May 29, 2012

After a brief warm up, we decided to get back into our scene work. We began with a scene that two of them decided together, outside of the program, that they really like. This is a scene from Macbeth in which Macbeth has doubts about the plan to kill the king, and Lady Macbeth bullies him into deciding to do it after all. We broke it down bit by bit and really highlighted how nasty Lady Macbeth is in the scene, which they all really liked.

We worked the scene a bunch, discovering different reactions the characters have to one another and what their physicality says about the situation and their relationship. They are both really excited about the complexity of the scene, which makes for a good challenge for them. They are very interested in the story of the whole play and how this fits in. Already after running the scene four times, they showed growth and increased confidence. It’s going to be really fun to continue to work this scene.

Then we worked a scene from As You Like It, in which Duke Frederick banishes Rosalind, and Celia declares that she will go, too. One of the participants with a learning disability (the one working Emilia’s monologue) chose this scene and the character of Celia because there are not many lines, but the part is very powerful. I think it’s a great choice for her. After breaking down the scene, we ran it with two others, and, again we talked about physicality and what truly motivates the actions of these characters. I was very proud of the participant playing Celia because she is making such great strides that she hardly stumbled over the language at all. She said that she feels that she is becoming louder, and the other participants told her that that is because she is gaining confidence. The other two participants in the scene really enjoyed it as well.

We then worked on Jaques’ monologue with the participant who chose it. She said she hasn’t really been working on it, which kind of showed, but as she got to the end of the piece she began to show again the silliness we all love in the piece.

The other participants who had been there had to leave early, so we stopped there for the day. I checked in with everyone before we left, and they all said it had been a good day for them. They are having a lot of fun with the scenes.

May 25, 2012

After warm ups, the participants elected to begin scene work. One of them has already chosen four scenes in which she is interested. We began with a scene from Othello in which Desdemona begs Iago for help after being abused by Othello, and Emilia nearly loses it on Iago, she’s so angry about what he’s done to Desdemona in his plot to drive Othello mad with jealousy. At first the participant who chose the scene was reading for Emilia, because her monologue is Emilia’s. She then was called out of the class, so another participant took her place. We read it a couple of times seated, and then the three of them got up on stage. I told them to just move however they felt like they should the first time through. This resulted in minimal movement and one of them repeatedly turning her back to the audience. I showed her how not to do that, and then I encouraged them to try different types of movement; i.e., Emilia advancing on Iago in her anger.

These three participants made remarkable strides in this scene, which they ran through on their feet four times. Each time the scene became more and more intense as the inmates committed more fully to the material. They were invigorated by it, and I think they will want to stick with this scene.

Another participant stayed toward the back of the room while they worked at first, and then she moved down to sit next to me. She told me that she had just graduated from college, and I congratulated her. This is a huge accomplishment for her, as she has been in prison since she was seventeen. She then confided in me that she is feeling shaky about her monologue – she feels that she is a good actress, but that she is having a hard time with Shakespeare. I asked her what was bothering her, and she pointed to a few lines and phrases in the monologue. I said, “Let’s just cut them.” She said, “You can do that?” I told her that as long as the monologue or scene still makes sense, we can cut whatever we like – that most stagings of Shakespeare’s plays have cuts in them. So she made her cuts and then delivered the monologue. She was so good that I was compelled to shout out, “yes!” as she read. I asked her if she felt better, and she said she did. She then performed two more times, which is unusual for her and clearly shows her gain in confidence. I am very proud of her.

There was fairly low attendance today, so we didn't get as much done as I had hoped, but we've got a good amount of time to get everything figured out, so I'm not too worried about it. I'm really enjoying seeing these women gain confidence and grow as people, not just as actors. I'm looking forward to doing more scene work with them.

May 22, 2012

Today I brought scenes for us to work on, and we started with those right off the bat. I apologized again in advance for the somewhat tedious nature of breaking down the scenes so that we all understand them, but everyone again assured me that they actually enjoy it. Our scenes are from Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth and As You Like It. I tried to choose scenes that have some “meat” to them, so that the women won’t get bored with them.

As we went through the scenes, I summarized for them what the context was for each. They would then volunteer to give the scenes a read. I was really pleased to see how far they’ve come in this – the first few weeks, I had to do a lot of the reading myself because they were so reticent to do it. But now they have much more confidence, and I didn’t do any of the reading. I just helped here and there with the more foreign words. Even the participant who has had a hard time with the language because of her learning disability read a few of the scenes and did remarkably well. A few of them shared that the reason they think they have a relatively easy time with some of the language is because of their bible reading.

When we reached the mid-point of the scenes, everyone agreed that it was really cold in the auditorium and that we should play a couple of games to physically warm up. We did that, and it really helped and refreshed us.

The prisoners are all going to look over the scenes before our next session, and then we will start casting them (the prisoners will cast themselves) and working them on their feet. We will revisit monologues when the scenes are somewhat solid. Then the participants will decide which scenes and monologues they want to include in their August performance.

May 17, 2012

Today after warm ups we briefly played a new game. It is a good physical and mental warm up game that everyone enjoyed, and it really woke us up. The first participant to go is working on Emilia’s monologue. This is our prisoner with the learning disability. She continues to improve her fluidity with the language, and comes at the piece with more sexiness and attitude every time. Everyone continues to be very supportive of her and gave her a lot of positive feedback on her work.

Next one of our Antonys got up to perform. She attacked the piece with a ton of power and really blew us away. She said that she was truly feeling the emotions in the piece today because a friend of hers committed suicide this week. She said that she has been defending her friend to other prisoners who show a lack of understanding, and she felt that she is doing the same thing in her monologue for Caesar. This is a very apt realization, and it is definitely fueling her fire in the piece. In her subsequent readings, she became frustrated again by stumbling over the words or losing her place, so much so that she decided to let it go for the day. She said she would try to memorize it, but then said that it might take her awhile because she, too, has a learning disability.

Then our Othello took her turn. She continues to gain power with every performance, so we began to talk about when she is in attack-mode and when she is not. She marked out the shifts in emotion in her script, and tried it again. We also moved the participant playing dead Desdemona so that her head would be closer to Othello. The changes were very evident, and the piece hit home more for her.

Then our other Emilia performed. She is doing a great job, but we decided we needed to add to it. One participant said that, since Emilia is so lusty, she should sit in a more casual position than she was. She tried that, and the piece improved. Then I decided to give her an image to work with – that of a wide, gaping vagina. I have learned from experience that this is a powerful image. I also asked her to sink down into her lower abdomen and let her energy come from there. The piece improved greatly. I can tell she is really starting to feel it.

Next was our Hermione. Her first read, as always, was wonderful, but she said that she still felt she could go further. One of the participants said that she is especially touched when Hermione talks about her baby, and we decided that she should try to bring out more of the sadness by really painting pictures of her lost husband and children. This time the participant dwelled on those images and let them shake her, and then she exploded with anger that she had had all of that taken away. It was fantastic. She declined to read again, saying that she needed to let things sink in for awhile.

Our King from Hamlet was next. She kind of rushed through her piece, but gained steam at the end and was very powerful. I asked her to try to pray more, to really look to the heavens and beg God for forgiveness, and then let out her frustration at not being able to receive forgiveness. She did this, which threw her off a bit because it was new, but the end of the piece was still great. She says she is going to continue to work on it with that approach in mind.

One of the participants, who is relatively new to the group, says it is already having a positive effect on her. She says that those around her say she is “speaking more proper.” And she loves that.

May 15, 2012

Today we warmed up and then played one round of an improv game which they requested. They lost steam pretty quickly, and really want to focus on monologues anyway, so we moved on. One of the participants stated assertively that she wanted to go first. It was evident that she had done a lot of work on the piece outside of class. She is clearer now on whom she is talking to at which time, and she’s developed her character’s attitude much more than before. She was clearly talking down to Phebe and Silvius, which is completely appropriate. This participant’s confidence is clearly growing each time she performs, and I think she’ll have a great final “product” when it comes time to do the show.

Then the participant working on Hamlet’s monologue took her turn. She goes deeper every time she does this – it’s wonderful to see. I asked her to add to what she was doing by really painting pictures with her words – trying to get her partner to see what she sees in her head. This lead to an even deeper performance that got a great reaction from the rest of the participants. She is doing very well, and she’s getting more confident all the time.

Then one of our Emilias performed her piece. She is now about half memorized, which is fantastic. The parts of the monologue she knows by heart don’t cause her any trouble any more – it’s just when she has to look at the paper that she stumbles. She said she was frustrated with one of the lines, that that one in particular was tripping her up, so we decided to cut it. I could tell she was relieved by this, and her next read went much more smoothly. I’m really proud of how far she’s come, when the first few days of the program she had to listen to everyone else perform multiple times before she felt okay getting up herself.

The next participant to go was the one performing the King’s monologue from Hamlet. The first read was incredible – there was passion, emotion, despair, frustration, longing… everything we’ve been talking about that the piece demands. I asked her what the breakthrough was, and she said it was taking my advice – getting out of her head and not thinking about it while performing. We talked about the three centers (head=thinking, heart=feeling, groin=willing) and which centers her character is in, in the piece. We decided that the King fluctuates between his feeling and willing centers. She performed again with this new take and she let up a little bit. She said she needs more time to rehearse with that idea. But she is doing a really great job.

Next was our other Emilia. She has only been in the class for three weeks, and she already has her monologue more or less memorized. Her first read she was a bit too much in her head, so we discussed how lusty Emilia is, and what kind of dirty jokes she is making. Her next read was better and captured more of the attitude. And by the third read, she even made her scene partner smile a little at some of the jokes. I’m so glad she joined the class. She’s so enthusiastic and committed to what she is doing.

Then one of the participants performing Antony in Julius Caesar got up. Her performance has lost none of its power from her breakthrough on Friday, but she is going a bit too fast. I asked her to find the most powerful/important words and give them more emphasis than the rest of the language. She did this, and her piece got much better. Everyone loves it. We agreed that at this point it’s time for her to memorize it, since the only thing holding her back is that she looks at her paper the entire time so we can’t see her eyes and it’s hard for her to be spontaneous.

Then our Hermione took her turn. She is doing a great job with this piece. She has it mostly memorized, which has freed her up to be more spontaneous with her emotions. We discussed how she might fluctuate between anger and sadness, and how her emotion has to build throughout the piece. She gets stronger and stronger each time.

This same participant is the one who will be released in August. She now has the exact date, so I’ve asked the program coordinator when a good date would be to have our performance before that. I also promised the group that I would have scenes for them soon. Hopefully I can get that done for next week.