Building up characters for the School Play

Description:

I’m working with the oldest actors of the school play. I started to do some physical training and then develop more the psychological part so that the actors could build up their characters. The physical training was mostly based on a “Grotowsky” kind of training while the psychological part was based on looking for your character inside you. I mean, that for not just “imitating” someone else, but to take their inner emotions actors thought of an experience that may them feel the way their character is feeling.

With this “actor training” the actors have developed a sequence so that they explore their character.

Analysis and connections

They are developing characters from the inside to the outside for the physiological part but from the outside to the inside for the visual part. This two must complement each other to express emotions so we can follow the conventions of expressionism theatre.

The sequence the actors have built up have been progressing and clearing through practice, but there were two particular cases that call up my attention:

Diego – He first did a sequence with Natalie, but Roberto told him to change the character. I went and talk to him as he looked lost I he told me he couldn’t do the character as he is too different from what it’s supposed to be like. It was a big challenge for him as he found this character so different to himself that his imagination blocked. I tried to help him first building the external image which he accomplished, but then while working he still didn’t find the character as internally he didn’t comprehend it. I find this particular case special as it makes me think how much do you need of yourself to build a character? How close do you need to be to your character as an actor? How different could you be?

This connects to my previous experiences as an actress:

Shadow Queendom: In shadow queendom although I didn’t thought of this, many times I remembered a moment when I felt angry when I shout, or when I get spoiled for when I ordered the servants. I think I had a lot in common with my character in certain moments, but there where also other moments where I completely wasn’t myself, as for example when I did Matilda and I had to receive the crown, I never felt like that or had a moment in my life that help me like a stimulus for this character. I just worked it externally, as big  smile and stand straight.

Kioskotambo: I didn’t feel any connection at all, I just thought of making big movements and playing with the rhythm. I think a fact that influence in this is that we were trying to imitate Paucartambo’s celebration. This leads me to say that not every character needs to be similar to you, but it influence on the kind of theatre.

A matter of dissection: I think this was one of the characters that I am more likely to. First because im always impacient and trying to make things faster, and also because im pretty serious and upset about that. It was also one of the characters I felt more comfortable with. This is way I can say that when you find the stimulus for your character in your inside, you feel more comfortable and dominate the character.

The other special case that take my attention was:

Renzo – He also needed to change his character as the character he was building up was completely different to the one we assign him for the school play. He also found it very difficult, but there where different reasons as from Diego’s. He found difficult how to appear “a good companion” as this was the description for his character. This make me though of a previous discussion we had in class this year when we said that the “dream scenes” were going to be positive and we were afraid to do it boring. Why is it so difficult to make something good be entertaining? One actress suggested him to make the character silly and this helped a lot to begin a progress. Now that he was silly we could simply suggest that the character tries to help but he mess up. This is kind of comic, but helped to build the character externally a lot, although as this was a change in the last minute, the work wasn’t as good as the other actors.  But the play doesn’t aim to be comic; in the other hand it must be creepy… how a silly guy or a good guy could appear to be creepy? I think that this can be accomplished by making grotesque movements, and also by changing the voice to a creepier one (although I am just discovering what makes a voice creepy…). Also the situation I think will modify this, but to what extent?

This connects to previous plays I have seen where “good” characters has been presented, as:

La cocina: Chiclayo was always trying to do things right, but this character became entertaining to see in the last part, when he breaks with this. In the other hind while performing it was funny as the others take advantage of his kindness. This idea could work for the school plays

Mas pequeños que el Guggenheim: In this play “albino” is a good character. But this is helpful to make it funny. Although it’s interesting as it makes contrast between the other characters and also because it makes us laugh.

German Expressionist plays: There are good characters in this plays, which help other characters, specially the main character. For example the “salvation army”. I think the characters in the salvation army work as their work to reach the “good” is exaggerated and contrast a lot with real life, at the end you don’t feel relieve by their performance, but they make you think about it. They make you think about how religion interferes to make “good”, but are they really getting to it?

Reflexion:

So how can a good character been develop in Expressionist theatre? I think my analysis helps me to understand how should a “good” character must begin to build up in expressionism. Maybe give them as example the salvation army and use them to show a critic to an identity that is supposed to help, but it just doesn’t. I still think of how close do you need to be to your character? I know this will depend on the kind of theatre, but in German expressionism where the actor has to take their inner emotions, is this essential?