Character development

During our theatre classes we have continuously worked on our characterisation. We have done so by doing various warm up exercises before performing, which really helps us to let go of ourselves and transform into our character. 

To start it off, we got into our groups of characters (all the sephys together, all the Calum's together etc). Lynette (my character) is also played by Matilda, so once we got together we had a long discussion about what Lynettes personality traits were, and how we were going to portray this on stage. This helped a lot as it was interesting to hear Matilda's different point of view even though we had the same character. I am still referring back to mine and Matilda's conversation just to help me with what I do on stage.

What's more, in a Theatre lesson taken by Miss Goodall, we explored the topic of subtext. Subtext means looking behind the actual text and discovering what the words really mean. In our exercise, we ran through our scene but instead of delivering our actual lines, we said the subtext instead. This exercise was very useful because it helped me understand what Lynettes reasoning was for delivering her lines- why she was saying them and what her objectives were. 

In another lesson, we did a exercise on visualisation. We were told to stand in our own space with our eyes closed and to picture a space that our character was familiar with. I chose to visualise Lynettes bedroom as I feel that it is somewhere she feels comfortable in. Once we had the imagine in our head, we were tapped on the shoulder and told to speak out loud and describe what the room looked like. This was usefull as it helped me to picture every single minor detail within her room; old carpets, cold floors, condensated windows, peeled wall paper... Etc. These little details can really  contribute to how you play your scene and how you incorporate subtle movements to work for your character. 

In another lesson we were told to write a short passage about an important moment that happened to our character in the play. I decided to write about the moment she saw herself for who she was after being forced to look in the mirror and remember all the traumatic events that had previously happened to her. 

This helped me develop my characterisation as I took the time to think deeply about how I, personally, interpreted Lynettes thoughts and feelings. By doing so I can now convey this onto stage to make the audience realise just what she has been through and how heartbreaking the acceptance is for her. It can sometimes be very emotional to feel what she feels!

Our ensemble piece that takes place at the end of the scene is a physicalisation exercise where we take out our lines, and use our body movements to replace what we would've said.  This is very effective as it is interesting to see how our scene changes in what mood and aura it gives off. All in all I think the pieces are very beautiful to watch because, as a class, we are all very focused with what we are doing. 

What's more, in our lessons Ms Bailam helped us to block our scenes. In my scene, we work around a box which is in the middle of the stage. After Miss gave us some simple staging, we then went on to develop this. This was useful as it has helped me to think more about how important staging is and how it can change our piece to become more effective.