May 11, 2012

After the usual warm ups, the participants opted to go right into their monologues rather than play a game. We did end up playing a very fun and energetic game designed to take away inhibitions and be comfortable with the ensemble. Everyone really enjoyed it. But, before that, we worked on monologues.

The first participant to perform is working on “What a piece of work is a man…” She keeps going deeper and deeper into the piece, and it’s wonderful. For her second read, she asked if she could have another person on stage with her to talk to. She was still looking up or at the ground most of the time, so I encouraged her to make eye contact and really ask for help with these words. That time the piece improved immensely. It’s evident that she really connects with it. She’s doing so well.

The second participant to perform is working on Antony’s monologue from Julius Caesar. She was still frustrated, as on Tuesday, about her stumbling over words. She asked if she could take the attention off of her focus point and focus on reading so that she wouldn’t stumble. That worked very well for her. She didn’t lose any of her power and even improved once she didn’t have to worry about the language. She knows it very well at this point. Once she’s memorized we should be able to do some really solid work on the piece.

Then our “Jaques” performed. She had lost some of the goofiness she showed us on Tuesday, so we encouraged her to find it again. She needs to work on being consistent with her character throughout the piece. We talked about some of the language that she didn’t quite understand, and then her reading became much stronger – and more silly, which is exactly what she is going for. She’s doing so well. I’m really glad that she was able to join the program.

Then one of the participants working on Emilia volunteered to go even though she was not feeling well. Given that she wasn’t feeling her best, she gave a very strong read. She improves every time, which is exactly what should be happening. She’s even about half memorized at this point, and where she remembers the lines she does not stumble over the words. She is becoming more playful with the piece as well. And she seemed to feel better by the time she sat down again.

Next was the participant who is working on Phebe’s monologue from As You Like It. She read it sitting down and with very little enthusiasm. I asked her what was going on, and she said that she really wants to work on memorizing the piece before she works on it very much in class. While I would rather we work on it even before that, if she doesn’t want to, we won’t. She doesn’t seem to be disliking the class – I think she’s just nervous about getting so far out of her shell, even though I gave her a piece to work on that is exactly what she was asking for. We’ll see how she does next week.

Then our other Antony performed. Her first read was good, but it was very fast and didn’t have a lot of specificity. I encouraged her to find the key words in the speech and linger on them, slowing down and really fighting for attention. She did, and the piece was stronger. Then she performed a third time, and a fourth, gaining steam each time. The piece has finally “clicked” for her. She had a huge smile as she sat down again.

Next was the participant working on the King’s monologue from Hamlet. She gave a good read, but said afterward that she was getting stuck because she’s spent so much time analyzing the piece that she is finding it difficult to get out of her head. I told her to try to put aside everything she’s done analytically, that it would still be there, but she shouldn’t focus on it, and encouraged her to go from her heart. Her next read wasn’t great – she was still stuck. She’s going to work on memorizing the piece so she can let go more.

Since now we are meeting twice a week, we have a lot more rehearsal time, and I asked the participants if they would like to work scenes along with monologues for their August performance. The answer was a resounding yes, so I am going to work on finding some good scenes for them.

At the end of class, I asked them how we’re doing and if there’s anything I can do better for them. Everyone said that they are enjoying themselves and don’t know of any improvements that can be made. One of the newer participants said that, even though it’s only been a few weeks, she’s getting a lot out of it and is having a great time.

May 8, 2012

We began with our usual warm ups. Then we decided to begin monologue work rather than play a game because we were a little short on time due to some late arrivals. The first person to go was new last week, but had already chosen a monologue – Emilia’s from Othello. She gave a solid reading that showed her intellectual understanding of the piece, but there was very little in the way of attitude or emotion. We talked about what Emilia’s objective is in this piece, and how she was combining humor with sexiness and anger. The second and third reads were stronger.

The second to work has been exploring Othello’s monologue. She said she’d been working on it and that her bunk mate thought she was crazy due to her discoveries about the piece – specifically Othello’s “craziness.” She began her piece, and out of NOWHERE came this very intense power and volume. She swung her weapon around, she despaired about her fate, she lamented over Desdemona’s body. It was amazing. Everyone cheered and vocalized how surprised and pleased they were. She seemed happy as well. Her second and third performances were even better. I am so proud of her. Everyone is.

Next was the participant working on Phebe’s monologue from As You Like It. Her read was a little lackluster because she is still trying to find the conflicting emotions in the piece, as well as the humor. We did an exercise in which she walked to the right when praising Rosalind, and to the left when criticizing her. After awhile she said she was dizzy and decided to stop. But when she read the piece again, those disparities were definitely there, although they still could use some development.

Then the other participant working on Emilia’s monologue took the stage. This is the woman with a learning disability, but after her first read we all remarked on how far she’s come – she’s stumbling over words significantly less, and the acting is beginning to take off. I love watching her react to everyone’s encouragement. I can tell it means a lot to her and gives her confidence. Every time she performs this piece it gets better, and today was no exception.

Then the woman working on “All the world’s a stage…” took her turn. She had an interpretation of the piece in which she “acted out” each of the stages of life, and she added her own dialogue to the text. For instance, when she got to “And then the lover, sighing like a furnace…” she interrupted her self with, “Hey girl, what you doin’”? She did similar things throughout the piece, and it was hilarious. The piece is great. I love what she is doing with it – making it her own.

Next was one of the women who is working on Antony’s monologue from Julius Caesar. She found herself frustrated by her inability to be forceful. A few of us gathered around the stage to be a shouting crowd so that she would have to fight to be heard and understood, which worked very well until she kept losing her place on the page and stumbling over words. Eventually she was so frustrated she decided to just leave it for today. We encouraged her to memorize the piece so that she won’t have to worry about losing her place.

The last to go was the one working on Hermione’s monologue from The Winter’s Tale. She performed the piece with a lot of anger and force, which is appropriate, but she said that she wanted to explore other ways of expressing herself in the piece. She wanted to know if sadness could take the place of anger in some spots. I told her she was absolutely right, and we went through the piece to find which emotion occurs in which part. She performed again, and it was beautiful. Her third time was even better. Now she wants to memorize it to do even more with it.

I was approached after class by a participant who hadn’t been there that day. She said that she is now in another group Tuesdays and Fridays – a group to help her make the transition to going home. Of course we will miss her, but it is great news that she is being released.

I also spoke with the Deputy after the session and asked her what she thought about making the program continuous rather than having an ending date. She said that that is absolutely fine. I am so excited to tell the women.

May 1, 2012

Today a few of the participants had to leave early, so we did a very quick warm up and then dove right in. The first participant to perform is doing Othello’s monologue over Dedemona’s body. She again lost some of the energy that she gained last week, but when she performed a second time we all felt the desperation and despair of the character. She actually knelt beside the body this time and made herself much more vulnerable at the end of the monologue. She says she is still getting over her stage fright, and we all reminded her that this group is there to support her and cheer her on. She felt better about the monologue by the time she sat down.

The next participant is one of the two performing Antony’s monologue from Julius Caesar. She still showed a solid intellectual understanding of the piece but lacked the passion necessary to make it really work. We talked about the character’s grief, frustration and anger with the crowd for turning on Caesar. This hit home for her and made it much more personal, and her subsequent readings gained a lot of power. She is beginning to feel very good about her piece.

Then the other participant performing that piece took her turn. She went through the piece very quickly, and the group encouraged her to slow down and measure out her words. She did so, and she improved. I then reminded her that the crowd does not necessarily listen to what she’s saying, and she needs to paint pictures with her words to win them over. This time her piece had much more impact. She was smiling as she exited the stage.

The next participant to perform was the one working on “What a piece of work is a man.” Her first performance was not up to snuff, for her or for us. She said she did not feel she had done well with it. I pointed out to her that she hadn’t done it as if she were talking to another person and encouraged her to find a focus point and talk to that, asking for help. She did this, and she improved, but she still did not feel good about her work. I did an exercise with her in which the entire body expands and then contracts, and I asked her to remember how that contraction felt as she performed. I asked her to be as physical as possible with the piece, even if she wouldn’t necessarily perform it that way. This time she took flight. Her passion was right on target, she had a focus point for the most part, and she took her time with the language. She felt much better after that performance.

The participant working on Hermione’s monologue was next. She maintained a lot of her anger while remaining regal, but after she performed she asked if there should be more sadness in the piece. I said that her instincts were absolutely correct – this woman has just given birth, and is weak, and she’s just lost her husband, two sons and her honor, and she may be executed. Of course there is sadness there! She performed the piece again with these conflicting emotions, and it was very powerful.

The next participant to perform is working on Rosalind’s monologue from As You Like It. She is doing better distinguishing between the two people to whom she is talking, and she is getting better at hurling the insults. She’s not quite there yet, though. I reminded her that her character is the daughter of a duke and thinks of herself as higher than the people to whom she is talking. This time the participant added in some haughtiness, and it was great. She was not feeling well today, so she declined to perform again. We’ll see how she does next week.

Last week’s new participant chose Jaques’ “All the world’s a stage” monologue from As You Like It. We broke it down phrase by phrase and went over the words she didn’t know. She then performed the piece, acting out the various stages described in the monologue, and it was very funny. Toward the end she ran out of steam, but since this was her first time performing, that’s understandable. She is excited to keep studying the piece and to perform it next week.

Then we began work on a new monologue with the participant who requested something more funny than what I had initially provided. She is now working on Phebe’s monologue from As You Like It. We broke it down, and she said she really liked it. She then performed it once and showed a good understanding of the language and tone of the piece. We will continue to work toward finding the comedy in it.

We had one new participant today who said she loved Shakespeare in high school and is very excited to dive in. She participated in discussions about the performances and seemed very eager to get to work.

At the end of the session, I told the women what good work they had done and how much I enjoy spending time with them. “Oh, don’t give us a big head,” said one of them. Then another said, “No! We’ve spent enough time in our lives getting torn down. I like being built up.” It really touched me that this program can do that for them. They are all doing a bang-up job, so it is easy for me to build them up with all the sincerity in the world.

I'd like to note that there are twelve women currently in this group, and to save space in this blog I am not recounting all of the work that we do each session - the entries would be very long. I feel like they're long already. If there are any participants that I am leaving out about whom you'd like an update, just comment below and I'll fill you in.

April 24, 2012

We did our usual physical and vocal warm ups. Then we played one game to increase our physical energy, and another game designed to increase focus and quick thinking. We also played a new improv game, at which they excelled. The participant performing Rosalind’s monologue went first today. She had lost her script, so we had to go back over when in the monologue the character is speaking to the shepherdess, when she is speaking to the shepherd, and when she has an aside. This participant is still being way too nice with this monologue, and we all encouraged her to be more nasty with her insults. She wound up getting right up in the participant’s face who was “playing” the shepherdess. She is showing improvement, but is still stumbling over a lot of the words, which we discussed means she needs to work the piece more on her own.

Then the participant performing Othello performed. This time, she had not lost the power she found last week, which is very encouraging. We discussed again when she gets rid of her weapon, and when she touches dead Desdemona. She is beginning to clearly delineate between when Othello is talking to the others in the room, when to Desdemona, and when to the “devils” who will torment Othello after his death. Her passion increases each time she performs, and she is becoming more comfortable with the mourning emotions at the end of the piece.

Then the prisoner performing Emilia took the stage. She is still stumbling over her words quite a bit, but she gets better every time she performs. I asked her if she could make the piece more sexy, which she was somewhat able to do, although she lost that feeling when she got to the language that is still tripping her up. The next time, I asked her to try to make Desdemona laugh with the monologue. It really took flight, more so than the time before, and she commented that she likes that approach. We all encouraged her to keep practicing the piece on her own to get more comfortable with the language. I absolutely love how supportive the group is of her. She gains confidence and comfort every session.

Next was the prisoner who is performing the King’s monologue from Hamlet. Her first reading was very casual and lacked passion, so we talked about it. She said that she is having a difficult time accessing the emotion in the piece because she’s never been THAT guilty about something and has certainly never murdered her brother. I told her that a tool she could use would be to recall a time when she felt guilt of any kind, and to call up that memory and amplify it to get more into her character. She performed again, and about halfway through she really “fell in” to the piece. She became passionate and clearly frustrated by the character’s inability to pray and be forgiven. It was a remarkable improvement.

Then the participant performing Hermione’s monologue took the stage. She did her monologue sitting down and gave a very honest reading, although it lacked passion. We decided that the piece worked better when she was standing up and leaning on the back of a chair, so she decided to do it that way. I then asked her to lash out more with her anger at her situation, especially at the end when she calls on the jury to believe her over her husband. She fully committed to the emotion and gave a very powerful reading. She then said that she felt good about the anger but felt that she was being too physical for how weak her character is. I asked her to remember a time when she felt anger and couldn’t express it, and how tense her whole body became at that time. She then performed the piece with that in mind, and it improved again. She is really loosening up and gaining confidence, and she is proving herself to be a powerful actress on top of that.

Another participant declined to perform because she wants a more comedic monologue than any I have provided. I will be looking for one to give her next week, and hopefully she’ll like what I bring in.

We had one new participant today who was very positive throughout the session. I asked her at the end if she wanted to continue to come, and she said that she did. I will be bringing monologues for her next week so that she can join us in that work.

Everyone continues to loosen up and become more comfortable with the group. They are growing individually and together, and it is a privilege to be a part of this process.

April 17, 2012

After a hiatus last week due to my being ill, we were back at it! We warmed up, played an improv game, and moved right on to Shakespeare. The participant who is performing “Friends, Romans, Countrymen…” performed first today. She had a lot of trouble getting through the piece – she was stumbling over words and frustrated by her inability to connect to the piece. She stopped short several times. We encouraged her to slow down, and we talked about the tension the character must feel between his grief, his anger, and his desire not to endanger himself with his talk while still arousing the crowd to anger. We likened this tension to “fight or flight” and asked her to think about a time when she was in a situation in which her adrenaline was pumping. We also asked that she slow down, and she asked how to do that while still being powerful. I suggested she think about how Barack Obama speaks – very measured, and with a lot of power. She performed again, and was very strong, until she stumbled over a word and stopped. Several people, including me, shouted out, “No! That was great! Start again, the same way!” She did, and her reading was very strong. We really “bought” what she was doing. She said she felt better, but something is still missing for her.

The participant doing Othello’s monologue then performed. She had lost some of her fire over the last couple of weeks that we haven’t been working on monologues, so we had to pump her up again. I reminded her that at this point in the play, Othello is crazed with guilt, swinging his weapon around, calling on hell to swallow him up. She then launched into the piece with an intensity we hadn’t seen before, culminating in the most convincing calling on hell and mourning Desdemona that she’s done yet. Everyone cheered. She says she is feeling much more connected to the piece now and understands it better.

Emilia’s monologue from Othello was then performed by the participant who has a learning disability. It was clear that she hasn’t worked on her piece very much by how often she stumbled over words and phrases, with which she had been much better last time we worked the piece. We encouraged her to sit closer to “Desdemona” (another participant sitting onstage with her) and make it more like “girl talk.” She did improve, but I suggested that she start working on memorizing the piece so that it will flow better for her. The participant onstage with her offered to help her with this outside of the program.

Then one of the participants, who has not performed as much as some of the others, got up to read Hermione’s monologue from The Winter’s Tale. She sat in a chair as she read it, and showed a thorough understanding of the character’s physical weakness and grief. Everyone applauded, but then one of the participants suggested that she stand while performing and lean on the back of a chair, much like she would at a podium in front of a jury. We also asked her to experience more of the anger of her character while maintaining her nobility and frailty. She took all of these suggestions and did a beautiful job.

Another participant is performing “Gallop apace…” from Romeo and Juliet. She has this teenage girl thing down. We all felt like we were spying on a girl just going on and on about her love… and her desire for him to come and consummate their marriage. She was able to show us the character’s vulnerability, eagerness and budding sexuality and was delightful to watch. We asked her if she could take it further her second time reading, and she did. She seemed very happy with her performance.

There is another participant who is performing “Friends, Romans, Countrymen…” She read the piece in a very straightforward manner, obviously trying to incite the crowd to action, with a lot of power and charisma. Everyone was very impressed. We asked her to see if she could slow down more, lending more emphasis to everything she said (I again invoked the example of Barack Obama). She performed again, and it was wonderful.

At this point the other participant performing this piece was so inspired by what she had just seen that she asked if she could read hers again. This time she was much more grounded and strong, and we all agreed that this was the best yet. Her confidence clearly increased, and I am really looking forward to seeing how she will continue to grow with this and other material.

We followed up on last session’s discussion about possibly meeting twice a week. My contact at the facility had told me that Friday mornings were open, and none of the participants present today have any conflict with that, so we will probably do it.

This was a very constructive session with a lot of enthusiasm and positive energy from all involved. As usual!