Friday 10 May 2013

Improvisation

In our exam we will be given a short improvisation task that we have to perform with another actor. In preparation for this we made up a situation that our character might be in after our monologue takes place. We then had to explain the situation with another member of the group for one minute and then begin the improvisation. By doing this we used our imaginations and improved on our impov techniques to know what it would be like in the real audition

Like a virgin monologue-Angela



Thursday 9 May 2013

Star Spangled Girl Monologue

Sophie: Mr.Cornell, Ah have tried to be neighborly, Ah have tried to be friendly and Ah have tried to be cordial...Ah don't know what it is that you're trying to be. That first night Ah was appreciative that you carried mah trunk up the stairs...The fact that it slipped and fell five flights and smashed to pieces was not your fault...Ah didn't even mind the personal message you painted on the stairs. Ah thought it was crazy, but sorta sweet. However, things have now gone too far...Ah cannot accept gifts from a man Ah hardly know...Especially canned goods. And Ah read your little note. Ah can guess the gist of it even though Ah don't speak Italian. This has got to stop, Mr. Cornell. Ah can do very well without you leavin' little chocolate-almond Hershey bars in mah mailbox-they melted yesterday, and now Ah got three gooey letters from home with nuts in 'em-and Ah can do without you sneakin' into mah apartment after Ah go to work and paintin' mah balcony without tellin' me about it. Ah stepped out there yesterday and mah slippers are still glued to the floor. And Ah can do without you tying big bottles of eau de cologne to mah cat's tail. The poor thing kept swishin' it yesterday and nearly beat herself to death...And most of all, Ah can certainly do without you watchin' me get on the bus every day through that high-powered telescope. You got me so nervous the other day, Ah got on the wrong bus. In short, Mr. Cornell. And Ah don't want to have to say this again, leave me ay-lone!!!!

Exercises


Tension State:
We wanted to know in our monologues what every part of our body was doing and how it shows tension and different tension states. We did this by walking around the room in neutral walking into the free space. I decided to use my character of Sophie. I decided that all the tension would be in her face. this is due to her being naive and polite. So even though the tension in het face she tries not to show it. This could be shown through raised eyebrows to show her disparagement and the shock in her face.
Body Parts:
We then went on to a exercise where we got told which body part to lead with. We did this by walking around the room and being told what body part to lead with and also using characterisation. e.g. leading with chest, showing you're in power, looking down on lower class. You are maybe a king. 
I decided to use my character Angela for this. She's leading with her forehead because she's very forceful and powerful, but is also ill and unwell so it makes her look vulnerable.
Animal Characteristics:
We thought about what kind of animals our character would be. I decided that Sophie would be a mouse and Angela would be a cat. I decided this because Sophie is quite quiet and doesn't like to be mean to anybody and is quite polite. Angela is a cat because she can be nice, but also has a nasty streak to her when she wants to and cats are quite dominating and want attention.

Contrast-Suitability For an Audition

I think the two monologues are very suitable for an audition. I think this is because they are both very contrasting monologues. The first one I am performing is very serious and involves a lot of strong emotions such as hate, anger and sadness. Whereas the second monologue is comic and light hearted. This shows my versatility to be able to do different styles of drama.
Another contrast is accents. The first monologue is set in England, therefore i will have an English accent. Whereas in the other piece I will have a Southern American accent as my character is from Southern America. This shows that as an actor I am able to do different accents well.
I think these are suitable for an audition because of the age the characters are. One is 16 and the other is 24. Even though I am not 24 myself it is still close to my age and I could put myself in her shoes. And 16 is very close to my age so I can relate to some of the issues she is dealing with.
Although I have never experienced an illness such as leukaemia. I could relate to other issues close to this in order to get the right emotional effect I want to show. We also did a devised piece recently where I had to play a girl with Leukaemia, so in order to play that part I had to do a lot of research on the illness and how it effected a person, so I could use the knowledge I gained in that to perform the monologue convincingly.

Star Spangled Girl Plot

The second monologue i'm performing is from the play 'Star Spangled Girl' written by Neil Simon. I will be playing the role of Sophie who is 24 years old.

Sophie is an ex olympic swimmer who moves from Southern America to Northern America next door to two men, Norman and Andy. Norman fall madly in love with Sophie and invites her to write for their failing newspaper. Sophie then falls in love with Andy creating a complicated love triangle which tests the newspaper and the mens friendship.

Like a Virgin Plot

The First monologue i'm performing is from the play 'like a virgin' by Gordon Steel. I will be playing the role of Angela who is 16 years old.

The play follows the lives of two teenage girls, Maxine and Angela. Who are both in love with Madonna and are quite reckless and herself and Maxine get in to trouble a lot at school. Maxine wants it to be the same like it did in the old days before Angela had leukaemia, but Angela doesn't feel the same. She already has to deal with her parents break up. But now has to live with this new illness.

Character Profile-Star Spangled Girl

Sophie

  • 24 years old 
  • From Southern America 
  • Ex olympic swimmer
  • moves to North America
  • Innocent and polite manners  

Like a Virgin-Character Profile

Angela

  • 16 years old
  • Loves Madonna
  • Reckless and a trouble maker at school
  • Mum and dad have broken up
  • Is diagnosed with leukaemia during the play
  • Stereotypical teenage girl, during most of the play.