Stepping into the room, I had no idea what was ahead of me. I speak for myself and others when I say anxiety initially blinded us. We were so worried about pronouncing our accents correctly and knowing the script well that we forgot how much fun theatre is.
We did some exercises, a fun “knot” game, and some goofy accent ‘play’ before detailing our goals for this production:
- To leave it all out there.
- No stone left unturned.
- Stay in the moment.
- Find joy.
- Work hard because you can always get worse.
- Ask questions.
We then stepped into the Seminar Room to read the play aloud. We’ve had worries about our roles, our accents, our knowledge of the text, and more. Once we all stepped into the room, however, it grew into a surreal experience. Everyone’s accents were rich with personality, and delivering the lines to one another brought new joy to the script. We also never knew how funny this play could be, considering it’s about murder.
The “knot” exercise gave us a hint for what Marc wanted to explore today: “How much of your character’s success is dependent on trusting someone else will succeed?”
The murder plot hinges on everyone playing their part to perfection, and this brings up numerous questions we all have to answer. Which parts of the plan go awry? Who is improvising? Are we hiding things from each other? Each of these provides interesting paths for discovery.
Tonight was a success. We read the script (phew!), I feel my accent work paid off, and I see more avenues to explore. Tomorrow, I want to make my accent clearer, which I can do by focusing more on changing my scene partner’s mind. Additionally, I want to prepare myself for more investigation by re-reading the play.
I also want to boil “The Actor and the Target” into a dos and don’ts list. This will have to come later, however, as I don’t think I can completely think about being in the moment whilst my script is in my hands.