Lesson 5

Todays rehearsal was successful in the sense that everyone was finally off book and so were able to commit to their character and perform to a higher standard. I really want to work on making our scene less static, I will have to do this by perhaps imagining that there is an elastic band between Konstantin and Sorin so that we are able to balance the space but also have moments of closeness where support can be given. Although, I do like it to a certain extent because it represents Konstantin's and Sorin's closeness and the confidence he has in himself when around his Uncle. As nice as what the closeness and staticness may be symbolistic to me, I still need to make good use of the space without losing Konstantin's and Sorin's connection and bond.

One thing I have been struggling to do is use Stanislavski's system completely in the sense that I often lose my objective out of habit and therefore go completely against his teachings. I am able to understand both what my objectives are and how to deliver my lines but when merging both those things together they don't mix together very well. Therefore in order to develop as an actress, I need to work on nailing my objectives every time.

We then went onto doing a run through in The Space.  The run through started off with my group's scene and to be honest our performance was embarrassing. It was the second time performing in front of everyone and so obviously we were all very nervous, then there was trying to remember our objectives and actions as well as our lines. I for instance, didn't cope very well when being stopped and asked for my action spontaneously, instead I panicked and then throughout the scene I was too busy trying to think about my actions that I started to forget my lines. Our scene then had to be changed around a bit and instead of Sorin and Konstantin noticing Masha and Medvedenko later in the scene, we see them from the start and so our actions had to change. I wasn't very good at simultaneously coming up with my new actions on the spot which is perhaps something I should work on but isn't necessarily a downfall.

Our director told us that our scene was quite bland at times which was such a shame after the hard work we'd put into it. He then got a group that were doing the same scene as us to perform so that we could watch and get a better understanding of the scene. After watching the performance I feel as though I now understand some of our criticism. For example, although the play is naturalist, it still isn't today's modern version of naturalistic. I knew this of course but it completely slipped my mind when getting up and performing. Therefore my personal downfall would probably be underacting. I will work on upping my game and perhaps be a bit more literal which should bring with it more confidence to explore the space and a better delivery of lines. I will go over the mechanics of breathing to also help with the delivery of my lines and will remember that any moments of silence in the scene need to be deserved and truthful.. My response to the space should come across opinionated, strong and in a way that intrigues the audience.