Character Building: Olga Three Sisters - Using Uta Hagen's 6 questions

Practitioner Profile: Constantin Stanislavski

·         D.O.B: 17^th January 1863

·         D.O.D: 7^th August 1938 (Aged 75)

·         Role in theatre: Actor, theatre director, theatre theorist   

      During his life Stanislavski dedicated himself to developing a system of acting to better himself as an actor. He did this by observing himself and other performers, whilst on and off the stage.

 j    

 j   ‘ Stanislavski's 'system' is a systematic approach to training actors. Areas of study include concentration, voice, physical skills, emotional memory, observation, and dramatic analysis. Stanislavski's goal was to find a universally applicable approach that could be of service to all actors. Yet he said of his system: "Create your own method. Don't depend slavishly on mine. Make up something that will work for you! But keep breaking traditions, I beg you."

Many actors routinely identify his system with the American Method, although the latter's exclusively psychological techniques contrast sharply with Stanislavski's multivariant, holistic and psychophysical approach, which explores character and action both from the 'inside out' and the 'outside in.’

Psychophysiology is the scientific study of the relation between the physical and the psychological/emotional. Stanislavski used the psychophysical approach to explore and expand upon the general philosophy behind the naturalism popular in the theatre of his day: in layman’s terms, the idea that man’s life is defined and shaped by his social and physical environment.

The point of the system for the actor is to help enable them to expose the ‘hidden aspects of relationships between people and revealing the repressed elements of everyday life.  The ultimate goal was for each actor to “live” his or her part without falling into the trap of complete belief in the character being portrayed.’(Jenny Marlowe Love Acting)

Whilst Stanislavski strongly believed that actors should be able to demonstrate the emotions and physicality of a character, there should always be a mental and emotional detachment between character and actor.

During rehearsals he and his actors would sit down and read the text and make notes about the play and break it down into psychological units:

Objective (also called the Super-Objective): The final, over-all goal that a character wants to achieve (this might be worded as, “What do I want?” or “What is my purpose?”)

Obstacles: Things that will prevent or complicate the achievement of a character’s objective.

Tools or Methods (this aspect goes by many names): The means a character will use to overcome obstacles and achieve his objective.

Units and Bits: Smaller objectives and methods which build towards the larger goal.  An entire sequence of bits might make up a unit, and there may in turn be several units in service of the final objective.

Actions: Mini-objectives for each line, or sometimes even each part of a line.  These are usually identified in verb form, and can be extremely specific (for example, to flatter, to cajole, to soothe).

LO 3.2 It is the above techniques with a combination of Uta Hagen’s questions regarding character circumstances that I wish to use to rehearse and develop my acting skills as a whole and for my Character Olga in Three Sisters.

Bibliography 

Online article, Marlowe Jenny, http://www.loveacting.com/stanislavski.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantin_Stanislavski#Stanislavski.27s_system

http://www.biography.com/people/constantin-stanislavski-9492018?page=2

https://www.theatrefolk.com/spotlights/the-stanislavsky-system

Three Sisters: Annotated Script

LO 1.1/1.2 An example of my annotated script for Three Sisters, I believe when preparing a role or during rehearsals it is appropriate to mark on your script; in my case I highlight and I question things about the character I would like to find out later, or explore suggestions my peers/fellow actors have said to me during rehearsals which I could use to improve my character. I don't just annotate my own lines I believe you should consider the other characters and your relationship/interactions with them.

At the moment Olga's main interaction is with Irina, the youngest of the three sisters, I can sense a lot of tension; at this present moment it time I'm playing it that this is due to jealousy Olga feels towards Irina's youth and freedom; whilst feelings like she has to take on the parenting role to look after her.

The fact Olga is a teacher is giving me the impression that she blurs the lines of home and school, she takes her authority home with her, and this is suppressing to Irina.

NLP: Seminar With Paul

 Lesson with Paul:

Tuesday 13^th November 2012

NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) has been brought up quite frequently by Paul, in all honesty I have never heard of the term before, and upon primary research I could not see how it linked in with drama.  

LO 3.1 But as I read on and I saw that NLP was all about how to ‘actively use your mind and your emotions and your body to run your own life more successfully and to communicate with other people with 'extraordinary' effectiveness’. I realised these are all the qualities a good actor needs, they need to be in touch with who they are mentally and physically so their quirks don’t rub off on the characters they play.

 For me as an individual and actor getting more skilled in NLP is appealing because it will enable me to:

• v  Do whatever I already do reasonably well, even better (who doesn’t want that?)
• v  Acquire skills and attitudes to do what I cannot do right now, but would like to be able to do
• v  Think more clearly
• v  Communicate more effectively with others
• v  Manage my thoughts, moods and behaviours more effectively.

                                                                              (How I wish to be as an individual)

 During this morning’s session Paul lead the class through a light NPL activity in which you are directed through a dream sequence of your own creation; but you are asked to do things such as follow the people within the dream or build rooms and think about the exact colour objects are.

 The entire class was asked to lie in a supine position, close their eyes and try to relax as much as a possible, relaxation is important for an actor because a ‘A tense mind is one that will hold you back and keep you on the "safe" road’ (Prior Aphter); I believe this is very true especially when I recall moments when I had been tense on stage and those tense moments have caused me to forget about submerging myself into the character.

 Instead I concentrated on my own nerves and urgency to recall my lines not live in the moment like it was all happening new to my character.

 After achieving a relaxed state I closed my eyes and listened to the first prompt, “you are laying on a beach somewhere, starring up at the blue sky”. This may not sound like such a hard thing to visualise however the ‘external event’ for us was a cold winter morning in a cold room where the air vent couldn’t be turned off. I now realise this is a form of NLP where you must combat external events and distort/change or create an internal event.

 I was so absorbed within the dream that despite the cold weather I felt myself getting warmer, I think this is a great result because as an actor I can use this tool in future to immerse myself in the world of any character I’m playing and forget about external factors; it will be especially good for ‘Three Sisters’ because I have to imagine myself in there world, amongst their furniture and ornaments in a totally different time period.

During the activity we were lead through to other destinations within the world be had mentally created, and we were asked to follow a character. The dream was very vivid it felt like a panoramic HD film and I remember following a little girl in a red dress with long black hair to her home, we were asked to look into their eyes; I remember feeling a state of utter calmness coming from the little girl, this juxtaposed with how I thought she would feel, as a little girl being all alone. 

This taught me a valuable lesson as an actor, I may assume something about a character but eventually they may morph and grow from assumption.

Bibliography

Aphter Prior, Mar 15 2012 , Online article : http://voices.yahoo.com/film-acting-importance-mental-relaxation-to-11102850.html?cat=40  (Accessed 13/11/2012)

http://www.nlp-now.co.uk/nlp-what.htm

http://mysuccessfullife.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/tagcloud-300x191.jpg Image URL

Acting Unit 10 : Three Sisters

An Actor Prepares

 LO 1.1 For me the first thing I do when I receive a character in a scripted piece is to read the text, this may sound like a obvious conclusion, how else would I fulfil my role as an actor if I do not know the words?

But I believe there are many ways to read, there is the commonly known sight and skim reading, for me when I receive a script I must skim read it and get to the end as fast as possible (there are exceptions to this rule however), I do this because I do not want to get absorbed in the plot of the narrative that is the job of the audience in a realistic or naturalistic play. 

What I want to get absorbed in is the objectives and subplot of what is being said by and to my character and looking at the relationships of the characters to each other. I do this on a second reading of the text (which normally happens right after the initial reading) in which I take more time to read and look at syntax; I do this because the way the playwright, in this case Anton P Chekov, places certain words are like clues to the actor about an underlying issues for e.g “I remember when they carried father out, the band was playing, at the cemetery they fired shots in his honour [...] but even so not many people came to the funeral.” This was said by Olga, the character I’m playing, in the opening scene: straight away this let me into the world of the character and has me thinking about the influence that father would have had over my character as a person.

1.      He was ‘general and commanding officer of a brigade’ the military background made me think of regimental behaviour that was taken into the home life, so he would have wanted order at home, did that mean Olga and her siblings had to be quite as children, did she loath him and love him at the same time?

2.      Did the lack of such a strong presence in her life make her feel weak and lacking in direction because she no longer had an outside source to tell her what to do?

3.      Why if ‘father’ was so highly esteemed did hardly no one turn up to the funeral and why is Olga making excuse “but of course there was heavy rain and snow” is she making excuses for herself or Irina and Masha as they are in the room listening to her.

4.      Although there are many questions rose for me I already have an idea of how I want to deliver that line, “but of course there was heavy rain and snow”, I can feel sarcasm and bitterness ebbing from the words, that is my subplot but my objective is to sound reassuring for the sake of my sisters. I believe Olga is bitter towards the people who didn’t turn up to the funeral but realising what she had said she didn’t want to make her sisters upset so she tries to make it sound flippant but my subplot is creating an obstacle that makes what I’m saying sound sarcastic.



Bibliography

Three Sisters , Chekov P Anton, Ledger R Gerald translation, 1998, Script

Acting: Introduction to Three Sisters, Paul

Tuesday 6^th November

Acting: Paul

In the morning session Paul introduced us to the play that we would be working on this term, ‘Three Sisters’, by Anton P. Chekhov.

The play is set in Russia and the characters are all Russian, it was published in 1900 and performed in 1901, it is said that Chekhov was (possibly) inspired by the Bronte sisters when he wrote this play. Having read the play I can see how this could be true, the talent all three sister possess with language and education and a yearning for life is relatable with the Bronte’s and their misfortunes.

We will be working with the first act of the play, the class was separated into two groups and we were assigned roles by Paul. The splitting of the groups is a productive idea because our class size is bigger than the characters cast list, smaller groups means everyone has a part to work with that they can develop.

The character I have been assigned is Olga, the eldest of the three sisters, she is 28 years old; she is the matriarch figure of the family since their father died “exactly a year ago, on the fifth of May”.

I am glad to be playing Olga because I think it will be a challenging role and because she is a complete juxtaposition to me as a person. When developing her I will have to consider her relationship with her siblings, the line between parent and sister will get blurred thus I think conflict will arise in her interactions with them, due to herself imposed authority.

 

First Voice Seminar: Ellie

Wednesday 31^st October

Lesson by Ellie: Voice

To begin today’s session Ellie lead the class in a vocal warm up in which we repeated the phrases “Bunny Bunny, tikiki and ooha” .

“Bunny Bunny” Was said if you where the person pointed at in the middle, you would then have to do bunny ears, people on either side of the individual in the middle would then progress to say “tikiki” whilst the mass group would do a gesture and say “ooha”.  The purpose for this activity, I believe, was to gently ease us into the topic of voice in a creative and fun way, whilst warming up or vocals chords; and making our ensemble concentrate, due to the games nature being one of speed and group participation we all needed to be focused.

This activity was followed by another basic warm up that focused on alleviating tension in the body. We lied on the floor in a supine position (flat back legs on the floor) and also in a half supine (knees pointed up feet flat on the floor).  Whilst in these positions we did stretches to loosen the rib cage to allow for easier intercostal breathing.

Intercostal breathing is breathing into and filling the top third of the lungs, as in clavicular breathing, and then continuing to breathe into the middle part of the lungs.

Intercostal (“between the ribs”) breathing is accomplished by pulling up the clavicle, shoulders and torso, and then expanding the chest wall and ribs.

Intercostal breathing is useful for a performer because it allows for deeper breath inhalation which doesn’t stress the throat muscles. For a performer having to do a long monologue this technique would help pace the speech and help them carry the voice on the breath without tiring their voice too much.

This technique is also great for a performer’s posture, as we have to stand up straight to allow the technique to work properly, posture significantly helps a performers presence on stage, because it is a symbol of their character’s status.

The quote of the lesson for me, “voice is completely different from speech, it is a noise carried on the breath” helped me to clarify the difference in my head and allowed me to go home an d research.

What I realised is voice and breath are independent factors, breath can function independently but the quality on the voice is affected by the quality on the breath. Voice needs breath to carry and support it.

 

Diagram depicting what happens during intercostal breathing.

Bibliography

Author/s	Year	Title	Edition (if not 1st)	Location Where published	publisher
Ellie Darvill         2012                      Verbal quote: “ voice is completely different from speech, it is a noise carried on the breath.” http://www.sharecare.com/question/what-is-intercostal-breathing (Accessed 31 Oct 2012) http://www.ehow.com/facts_7469579_intercostal-breathing-useful-performer_.html (Accessed 31 Oct 2012) http://g09respirationr3a.wikispaces.com/file/view/sports-training-diaphragm-breathing1.jpg/337689418/sports-training-diaphragm-breathing1.jpg (Accessed 31 Oct 2012)

Evaluation: The Risk 4.2

This evaluation is both self-analysis, feedback received by peers (and audience) and lectures.

Unit 28: Development of Acting Skills

LO 2.2 – Personally I believe that I used minimal acting skills in this role, yes I was a character but because I was a narrator I felt I was simply telling a story at points, I didn’t really have any objectives or subjective to work with. This is mainly because my character was improvised.

 There was no depth to the character more just a facilitator which didn’t leave me room to explore or create anything with her, but helped the flow of the piece. When it came to feedback and watching the performance on video; then I got ideas for an emerging character which could be developed.

If there were to be another performance of this play then I could have made my character The Narrator, an astral projection of “Ziggy”; the mentioned friend/real person spoken about in The Speakers speech.

After Ziggy’s failed suicide attempt she has been left “brain dead”, now that I have time to think about her more, I like the thought of her being a character that wonders off in her mind and manifest out her body trying to help people like her.

If I had thought of this before then I could have built a narrator who had the objective to make the audience want to help and get more involved, I also think I would have created supreme objective of urgency because she could see what direction was heading in. I think this could have helped me developed as an actor thinking about factors behind why my character wants to save others and how she could. And I believe it would have helped the overall performance because it could have created a more “character driven narrative”. 

Unit 29: Devising Performance

 

LO 1.1 Devised performances are used by well established companies such as complicite to produce new an innotative drama pieces that incorperate multimedia or to see ways of creating plays with a differenct perspective. Devising drama as an esemble I believe helps the cohort to bond and have an ownership towards the piece because they've all had an input in the direction the play is headed.
LO 1.2 A range of techniques used by companies to devise a performances is by producing stimuli for the cohort:

• Artefacts - Photographs, paintings, masks, props, costumes, sculptuers, art objects.
• Music
• Newspaper and magazine articles
• Poetry
• Extract of plays text
• Book extracts
• Films, TV, video stills or clips
• Live theatre performances

The company have time to play, look and experiment with the objects or text that they have. They can then use a multiple of techniques such as freeze frames and tableaux to build an image. live frozen images are like photographs, it gives time for the cohort to focus in on the shapes the body is creating and the facial reactions being produced.
LO 1.3 With my group the techniques we used were marking the moment, narration and cross cutting. We marked the moment two times in the piece and both times we did it in a literal way by highlighting the centeral actor/actors on the stage with a stop light, e.g the arguement between Chelsea and Alex: the action was frozen around them the rest of the ensemble blackedout and a spotlight on them for the arguement, we chose to mark this moment because its when his life takes a turn for the worst and we wanted the audience to think is it because of the break-up that leads him to want to take his own life? A second mark the moment in our piece is when Alex (being played by Jon) is cutting his wrist, we used music and the higlight to create tension in the piece which we hoped would play on the audiences emotions so they could empathise with the character; this is because with promenade performances the audience inhabit, not just watch, a space.

LO 4.1 My group was fortunate enough to have two opportunities to have feedback on our performance. The first time was directly after the performance, whilst the rest of the ensemble began singing Jon and Sinead gave out balloons, once the singing had ended they asked our audience “if you thought we have portrayed our piece in a sensitive and educational light then please pop your balloons”. At the time every single person popped their balloons, which I think speaks volumes and we can class that as a success. 

 

We went for that method of evaluation, because it was a risk; risk being the overall objective of the whole project, and because we wanted to do something outside the box which wasn’t the generic questionnaire. 

 During the peer evaluation session however when everyone had a chance to reflect upon that method of evaluation a resounding question we received from most people was “now the balloons are popped what have you got from that except the answer to a closed question? “

 

LO 4.2 I think one way we could make have made our evaluation method better is by having put a rolled up brief questionnaire inside the balloons or if we had had time then we should have set up a web blackboard or a physical one where people could anonymously post what they thought, how it affected them and offer more portals for help on suicide prevention in case anyone in our audience really needs that kind of help/advice. 

 

Another feedback that we got a lot was interest in the ‘Aspirations’ at the start if the play, to us the cast and creators the characters where facilitators and a means to an ends to symbolise the lack of aspiration dreams and plan for a future that our protagonist Alex had, over they aroused great curiosity in the audience and they wish for them to be “explored and developed more”.

If we were to perform this piece again we could work in making the play more “character driven” and developing those characters briefly glimpsed at the start. Companies such as Grid Iron who mainly only do sight specific performances adapt their pieces to new sites when touring their work or they adapt it to the stage. Our group had the opportunity to adapt it to the stage but we thought ours definately needed the sight for it to have the same impact, what regret is thats we didn't take the 'risk' and try to adapt it to the stage.

UNIT 73: Voice and Speech Development and Practice

 

 Once I was assigned the part of narrator and I knew that we were doing a promenade performance that would take me into a vast space outdoors I knew my voice would be my biggest tool that I would have to hone during this performance.

 LO 4.2 So I began to research how I could project my voice more powerfully to build on my previous range. I landed across a video by Anna Berstein (“How Can I Project My Voice More Powerfully”) it’s just under two minutes. The most profound thing I learned was that “your voice has no power, it is the breath that projects the voice”. This lead me to conclusion that I would have to work on my breathing control especially since I would be walking quite a distance with the audience and at one point doing a brief sprint.

LO 4.2 Knowing this I explored relaxation methods and did previous singing exercise I had been thought to retain breath for longer.  Such as counting in the air and focusing on the diaphragm. Doing exercises such as “pulling the purse string” this is where you focus on the diaphragm and clip it almost taunt whilst pushing air at the same time.

 Watching back the performance and from feedback the audience members all said they could hear me so I would consider that learning objective met, in hearing I also wonder if it was with clarity because I practiced my diction and emphasising my words.

 

Other areas I worked on was pitch and tone because I was speaking for a very long time, it was almost like a scrolling monologue so when it was appropriate I changed me tone and emotion behind the words. Such as the walk from point “B to C” when I began shouting “BECAUSE HE WANTED TO SHOW THEM HE COULD DO SOMETHING RIGHT, SOMETHING ON HIS OWN!”

I had to maintain my volume and clear voice but inflict a painful and angry tone. 

 

LO 4.2 From the audience stepping back and appearing taken aback when I did that I think that was successful. 

However because my character was emotionally limited I believed I was also vocally limited when it came the emotional I could inflict into my voice and tone; that is a failure on my part because this could have been the time that actually got to explore emotionally.

Bibliography

Web sites used:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/drama/exploring/textsrev1.shtml
http://dramaresource.com/resources/features/devising-theatre
http://www.gridiron.org.uk/CompanyBackground.aspx
http://www.scottisharts.org.uk/1/artsinscotland/drama/features/archive/themepromenade.aspx

Performance ! The Risk 4.2

Thursday 18^th October 2012 

(Video footage source) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKKeELULL1s&feature=plcp

The performance started with my character, The Narrator, I was located downstage-centre whilst the rest of the cast were positioned in a straight horizontal line behind me, spanning from upstage left to right; in rehearsals we plotted (‘blocked’) out this staging to place emphasis on what my character was saying but also to create a conscious proxemics between my character, the audience and the other characters. I was the “middle man”.

Being so close to the audience and directly addressing them, thus breaking the fourth wall further emphasised this, by breaking the fourth wall my character facilitated a dialogue between the audience and the characters. We wanted to establish this line of communication so that later they would be far more open to it when I would be addressing them solely (during the walk about) and there would be no action for them to witness.

 It was also a part of our stylistic element because we were going for a non-naturalistic play; we wanted a production that was almost like a story book with a “Once upon a time” narrative flare but with a modern twist that highlighted that ‘Suicide’ is real and far more pressing than some of us care to think about. We wanted our audience to “think this could happen to me or someone I know and what would I do?” But we also wanted to address and be sensitive to people who might be going through it, because even though we had a dictated audience that does not mean we knew their personal circumstances. 

That is why during, The Speaker’s; narrative about “My friend Ziggy” I started to hand out fliers when she addressed the audience saying “If you feel alone, speak to someone I beg you!” This was done because although our piece is to entertain our main aim was to inform and educate that there is help out there, and that it’s not always a “big thing” or event that triggers bouts of depression or suicidal thoughts. 

The fliers contained numbers to real suicide help lines and internet web pages, other real information in our play were the statistics being held up at the back by the masked characters in the midpoint of scene two. 

During the end of scene two, I instructed the audience to leave the Hexagon theatre and meet me in the foyer of The MAC; this was so I could begin the promenade element to our performance. However before that, I let the music play (“Nobody Knows by Pink”), whilst Jonathan (Jon) one of the actors playing our protagonist Alex, sat hunched over and crying due to his actions early in the scene, where he depicted of one many self-harming processes, in which he was methodically slashing away at his wrist.

I waited because; I wanted the lyrics of the song “Nobody knows, but me, that I sometimes cry” etc  to really sink in, especially after what they had just witnessed because the song was chosen to evoke a reflective/sad emotional state from our audience. And it worked because I could see and hear members of the audience crying. 

Once I met the audience in the foyer of The MAC I ushered them outside, instead of starting my narrative straight away this is because I had timed everything I had to say during my groups rehearsals and knew that is if I began too early I would run out of scripted material before I reached ‘point B’.

The moving from location to location or “A to B to C” was quite demanding on me as a performer and the play. This is because I had to keep the audience occupied with the storyline whilst detailing mundane aspects of Alex’s life “On Wednesday he watched the T.V. from dusk till dawn”, whilst having to project a great deal because we were outside in a vast space and my voice stood a risk of being lost or swallowed up. 

I believe I managed to project to the point that everyone could hear me.

The two outside locations: the bench by the fair ground and the bridge, where the other two Alex’s waited in character where also quite effective they were like still shots, images the audience could absorb and associate with the characters words. 

However I’m not sure if it was because the audience was spread out or because actors in my ensemble could not hear/project enough some cues where missed, but instead of seeing this as a negative I think it was a good thing because it allowed the actors that it happened to, to improvise their way around the miss haps. 

At the end of our performance we decided to sing the song (“Lean On Me” the Bill Withers version), this decision was made in the rehearsal period, it was a democratic vote on whether to have it or not. Personally I think it was the right song done for the right reasons. The song was there to uplift members of the audience after the emotional journey we had taken them on.

The Old Man, played by Dannel began with a verse of the song upon which the rest of the ensemble joined in and we encouraged the audience to which they joined in because it’s a well know song. I believe it helped to raise spirits which was its intent and to signal a positive end.

The end of the play is Kev’s Alex just sat still on the bridge, the thought whether he jumps or not is left up to the audience. However on looking back at the video of the performance I do not think a long enough pause was left, thus this may have gone over the audiences head. 

Rehearsals

Tuesday 16^th October and Wednesday 17^th October 2012

 These next two days were intense! The whole group was nervous and excited at the same time at the impending idea of our performance being in less than two days and for the lather day hours away.

These days where spent in stage five of the devising period, as a group we were trying to hone each other’s acting, physical and vocal skills to fit with how we envisaged the characters.

We did activities such as hot seating for all of the cast, so that we could that each actor could find a subtext for the character that they would be portraying. 

Also to help them find motivation and discover things about their character that they had not found before. 

https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=b3a07e9c31eeb32a&page=self&resid=B3A07E9C31EEB32A%21387&parid=B3A07E9C31EEB32A%21112&authkey=%21AMJV9bdfbuS9Wwk&Bpub=SDX.SkyDrive&Bsrc=SkyMail

Since my character isn't really a character in the typical sense, I'm more of a omniscient presence I did not part take in the hot seating. The way I developed in rehearsals was through improvisation and seeing what was happening in each scene, so that I could cast social commentary about it when speaking to the audience. 

I also had to practice projecting my voice without hurting my vocal chords, one way in which my group made sure I got plenty on rehearsal is that we were always outside doing as many full run through's as we possibly could. 

They stayed back a far distance to see if they could hear me from far away, most of the time they could. Another part of my performance included running at the curve towards the bridge and being a pace maker when it came to walking. These things had to be practised  we had multiple walk through's where member of the group timed the walk on their phone and how long it took our piece to be performed. 

The Risk Script

Monday/Tuesday  15/16th October 2012

Over the weekend and the last two days member of my group have sent me the gist of what they have said in certain scenes, I have worked to clarify and best phrase whilst detailing the action that would be happening in scenes.

I'm been doing breathing exercises to help with my projection, and the inflections of my voice to evoke meaning and emotion to my words.

Script (not in proper format cannot convert to blogger or create a link for)

CHARACTERS/CAST LIST

THE NARRATOR = – LEXIA TOMLINSON

ALEX – JON MA= YLING, DANNY TESTER, KEV GLOVER

CHELSEA – ZOE= HORTON

ASPIRATIONS X= 4

THE SPEAKER –= SINNEAD MADDIX

THE OLD MAN –= DANNEL BETTON

 ACT 1

SCENE 1: GRAD= UATION DAY

(The stage is in blackout, out walks the NARRATOR: spot light is pl= aced on her; behind you can see     the silhouette of the APSIRATIONS character along with ALEX and CHELSEA they all stand in horizontal line, body in neutral.)

                                                =                 NARRATOR <= /o:p>

Life= (brief pause) it’s a funny thing (smiles) one minute you think you have it all fig= ured out,

You = know where you’re going and what you’re going to do. The future is you’re oyster= .

But = what are you going to do, if it all falls through?

                (Narrator sneaks off to the wings, stage lights come up on the ASPIRATIONS.)

                                                 =                ASPIRATIONS 1 (Danny)<= /p>

I’m = going to go to ______  and study _____

                                                 =                ASPIRATIONS 2 (Kev)

I’m = going to go to ______  and study _____

     =                                                            CHELSEA

I’m = going to Oxford to study Law, I hope to be a lawyer in the future.

                                                 =                ASPIRATIONS 3 (Sinnead)

I’m = going to go to ______  and study _____

     =                                                            ALEX                     

                (Pause)

I’m = going where she goes ( looks at CHELSEA)<= /i> she’s my future.

               

                                                 =                ALL  =       

                (They laugh)

HAHA= !

                                                 =                ASPIRATIONS 4

     =            (Pulls ALEX back into the line)</= o:p>

I’m = going to go to ______  and study _____

                Joyful upbeat music begins to play.

SCENE 2: GRADUCATION PARTY

     =                                                            ALL<= /o:p>

         =        (They all begin to dance, except ALEX)=

      =                                                           ALEX

      =           (Stands in the middle of the dance floor)

 

Lights drop down, spot light comes up = on ALEX and a travelling spot light follows CHELSEA

CHELSEA walks towards ALEX.=

                                                 =                CHELSEA

Alex= , we need to talk.

     =                                                            ALEX=

O-Oh= -Okay babe, what about? 

                                                 =                CHELSEA

I ju= st don’t think this is working -

     =                                                            ALEX=

What= ’s not working? We’re perfect! Don’t do this!         

                                                 =                CHELSEA

I ha= ve to!

                                                 =                ALEX

NO, = NO YOU DON’T.      

                                                 =                CHELSEA

Yes.= You’re suffocating me you have no plans for your own future.

     =                                                            ALEX=

You’= re my future, why don’t you get that?

CHELSEA

See,= this is exactly what I mean, suffocating me! Get your own life and dreams. I’m goin= g to be a lawyer I’m going to be somebody (stress). What do you just plan to rid= e me coat tail your whole life?

     =                                                            ALEX=

Why = are you being like this?

CHELSEA

Beca= use we’re over. Done. I’m not your future. (Pause) I don’t love you anymore. (crying)=

     =                                                            ALEX=

Well= I love you, doesn’t that count/mean something?

CHELSEA

     =            (Starts to walk away/)<= /p>

     =                                                            ALEX=

                (/Grabs a hold of her wrist and pulls her around towards him.)=

                                                 =                CHELSEA

Let = go of me, let go of my hand. You’re hurting me.

                                                 =                ALEX

I’ll= never let go of you.

                (ALEX drops her wrist CHELSEA rubs her wrist, stares at ALEX.)=

     =                                                            CHELSEA

I tr= ied you know, I tried really hard to make you happy/

     =                                                            ALEX=

You = do make me happy.

CHELSEA

Obvi= ously not Alex, you’re always depressed. You’ll be okay for a while then you’ll just slump back.

I ca= n’t cope with it. You drain me. I need to live.

     =                                                            ALEX=

How = can you say that? I’ve tried as well, I can’t help who I am, you knew this before we got any deeper.

CHELSEA

I th= ought I could help, thought I could save you. I’m not enough I don’t know what you = need but it’s not me. I don’t need you. I can’t love you anymore.

     =                                                            ALEX=

Fine… GO GO ON LEAVE ME !<= /b>

END SCENE: BLACKOUT.</= p>

SCENE 2: ALEX’S BEDROOM (OR LIVING RO= OM). ALEX is sat on the computer

(ALEX is sat on the computer he is in soft light; a projection montage plays whil= st he types. Video consist of: Him checking his e-mail, lurking CHELSEA’S Face= book page, getting rejected from a job (countless jobs) then his decent into loo= king at depression to suicide videos.)

     =                  =                          

(The Aspirations are now The FACTS they walk out of the shadows and around ALEX holding the placards with information about the current suicide percentages= in the world.)

(The SPEAKER masquerading as one of The FACTS, takes of his/her (either) mask st= eps forward down-stage-left or begins to speak.)

The SPEAKER

(INSERT YOU SPEECH HERE SINNEAD)

                (Once The SPEAKER stops speaking, the music begins to play. Nobody Knows by Pink.) <= /p>

 </= o:p>

                                                 =                The NARRATOR

Ladies and gentlemen can you follow me for a narrated = period of Alex’s life these events take place over two weeks.

(The NARRATOR leads the audience out of the theatre.) </= i>

END SCENE.

 </= o:p>

 </= o:p>

SCENE 3: OUTS= IDE FOYER OF THE MAC.

                      =                                =            The NARRATOR

On S= aturday, Alex stayed in bed all day. And I mean all day. Apart from going to empty h= is bladder,

he d= id not leave his bed for anything. Not even food.

On S= unday his mother called, as she always does, he let the call go to voice mail. (Puts on mother voice) “Oh honey y= ou didn’t phone me I’m getting worried, well when you do decide to phone me I’= ve left you dinner in the oven.” That dinner was never eaten it went to the bi= ns or the dog.

On M= onday he grew tired of his own stench, but did nothing to fix it, even though the sh= ower was like right there! He still lied in bed. By now he looked a right state.=

On T= uesday the emptiness got to him, not just the one in his life but his stomach. Sure he’d drank water to sustain him as for food, he wasn’t having any of it he didn’t want to feel alive and well but today that changed. That didn’t mean= an elaborate meal, He had stale cereal with curdling milk. (Grimace)

On W= ednesday he watched the T.V. from dusk till dawn. More to drown out his own thoughts, sound of the voices coming from the box did not penetrate his brain. The im= ages where just like an endless montage blurring and combusting into each other.=

On T= hursday he really did have enough of his own stench. He took to the shower. The war= m water cascading down warmed him from the bones. It made him feel a little bit hum= an again.

On F= riday He briefly played with the idea of going out, he got as far as the front door.=

Week 2

Satu= rday He did summon the courage to stray to the park he walked around aimlessly. He = felt a brief moment of peace. Then he remembered the days of joy he spent here w= ith Chelsea. His shoulders slumped and he dragged himself back home.

Sund= ay mother rang, this time he decided to go home. Then he remembered why he did= n’t. His bother talked away at him and his father was slumped in a chair drinking himself into despair.

Mond= ay he went back on those sites…

At f= irst it was to get help with the thoughts then he got deeper and deeper. There where site telling you how you could kill yourself quick and painless.

Tues= day he wrote a letter. I like letters but I don’t think I’d like to be the person = to read those words of pain. It didn’t have a stamp. Was it to be sent or foun= d?

Wedn= esday he looked at the letter and perfected it, after all these where to be very important words. But alas the words I will not ruin for you.

Thur= sday he lurked Chelsea’s Facebook, it still hurt to see that they weren’t in a relationship together on facebook. She’d kept the pictures but there was another guy he’d noticed started popping up more and more in pictures and he was holding her too. Close he got angry, sad, depressed. He was back where = he started. If not worse.

Frid= ay was complete blackout, he played music to drown out the own voices in his head,= it wasn’t working very well.

Satu= rday came and he felt inspired to go to his old park/fair ground and just reflec= t.

(Should have arrived at bench by = now, The NARRATOR sits down next to ALEX, she then stands again and points at a passing couple then to the STATUS placard which proclaims CHELSEA’S new relationship.)

 =                                                ALEX

I didn’t have the best childhood going, always had second hand stuff fr= om the charity shop or hand me downs from the brother and sister. And there’s nothing wrong with that, I just yearned to have something to that was mine. Something new that made me happy. The old man loosing work and being a perpetual drunk didn’t help with matters. So when I found Chelsea it was perfect! (Smiles).  I thought I had it all planned out, Trav= el, see the world, propose in Paris, (awkward laugh) get married, have kids, do= it all, the sky was the limit, she told me she loved me, I was there for her when s= he needed me, cuddled her when she was sad, held her in a thunderstorm, made h= er laugh, she knows my deepest secrets, and I know hers, we would talk about absolutely anything, and now, just like that, it’s over, and for what, she = said I was her everything, what did I do wrong, what did I do so bloody wrong to deserve having my heart ripped from my chest and stamped on, as if it me Ant nothing, huh "thanks for everything but your surplus to requirements, I hate her (pause) no, I don’t , I could never hate her, I hate the fact that= I'm in love her, and nothing will mend this broken heart, (walk over to lamppost and stare at bridge) (breaking down) I can’t do this alone, there’s no way = out, I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, please don’t hate me Chels.<= /p>

END SCENE.

SCENE 4: THE WALK TO THE BRIDGE. THE BRIDGE.

       =                                                                          </= span>The NARRATOR

He’d made up his mind, this would be his last Sunday, he didn’t want to spend it with his family, besides they made him miserable enough.

Monday He looked at Chelsea’s Facebook at the pictures of her and the n= ew boyfriend, a little self-torture never hurt anybody, oh wait yeah it does!<= o:p>

The days past that blurred into one continual stream, from behind his blackout curtains he could tell when it was day from a lighter shade and wh= en it was night dark. He welcomed the night. In the dark, the voices and thoug= hts talked to him the goaded him on. Do something right for once show them you = can do something on your own. You don’t need anyone or anything.

Friday or D-day as I like to call it, Doom! He remembered a bridge he u= sed to be taken to when he was younger: he left the letter in a safe an obvious place, the kitchen table and set out to the bridge.

       =          (Points and begins to run)

LOOK GUYS! I Can see him. No don’t do it! Don’t jump!=

       =          (Arrives at the bridge, peers down over the edge into the water) <= /i>

(To the audience and Alex) <= span lang=3DEN style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-= ascii-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-lati= n; color:#333333;mso-ansi-language:EN'>It’s a long way down.

       =                                                               =            ALEX      =

I’m just so stupid, why did I do what I did? “You’re my future” (mocks self, loathingly) Argh!

                                = (And Oldman is walking along the bridg= e and spots ALEX)

       =                                                          =        =          OLDMAN

Aayyyeee what are you doing? What are you doing up there?

Stupid Graduation, I’m mean who even kn= ows what they want to do with their lives at 18? No me for sure, I don’t have a future anymore anyway. I made sure I smothered it. What was it that she sai= d?     =                                                                            =                                                 =                                                                            =                                                                            =                           CHELSEA

You’re suffocating me.

                                       =                                          ALEX

Yeah that’s it, I suffocated her, didn’t let her breath or grown made h= er everything, it seems we depressive people are like that we just have to obs= ess. But Chelsea makes that easy though she was just what I needed warm. If a pe= rson could be a home she’d be mine, now I’m homeless. And somebody else is livin= g in my house. She’s a Uni with her new fella. How could she move on so soon?!

I thought maybe if I just get the job I could prove to her that I could have my own life too, I didn’t have to ride her coat tails. But no I got rejected. Seems I’m a Fuck-up on paper as well as in real life. They didn’t even want to meet me. What’s the point of applying for other jobs to get the same result? None that’s what.

I’ve decided I’m not needed here anymore, no one is going to miss me, w= ell maybe my mom but then she’ll just have dad to concentrate on again. I can’t= go on, I’ve never felt right here anyways it’s like there’s always been a cloc= k on how long I can stay alive for, I may as well stop the stop watch myself.

I must have walked past 20 to 30 people on my way here; I may as well h= ave been invisible. One woman walked right into me, soon she’ll walk right on through.

                                       =                                          OLDMAN

Eh Eh, what do you think I am standing here for? Is it sympathy you are looking for? Because you will find none here. Look at the man in the mirror= . Look in the river at you're reflection. I see hope, I see freedom, I see life. Y= our life is much more precious than silver, gold and all the diamonds in the ea= rth. You’re young, if you wish to take your life at least give me your youth (laughs). Life is about that you k= now laughing, with people and at yourself.

Oh well I can’t wait around here all day, I best be going. (Freeze )

END SCENE.

 
                                           =                                      OLDMAN

                (Does a renditio= n of lean on me and gets the crowd that’s been watching to join in.</= span>

Sometimes in our lives
We all have pain
We all have sorrow

But if we are wise
We know that there's
Always tomorrow

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on

For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

You just call on me brother
When you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on

I just might have a problem
That you'll understand
We all need somebody to lean on

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry= on