fundamentals.
First comes silence.
Then one of two things; there is speech, and then there is action. Or both.
The directors remind me that my actions can speak just as loudly as the words that I utter. Self-consciousness, however, is a tough skin to shed.
Rehearsals for R&G have been a whole lot of fun. I play Claudius, who only has four entrances; a pity. But there is still so much preparation that needs to be done. Key to understanding the Shakespearean characters is the material in Hamlet, which I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring with the cast.
Oh I have fallen in love with Shakespeare again. With Shakespeare, I feel, it is always about the language, or more specifically, his imaginative use of language that always lends his characters and the plot such vividness. Then there is also the odd satisfaction of reading pentameter and the constant challenge of making it sound as though it were prose. The ultimate aim for the actor, I think, is to capture both the elegance of verse and the fluidity of prose. (Derek Jacobi is ridiculously good at this.) Scansion is to speech as rhythm is to music. It deserves respect, but it cannot be the sole object of consideration in a performance; there are other layers of complexity that must be added upon the important foundation that it provides. I fear soliloquies! They are as challenging as they are satisfying. Tone, delivery, phrasing, tempo, everything - everything has got to be right - and that's only taking speech into consideration.
It is not an easy thing for one to take up guise and mask; to lose one's inhibitions and to step out from one's bonds into a different consciousness. I am, however, enjoying every moment of it.
I think I made the right choice.
Then one of two things; there is speech, and then there is action. Or both.
The directors remind me that my actions can speak just as loudly as the words that I utter. Self-consciousness, however, is a tough skin to shed.
Rehearsals for R&G have been a whole lot of fun. I play Claudius, who only has four entrances; a pity. But there is still so much preparation that needs to be done. Key to understanding the Shakespearean characters is the material in Hamlet, which I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring with the cast.
Oh I have fallen in love with Shakespeare again. With Shakespeare, I feel, it is always about the language, or more specifically, his imaginative use of language that always lends his characters and the plot such vividness. Then there is also the odd satisfaction of reading pentameter and the constant challenge of making it sound as though it were prose. The ultimate aim for the actor, I think, is to capture both the elegance of verse and the fluidity of prose. (Derek Jacobi is ridiculously good at this.) Scansion is to speech as rhythm is to music. It deserves respect, but it cannot be the sole object of consideration in a performance; there are other layers of complexity that must be added upon the important foundation that it provides. I fear soliloquies! They are as challenging as they are satisfying. Tone, delivery, phrasing, tempo, everything - everything has got to be right - and that's only taking speech into consideration.
It is not an easy thing for one to take up guise and mask; to lose one's inhibitions and to step out from one's bonds into a different consciousness. I am, however, enjoying every moment of it.
I think I made the right choice.
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