.:Dazzeling Directing, Amazing Acting:.

Well let’s begin by stating that today was a very fun day However, it came with a lot of learning experiences which are going straight into my TPPP. I am happy to say that today Ronelle and I were given the chance to direct. And although the title of this blog may well give a exaggerated description of how we went, I feel we all did pretty damn well.

We began with Ronelle’s directing scene taken from ‘A Midsummer’s Night Dream’ by William Shakespeare. We were given the scene where Oberon has put the magic dust in Lysander’s eyes instead of Demitrius’, and Lysander is confessing his love for Helena, although he is really in love with Hermia. So, I was Helena, and Ashleigh was Hermia. As we were on stage, we decided that we needed some lighting to help set the tone of this scene, we used a green spot to imitate a forest scene. Ronelle told us what the personality traits of our characters were, and we were off. Hermia-Angry, harsh, violent. Helena-hurt, angry, upset, not taking the blame. Our characters were in heated argument over both Demetrius and Lysander (as Demetrius is in love with Hermia, and Helena love’s Demetrius).

As we continously ran through this short script, we began to become familiar with the prounciation of the words, and we both became more fluent and clear, which left us concentrating on the tone of voice desired to convey the traits of our characters. Also, we slowly added movements to the scene, for example, Hermia circled me to try and intimidate me, portraying her anger. I walked towards Demetrius and Lysander (imaginery characters on stage) to try and plead my case to them to prove that I was the victim in this situation. As we continued to run through this scene, I understood more about Shakespeare’s meanings through his words and purpose of the extract. This will definately help me add to my development as an actor during my TPPP.

Next, I was the director of a scene from Henrik Ibsen’s ‘Ghosts’. The scene took place in Mrs. Alving’s house, were Mrs. Alving and a young girl, Regina, were discussing Regina’s newly found job. After reading this extract many times, it became apparent of what was the true intention of each character. To place this in context, Regina was leaving the Alving household to go work in a prostitute house. Mrs. Alving was trying to urge her not to, stating that it would ‘be the ruin of her’. However, Regina pressed on, stating that she didn’t care about trivial matters such as those, and that she is a young lady full of life and this experience would only add to her life, not take anything away.

I asked Ashleigh to be Mrs. Alving and Ronelle to be Regina. I firstly commented that Regina was a carefree, naive, reckless girl who was determined to leave, regardless of what anyone said. I told Ashleigh that Mrs. Alving’s was a character who was caring, knowledgable and causious, trying to warn Regina of her impending downfall. I was interested to see how these personality traits influenced their characters.

Well the first time it was run through, many ideas and spots for improvement became evident! I was interested in Ashleigh aiming for a lower register, as she sounded more like Ashleigh and less like Mrs. Alving, and I was interested in Ronelle to achieve a higher register, and not sound as sophisticated and aristocratic, as she was the younger and less wise of the two! Ms. Flood added a comment-that they should sit down. I thought this was a great idea as Ronelle’s childish, immature behaviour could shine through here, and Ashleigh’s still, knowledgable stature could also be present. And it was! Ronelle swung her legs around like a 8 year-old would do, and Ashleigh was very still and stern, just like her character’s personality. Through more run’s of this, we added in movements to heighten the activity present in the scene. For example, I had Ronelle go and put on her shoal and look at herself in the mirror, further reinforcing the concept that she is shallow, young and naive. I also had Mrs. Alving move forward and take Regina’s hand when offering her a place to stay if ever she should need it, and Regina rejecting Mrs. Alving’s hand, showing that she is reckless and careless.

This experience of directing has really added to my concept of directorial ideas. I can use this knowledge gained here in my TPPP, and my PPP which is beginning on Monday! I am excited to see the range of stimuli given to us by the IB! I really hope it will evoke me to think of many whacky, conceptual ideas for my PPP!!

~ by kateibtheatre on May 20, 2009.