Performance Log #3

11.7: Monday

Today we have a memorization quiz for our scene. Although there are not many lines for me, I thought it would be difficult for me to remember my lines.

I spend a lot of time remember them yesterday. Because of all the rehearsals, I did last week, I felt it was not really hard to remember the lines. When I memorize those lines, I always think about the rehearsals, then I remember the lines. At today's quiz, I can clearly write down all the lines, which I never thought about I could do it. Since I remember the lines in my head, I can focus more on my acting. I feel much confident about my performance tomorrow.

Lastly, it is very good experience for me to remember the lines. This lets me know about actors more. I know they have to now only act one stage, but also remember many lines in their head. I am very impressed that every actor works very hard to bring out a performance.

11.8 Tuesday:

Today is our second run through of the scene. This time, all the groups do their scenes without scripts.

Firstly, everyone prepares their scene very well. I see improvements of my classmates and I learn a lot from them. Their scenes are better than last time because they act with more emotions and use body language. For example, Giovanna shaking her legs during the waiting, and she looks at the clock at the back in her scene. A simple movement like looking at the clock make audiences believe that the character is nervous. Also, Jack’s group improve their fighting scene. They cooperate better with each other during the fight scene. Sarah and Marinda find some props to support their acting. Marinda, who act as Father Lawrence used a cross necklace to show the character. All of those are very helpful techniques I learn from my classmates.

For me and Yichen’s scene, it is better than last time, but there are still many things we can improve. I am not as nervous as last time, and I remember my lines. So I feel very confident about the run through. At the beginning, I use my script as the list of guests that Lord Capulet hold in the scene. I also add a small action, which I look at my watch, to show Capulet’s anxiety before the wedding. I remember to slow down my speed during the acting, but actually, I still speak too fast. Another thing for the run through is I can not show the dominant part of the Lord Capulet. I need to work on my body languages and tones to show the anger and the dominate of him. Lastly, There needs more contact between the characters. For example, I can walk more on the stage and use the space more.

I find out I am still nervous during the performance and there are a lot of things I need to improve. But thanks for Ms. Guarino and my classmates, I know the ways to improve the scene. It is never easy to get a play done.

11.10 Thursday:

After yesterday’s run through, both I and Yichen know there are a lot of things we should improve in our scene and practice a lot.

Firstly, we do another run through of the scene. Both of us have a better understanding of the lines, so memorize is not a big problem for us. We think that pronunciation is the hard part for us. So we decide to ask Ms. Guarino for help tomorrow. Beside this, we talk about some details of our scenes. We make sure both of us know the using of props, emotions, and blocking. We also talk about what should I do to show more dominate. We add more interactions between each other to show our emotion better. Yichen works very hard in memorizes her solo part. I am impressed that she can speak the lines with very good emotions

Both of us have a lot of progress today.

11.11 Friday

Today is the last day for us to practice our scene. Yichen and I work on our pronunciation of the lines and do a few run throughs.

Firstly, thanks for Ms. Guarino, I know much of the words that I have a hard time in pronouncing them. This gives me more confident in the performance and it is good to make sure everything is right during a play. After solving the problem of lines, we work on our acting part. Acting is never easy for us, every time we do a run through. We always find something that needs to improve during one run through. Then we make it better next time. I can see our scene get better and better following this week’s practice. Both of me and Yichen become more comfortable in acting, and we know more about expressive our character. It is very interesting to work with someone you close with because sometimes you can not control yourself from laughing. This happens a lot between me and Yichen, and we try really hard to solve it today.

After all, it is a very good expression to actually do a scene. I never thought about I will act someone on stage before. And now, I am acting Lord Capulet. During this process, I find many things that I never things about before. I can see scripts from a perspective of an actor. I know how to analysis the character before the acting, and I know how important to remember the lines. More importantly, I know how to improve my scene. It is good to hear from my audiences, and learn from the run-throughs of the scene. I am very happy when I feel my scene gets better. I feel more respectful for all those actors in our theater department, they really work very hard to bring out a show. Finally, I hope the fall show will be all right and the winter music will be the highlight of the school year!