June 8, 2012

During warm ups, one of the participants confessed that she was thinking about quitting the group. I asked her why, and she said it was because of her stage fright – she didn’t think she could get up in front of people outside of the group and speak Shakespeare. I asked her if it was getting up in front of people freaking her out, or if it was the Shakespeare, or both. She said it was mainly the Shakespeare. Since we’re doing a variety of scenes and monologues, I asked her if she would like to narrate so that we could keep her in the group. I pointed out that being onstage speaking lines that are NOT Shakespeare might help her get over her fears, and that she might be okay doing Shakespeare next time around. She agreed to do that and seemed very relieved. She also offered to be a stand in for absent people, since she doesn’t mind doing Shakespeare in front of us and could keep in practice that way. What a great idea. I’m so glad we’ve found a way to make her more comfortable. First we worked Macbeth/Lady Macbeth with the previously mentioned participant standing in for Lady Macbeth. The scene went very well – afterward I jokingly said that I didn’t know what the substitute was so worried about – she did very well. She smiled at that. The participant playing Macbeth said she was a little confused about how she should play the part and asked me to come onstage and show her what I meant about what she should be doing. I did this, and she said she understood it better. The next time through the scene she definitely improved. But then she said she wanted a “more dramatic” scene and said she would talk to her scene partner about choosing another one. Fine by me.

Then this same participant wanted to work her monologue, so we did. She had been teasing me that she would be trying something new with the piece, and she did – she became more emotional than ever before when addressing dead Desdemona and tearing at her clothes in anguish. It was incredible. The only thing was that, in her focus on this aspect of the monologue, the previous part of it was lacking some of the fire with which she has been performing it. We are going to work on combining the two feelings.

Then we worked a comic scene from Romeo and Juliet with the Nurse and a stand-in for Juliet. The first reading was a little stiff, so we went through the piece finding words and phrases that were difficult and figuring out what they meant. I also suggested more movement. The second read was better, but still stiff. I showed them what I meant by “movement,” since having me physicalize these things seems to help them more than me just saying it. I also showed the Nurse what I meant about being more dramatic and teasing. The third and fourth reads improved dramatically. I am hoping that the participant who was absent today, who still needs a scene, will be okay playing Juliet in this scene, since the one playing the Nurse is very attached to it.

One of the participants asked if it would be all right to do just her monologue and not a scene. I said that was absolutely fine – we’ll just have to find someone to take over her part in her scene. She said she would think about it a little more and let us know for sure on Tuesday.

Then the participants began talking about how much they enjoy the program, and someone said something really remarkable: that the class makes her forget she’s in prison for two hours. Another said that she feels relieved and happy as soon as she walks in the door for the program. Everyone agreed. I am so touched by this. What incredible sentiments. If I have anything to do with experiences like this, it makes all of the time and work I spend on this program completely worth it.

June 5, 2012

Today we warmed up and played a game, since we haven’t played anything in awhile. It got us all woken up and ready to go. We began with the scene from Othello with one participant standing in for Desdemona, who wasn’t there at the beginning of class. We worked on making the scene more physical – Iago comforting Desdemona, Emilia going from comforting Desdemona to being aggressive toward Iago, actually backing him down. We discussed the power of the language in telling us the exact emotional state of the characters. The inmate standing in for Desdemona had a hard time staying in character (she kept laughing at “Iago’s” faces), but we worked through it.

Then we worked Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. We talked about finding the different beats in the scene – when Macbeth shifts from not wanting to commit the murder to when he buckles and decides to do it after all. We talked about the nastiness of Lady Macbeth and how it must affect Macbeth; it must shock him into giving in. The scene is making great strides.

Next was the scene from As You Like It with Duke Frederick, Celia and Rosalind. The participants are dead on with their goals and obstacles, but we felt like the piece needed more movement. The other participants made some suggestions, to which I added my own ideas, and all of these things combined made for a much more interesting scene. The participants are really getting into it now, and it shows.

We worked Rosalind’s monologue. This participant wanted to do the drop in exercise again, so we did. She then asked if she could do it that way in performance, and I don’t have a problem with it. We’ll tell the audience we’re letting them behind the scenes, or something like that. I’m not sure if anyone else will want to do theirs that way, but I’m glad she’s found a way to make herself more comfortable.

Then our Jaques got up to perform. She has her monologue half memorized but got stuck paraphrasing a lot. I got on book for her, and she called line where she needed to. Then she tried it again on her own. I think perhaps she’s grown disenchanted with the piece, but I can’t quite tell. I’m going to keep my eye on her to make sure she doesn’t put the monologue in the show because she feels like she has to – only if she wants to.

Last, we worked with one of our Antonys. She continues to gain power with her piece – her pacing is getting more frenetic without being over the top or distracting. I reminded her that any time she repeats a word it’s for a reason, and that each time a word comes up it is different than the time before. She experimented with this and made some solid discoveries about what power those repeated words have.

The participants noticed today that they are starting to memorize each other’s pieces. They are totally invested in everyone’s work, and they help out with lines when people stumble. It’s really great to see them working as a team like that. This is a very tight ensemble.

June 1, 2012

Today was a great day. Lots of discoveries. Some of the inmates had to leave early, so we decided work monologues today and get back to the scenes next week. The first participant to perform is working on Rosalind’s monologue. Her first reading was very fast, so we went through the piece and found words to emphasize or linger on. She took these notes and performed again, with great results.

Then one of the participants performing Antony’s monologue performed. She was rushing quite a bit, so we did an exercise called “dropping in,” in which I stood behind her and read the lines, which she repeated in her own way – this got her focused on herself and her feelings, rather than on a page that she was reading. Everyone loved this exercise – it really freed her up, and it sparked their interest.

As a result of this, the first participant asked if she could do hers again with the drop in exercise.  This proved to be very beneficial to her as well. She said she is becoming more confident every time she performs.

Then one of the participants working on Emilia’s monologue took her turn. She is still stumbling, so we decided to do the drop in exercise with her as well. This made her more able to speak fluidly, which helped her acting quite a bit. She is doing a really great job trying to overcome her challenge with the language.

Then our Othello took her turn. She was rushing, so I asked her to slow down. We tried doing the drop in exercise, but she already knows about half of her piece by heart and said she didn’t like it, so we stopped. She then tried to slow down, but said it didn’t feel natural to her, and she couldn’t get to the place, emotionally, to which she wanted to get. So she did it again her way, and it was great. She’s taking more risks with the emotions of the piece and showing a lot of growth.

Our other Emilia went next. She normally does this piece sitting, but I felt like it was holding her back, so I asked her to try standing and moving. She stood during this performance, but she didn’t move. I demonstrated to her different ways she could move through the space and sort of toy with Desdemona, and she tried it again, with success. She said that the movement helped her to access more of the attitude and sexiness in the piece.

Then our other Antony took her turn. Her piece is becoming very powerful, and she is stumbling less over the language. She’s also taken to pacing back and forth during her speech, which is completely appropriate and, she says, helps her not to get tripped up on the language. She said she has found this power by continuing to use substitution: channeling the feelings she has about her friend who recently committed suicide and using it to fuel Antony’s anger and sarcasm. She is doing so well. I am very proud of her.

We did a lot of chatting today – the participants are making great strides and had a lot to say!

One of them says she has noticed that when she watches TV, she is beginning to analyze the actors and the choices they make. She says it’s made TV much more interesting to her. Building on that, we talked about making personal choices with a given character, and how each individual brings something totally different to the table, based on his/her own experience.

There was so much good stuff going on that I was jotting down notes as we went so I wouldn’t forget any of it. They seemed curious about what I was doing, so I reminded them that I am keeping a blog, which I think some of them forgot about. They are very happy that I am doing this. They said that they feel that there are a lot of opportunities for personal growth and positive experiences in prison, and they don’t feel like that gets enough attention. As one of them said, “Prison is what you make of it.” They are glad that word is getting out about this program.

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.