As I have stated before, we(my theatre company, Anodyne), has been working on an upcoming production for the summer, entitled, Treasured Alliance, or A Treasured Alliance, or some such variant of that name. There are a lot of different factors associated with this. One such factor is that I am tasked with developing the character of a lawyer, who frequents the coffeeshop, the Simmering Cup, where this play takes place. (There might be some scenes in the community at large, which is where the ‘Monarch Days’ parade/festival takes place. But for the greater part of the play, it takes place in the Simmering Cup.) Such a task, in general, regardless of who you are developing, takes a lot of commitment, more than I have allowed myself to give in the past. But I am welcoming the challenge/extra effort. I really cannot stand being locked up inside my head any longer, I’ve been dealing with a lot of obsessive/pressured thinking that really hampers my ability to just live and be happy, and I want it to end. So by developing my character I can get out of that zone in the grandest, most authentic way possible. How is someone like myself going to play a lawyer? Research, observation, introspection. I feel like these are the holy trinity of character building. If I had to rank them it would be observation as no.1, research as no. 2, and introspection coming into third place not because it’s the least important, but rather, because it’s what ties no. 1 and 2 together. Observation is what determines the actions of a character, or the what, if we are going by Who What Where When and Why. Research pretty much determines everything else that a character would be into or do. For instance, I learned from my lawyer friend that lawyers are often divorced. Ergo, my character could be divorced recently. My character would also be paranoid about other lawyers possibly. But introspection, that is what connects all of those other elements, helps it feel real. Let me put it this way: Have you ever seen a character on screen that looks so perfectly real, you would have never known that they were not like that in real life? It’s because they are connecting the role to themselves through introspection. As they say, Acting is Believing. But I digress. There is a lot to consider in this process. Things I have to ask myself,(introspection) things I have to learn(Research,) and things I have to imitate or adapat(Observation). It will be a challenge, sure, but it will be worth it in the long run.
I had more to write about in this post, but it is actually going to be more prudent on my part to write about it in other segments that I post here.
ACtors Rehearse: Acting with disabilities. 