Well, I'll highlight the moments and thoughts I consider it most pertinent or entertaining to write.
From day one of Actor's Academy I really liked our bunch. And I mean bunch. There are SO MANY OF US this year! And yes, it's weird not having certain people around. And yes, it's even weird HAVING certain people around. But the bottom line is, I like who I'm working with and could not be more grateful for the experience.
We are doing "Julius Caesar," but in modern-day form, like a senatorial election. I have undertaken the role of Titinius, who shows up in the last act of the play. This role rules for the following reasons:
1. I get to stab myself
2. In this rendition, I will be playing a reporter
And really, that's all I ask. I'm also Plebian #2 at some point... which is hilarious. The name... the name... the title this character is given is so comically insignificant, it cracks me up. Think about it. Plebian #2. A numbered character. And the character is a plebian. The lowest of the low! A small speck of dirt on the sandals of Senators and other greats like Caius Cassius and Caius Brutus. Plebian #2. This is not me making a complaint, or passive aggressively jabbing. This is me genuinely entertained by PLEBIANS! I couldn't be more stoked.
We have also begun the dreaded Callanetics... my muscles hurt! Make it stop! That Callan... she's quite a character. I would love to be her for Halloween someday, except nobody would get it. Plus, I could never sculpt my butt into the perfect peach Callan has.
The Track I's and Track II's break off at some point after lunch and are taught by separate instructors. We the Track II's are learning from an acting coach who has dedicated many years of her life to the Meisner Method. We aren't actually learning the method-- as she has specified-- but we are taking some of the ideas and applying them. I don't believe I can do the definition of the Meisner Method justice, but to scratch the surface it involves using our imagination to connect to our role/scene using scenarios we can create and respond to in our minds. Power to the imagination! Essentially. I thought this would be difficult, but I do find myself connecting. Day 2 of Academy was one hell of a trip. We aren't supposed to discuss what goes on in those sessions-- and with very good reason-- so I'm keeping this relatively vague. The emotional struggle with our projects has been something intense, but slowly I'm becoming conditioned to it... as have many others in the class. I still haven't performed my scene, so I've had the longest to prepare thus far... but that doesn't hinder my anxiety, my terror, my fear of failure and scrutiny... in due time I'll overcome these things.
Which brings me to the next thing. It's late and I don't feel like explaining what an acting clown is seeing as most of the people who are still reading at this point are all people who have done AA, but basically it is a bad habit you have on stage when you act. Some people keep their arms pinned, some shuffle, some make claws with their hands... and we are forced to exercise these bad habits so much that we come to hate them and never want to do them again. My clown isn't something very tangible, like the examples I have provided. It's psychological. I don't have bodily clowns. I have psychological, freaky clowns. My clown is to not act on my instincts. I hold back and keep myself from doing what my gut tells me to. This is TORTURE. Going against what I think or what I know I SHOULD do is the worst feeling. I just want to shake it off and get my objective DONE! But I can't do that. I was near tears today, playing dodgeball and constantly reminding myself to not avoid being hit. Or to attempt to silently convey a message to someone but then catch myself and know I can't say what I want to say. I felt literally sick to my stomach. And coming out of that clown was the most amazing, liberating sensation. I wanted to run around and hug everyone.
Unrelated Business:
1. My friend invited me and some other friends over to her house last night for dinner. Her family-- all Korean-- was having a big party and there was tons of homemade food. I tried some new stuff last night; everything was exotic (and just borderlining freaky if you took a step back). The food was delicious, regardless. Well, mostly. I tried Korean Water Snail (I'm not joking), and surprisingly it wasn't terrible... just not something I would necessarily heap on my plate. It tasted kind of like calamari, but with a bizarre after taste.
Tasty, AND adorable!
2. The same friend is a fellow actor, and studying at NYU. She has amassed all sorts of theatre-related reading material and I was having a field day perusing it last night. She gave me a couple plays to read, and they all look intriguing. Tonight, I blew through "The Goat," or, "Who is Sylvia?" by Edward Albee. It was on Broadway at some point, which I did not know. Intriguing stuff. My heart was pounding the entire time. The rage and confusion... this futile feeling that these people who all loved one another will never understand each other, and will never live a perfect life ever again... it fills you up as you're reading until the exact thing you want to say in that moment becomes the next line in the script. A good read for those unwavered by taboo subjects, namely, [SPOILER] bestiality, incest, molestation... to name a few.
Next on my reading list is "Pterodactyls" by Nicky Silver. It is 'absurdist black comedy', which is one of my favorite theate genres, so I'm really looking forward to this one. It has substantially more bulk than "The Goat," so I gauge it'll take a lot longer to read. Bring it owwwwwwn.
No comments:
Post a Comment