20.01.15

As I have been learning my lines, I have also been watching my first scene, ACT 1 SCENE 5 on Youtube and have developed a stronger character analysis of Viola. I really like this scene as it is comical, flirtatious and daring. Viola seems very confident in her ability to woo Olivia for Orsino and takes no shame in pushing Olivia. She also does seem to flirt innocently with Olivia, but I do not think she realises that Olivia has taken a liking to her.
I really like the banter between the two and I am definitely going to show Sav this video and express that we should maintain the playful sides to both characters. Together we could make this scene very funny and light hearted, and I feel this video has inspired me. I usually play quite serious and grounded characters, but this is a complete change for me as Viola is very playful and witty,and is not very serious throughout the play. I really like the way Viola is trying desperately to get everyone out of the room so she can be alone with Olivia, and I am going to portray this in my scene as well. We have not rehearsed our scene with Sophie who is playing Maria, as she only has 1 line, but when we do I will show Sophie this video as well so she can get a feel as to how her character should be reacting to Viola, as she is clearly not comfortable or happy with  Viola's demands and interests towards Olivia.
Sav and I have developed our own interpretation of this scene, and we both feel that the two characters should not come too close to each other, as the status is an issue for these characters, but clearly you can see in this video the characters come very close together when talking, but I am not so sure of this. As I feel the way Sav and I have rehearsed it has made it more comical which is the style we have chosen to go for, as we want to portray to the audience that Viola is slightly uncomfortable around Olivia, and especially towards the end of the scene when Sav begins to circle me, asking questions and coming into closer contact with me, I feel it works better if Viola is more stand offish, but I really like how cheeky she is as she begins her speech, and I will use this style as well, but in my own way. So far I feel I have a good understanding of Viola and she is growing on me all the time, Sav and I need to rehearse this scene more, and once we are off script,it will become so much easier to block the scene and to really play around with the characters and the different ways we could do this scene.