Releasing instinct through physical objectives

Step 1- split your text or monologue into the characters different thoughts or beats and make notes about the character and their given circumstances.

Step 2- work out the all the physical objectives. 

Step 3- start to play your objectives and live through them. Explore  the extremes of your objectives, even if it they fit with your lines, because you can always go back and change them.

It is important that you allow your work to be bad in rehearsals and don't become embarrassed. When you go to the extremes of your objective, make sure that you don't restrict yourself to one body part. When you say your line, you still have to live through your objective, even if it doesn't feel right. 

My castability

I would be able to play a character between the ages fifteen and nineteen. I think i could be both shy or outspoken and be of a high or low status. When I discussed my castabitilty with my partner, they suggested I could play a student, a young mum, a challenging character, a reserved, shy character and a character from a period drama.

In order to improve my castabitilty I need to improve my flexibility so that I can do physical theatre or mime, more easliy. I should work on my accents and modulating my voice. I need to improve my posture, so I can play rolls of different statuses and change my body language. 

approaching my script

Chracter - carol

- carol is a univercity student 

- she finds her lectures difficult

- she doesn't understand the material she gets taught 

- carol finds the language her professor uses to be too fancy and complicated 

- something traumatic happened to carol in her past to make her hostile towards men

- she comes from a deprived socio economic background 

- at the beginning of the play carol is naive and shy, but towards the end she is manipulative and calculating.

- she accuses her professor of sexual assault

My name is carol. I am a univercity student and am in my first year at the univercity. I am from a deprived background and my family don't have much money. I went through a very traumatic experience when I was younger. 

I used to be shy and couldn't say what I felt. I was naive, but now I am much more confident. 

Skills I have developed

I have learnt how to understand and breakdown a script or piece of text. I have to look at the historical, cultural and political background of the text, the themes and given circumstances. 

I have learnt to be critical of my own work. 

I  know how to workout my objectives and given circumstances in detail. 

I've learnt to live in the world of my character, by spending emotion and letting my breath lead.

I know that during a performance I have to allow anything to happen. I have to let myself look ugly, feel pain etc.  

I have to make sure I build my character, by doing detailed research, working out what opinions and views my character has. 

I know how to work as an ensemble. 

I know how to build a piece in response to a stimulus. 

I have learnt how to respond to a specific audience. 

I have learnt how to control and change my voice, from different vocal exercises. 

I know how to use multi media in performance. 
I have learnt about different theatrical configurations.
I have learnt about how to perform with masks.
I know about improvisation skills.
I have learnt about different societies and cultures, through theatre.

I have to make sure I react with other actors on the stage.

I know I need to be diverse in the characters I play and find my acting range.

I have done some directing.

I know that every scene is a chase scene between the actors. 

monologue 2

Play: Oleanna by David Mamet 

This play is a two-character play, one a university professor, and the other, his student, Carol. 
The play is about a female student accusing her university professor, John,  of sexual exploitation. John is about to receive a large pay rise and a be granted a tenure, but carol's charges prevent this from happening. 
The first time carol comes to see John, she is unhappy because she is not understanding the material in his classes. John tries to comfort her by putting his hand on her shoulder and says he will give her an A if she continues to come and see him so he can help her and discuss the material. 
The next time Carol comes to john's office is after carol has filed a formal complaint about him being sexist and his hand on her shoulder is described as sexual harassment. 

The monologue I have chosen is during one of carols visits to the professors office. John and Carol get into a debate and Carol begins to tell John about what she had to go through to get into the university. 

monologue 1

Play : Sugar Daddies by Alan Ayckbourne 

Sugar Daddies was first performed at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, in 2003. 

The play is about two sisters, Sasha and Chloe, who live in a flat together. Sasha, who is in her early twenties, meets a much older man, named Val. Val buys Sasha lots of expensive things and spoils her, but Val has a criminal past. Chloe doesn't approve of Val. Chloe and her boyfriend go on holiday and when they come back Val has transformed Sasha and Chloe's flat with new furniture. Chloe gets angry and tells Sasha to get rid of it and that she wont come back until its gone. 
Whilst Sasha and Val are at a dinner party, Sasha sees a more violent and frightening side to Val, after he gets into a fight. Sasha takes a call and is told that Chloe fell in front of a train, but has survived. Sasha and Chloe make up and Sasha ends her relationship with Val. The play ends with Sasha and Chloe returning home. 



The monologue that I have chosen is from the scene when Chloe returns home from her holiday to find that the flat has been transformed. Sasha gets angry with her and tells her how pathetic she is, because her boyfriend doesn't love her but she loves him. 
I think this monologue is suitable for me, because Sasha is very young and I think I can capture her impressionable character in this monologue. 

lesson 1

What is an audition?

An audition as an opportunity to show your skills and ability, through a performance or interview. You may be asked to do a monologue, a group performance or an interview. It is important not to over act in a audition, but instead commit 100% to the given circumstanced of the character. In an audition you should improvise within the knowledge of the character, because if you perform a monologue and the director asks you to do it again, but you perform it in exactly the same way, he/she is less likely to give you the job.  There are different types of auditions, for example radio, theatre, TV or film. 

Radio audition -in a radio audition, the director will ask you to read into a microphone, so that they can hear your voice and decide if its right for the character they are looking for.  

Film/TV audition- in a film or TV audition, the director will give you part or all of the script and you will have to read it in font of  a camera. this is so that the director can see how you look on camera. 

Theatre audition- in a theatre audition the director will ask to see your monologue, but unlike TV or radio they will be concentrating on your whole physicality, to see how you connect your voice and body. 

Why is working out you physical objectives so important? 

Having a physical objective changes the way you deliver your lines. A physical objective gives you ability to use your body and voice. when you use your voice and body as one, your performance immediately becomes more naturalistic and you 'act' less. Having an objective makes you live in the given circumstances.