Lewis & Clark Moodle

It felt so good to perform with the lights in the black box! It really makes the scene feel more grounded. It was easier to get into character with lights down/lights up. After performing we realized we still have some work to do before our final performance, and we are looking forward to individual coaching with Rebecca. 

Libby and I felt that our silences and beats were more formed during this performance. This is something we worked on individually and together. It is difficult in this scene, because Annie Baker includes so many purposeful pauses along with lines we must memorize when to stop speaking. I really love this about the scene, but it has taken Libby and I some practice. 

Before we performed, we rehearsed and talked a lot about blocking. We purposefully made the decision to stay seated, because we felt that it added more to the tension of the scene and was more natural for our characters. However, after practicing in class getting up and changing our blocking it was clear that it is possible (or necessary!) to get up to build/keep/change the tension between our characters. Blocking is definitely something that we will be exploring further which we are both excited about! 

Finally, before our final performance Libby and I know that we need to figure out costumes and some more props. We have been so focused on building our connection between the characters that these have taken a back seat, but we are in contact with the shop and have things planned. Looking forward to seeing everyones scenes! It was so fun to watch how much they have all progressed! Everyone is so funny and great actors lets form a collective and go off-Broadway. 

Whew! It has been a crazy busy and stressful week for the both of us! Lots of homework, projects, and exams coming up... riveting stuff I know. We did find some time to rehearse in the sunshine however. We pretty much have our lines down, but we're still working on incorporating some more movement and blocking into our scene. Our dress reheasal was super helpful though, and I think re-working our set like y'all mentioned will make things feel better.

Personally, I have found it difficult to fully immerse into this scene. The interactions between Callie & Peter in this scene are intense, and Peter kinda seems like a type of dude that I generally tend to avoid "being"... so attempting to get into this character (and "pinching" harder) feels awkard. I think some more rehearsals and coaching will help. 

What's up y'all! Hope you all are doing well. Like you guys, we are feeling the stresses of the final performance and many of our other classes. It was hard for us to meet up this week more than one time, so we just met yesterday to go over lines and come up with/tone out our movements for the scene. Our scene is kind of long, so we are still trying to fully memorize the lines. I would say we are pretty much there, but we can definitely refresh a little more. Our goal is to have it fully memorized by the weekend so we can focus on the movements and actions mainly. Well, hope y'all are doing well with your rehearsals and we are excited to see them.

Last weekend we met up at Erika's apartment to put together the whole scene before our performance that was supposed to be this past Monday. Before actually working on the scene, we sat down to coordinate the logistics such as our costumes and props that we needed to bring. After that we started working on the scene, making sure all lines were memorized, and that we had a sense of push and pull. It was important to us that we built up our fight, instead of coming into the scene expecting a fight. We also worked on transferring energy by throwing a pillow back and forth at each other while doing the scene so we could react in our bodies to what the other person was saying. I'm bummed we couldn't perform this week but I'm excited for everyone to see it next week!

This week Micheal and I are working on finishing the last parts of our scene as well as work on feedback that we received about the first part of our performance. This week will be difficult for us to practice because my voice is out and I've been trying everything to get it back. However, I am excited to continue this work and I'm super excited to see everyone's showing. Something I've been struggling with is again memorizing my scene because the depth of our scene towards the ending gets more intense and there are more stakes to cover. We've also been wondering what more we can bring to our scene to make it more natural like the use of costumes or more effective props. Overall, I think our work is going good just a lot of memorization, practice, and confidence. I've been enjoying everyone's scenes and appreciate everyone's work!!!

This week Libby and I met up before class to spend some time rehearsing before we present on Wednesday. We talked about what specific character bits we might be able to add, is Sam always putzing with his fingers? How is Rose sitting and why? We brainstormed ways to further portray how we feel as the characters. We also talked about possible props, costume ideas and got in touch with the shop/stock room. 

In rehearsal, we tried to focus on getting comfortable with silence and the longer beats that Annie Baker purposefully includes. Its hard! We are still working on it, its so awkward and we keep wanting to speak! So we are working on harnessing that awkwardness in the scene so our personal awkwardness is our characters awkwardness if that makes sense. After our rehearsal and Rebecca's feedback, sitting in awkwardness and holding it there has gotten easier. Today in class when we walked around campus and practiced our lines really helped after our rehearsal. It helped make it more naturally conversational and pinch/ouch which made navigating the beats much easier! 

This week Libby and I met up before class to spend some time rehearsing before we present on Wednesday. We talked about what specific character bits we might be able to add, is Sam always putzing with his fingers? How is Rose sitting and why? We brainstormed ways to further portray how we feel as the characters. We also talked about possible props, costume ideas and got in touch with the shop/stock room. 

In rehearsal, we tried to focus on getting comfortable with silence and the longer beats that Annie Baker purposefully includes. Its hard! We are still working on it, its so awkward and we keep wanting to speak! So we are working on harnessing that awkwardness in the scene so our personal awkwardness is our characters awkwardness if that makes sense. After our rehearsal and Rebecca's feedback, sitting in awkwardness and holding it there has gotten easier. Today in class when we walked around campus and practiced our lines really helped after our rehearsal. It helped make it more naturally conversational and pinch/ouch which made navigating the beats much easier! 

Unfortunately, the black box was in high demand so Kenzie and I had to rehearse in Howard instead. It ended up being totally okay because we were able to move the chairs around so they sort of reflected how we would set them up normally. We were trying to work on projection and blocking for the scene since those were details that couldn't be done over our previous zoom rehearsal. Being in person allowed us to embrace the awkward and let it settle into the room, something that was also much harder to achieve digitally. The first time we ran it and really let the silence linger in the beginning we were both so shocked at how out of place and awkward we both felt, but in like the best way! The scene has come a long way and we have definitely gotten A LOT more comfortable with the characters

Last week me and Makana were still trying to put together the difference emotions and beat changes of our scene. Our scene has gone through a complete mental metamorphosis from how it was to begin with. We have had to shift our senses of our characters and really work to figure them out. Me and Makana got a lot of good rehearsal time in and were able to figure out our stage blocking and what our set will look like as well as our props and clothing for the most part. I am super excited to keep working and get our scene to perfection!

So, this week Isam and I were able to perform the first half of our scene to the class, it was a really great experience. We both got the opportunity to run through it live with an audience and that was a true blessing! We thought that we executed our performance and our grounding very well, which we are stoked about. However, I learned that I must rethink my character of Sam and be more insecure/masking my power over Avery in this scene. With these notes in mind, I am excited to attack the character of Sam in a different light and try to execute the character to the best of my abilities. Isam and I are planning to meet Sunday to rehearse the scene before our performance on Wednesday. 😊