We received positive feedback and on the whole the scene has improved massively from when we performed it on Friday. Mainly because we have thought very carefully about the blocking and stage positions, and most of us have become more familiar with our lines, however there all still a couple of people who are still fully on script, which needs to change as we are only 3 weeks away from our show! I am nearly there with all my lines, it is just the last few lines I need to learn, and I will set myself a target to learn these this weekend, as I feel I am much stronger and confident at the beginning and middle of the scene, as I know all my lines for this part, it is just the last section I need to learn as it is restricting me from performing 100 percent, and it feels annoying holding the script for prompts.
We ran through the scene and began by mainly focusing on the blocking, we went through it very carefully and made choices which have received very positive feedback. Our main issue was not using enough of the space and we were all slightly on top of each other throughout the whole scene, the scene itself is about 15-20 minutes long, so the blocking is very important. We now are much more spaced out around the stage, and have got the entrances and exits very sharp, we just need to keep rehearsing it and everyone needs to be off script before we can really begin to act to our best abilities.
Yunis and myself focused very hard on how our characters interact with each other from the beginning right to the end, again mainly focusing on the blocking of the characters. At the beginning we enter, and I stand staggered behind Yunis, so he is not blocking me any more, as this was a problem previously. And most of the scene I am quite close to Yunis, as Viola serves Orsino and is clearly very respectful of him. The part we have really improved is when Orsino learns from Olivia that the two of them have been together behind his back and that Olivia loves Cesario and not Orsino, Orsino becomes very angry as he feels deceived by the pair of them, particulalry Viola, who in actual fact has not done anything wrong, and she is completely confused and baffled throughout the whole scene as she receives so many accusations, which have all been because of Sebestian!
Yunis and I made the decision to try out Orsino grabbing Viola and pushing her towards Olivia, as he is explaining how he would rather kill Cesario, his boy who he loves, than to see them together, and Viola is besotted with Orsino and will do anything for him, and as Orsino pushes Viola towards Olivia after saying "Come boy with me, my thoughts are ripe in mischief, i'll sacrifice the lamb that I do love, to spite a ravens heart within a dove..." and as Yunis pushes me towards Olivia, I ran after him pleading with him to stay, portraying desperation and love "And I most jocund, apt and willingly, to do you rest, a thousands deaths would die" Viola is saying here that she will do anything to make him happy, even if it means taking her life in order to save his pride. After showing this, we received good feedback and Andy said that Yunis should be even more physical with me and throw me to the floor and walking off just before I ran after him, this would be Yunis grabbing the back of my neck, and me throwing myself forward so it seems he has thrown me to the floor. I really like this idea and we will try this out in our next rehearsal. I feel it will show just how low Viola is feeling as she has already been accused of things she has not done, but I do not think she really cares about anything else, as long as Orsino is by her side. But in this moment, she can feel Orsino slipping away from her, and you really see her grovelling for him, which portrays her love, and she inevitably reveals this to Olivia in my next lines. I think the positioning for this is really good as I am standing in between Yunis and Sav, stuck in the middle of the two characters, and I really want to portray to the audience just how hard it is for Viola, as she has found herself within this love triangle, when all she really wants is Orsino to love her for the woman she is!
I feel all the movements in this scene have been really carefully thought out and we worked well as a team to block this, and now I feel every move Viola makes is finding meaning, which was the main thing I was concerned about, as when we first rehearsed this scene, I found myself not knowing where to stand or what to do, but now I do not feel like that, I feel much more confident playing Viola as I know each move I make means something.
The ending part of the scene when Viola and Seb are finally reunited is looking really good, as myself and Chloe walk towards each other very slowly, as if both in a trance as they cannot believe their eyes! It is effective, and we stare into each other eyes, and as we come closer together, both characters become more familiar and excited to be seeing each other. We received feedback from this, and Andy added that we should both fall to our knees, and hug each other, and as Seb stands to go and speak with Olivia, I will stay on my knees and wait for Orsino to come to me, as he says "Give me thy hand, and let me see thee in thy womans weeds" and then he will pick me up from the floor and we will embrace each other.
I am really happy with today's rehearsals, it was hard work getting the blocking together, but we received good feedback which I am pleased with, and I feel we can all take it further by rehearsing over and over as a group,as this scene is very important as it where everything is revealed and the characters come together, or break apart. When everyone is off script, this is when the scene will really develop, as i find it so hard to act to my best abilities when holding the script and I am sure everyone would agree with me. My goals for next rehearsal is to be off the script completely and to develop mine and Yunis' character relationship and find moments of tenderness between the two characters.
No comments:
Post a Comment