didn't know much about it and because he wanted the experience to be one of exploration and discovery for all involved. This is terribly exciting to me, and I couldn't be happier to be working on a piece that is as strange as it is awesome. The other group is working on Henry V, and they are equally stoked! Their group has already received roles, but we won't find out about casting until this coming Friday. We've started table work on the play as a whole so far, and will begin blocking and such once classes are officially finished and the rehearsal period has begun.
Acting Shakespeare
We finished up our last Acting Shakespeare class with Nona last week. Both groups worked together on a final showing of the work we did on Hamlet - all of the soliloquies, scenes, and movement pieces combined into one hour of awesome creativity. Unfortunately, I was not able to be there because I came down with the truly awful Acting Shakespeare Plague, which has been circulating recently. It took me down for a solid 24 hours. But, I heard the showing was magical, and I don't doubt that it was just that!
*********************
Last weekend was fairly uneventful on the whole, simply because I was sick. I sadly spent the Fourth of July in bed with my Complete Works and a large box of tissues. However, I was able to rest up enough to attend the midnight showing of Titus Andronicus at The Globe, which was undoubtedly the most incredible theatrical experience I've ever witnessed. That was all I could have asked for last weekend!
This weekend was about exploring new areas of London. After heading to the pub with the director and cast of Two Noble Kinsmen on Friday afternoon, a mandatory end to our day of rehearsal, I went to a burger restaurant with some friends in an area very near RADA. On Saturday afternoon, I caught the matinee of The Curious Incident of the Dog at Nighttime, a captivating and innovative production produced by The National at the Gielgud Theatre, which is where I saw Angela Lansbury in Blithe Spirit the first night I arrived in London. After the show, I spent some time exploring the South Bank with friends, having a delicious dinner at a Greek restaurant near The Globe, and walking along the River Thames. Today was all about final work on my monologue and scene, including reading plays a third (or fourth, or fifth) time, writing character lists (Zoe's aforementioned formula, one that I've found useful at Webster as well!) and doing external research (mostly looking into Joan of Arc's past and reading Shaw's Saint Joan).
It's been a beautifully exhausting past two weeks, and I'm beginning week 6 of 8 with an overwhelming sense of excitement and gratitude to be doing what I love every day!
Here are some photos from recent events:
The cast of The Two Noble Kinsmen at a pub near RADA.
Titus at midnight at The Globe.
King Lear at The National (Monday of last week).
Opening Night of Richard III with Martin Freeman
(this past Wednesday).
Sunday evening Tex-Mex, sombreros and margs
with these gorgeous gals!
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