Hey y'all. This is for my theatre project. Don't mind me.
(I also know that it is currently 6 a.m. Stupid night rehearsals x[ )
It's just the only journal I can get to right now.
Ahem
[My goal for this show was to apply Commedia del' Arte characteristics to each of my three characters - to have them move only in specific, extreme ways tied to their characterization, and keep this movement consistent. When I say "extreme," I mean that the characters must be very over-the-top and their movements obvious - I mean, the opposite of subtle characterization.
[However, I face also the challenge of keeping the characters within the limits of a chorus group; they cannot be so over-the-top as to distract from the main characters or from the plot, and my characterization of each character must include the movements in each choreography, for example.
[So far, that has been my most major challenge. For the most part, I am able to keep foot positions I assign to each character - third position for my Munchkin, straight feet with bent knees for my Winky, and Egyptian-type poses for my Emerald Citizen - during the choreographies and songs. I have no trouble maintaining these during spoken segments of the show. The trouble has shown itself when I strive to keep my hands, arms, and back posture in line with the characterization of each persona during a choreography, when every member of the chorus must be more or less in sync and move in more or less the same way. Movement in Commedia del' Arte is most significant in characterization: if two characters in a Commedia play move very similarly, they are probably the same type of stock character. I might even go so far as to say that they are, to some extent, the same character.
[In the movement of the upper body is where I face the most difficulty, then. If all my characters have different leg positions, but the same posture and arms, then they are, in the essence of Commedia, the same character, or similar characters.
[The Munchkin is full of attitude and is very upbeat.
[The Winky is caged, trapped, worrisome, and a hard worker by necessity.
[The Citizen of Oz wears a mask of pride but truly feels empty for most of the show.
[These are not the same characters.
[Throughout the next week or so, during night rehearsals, I will be playing with new ways of physically expressing these characterizations with my arms and upper body that will both differentiate the characters and fit with the chorus in equal proportions.]
Whew! Not bad for somebody who didn't get home until 9:30 p.m., eh? (And then woke up at 5:30. It was COLD)
(I also know that it is currently 6 a.m. Stupid night rehearsals x[ )
It's just the only journal I can get to right now.
Ahem
[My goal for this show was to apply Commedia del' Arte characteristics to each of my three characters - to have them move only in specific, extreme ways tied to their characterization, and keep this movement consistent. When I say "extreme," I mean that the characters must be very over-the-top and their movements obvious - I mean, the opposite of subtle characterization.
[However, I face also the challenge of keeping the characters within the limits of a chorus group; they cannot be so over-the-top as to distract from the main characters or from the plot, and my characterization of each character must include the movements in each choreography, for example.
[So far, that has been my most major challenge. For the most part, I am able to keep foot positions I assign to each character - third position for my Munchkin, straight feet with bent knees for my Winky, and Egyptian-type poses for my Emerald Citizen - during the choreographies and songs. I have no trouble maintaining these during spoken segments of the show. The trouble has shown itself when I strive to keep my hands, arms, and back posture in line with the characterization of each persona during a choreography, when every member of the chorus must be more or less in sync and move in more or less the same way. Movement in Commedia del' Arte is most significant in characterization: if two characters in a Commedia play move very similarly, they are probably the same type of stock character. I might even go so far as to say that they are, to some extent, the same character.
[In the movement of the upper body is where I face the most difficulty, then. If all my characters have different leg positions, but the same posture and arms, then they are, in the essence of Commedia, the same character, or similar characters.
[The Munchkin is full of attitude and is very upbeat.
[The Winky is caged, trapped, worrisome, and a hard worker by necessity.
[The Citizen of Oz wears a mask of pride but truly feels empty for most of the show.
[These are not the same characters.
[Throughout the next week or so, during night rehearsals, I will be playing with new ways of physically expressing these characterizations with my arms and upper body that will both differentiate the characters and fit with the chorus in equal proportions.]
Whew! Not bad for somebody who didn't get home until 9:30 p.m., eh? (And then woke up at 5:30. It was COLD)
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