Performance Log #1

Today in class we worked mostly on blocking. We also worked on our reactions and pronouncing our lines the way we wanted. We mentally set up the stage and wrote a diagram of how we wanted the stage to be set up for our performance and we also practiced our entrances and exits to the scene. We talked about our costumes, what era we wanted to represent/be in, how we wanted our clothes to give off a certain vibe and tell a story without having to tell people who we are. We decided that it is going to be fairly modern and I am a very wealthy, respected girl and Dilyara is my maid but also my friend. She is going to be wearing a "maid" costume by dressing in older, semi-dirty clothes that show that she is of a lower status than me and I am going to be wearing a dress of some sort that is not too fancy but at the same time shows my authority over Dilyara. What I tried to do to get a better feel for the character is visualize myself as the character and react in the way I think she would react. I also kind of created a mental note to remind myself that as this character, this is my first love and I am very young, so I try to remind myself to exaggerate my excitement every time I talk about Romeo or every time he is mentioned. Also, since we haven't used costumes yet, I try to visualize Dilyara as an older woman because, in this scene, she complains a lot about being sore from having to walk and run errands for me. I think that visualization is key for me as an actor. I am a very hands-on learner so I try to do things as physically possible to really be able to get a handle on the assignment. I think that Dilyara and I are reacting to each other very well. We still need to go over a few things and read the lines a little more carefully but for the most part, we seem to be great partners. Tomorrow I think we should go over the script more and really exaggerate our emotions and make them clearer. I also think that we should work on memorizing our lines better so we can work on more blocking. We seem to have a lot of similar opinions and I think that is goo because there isn't a conflict as to what we want to portray in the scene and we don't bud heads in any way.