ACTING 1
Stanislavski
Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski
Константин Сергеевич Станиславский
1863-1938 Moscow
Stanislavski was a Russian actor and theatre director who's life goal became to show naturalism and realism on stage and make the performance believable by concentrating on the characters feelings as motives. His techniques are still used today and even though they might have been reformed and renewed, they are still the base and holding pillar of most plays.
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Emotional Memory – Actors recall personal experiences where they felt similar to their character to evoke genuine emotions in their performance. For example, instead of just trying to be sad, they can think of a loss of their loved one in details, recalling the noise, smells, colours they experienced to create a vivid memory, which will naturally alter their mood and show on their face and body language. This was later used by Lee Strasberg, who used this technique as a base for Method acting, which meant the actor fully immersing themselves in their character’s life and acting like them even outside of rehearsals.
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The Magic If – This technique can open actors eyes and promote empathy by placing themselves in other peoples’ shoes. Thinking about questions like "How would I react as a young teenager if my mum suddenly died?" or "If I could travel to any country, which one would that be?" improves actors imagination, makes them think about the situation and answer naturally and truthfully, therefore their performance will be honest too.
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Objectives and Super-Objectives – Objective is the short-term goal of a character in a story, for example: "I want to escape". The Super-Objective is the main goal , ultimate desire or long-term motivation. The super-objective can be that our character want to be free , mentally and physically. Understanding these two will help the actor micromanage and understand the actions needed to achieve these goals.
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Given Circumstances – This simple means analysing the script and picking out the obvious details about the characters, while understanding their basic details, such as woman, born in 1938, rich, beautiful, widow etc.. but also understanding their background and their relationships with others. Is the character kind to others or horrible? Are they honest or wearing a mask in front of other?
Techniques/ The System
Jim Cartwright:
Jim Cartwright 1958 is an English dramatist who was born in Farnworth, Lancashire. His first play called Road was very successful, he won many awards and it has been adapted and played in TV and radio by BBC. His name is known worldwide as his work has been translated to 40 languages.
His got many successful plays, for example : Bed, I Licked A Slag's Deodorant, Eight Miles High or The Rise and Fall of Little Voice from 1992 that won Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy of the Year and Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy (directed by Sam Mendes). He is still active and his latest play came out in 2024 called Gap.
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The play
TWO
Two was first performed in 1989 at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton. The text explores the working class from the 1980s Northern Britain. While some character's stories are comedic, others are dramatic and touching, they all teach us something.
The plot happens in real time, it shows a night in a Northern pub. The story starts with the showing how the landlord and landlady of the pub handles the busy night and eventually we meet different pairs of customers. They are introduced frequently while we always circle back to the landlord and landlady until the pub closes and the evening ends and the cause of their disagreement gets revealed.
It was originally designed to be played by two actors so we only ever see one or two actors on stage at the same time, having monologues and duologues. The title clearly suggests this but we can interpret it in a different ways too. The customers are quite stereotypical; couples watching TV, married people, stag do, abusive drunk people... But the title also suggests that there are two sides to each character, they all have a hidden motive that we can only see after doing character analysis on them.
It is important that I understand that we are not doing a modern interpretation of the play but placing it in the late 80s early 90s. So to give an example, our characters don't use their phones to play music but there is a proper music box that requires coins to play music. We also stick to the script and don't change much of the language , we use the old language and don't replace them with new, trending ones. We use the names of the drinks that were well known in the late 80s.
First company read through and meeting our director
Unfortunately, I couldn't attend this session due to an eye surgery I had, but I watched the whole of the video. I believe that this first session of meeting the director, the other actors and finding out about their roles are very important for everyone to understand the bigger picture and how they fit in the production. Luckily, I know the actors well because they are my classmates and friends. The director, Spike Hart, is one of the teachers at college and also a theatre technician too. I know that he has a master degree in directing. However, I never worked on any project with him so I am looking forward to learn from him.
My characters
Alice
The other woman
Notes
Practice videos , character development and progress
While practicing with Tom, I believe that each round we did got better and better. By then end, I got more comfortable with the script and I was able to do the whole of it with barely looking at it. To act well, it is very important to me not to read from the script because I use a lot of method acting, I am an impulsive person in real life too and always do as I feel. So, I need to be in the moment and concentrate on what the other person is saying to reflect with as much honesty as possible. Sitting at my spot, next to him, as it was written in the stage directions, helped with levelling up my performance because I was able to truly connect with Tom by touching him or leaning close to him when it was appropriate. We will be meeting our director soon and he will work with us closely to help us connect with our characters on a deeper level and make sure we understand their intentions. I am looking forward to it. Meanwhile, I found a few videos on Youtube, actors playing my characters so I am watching them and taking suggestions from them.
I know it is suggested not to watch other actors play our characters because we shouldn't let them influence us and this can happen in a passive way too, even if we are unaware that we are doing it because we like the way they deliver their lines and we look up to them. However, I was very curious and I thought because I already had a basic idea of my characters, watching these videos won’t cause any confusion in me. It was overwhelming for me to think of playing two different characters after each other so I am happy that I have done much much thinking and research on them and hopefully, you will see it on my performance that I am not copying them but doing my very own version of them from my heart. The video of Alice and Fred by Jazz and Sean's helped me a lot to understand how important it is to have a common focus /both actors looking in the same way while watching the television/ and also, having the same reaction in any given moment really makes the audience believe that they are watching the same show. For example, if the actors agree that this is a comedic show and something funny is happening, they must laugh at the same time because it would be strange if one of them started crying instead. We have already discussed with Tom that we think they are watching a western comedy show, judging from some given circumstances such as the "horse", "fat man" and "Kirk Douglas".
Inspiration
Alice’s behaviour explained
ADHD VS OCD
While reading the script I noticed that Alice struggles with keeping her attention on the television, even though she was the one who wanted to come and watch the show. Her mood often shifts as well and she changes topics quickly. Fred mentions that she has been in a place with white walls, so we can assume that it was a mental hospital. We won't know for sure whether she has an ongoing mental health conditions or if she had a one time breakdown due to stress, for example loosing a child, but it is important that I understand how my character feels (Stanislavski technique) and Tom and I both agree on it because this will be our common experience and history. My opinion is that Alice has Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)or Attention deficit disorder (ADD) but while my classmate, Emily was listening to us practice, she recognised symptoms on Alice that could indicate that she has Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Because she has personal experience with this condition, she is a reliable source of information. I asked her if she could read Alice's lines and pause when she feels like commenting on her action that could prove her condition. In the video you can hear us have a long discussion about it but it is important that there is no right or wrong answer here, our intentions don't include winning over the other. The aim is that she shows us a different point of view and helps us with our character development.
AHD
- inattention
-hyperactivity
-impulsivity
- overthinking
- overwhelmed by too many tasks or people present
-oversharing
-restlessness
-problem with time management
-forgetfulness
-avoiding mentally draining tasks (phone calls)
OCD
- obsessive thoughts
- repetitive rituals
- compulsion
- intense focus on something
- germaphobia
- fear of unintentionally harming self or others
- excessive cleaning
-compulsive counting
- repeating phrases or numbers (out loud or in silence)
- arranging things in a particular way
Call sheets
Call sheets are very similar to a calendar or a rota for stage productions or film sets. They show a daily plan for actors to attend at correct times. At film sets and large productions not all actors would attend at the same time as the team has to focus on shooting a specific scene with many of the crew member being busy preparing it and making sure that the recordings are going smoothly. I am including our call sheets. The first few ones have 1 to 1 time planned with the director so he go can go through the script with the actors and help them understand it in a deeper level.
1 to 1 time with our director
It was finally my time to sit down with our director, Spike Hart. I was so looking forward to my session with him because I have been watching him teaching others and he made significant changes in the actors' ability to perform. We discussed our characters’ intents and realised that Fred wants to stay in the pub to enjoy some alcohol while Alice tries to delay him getting his drinks so they can stay in the pub longer. She probably feels more comfortable here and enjoys watching the television. Spike introduced us to a Stanislavski technique, the circle of attention. This technique has 5 levels, building on each other with every level. On the first level, he asked us to have a small object in our hands and focus only on that. On the second level, we had to acknowledge our own presence and body. On the third level we had to focus on our immediate, small circle. The fourth level was a big jump, letting the whole room in with all it smells and noises. And finally, on the fifth level we were able to use our imagination, daydream. I found this exercise challenging because my mind always wonders and focusing on certain things on command isn't easy for me.
Blocking/ rehearsals
We have very little time until we have our first performance so it was important to start rehearsals as soon as possible. The beauty of this play is that there is only 2 actors on stage at all times so blocking is much easier and learning lines too as we don't need to interact with many actors at the same time. I really enjoyed this session, we got the bar out as well with the chairs so it felt very real and we could get a feel of the space we are going to have to work with. We also mapped out the bar, making plans of the whole floor and even though those rooms will not be used, it is important that we see the place as whole, even if it's just in our head, to make our performance realistic.
Floor map
E: Entrance
K: Kitchen
C: Cellar
B: Beer garden
T: Toilet
Lighting
There will be minimal light changes on our show. We will use warm lights to create the melodic atmosphere of the pub , spotlight for deep focus on the characters and occasional blackouts for dramatic effect. I really like the lights we are using because it helps me get into character and believe that I am sitting inside the pub.
Pub interior inspiration
First time rehearsing with costumes on
I was looking forward to start rehearsing in our costumes because I believe that what we wear reflects not only our style and personality but our mood too. Costumes are specially important to me in this production because I am playing two very different characters, right after one another. Watching back these footages, I can tell how much they add to my confidence and just how much they help me perform in a more believable way. I feel that every time we practice my character gets an extra layer, with the help of stage directions, costume and props, and I get closer to the final version. Having the bag in my hand with objects in it makes me actually look for the cigarette not just pretend it so it makes my acting more believable. The other woman constantly shifts her attention and this moment would be a 1 on the scale of the Circle of attention. She often talks to one person in the pub/audience and uses direct address "You know." or "You see?" but she doesn't expect an answer for this questions she just wants someone to listen to her so she can explain herself and her heartache. This shifts between level 3 and 4 on the scale, between talking to her small circle, perhaps whoever sits at the table next to her and the whole room. She also enters the 5th level as well a couple of times, for example when she thinks back of all the secret dates she had with this married man. "Strange houses in the afternoons..." or when she thinks back of how uncomfortable this situations is for her and how worried she was that they are going to get found out by the wife. "Was that the car? Is that the door?". The other woman's mood and focus shifts very frequently and the script could be broken down into tiny paraphs so recognising these changes help me go on this emotional journey with her.
Create 25 festival
At college there is an art festival at the end of every June and we are taking part in it. Charlotte is the director of this production and she has shortened the script for us, taking out many scenes and a few characters, almost creating a teaser for the play. I absolutely loved working with her. She gave me a second opinion on my character and new ideas that I will be using on the main show as well, if Spike approves. If you look at the beginning and end of the practice video, you can see just how confident I got and my moves became more authentic and realistic and because we are following the teachings of Stanislavski , realism is a key to us. Not only him but the script also requires this from us, as it is set in a pub, where ordinary people talk about their ordinary lives.
The performance 19/06
Research material