Lewis & Clark Moodle

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Jason and I both returned back from the holiday weekend refreshed and relaxed. During our rehearsal, we spent time blocking the last part of our scene. After we both didn't look at our lines for about a week, it was hard to jump back into character and the given circumstances of the play. By the end of the rehearsal, we made a little bit of progress on our scene by integrating specific movements for every moment of the scene. Unfortunately, that progress was stopped because we accidently broke two beer bottles during a "take". So we cleaned up the black box for twenty minutes, trying to pick up all the little pieces that were scattered all over the floor. Overall, I am very confident about our scene though at times I still find it hard to connect with my character. 

So this past week was pretty slow for the both of us. Over this past weekend, Emma took a trip to Seattle (I'm jealous) and we were unable to rehearse. We felt pretty confident that we would do fine on Tuesday for our first performance. I personally think we did "okay". I stuttered on one of my lines which totally took me out of character because I kind of laughed at myself. We are also still struggling on things to do for our "physical behaviors". I'm very thankful for all of the helpful notes that you have all given us. Our scene is a very high stakes argument and we will work to make it seem so. I've never been kicked out of my own home, but I'm pretty sure I can imagine the feeling. 

One struggle that I have noticed with all the groups is the reserving of the black box. We are competing against a lot of people. My proposal would be for some pairs to group up and reserve a time altogether, that way more people can work in the space. Of course this is just my opinion, but if anyone is down, I'm down.

Alex and I spent most of our time just running over our lines over and over again. But now we are devoting time at looking at blocking/props and what thing out characters want to be known for doing. We start with looking at clips on YouTube of people performing and checking out what props are essential to get the point across. We are spending time writing a list of what we need. For example my character yells at Alex’s character for his backpack, therefore we know we need Hal ( Alex’s character) to have a backpack. Also, we know we need notebooks 103 to be exact but we only need a good pile to get the point across so we are working on getting the specific props and our blocking. When it comes to how we perform on stage we also read how it is really important not to have out backs to the audience so we also work on our stance, still working on how to make use of the space rather than just walking back and forth. So, that’s that and I hope everyone enjoys their break!!

After our last rehearsal Kim and I were feeling pretty stuck in our scene.  Having learned our lines and gotten comfortable with the beats we became unsure what else the scene was missing.  Rebecca advised us to try various exercises such as rehearsing the scene speaking the subtext of the characters lines instead of the actual lines and rehearsing the scene with completely melodramatic acting.  The former exercise helped me figure out which aspects of the character's subtext were missing when we delivered the actual lines.  Rehearsing the scene with ridiculous melodramatic acting helped Kim and I find more humor in the scene.  The melodramatic acting also made the shift in tone when Jessica starts asking about Warren's sister much more drastic and striking.  I would recommend both of these exercises to other groups.

I think Mo and I have been struggling a bit to get back on track. Both of us were less than thrilled with our class showing of our scene on Tuesday. Though I know I've given a lot of time to focusing on my given circumstances for the scene, I think adding the lines makes things way more complex. A lot of what Kayleen is doing is playing against what she's actually feeling. He relationship with Doug is so complicated, and this scene is climatic in the play. This is the major falling out between Kayleen and Doug, and they go another several years without seeing or speaking to each other. Keeping that in mind just raises the stakes of the scene. I thin Mo and I could benefit from spending some time developing the characters more and maybe just working on the actions a little bit more. I'm excited to get back to work with Mo once the holiday weekend is over. 

Our first rehearsal in East!  Dennis pre gamed with a homemade meal he made himself and then we started making videos and trying to work through a lot of laughs- mostly on my part.  Once we started we really got into it and gave each other advice on how we thought our characters would react and how loud or mad or quiet and hesitant we should get.

Liam and I rehearsed our scene on Saturday. We found it harder than expected to take Rebecca's notes and apply them to our scene; we weren't sure how to add in more physical action nor how to make the latter half of the scene more high-stakes or poignant. We did try to slow down the dialogue where needed, which I think will help me to pace myself during the second showing of the scene, since in the first showing I rushed some lines and spoke over Liam's lines a couple times. I took a short video (albeit at an odd angle) of our scene. This helps me to understand how my voice sounds and how I need to project a bit more (at times I sound like I have a glass ball in my mouth, but that tends to dissipate when I am really applying an action to the dialogue). 

Lulu and I are finally rehearsing off book. Its been a real struggle the past week for us lol. Our biggest struggle was finding time to meet with each other. We are both so busy so it is hard to find times that work for both of us. But, the time that we have been able to get together we have made a lot of progress. We are both feeling pretty comfortable with our characters and are excited to keep working on our scene. We have came a long way from where we started and are excited to continue to work. This break coming up is going to be much needed for us. It will give us a lot of time to rehearse and prepare ourselves for the future events. This Thanksgiving break will also allow us to get caught up on our sleep (which is very much needed) haha.

Lulu and I are finally rehearsing off book. Its been a real struggle the past week for us lol. Our biggest struggle was finding time to meet with each other. We are both so busy so it is hard to find times that work for both of us. But, the time that we have been able to get together we have made a lot of progress. We are both feeling pretty comfortable with our characters and are excited to keep working on our scene. We have came a long way from where we started and are excited to continue to work. This break coming up is going to be much needed for us. It will give us a lot of time to rehearse and prepare ourselves for the future events. This Thanksgiving break will also allow us to get caught up on our sleep (which is very much needed) haha.