Performance Log 1

D1 ( I combine the part when Sam performed with Caitlyn with the D1 together)

When Sam on the stage to do the questions, I have understanding about the setting of the character. So what things can help us to create the character, must be the personalities and the settings. During Sam talked about the setting of Juliet, I was thinking about Friar Lawrence. He is a friar but he is a little old and he loves alchemy. He does not belong to any side in the story. Our scene happens in 4.2, so the setting must be in the morning, I stood in the chamber to talk with Paris, then Juliet will come in. Next to me there is a bible and now it plays the Gloria Patri in the church. The main color in the chamber is white and it is warm. Because of Caitlyn’s presentation, I set up the church and the image of Friar Lawrence in my brain, which can help me to relate my play with the origin story. As an actor, I need to understand character deeply, so before Sam and I read the lines, I ask myself several questions and I write down. “ Who am I? Where I am, why I am here and what should I do?” So with these questions, me and Sam began to read the lines.  After we finish reading about the lines. we were silent for a while because we were creating the image of our characters in our mind. Like when Juliet used knife to threat Friar, was she desperate or angry? Was Friar Lawrence angry or afraid about the threaten? These things we needed to consider from the point of the character. What I changed is about the costume of the Juliet, I talked with Sam about the costume and the movement. Sam agreed with me that we will begin in the stage SL and gradually move to the center of the stage. But she thought Juliet should not wear white because eve it can give the audience an image about how innocent is she, but Sam thought dark red was more suit for that Juliet, because she wanted to do something for her husband but she had no power and her family left her, it is very appropriate to use red describing her. However, in order to make a foreshadowing, dark red is easy for audience to think about the death, the desperate, so finally she agreed about Friar Lawrence’s costume but we changed a little bit on Juliet. 

D2 

Today we tried one time about the setting of the whole play. In the before we just roughly considered about our standing position and actions we will perform on the stage. So we decided to use the door as the starting points. First I will imitate I am talking with Paris, he is a fake character in our story. In order to make the story coherence, we rearrange the lines in our performance. Also, we practiced twice times about our lines, first time we said the lines, considering about our acting in the play, which gesture we needed to use, what facial emotion we need to express on the stage. But on second time, we changed our roles, Sam spoke my lines, and she began to revise my lines about which part i need to accentuate, to stress. Also she explained for me about the whole things in Lawrence’s lines, which part is important, which part is repetitive and which part I can speak quickly and which part I need to speak slowly in order to show its importance. Then, I read Sam’s lines, I chatted with her from an audience view that which emotion I want to see and which part is bored for an audience to understand. So after this rehearsal, I changed my mind about the speaking of Friar Lawrence, he’s a very complicated character, which he is both a friar and a alchemist. So audience would want to see two different characteristics on one character, also my lines and my actions are both important for me to express my understand on him to the audience. On first sight, audience will know my role on the stage, but as the performance continues, they will began to understand my characteristics and the interactions between me and Juliet. Which memorization of lines is hard for me, but at the same time I also need to consider about the expression of emotions to audience to let them see more directly toward my character. 

D3 Friday

Today we tried to go over the whole scene, because I can remember half of the lines, so in this rehearsal Sam and I payed more attention on how the movements and actions we perform on the stage. Sam had so many good ideas, she told me that as a Friar, when he faced with a girl who was only fourteen years old, I need to show my require to her.  Also she wanted me to think some actions when she’s speaking the lines, then it can make more interactions between two characters and also it can help the audience to feel they are watching a show not just two people are acting the characters. And at the end of the class, we tried two times about our actions and movements on the stage, so Sam and I decided to memorize the lines. But today I think we achieved a lot because first today is my first day rehearsal some part without looking at the lines, so I may discover what should i act when i am speaking out the lines. Also at the same  time, when Sam is speaking the lines, I should also act on the stage rather than standing on there, an actor should show the nature on the stage rather than show them concentration on the stage, which audience would feel weird. And at the same time I discovered that when we add some interactions, like when Sam wanted to use knife to threat me and kill herself, I will step back, then this action would give audience a clear image about my personality and what is the circumstance now, but also the step back action can help to remember the lines “ hold daughter, i do spy a kind of hope, which craves as desperate an execution.” So the memorization of lines is related with the actions that actors do on the stage, this is my biggest achievement today.