Lewis & Clark Moodle
Site blog
So Simon and I have only been able to meet once, but we got a lot done. We met up in Maggie's on the residential side of campus for about an hour and a half where we worked on line changes in the script and established our blocking throughout the scene. We decided were not going to cut our legs because neither of us really want to take off our pants and expose our selves to the class like that so we had to change anytime they said leg to arm. We also talked about our characters/their relationship and talked about the different beats we had set up for ourselves. For the most part my beats made sense with how his character responded in his beats. We meant to make a props list but we totally forgot. We'll make one when we meet up for the next rehearsal. Once we got through the logistics we sat there and did a few read throughs to play with delivery and see how far each of us were in line memorization. It was actually pretty funny doing it in Maggie's because people kept looking at us and were probably a little concerned based off of the lines we were trading. Note to self: next time don't yell the "get off of me you pervert" line in a public setting like Maggies. Next time we'll take some pictures or snap a video of us or something.
After Ashley
^^^^ Me and Ray hangin out after rehearsal ^^^^
!!!hello!
Ray and I rehearsed in public a lot this week which was new and fun because people would listen in and think we were having a really whiny/scary conversation and be mildly concerned for my safety.
We also spent a lot of time just talking about how our script is so so so good because the whole time our characters are walking this really thin line between flirting and being angry, and it's sort of like this constant battle of who likes who more, which allows us to really undermine and manipulate one another in a great way.
We've met like 3 or 4 times this week, but only twice officially in the black box. I think we're still kind of impeded by our lack of set. It's definitely lessened our mobility and I'm concerned that our performance today might just be us sitting and looking at each other and talking which is both unrealistic and boring. However, we're at this really cool stage in the rehearsal process where we can be incredibly susceptible to one another. Every time we run through the scene or a chunk of the scene, one of the beats changes drastically. Where we were yelling at each other before, we'll be more gentle and calm, or we'll go from very serious to laughing at something in the script. I think as we get to know our characters better these choices will become more intentional and 'inevitable,' as Zeth said in class one time. I think looking forward one of our main goals will be to really push energy throughout the scene. I don't think we've ever had a run in which the whole scene really surged and climaxed with energy. So far we've had great moments, and it's never been dull, but I think our energy has festered as we lose focus, generally as a result of unspecified beat changes. I think we're both clear on why our characters change in each beat, throughout the scene, and throughout the play, but not necessarily how they change- be it physically, vocally, psychologically, emotionally, or all four.
We also made a playlist for our rehearsals and performances that we think fits the mood of the scene. The songs are based on the time period (2002) and the setting (a dingy bar)------
Playlist:
- Stan, Eminem
- Mamacita, Outkast
And there I was, at Fred Meyer, holding six bottles of various assortments of sparking juice, all of which could pass for champagne bottles, looking like a lonely alcoholic. I, then, without appearing suspicious in the slightest, stuffed all of the juice into my backpack, got on the Pio Shuttle, and then walked past my RA with the bottles jingling.
When Julien and I were rehearsing, it was amazing how much of a difference some props and a finalized set made. Using a couch instead of a chair automatically grounded Catherine, and actually having a door for Hal to enter from made it more realistic. Holding a bottle of "champagne" and drinking directly from the bottle is awkward. I've managed to spill it up my nose more times than I would like to admit.
Because it is so hard to be able to use the black box, we ended up rehearsing in the Copeland lounge (multiple times) and in a random lecture hall (once again, multiple times). We made charts about our characters' feelings and, after every run through, we picked out things we need to work on. Our major goals were to work on specificity and grounding.
Hey guys! So this past week, Aria and I have been meeting for an hour, whenever we can, to talk about the logistics of our scene and to get some rough blocking done. We've been using one of the common rooms in Platt to rehearse, which is nice because we can move all the furniture around to make a mock set. At the same, time it's a funny place to rehearse. When our scene gets pretty intense and we start to fight, we've had people peep their heads in and ask what's up. We take that as a good sign though. In terms of a rehearsal method, we usually try to organically block things first to see what comes out of that, then edit from there. We also usually try to really find a balance between the opinions of our characters and our own opinions as actors in order to come up with the best possible combination of blocking and natural intentions. However, sometimes we get them confused and we have to take a step back and see what will make for a better scene from an audience perspective. But we're having fun with it and doing our best. It's a lot, but so far so good!!
Since Friday Emma and I rehearsed twice, Sunday and Tuesday, for an hour each time. Our primary focus was blocking and getting offbook. We ran through the scene several times and tried out different blocking in order to find the most natural blocking. We talked about props and costumes as well, deciding on a props list which we have attached below. I was also able to acquire a Martinelli's bottle, and I scratched off the label so it could pass as a champagne bottle. We are well on our way to having all of our props. Our rehearsals went well, we found good blocking and moments that we hadn't seen before. I think that the scene has become a lot more natural as we continued to run it together. Getting offbook on such short notice was hard, but it helped heighten the stakes within the scene because we didn't have long to make the scene work. In future rehearsals we want to work on fluidity in the scene and more specific movement as well as highlighting important power shift moments.
Donnella here.....I just listened to this Fresh Air interview. It was super fascinating and inspiring AND relevant to the subject matter wE will be talking about next week and beyond. Here is the description of the interview and the link.
Lutheran pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber admits that she does not look — or act — like a typical church leader. Heavily tattooed and with a tendency to swear like a truck driver, Bolz-Weber was once a standup comic with a big drinking problem.
But she was drawn to Lutheran theology, and when a group of friends asked her to give a eulogy for another friend who had committed suicide, Bolz-Weber discovered her calling.
Bolz-Weber tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross that while addressing the crowd of "academics and queers and comics and recovering alcoholics" at the funeral, she realized: "These people don't have a pastor, and maybe that's what I'm supposed to do."
After going to seminary, Bolz-Weber founded a church in Denver called The House for All Sinners and Saints. She writes about the church, which she describes as "Christo-centric," in the new memoir Accidental Saints: Finding God in all the Wrong People.
Bolz-Weber's congregation includes LGBT people, people with addictions, compulsions and depression, and even nonbelievers. "Some churches might have a hard time welcoming junkies and drag queens; we're fine with that," she says.
Still, Bolz-Weber admits to feeling uneasy when "bankers in Dockers" started coming to her services: "It threw me into a crisis, because I felt like, 'Wait, you could go to any mainline Protestant church in this city and see a room full of people who look just like you. Why are you coming and messing up our weird?' "
My job is to point to Christ and to preach the Gospel and to remind people that they're absolutely loved ... and all of their mess-ups are not more powerful than God's mercy.
Ultimately, Bolz-Weber says, mixing more traditional newcomers with her church's original parishioners has been good for her congregation. "I thought it was diluting the weird; now it's much weirder to have them all together," she explains.
And regardless of who fills the seats, Bolz-Weber's message from the pulpit remains the same: "My job is to point to Christ and to preach the Gospel and to remind people that they're absolutely loved ... and all of their mess-ups are not more powerful than God's mercy and God's ability to sort of redeem us and to bring good out of bad."
Meeting with Rebecca revolutionized our scene! Okay, that might be a bit strong of word usage, but the dynamic is completely different now. Instead of contained anger, Adam is now very, vert, VERY expressive now- to the point of shrieking his guts out at Evelyn at one point. Finding that type of anger was difficult for Zach at first, but with each run through he managed to get closer to right level. The internal conflict he had been playing before is completely gone- Adam is pissed beyond all rationality so all of the lines are tinged with anger and hatred and Evelyn's consistent dismissal of Adam's feelings only make him angrier. The scene definitely feels better now and really has that edge the playwright probably envisioned for the scene. We feel very prepared for the final, especially given this new dynamic that adds a lot more to work with for both Adam and Evelyn and makes the scene more interesting to watch. Each run through felt more and more grounded and hopefully for the final, we'll be at our most grounded and knock this bad boy outta the park! We still have 2 more days to really hammer-in the grounding, solidify the new blocking, and work on really listening to the other person instead of just waiting for our next line. But we're gonna get there- no doubt about it.
Nikki and Zach, signing off!
We've added many more props! I brought in some more T-shirts, button downs, a Pikachu, and some underwear (it's clean I swear!) Adding objects to interact with- or just in general having their presence- makes the scene feel more real, more lifelike. Last week (forgot to mention this) we cut the scene since we had both memorized to around the same place in the lines and that was around 5 and a half minutes. Additionally, we wanted to focus on making the scene really about our characters and the relationship dynamic and not about trying to remember all the lines (especially with those long monologues) so we found a section to stop at that would keep the same meaning as the end of the scene. Anywho, this rehearsal is the most grounded we have felt yet- not perfect by any means, but a lot better than previously. We're finding our characters a lot more and ever had a 15-20 minute talk about subtext, our power dynamic/statuses, and internal conflict. The main focus is whether or not Adam still loves Evelyn and if Evelyn ever actually loved Adam. Keeping all these internal dialogues in mind during the scene has led to very cool new tension and allowed us to explore our characters a lot more. The final is keeping up soon, but we feel pretty confident in where we are, so now it's a matter of fine-tuning and finding the right power dynamic flows. Upwards and onwards!
For today's rehearsal, we focused more on our blocking. Our lines are falling more into place, they're still a bit rough due to the repetitive nature of the lines, but we get better with each run-through. What's mainly tripping us up is that our blocking isn't grounded- we sort of just move about throughout the space without real intent. Not only does this shaky blocking hinder our blocking, but it also makes recalling the lines difficult since we're focusing on trying to make decisions about movement on the spot. Through trial-and-error testing, we've managed to lock-in specific blocking for key parts of the scene, but we're not entirely there yet. Already we're noticing the lines coming easier by being able to tie them with the specific movement, so all-in-all a productive rehearsal!
We've added many more props! I brought in some more T-shirts, button downs, a Pikachu, and some underwear (it's clean I swear!) Adding objects to interact with- or just in general having their presence- makes the scene feel more real, more lifelike. Last week (forgot to mention this) we cut the scene since we had both memorized to around the same place in the lines and that was around 5 and a half minutes. Additionally, we wanted to focus on making the scene really about our characters and the relationship dynamic and not about trying to remember all the lines (especially with those long monologues) so we found a section to stop at that would keep the same meaning as the end of the scene. Anywho, this rehearsal is the most grounded we have felt yet- not perfect by any means, but a lot better than previously. We're finding our characters a lot more and ever had a 15-20 minute talk about subtext, our power dynamic/statuses, and internal conflict. The main focus is whether or not Adam still loves Evelyn and if Evelyn ever actually loved Adam. Keeping all these internal dialogues in mind during the scene has led to very cool new tension and allowed us to explore our characters a lot more. The final is keeping up soon, but we feel pretty confident in where we are, so now it's a matter of fine-tuning and finding the right power dynamic flows. Upwards and onwards!