3/6/19 - Journal #8 The week before, I spent my time working on the last finishing touches of my solo project and prepared for the actual performance. The first session, I practiced on making sure there was no pause between the end of an interruption and going back into the song. As I was struggling with this, it was suggested to me by a peer that when talking during a stop, I begin thinking about what the next lyrics of the song would be. This greatly helped the situation, and made it also easier to tap into what was going to happen and how I wanted to portray the character's feelings. The next time we met, I made the final changes to the piece. One of the final developments that took place was in the practice session before the actual performance in which I had received feedback that the specific stops needed to be shown more explicitly somehow. Before I had thought about changing my body language and positioning by possibly facing my torso to face the audience when in the stop, and then move back to be facing “Jamie” when singing. We instead decided to completely change the lighting to cool tones during the stops and angled the bench so that when singing I was more facing the audience by looking at “Jamie,” and then during the stops I could break away from that positioning. This worked much better and made the change between stop and song very noticeable and trackable for the audience. After this, I spent time rehearsing and rehearsing the piece, making sure that I felt prepared and steady in what I was needing to do. One thing that I noticed during this time was how different each practice was not only for me, but also for my peers as the audience. Even a slight voice infection changed the entire meaning of the line, and because of it being live theatre, this really varied from practice to practice.
2/26/19 - Journal #7 This last week, I had one session working on my solo project, but was able to get constructive feedback from peers, and work on areas that very much needed it. Being in the actual space, my peer mentor and I were able to figure out the lighting and spacing. We talked about wanting the lighting to be very natural and simple. While trying out a few different options, one felt too sterile, as the light was a cool tone, and others weren't enough focused on the center of the stage where the bench is to be. Once we were able to find one that worked, we turned towards practicing and getting the stops down. After going through the whole piece once with not only the stops, but also the stops being controlled by someone else, I felt much better about it as a whole. Keeping in mind the purpose of the stops in jolting the audience, and in other words, feel inorganic, I still have been, struggling with feeling that the stops are too inorganic and offsetting. However, having reassurance from another human being was great to keep myself on track. Towards the middle of the piece, the pace of the song speeds up, and the text does the same while the emotional feeling heightens and intensifies. I initially struggled finding a place to put in a stop throughout this, and had decided to not, but after feedback, I was able to put in one. After my thinking from the week before, I continued to think about how the character, Cathy, and her emotions change over the course of the song, and after talking with some of the my other peers, I started working on how the stops could not only show Brecht's theory, but also better show the character and her inner thoughts. In the upcoming week, I will need to spend time gathering more feedback and working more on the timing of the stops, as even though they were fine, I felt it difficult to get back into the song once it was paused.
2/11/19 - Journal #6 This past week, I was not in class, as I had college audition appointments to attend in Chicago, however I found myself thinking quite a bit about my piece along the way. As I had a long delay the day I was leaving, I had time to think and go over the piece in my head, and began getting back into the momentum of thinking about the performance next week. I revisited the options I had come up with for a costume, and was able to zero in on three. I also spent time thinking about the script itself and the interruptions. I began editing once again, and was thinking more about the character, Cathy, and her emotional arch and feelings throughout. Once I was in Chicago, I was around all the nervous energy and pent up feelings that seemed to ooze from the hotel, and I immediately thought about the work I had done the previous week, and the feedback I had received from a peer. I began thinking about the interruptions in the piece, and how I was going to show Cathy's nerves and feelings throughout the song. As the week went on, my feelings, and the energy in the hotel and around me began to shift as the attendees seemed to get more and more tired, and almost even cared less and less. This kind of change, reminded me of the overall emotional arch of Cathy, and how I was going to show this, with and without the interruptions. Finding the balance between staying true to Brecht and his alienation and interruptions, and yet at the same time sharing this cohesive storyline with the audience was and is becoming more and more of a challenge, and in the week, I would like to work with my peer mentor and practice over and over again the song as a whole with all of the technical elements running, and each of the interruptions.
2/5/19 - Journal #5 This week in working on my solo theatre project, I spent the majority of my time working in the actual performance space, and getting feedback from others. The first session, I worked alone, figuring out how I was going to use the actual space. I spent time thinking about if I wanted a bench to represent the pier (the setting of the song,) or a chair, or something completely different. I had only practiced with a chair before, and after trying a bench, I felt that this worked better. I also spent time this session thinking about my costume. As there is a line in the song that mentions her wearing a sweater, I began racking my brain on whether or not I should wear jeans and a sweater, a dress, and a sweater, etc. After this, I have a few options to zero in on, and will return to finalize this in the next week or so. Although these little details may not seem very important, I also feel that in general, details are very important to make a piece, and I feel more solid that these have begun to be addressed. The next session, I spent working with a peer, who was able to give me feedback, and talk about the piece. One of the main things that we talked about was even though they are meant to jolt the audience and be abrupt, some of the interruptions were so abrupt that they needed to be incorporated more seamlessly. This then lead me to go back to the drawing board so to speak, and think about how I could truly show the character, Cathy, through each interruption. No longer thinking about it as simply a way of interrupting the story arch of the song, but rather as a way to pause, and show the character, her inner thoughts, and her inner feelings. I feel better going into the next week, having more of an idea of how the actual performance will be, and hearing thoughts and getting feedback from another person.
1/30/19 - Journal #4 Last week I spent the session I had working in the actual interruptions into the piece, and the "script." As the text I am using is not only a song, but one that has its own arch and story in it, I struggled on how to write in the interruptions and on how I wanted the character to be. I looked at having each interruption begin to add to the ramping up of the situation and "conversation," but felt that this took away from the actual lyrics themselves, and often times was too redundant. I then began adding in little unsureness, and her own thoughts regarding how Jamie, her husband, sees her, and how what she is saying will be perceived. This better aligned with the overall feeling, impact, how I want the audience to feel, what I want them to feel, and how I can achieve this, that I had been thinking about. While I had thought about wanting to make the audience uncomfortable, or realize and remember that they are watching theatre, I have since then developed this to be more that I want the audience to be engaged in the piece and engrossed in the story, only to be jolted out of this every time there is an interruption. This would constantly "interrupt" their emotional connection and perception of not only the story, but also the character, and her being. At the beginning of the next week, I focused more and more on my intended impact on the audience. It was difficult for me to synthesize the impact of having the audience feel jolted every time an interruption takes place, and yet at the same time, follow along with the story arch, and the scene that is created. Putting the piece on its feet for the first time as well, I noticed when I went to actually try incorporating the interruptions, and remembering all the little nuances and moments I had been planning was surprisingly more nerve-racking and than I had expected. I spent multiple sessions thinking about how I could do this, and truly encapsulate Brecht and the piece, but it became apparent that this couldn't be done until I physically tried it out. Being such an intense at times song, "See I'm Smiling" has its own storyline that is difficult to break up or rather stop, and wanting the audience to both be engrossed in the story and jolted is hard to do. As I continue in the week, I'm going to look more at how I can keep the intensity and stay true to the text, and at the same time incorporate more Brecht into my interpretation.
12/18/18 - Journal #3 This week while diving further into Brecht, and his theory of alienation, I felt that I was able to begin to see my solo project take form. Logically I continuously reminded myself to not put the horse before the cart, and stay within the process, however when looking at aspects and specifics of not only Brecht and his theory as a whole, but also specific aspects of alienation, I became engulfed in the idea of interruptions. Essentially taking something such as a monologue, a dialogue, or a song that flows together and then abruptly interrupting it, jolts the audience back into the theatre space. This acts as another way of achieving alienation, and I would love to pursue using this in my piece. As I initially was hooked on the idea of taking a song, and directly addressing the audience throughout, either while during the song itself, or in a monologue-like segment in the beginning or end, I am now looking at incorporating an interruption in the song that would allow me to do this. When discussing this with others, they mentioned using a song that people would not expect an interruption in. Something such as a golden age musical theatre song, that would tell a bit of a story, so the audience could get involved with the character, and then subsequently have that bond broken. Another aspect that I worked on this week, was learning more about Brecht as a theatre practitioner and playwright. In looking at alienation, I read bits and pieces of "Caucasian Chalk Circle," which actually gave me a good feeling about Brecht and his work. It was easy to see how alienation could be applied and used throughout his own writing and play, and now what I am turning my focus to, is figuring out how to apply this to another completely different piece.
12/10/18 - Journal #2 This past Thursday, I spent time honing in on which theorist I would use for my solo piece, and began research into said theorist. I began by looking more into Stanislavski, and method acting. Even in looking and loving the concept of truly becoming the character or finding similarities and such with the character and using that to build your interpretation of the character, my mind continuously wondered back to the idea of Brecht and alienation. This distractedness finally prompted me to take a step back and look more in depth at Brecht. Taking the idea of alienation, or the method of subconsciously or consciously reminding the audience that they are in the theatre, either through asides that characters may have to the audience, through other dialogue that directly breaks the fourth wall, or through the usage of music, I became hooked. Loving music, and specifically when music and theatre intersect, whether that be in the form of specifically musical theatre, or music being incorporated into straight plays or any other kind of theatre, I love the emotional connection and ability to evoke a raw reaction from the audience. This then led me into a need to pursue the usage of music as a way of alienating the audience. After deciding upon Brecht as my theorist, I spent time looking for sources to be used. I initially was looking at many online sources, and about halfway through the class, looked for physical sources from the UW library. This opened up the sources a great deal, and by searching there, I was able to find three physical books, two that specifically focused on Brecht, the basics and more in depth specifics regarding alienation, and one book that discusses the use of music and specifically Broadway as a form of Brecht's alienation. Moving forward, I would like to investigate and simply learn more about Brecht, and then slowly shift into either finding or creating a monologue, and finding a song that would fit into the piece.
12/6/18 - Journal #1 After watching the five different videos and styles, the main piece that stood out to me was how different and in some ways, entirely changing the feel and mood of the same monologue and piece could be depending on the influence of each of the theorists. When looking specifically at Brecht, and then Artaud, there are major differences in not only the interpretation of the actual text, meaning how the actor emphasizes specific words or phrases, but also how the scene is shaped, structured, and presented to the audience. In terms of Artaud, there is this fish-bowl affect if you will that quickly becomes a barrier and way of showing the audience a specific look at Ophelia and the scene. In terms of Brecht, the scene goes on for much longer, utilizing Brecht's aspect of alienation as Ophelia breaks into song a few times. The music itself sounds similar to classic Vaudeville music, while the words do not match at all. This creates an unsettling impact on the audience, and subconsciously reminds them that this is all theatre. There are also similarities between different theorists, which result in similar interpretations, or at least similar surface interpretations. In terms of the specific theorists, I noticed that for some, the closer they were in time and age, the more similar they were. In terms of Brecht and Brook, there were obvious differences in the interpretation, however they did both follow a similar chronology of Ophelia looking at the possessions, walking over to the light, speaking, going back to the desk, and subsequently drowning herself in the water. Even though their objectives, style, and aspects are different, and the piece is very different in some ways, in others they are more alike than they could be. When looking at the Stanislavski interpretation, the second to last scene, Ophelia grabs a bottle of poison of some sort, sending a clear message to the audience of what is to come. In the Brook influenced one, she grabs rocks, symbolizing committing suicide by drowning herself. Even though these emphasis and changes are slight, the impact they have are tremendous. This makes me interested in exploring more how different theorists lend themselves to others, and specifically how the minor differences greatly impact the piece as a whole, and then the audience as a result.