Virginia Swenson

Mia and I stayed after our class on Tuesday to continue making progress on the work we started. We were eager to keep memorizing lines and keep adding to the scene. I noticed as the first lines became more engrained, I was able to let the choices, listening and responding, and moment to moment acting happen more. 

We first came out into the middle of the space, and set up the wide black stairs (the ones used in the midterm performance with Mia, Kaia, Tuse, and Aysha). We used the piano bench originally, but the wider stairs seem more like they belong in a choir loft. We are going to keep experimenting with the set, but for the first few rehearsals its nice to have a lot of ability to move around. One thing we haven't practiced with yet that will make a huge difference is using flash lights. The stage directions say that it should be dark, until we each turn on our flash lights, at the beginning of the dialogue. That would hugely change the physical behavior of the piece. 

So far we've had fun just letting the movement be organic and changing every run through. We have been experimenting with "over acting", or really letting ourselves be loud and expressive, and just seeing how it feels. It has helped with the physicality and blocking, because it makes small tendencies and impulses more apparent. 

We are almost all the way off book, which is exciting. We are so excited about this process!! The cake is a highlight, and helps us to have organic behavior and feel grounded in the scene. 

Something I am looking forward to working on is embodying my character, Laney, more. I am so interested in playing Laney, but it has been extremely challenging for both Mia and I to "become" a pretentious fourteen year old, and a sixteen year old "jesus freak", as we like to call her. We are both looking for ways to drop into our characters more.