This evening we took part in our final performance of "Hedda Gabler" by Henrik Ibsen. After 6 weeks of rehearsal, research, character development and planning we managed to pull off an insightful and sensitive exploration of the text through Stanislavsky based acting methods. Although the piece was not with out it's fault and things didn't go totally flawlessly. In this evaluation I will be analysing and commenting on the piece and how we applied the appropriate Stanislavsky systems to achieve this.
As I entered the space we stood with our backs to the action and got into character. I did this through psychological gesture. This called upon an exercise we had done earlier in the day, where we laid on the floor and found an abstract gesture that represented our characters objectives throughout the entire arch of the play. My gesture focused around the hands and the want of power. I flexed and contorted my appendages to represent the writhing sexual lust inside of Brack's heart and then closed and ringed my fists like I was squashing a butterfly; which pertains to my characters need to cage Hedda. This helped to bring my character's wants and desires into my physicality and bring my mind into the present. It also helped to energise me and get my head in the space to do some deep emotionally responsive acting. I also took this time to centre my breathing so my vocal quality was strong and rooted before stepping into the stage space.
I entered the space with strong intentions and because of the previous work I didn't need to warm up; I easily slid into the role of Brack without any sticky transitions. However I did leave a second pause between my cue line which I wasn't happy with. I didn't want to come in at the wrong section so I let my logical side takeover instead of relying on my actors instincts and trusting the text. On the other hand I did not let this insecurity show as I remained 100% focused and in the moment moreover the hesitation looked like a character choice. I feel like my use of space was good as I didn't become stuck in any positions and I utilised the theatrical configuration to my advantage by placing my back to the corners. Although I did have a tendency to slightly wander without a strong physical purpose behind my movement. This would have lessened by status and weaken the facade of strength that I found within the character, but a postitive of this was when we all became bunched up it helped to extend our performance to all four sides of the audience. I combated this idosyncrasy by adding a purpose to my movement such as moving towards the drinks table so I can pour myself Brandy, moving towards Eilert because the conversation interested me, moving towards Hedda because I wished to flirt with her. This made my performance rooted and naturalistic, purpose makes action meaningful and true.
Another time in which my performance style slipped was when I missed a cue line that was supposed to be a cut off. I was so invested in the action of pouring the drink, swirling it and tasting it I got distracted because I was truthfully playing out this interaction. This is an example of how playing your objective can sometimes have negative repercussions; Brack was disinterested in the academic conversation so he stopped listening however me as an actor shouldn't have stopped paying attention just because my character does. Next time I will focus on really listening to my fellow actors on stage simultaneously whilst still perusing my objective. I managed to save this by remaining in character and reacting off my scene partners and using the add-libed line "Oh sorry" like I'd been asked a question and rudely forgot to respond. This kept up the energy and made the pause seem intetional.
My vocal quality was strong throughout most of the performance and I performed with articulation and clarity. After I missed my cue line I got nervous and worried and lost my sense of pacing and garbled my lines. I was quite disappointed in myself as I let anxiety affect all my preparation work and the particular beat change. This nervousness also changed the pitch that I was working moreover changing the already established character I had brought onto the stage. It also affected my dialect as I reverted back to the way I speak in my everyday life as a sort of safety blanket. I would make sure in another performance to never drop my vocal quality because of added tensions. I projected and resonated my sound around the space and effectively communicate the story through my vocal choices.
A note I got before the show was that I wasn't showing the characters inner dark side. I had the outer charm but it was lacking the depth of his inner evilness. I spent some time working out specific lines in which to show this. My director gave me a real life equivalent of people being all kind all the time but when no one's looking they kick a dog out of their way. I attempted to demonstrate this through my reactions to Eilert. When he wouldn't drink the punch I give him this distasteful look of scorn as I sized him up. This gave the audience a key insight into the true character of Brack and made my work deeper. I used subtle nuances like looking at my scene partners with mock laughter and fake smiles. This helped me to engage with the "life of the human spirt" and my opposing inner tempo rhythms. I feel like this made my performance interesting and watchable.
In conclusion I feel like I have given a good Stanislavsky based performance which has helped to develop myself as an actor. Next term I look forward to applying these techniques to a wide range of performance texts.
No comments:
Post a Comment