The scene that Jeff and I are working on from The Crucible is the final scene between Elizabeth and John Proctor. It is a very dramatic scene full of subtext. John Proctor has been in jail for three months and has not seen his pregnant wife Elizabeth. John has been put in jail in because of the witch trials going on in Salem. Elizabeth was also suspected of witchcraft but as she is pregnant will not be tried at least until the child is born. Prior to the witch trials John had committed adultery and Elizabeth had found out, as you can imagine this created all kinds of conflict between husband and wife. These circumstances, along with the fact that John will probably be hanged shortly, cause a lot of tension in the scene and add a lot of subtext. When performing it is important to thoroughly examine subtext in order to fully portray the character and their emotions at that given time. Without putting thought into what the character really means behind their words, the scene is flat and unbelievable. To help us with this, we looked at Objectives and Super Objectives. Determining that Elizabeth's Super Objective was to reconcile her love with her husband and proctors was to gain his wife's forgiveness, whereas their objectives change multiple times throughout the scene, from concern for the children, to each other and their community. So far our scene is coming along nicely, however we do plan to meet at lunches to work a bit more on getting the full emotions out of the text.
It's been another week and Andie
and I only had one more rehearsal time. I feel a little nervous at this point
but I'm going to talk to Andie and see if we can practice someday at lunch. The
lines are solid in my head but the accent is still weak, but that isn't really
important anymore. Though I would still like to perform with the accent because
it's awkward to talk about living back in Italy without the accent. For now I
think we just need to put in more practice for the scene to be good.
In class on
Tuesday we did an exercise where you put a verb next to your line that
describes what the line does to who you are talking to. Both Andie and I found
it very difficult, especially on one-word lines. We still managed to do it and
the result was very interesting. Having to think about the lines made you think
about why the character was saying them. This also led us to some of the
sub-text of the scene.
At the
beginning especially, there is a lot of sub-text. Catherine asks if Rodolpho is
hungry and he responds by saying: "not for anything to eat". This combined with
the fact that they exit the stage in the direction of the bedrooms at the end
of the scene makes it very clear what he means. But at the same time he wants
to sort out whatever it is that is bothering Catherine. He then tries to
recover conversation by explaining that he has $300 to try and show her that
things could be okay. The beginning of the scene has a lot of sub-text that can
be hard to convey, but Andie and I think we can do it.
The other
thing that I've done is starting to mark in pauses and emphasis in the scene
booklet. I find that I have to think about how I say the lines normally and if
it makes sense that way. There were a few spots where I changed my mind about a
pause but for the most part the way I say something works and I just write it
in.
Those are
the things that I've noticed since last week. The scene work is going well, I
just think that Andie and I need more rehearsal time, but we'll work that out.
Nervousness seems to be the plague of all those who go out into public. The cure is often a healthy dose of indifference, but within a species that has its very reproductive foundations rooted within the practice of strict judgment it is difficult to fool one's self into believing that others truly don't care. We are left trying to convince ourselves that we're great, but again, society has taught us to be humble, and praising ourselves within our minds goes against not only the societal norm but the years and years of self esteem conditioning that various companies put us through in an effort to attract us to their products. This past week of rehearsal reached its precipice when the time came for an evaluation of line memorization, something that I can honestly say that I was not prepared for, nor was my partner. It was apparent that the other groups were suffering from the same sort of stage fright that we were. Whenever Mr. Newman would enter the room all acting progress would seemingly come to a halt as we all stopped and tried to think about how we should look and how we should be acting. It was really quite entertaining to watch while simultaneously being quite terrifying to be in the same room as. For us grade twelve's, last Thursday's class was our last opportunity to have a mark put in for our university grades, so the pressure in that particular moment was amplified even more so. It's quite funny to think about the situation really. You are worried about doing well and by worrying about doing well you consequently end up doing worse and thus your fears are confirmed. It's a terrible endless cycle, one that I think we've all suffered from inside and outside of drama. The fear of making mistakes causes us to make mistakes. It's the regret, and knowing that that regret will stick with us for a long time. When writing articles for the Aquiline, I don't like to tell people that they are weak, spoiled, or take things for granted. Perhaps they do, perhaps they don't. Everyone has of issues that plague them, but one thing that they all have in common is regret. Thinking about the past is one of the easiest ways to bring yourself down, because it is always the horrible stuff we remember the most (stupid brain). Whenever I end up in the lower school hallway I am reminded of the total bliss and lust for life that small children have. That is what I'm going to teach; to keep their lust for life, to not by force themselves to live up to other role models, but to look forward to their own adventure. You are not Gandhi, you are not Mother Theresa, and you are not Craig Kilberger. You will never be. And that's an amazing thought! You are your own master, and you can walk down any road you like! Ask yourself: "What keeps me from doing exactly what I want to?" The most likely answer is: "Myself." What you have done in the past will only hurt you if you do it again. Make sure to tell yourself what you will never do again, and then tell yourself what you will do. Form your resolve, but base it upon your own courage and independence. Be honest with both yourself and those you love. Don't try to live up to others, but make your own adventure. Regret is only good for telling yourself what you will never do again. Once you know which things you will never do again, regret turns into wisdom, and wisdom builds character.
When we were told that we would be doing scenes from The Crucible, I will admit that I was a little disappointed. I am not usually a fan of tragedy, and as I said in my previous journal, I am not a big fan of The Crucible as a play. But when scenes were given out, and groups were formed, I began to get a little more excited about my scene.
It took me a little longer than everybody else to memorize my lines (due to neglect) but when I finally did, I found that our scene ran quite smoothly. We are still in the rehearsal process and trying to work out the staging for our scene. It is much more difficult than I imagined. I appreciate what Mr. Newman does ever year for the play. It is certainly hard. Anyways, while we were in the midst of practicing, Mr. Newman decided to mark us based on our lines rehearsal as opposed to regular line tests that he usually does (which are terrifying). I liked the idea, but at the same time I felt that he came in to watch only the scene where I had a million lines, and where I was still a little foggy on my exact lines. I guess he knew which scene he needed to watch. But anyway, as a result I did quite poorly on my line test. Which means that My overall Drama average will be quite low. But I think I know how I can improve it....
I think that I will be able to improve my Drama Mark in two areas: rehearsal and performance. We have been fairly focused during rehearsals (thank you Jessica) and I think that if I really work on my lines and get absorbed into the character of Elizabeth that I could do quite well.
I cant wait to perform. It will be great!
Drama class has been very interesting for the past few weeks. Filled with rehearsal and read-throughs of a very widely known Arthur Miller play (you really enjoy his plays, don't you Mr. Newman?). The Crucible is slightly disturbing, both in its story and in its characters. Arthur Miller is very good at making his characters out to be realistic, and their interactions are very believable.
In The Crucible, I find that the majority of the characters are fairly unlikable, and at many points within the play, I wanted to stop reading. This goes back to my issues as a child when I would not be able to sit through Disney films such as the Lion King and Snow White because I couldn't take the conflict. This play is literally chalked full of conflict. To the brim. That is why while doing a read through, I couldn't help but hate what was happening to the characters, hate the ignorance of the townspeople and hate the evil intentions of Abigail. There are a lot of antagonists in this play. Between the evil characters of Danforth, Hale and Abigail this play was very upsetting.
Some nice things about the Crucible are its excellent plot (however upsetting it may be) and its dynamic characters. I didn't like what the characters were doing, but based on their backgrounds I could understand why they were doing it. I also liked the way that although there was a sad ending, John Proctor didn't die in vain, and seemed to die a somewhat heroic death.
Over all, In the Crucible Arthur Miller weaves a detailed web making some interesting insights into human nature. This play is the result of a genius playwright and I did somewhat enjoy it ( even though I had a hard time with all the conflict). I cant wait to see how my rendition of Elizabeth Proctor will turn out.
As the weeks
pass by, rehearsals get more productive. Last week, I was really more
comfortable with my lines and more familiarized with it because I did not need
to get help from the script. We did a couple of rehearsals and each time we
repeated our scene I realized a stronger character of Elizabeth in me. However it
was a little frightening having Mr. Newman around, his presence always affects
us because we would always want to put up our best and please him. Of course! We
had to, he is assessing us and marks will be recorded at the end of the day. Both
I and Rory however still find difficulties in performing when we have to look
at each other straight through the eyes; this is the very intimidating and awkward
moment during rehearsals. Also, I find it very useful taking notes whenever we
perform a line. These notes direct me to what gesture or position I should
make. Stage directions are very confusing when you have your lines memorized
because someone like me would always be thinking of what line to say next and
that really gets me distracted and in most parts I easily tend to forget about
the settings or actions that follow.
Drama Journal #7
As
I predicted last week, this week was all about the prompt book. One of the exercises that we did in
class today was an activity to determine the underlying actions and emotions in
each one of our lines. This forced
me to look deeper into the character of John Proctor, and what he was really
trying to achieve with each line, and how each of his lines was affecting the
characters around him. Some of
these lines were very easy, but when I looked back and saw that 7/10 of my
lines were "I question you" I realized I had a problem. I was being too superficial. I erased my work and started
again. Slowly, each of the lines
except for two of them became clear to me, and not only did it allow me to
dramatize John Proctor more accurately, but it allowed me to dissect each of
John Proctor's actions, and understand why he did what he did.
Prompt
books have usually just annoyed me in the past, but I realized in class today
just how much they help me. Jessica
was gone the last class, so Bella and I just ran lines with no actions. This left me a little foggy this
morning as to which actions we had picked out before. Luckily, I had written most of them down on the sides of my
prompt book, so I picked them back up again fairly quickly.
The
last thing I wanted to comment on was how Mr. Newman changed the normal one on
one line test into more of a rehearsal grade. This was both good and bad for me. The good: it allowed me and my group to have a more
productive work period that class, and was obviously less stressful. Now the downside to this was that I am
usually not prepared for the one on one line tests, but I had it down cold this
time. I was looking forward to
getting as high of a grade as possible for just straight line memorization.
In
conclusion, this week in drama was spent mostly working on prompt books, but
our scene is really coming together as the date for the performance is getting
closer. While doing the prompt
books, the exercise that Mr. Newman threw at us was challenging, but also very
interesting and helpful at the same time, and I am looking forward to finding
out if he has anything else like that to help us further deepen our
understandings of our characters.
Drama Journal #6
This week in drama class we rehearsed
our scenes from The Crucible. Working
with Bella and Jessica was really productive, because when we focused on being
dramatic with our voices and memorizing lines, we really got a lot done.
One of the biggest challenges for me
this week was working on my accent.
Bella and Jessica both have an idea of what kind of voice they are going
to use for their performance, but as of right now, I'm not sure how to play
John Proctor. I have been thinking
of many different possibilities such as a lower class southern accent, my
normal voice, and maybe a Boston accent, although that last one is hard for me.
Another problem that I ran into is one
that I am familiar with. I
remember last year I had problems deciding what to write in my promptbook, and
this year is no exception for me.
I look at Jeff's prompt book, and notice how much more writing he has in
his, and I can't help but worry a little bit. I will have to get working on it really hard next week with
my group, and see if I can do a better one than I did in grade 10.
Overall, I love the group I am in this year, and I am happy with the scene that we have chosen. It is a scene with a lot of emotion and John Proctor is an interesting character for me to play, because he is a very different person compared to myself. If I can get the prompt book and my voice nailed down for next week, then our group will be right on track for the date of the performance, and I am looking forward to presenting our scene!
My group and I have only had two rehearsals since my last journal was written, one being the day we had to memorize our script. I was quite apprehensive going into this class because my nerves sometimes get the best of me when reciting my lines. Luckily, Mr. Newman changed the line test to a more casual reciting with our groups. This took the pressure off because it wasn't as one-on-one as memorization tests have been in the past. In our second rehearsal class we were given an exercise that required everyone to identify the underlying emotion of their line using the guideline "I _______ You". For example, if my line revealed something shocking or surprising, I would use "I Horrify You", or if the underlying meaning implied adoration I would use "I Love You". This exercise was given to us as actors so we could deliver each and every line with its true meaning and to ensure every reaction would be in context. The next couple of rehearsals will be used to mark up our prompt books to ensure we have every movement and action copied down. Recording the blocking in our prompt books will help us with the flow of our scene because as we run through we are discovering awkward positioning that can now be easily avoided. This class time will also give us an opportunity to perfect or scene and lines, however, if need be, we will use lunch time or after school to rehearse.
I think that John is a very interesting character. He is both among the most noble characters in the play (Pretty much one of the only good guys, along with Elizabeth, some of the farmers, and depending on your view of him, Hale [He does try to save people near the end, and wants them to lie simply to save their life rather than to root out witches and such]) but at the same time is technically responsible for all the deaths in the story, most likely several orphans and widows, and all because he wouldn't not sleep with his maid. And even then he is angry at his wife for even mentioning it despite the fact that it's causing what amounts to the execution of at least half a dozen innocent people. But in all truth it's Abigail's fault. I also don't know how John would react to certain things; do to my not every having been a Puritan Farmer in Salem during the witch hunt, or a Puritan Farmer in Salem, or a Puritan Farmer, or a Puritan, actually. I might have some basis if he was younger, lived in Ontario, and wasn't a farmer. On another note, does Cheever actually appear in the play? I forget what he did if he actually appears. Considering John's record of getting people to help him (His first maid had an affair with him, and that led to this whole incident. His second maid ended up saying he was trying to get her to lie to the court that there was no witchcraft, and got John accused of witchcraft, an accusation that ended with his death.) Cheever probably ended up being the executioner that hanged John or something.
