WEEK 6

Sophie:

Love, love, love, — hate, hate, hate. This is how I feel about the work that I have done so far this week. The scene leading up to Sophie’s memory was extremely difficult to do in class as it is extremely extraverted. It is the pinacle of Sophie’s time in the void. All of her opressed feeling and small outbursts all lead up to this one huge explosion. It’s hard becaus grasping such a deep emotion and holding onto it for such a long monologue is an extremely difficult thing, especially when it is something that I haven’t had a lot of practice at doing. It is also difficult because it is completely out of charcater and is far beyond anything Sophie would ever allow herself to do. I like the blocking of it and I think it is very appropriate because as Sophie talks and reveals her secrets she is stripping herself of everything she has covered herself with, becoming naked. This is why I think gradually moving into a small ball is appropriate because that is the only way she can cover herself. From doing this scene in class my first run through was good because it was pure emotioin, the second run, with the blocking, was lacking (which is expected) because adding in movement and new expression which isn’t yet natural is very distracting from the feelings of the character. I really like the outburst during the first paragraph of the monologue because she is trying to explain herself and really seeking the approval of others - which is out of the ordinary - as well as completely bursting before crumbling into a heap. I am sorry to Mr Cooper and the rest of the class for being so negative towards rehersing this scene but I am worried that a scene such as this should not be rehersed too much as it becomes routine which eliminates the feeling and turns it into a sequence of actions. However I am also sure that the atmosphere in the theatre combining the audience energy and lighting will set the mood very definately, making it easier.

Sophie’s last memory needs a lot of work. I think Lisa has done a great job of it so far but I think there needs to be definate changes in the physicality of the actors between the different settings. Part of this change in the settings will also be due to the props which we will have to wait to work with. It is in this scene that we see the transformation of Sohpie from a wide-eyed girl to the successful business woman we see in the void. This is also where we see the life drain from her, as she get more successful she becomes more proud but also dissappointed in her success, like it wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Her persona in the void then makes sence to the audience as they now understad most of the story but they are also drawn in further as to why it is that there is all this reserved anger. if she lived had such a good life.

I think the script also needs to be looked at more closely to understand what is going on in the different parts of dialogue. Another thing that I picked up on for myself and the other actors is that during each persons memory we can create our own characters. e.g. on the train in Sophie’s memory there can be a range of different characters, whther it be a business man or a bum or someone snoozing. Also in Ketu’s memory, we are village people and should not be walking with perfect posture but wide legged and crouching. All of these little details should be looked at very clkosely during our next rehersal, especially since during other peoples memories each character has not much else to concentrate on.

Lighting:
In the production meeting I briefly brought up the idea of using colours for each character’s memories which I have spoken about in my previous blogs.
Sophie: blue/green - gloomy and dark
Ketu: yellow/orange - bright and earthy
Alex and Nia: purple/pink/white - regular everyday life / love
This was a very popular idea amongst the cast so I will now encorporate it into the lighting plan. I made my first few plans this weekend and it is very obvious that a lot of the lighting will take place in the theatre where the dinamics of the stage and the actors on the stage are available. I have begun my research about the different lights we will be using and the effects of each (which I will post soon) because I need to work out which lights need to be hung from each lighting bar. If anyone has photos of the theatre could they please bring them into class soon so that I can seen where the lighting bars are located.

Pilot.