Last night I went and checked out The Complete Sonnets Festival, put on by the newly formed Classical Actors Ensemble at Intermedia Arts. The performance I saw was the second half of the two-part festival showcasing all 154 of Shakespeare's Sonnets. Filled with cameos from local favorite performers such as Jennifer Baldwin Peden, Barbra Berlovitz, Bruce A. Young, Sasha Andreev, Karla Grotting, Joe Chvala and Bain Boehlke, the performance was intended to be a fundraiser for the company, although unfortunately the night I went to see the show the house was only moderately attended.
At two and a half hours, the evening ran a little long, although there were definitely some gems. Jennifer Baldwin Peden's lovely sung performance of Sonnet #43 and Sasha Andreev's sung performance of Sonnet #27, (both directed by John Miller-Stephany and composed by Andrew Cooke) were among my favorite moments of the evening. Also, Joe Chvala and Karla Grotting danced a sweet interpretation of Sonnet #60.
For the most part, though, I preferred the performances of sonnets that weren't too "acted". In a number of scenes, sonnets were strung together and turned into a script of sorts. I didn't like these scenes as much because I felt that first of all I wasn't able to really listen to the words of the poem because I was too busy following the action of the scene, and also I felt that in a number of instances the words were misinterpreted in order to fit the put-upon circumstances of the scene.
In fact, by far the most rewarding performance was that of Bain Boehlke, who went on at the very end and just sat in a chair and read his sonnet. More than any of the other versions, Boehlke made me hear the words of the poem, and allowed me to appreciate the beauty of Shakespeare's language.
Showing posts with label Shakespeare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shakespeare. Show all posts
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Training
I've been immersed in some theater classes both last week and this week at Studio 206, in the Ivy Building, with two of my favorite people: Bob Rosen and Barbra Berlovitz. The classes are very affordable, as part of the studio's mission, and I felt that as I wasn't in rehearsal, I needed to take the opportunity to work on my craft.
I feel a little pretentious using the word craft, but really that's what it is. Actors, generally are fairly lazy. We learn our lines, and that's usually about it. How often do we exercise our technique when not in rehearsal? For me, not very often, especially since I've been out of school. So I felt I owed it to myself to spend two weeks of working on my practice.
Last week I took Barbra's Shakespeare class. I've taken it before, when I was doing the Deception at the Jeune Lune, but it was good to take it again. Barbra has a unique approach to Shakespeare. Her first training was with Jaque Leqoc, which was mainly physical work. With the Jeune Lune, she worked on many Shakespearean and Classical texts, and in recent years has studied with voice guru Patsy Rodenberg. So her approach is both very physical and breath oriented, which I like.
What's interesting is that while she approaches the work physically, she also encourages her students to simplify. So much of what young actors do is extraneous. She asks: Why are you making that gesture? Can you get rid of the tension in your face? Because just moving your hand, or raising your eyebrows, doesn't do anything: it's not connected to the text, or to the emotion. One of the most difficult exercises for me was to try and do my monologue only with movements in my torso. I realized how much I rely on my arm movements to speak.
This week I've been taking Bob's devising class, which is something that I could do for every play that I'm in. Instead of simply performing a play, it's about creating a piece of theater using multiple sources- text, music, an image, and simply creating an idea using play and improvisation. It takes an incredible amount of trust and courage, but I find it a lot more rewarding in the end. If I had my way, I'd be in a theater company that worked in this way for months at a time before ever performing something on stage. Hahaha. I know this will never happen in this country.
I feel a little pretentious using the word craft, but really that's what it is. Actors, generally are fairly lazy. We learn our lines, and that's usually about it. How often do we exercise our technique when not in rehearsal? For me, not very often, especially since I've been out of school. So I felt I owed it to myself to spend two weeks of working on my practice.
Last week I took Barbra's Shakespeare class. I've taken it before, when I was doing the Deception at the Jeune Lune, but it was good to take it again. Barbra has a unique approach to Shakespeare. Her first training was with Jaque Leqoc, which was mainly physical work. With the Jeune Lune, she worked on many Shakespearean and Classical texts, and in recent years has studied with voice guru Patsy Rodenberg. So her approach is both very physical and breath oriented, which I like.
What's interesting is that while she approaches the work physically, she also encourages her students to simplify. So much of what young actors do is extraneous. She asks: Why are you making that gesture? Can you get rid of the tension in your face? Because just moving your hand, or raising your eyebrows, doesn't do anything: it's not connected to the text, or to the emotion. One of the most difficult exercises for me was to try and do my monologue only with movements in my torso. I realized how much I rely on my arm movements to speak.
This week I've been taking Bob's devising class, which is something that I could do for every play that I'm in. Instead of simply performing a play, it's about creating a piece of theater using multiple sources- text, music, an image, and simply creating an idea using play and improvisation. It takes an incredible amount of trust and courage, but I find it a lot more rewarding in the end. If I had my way, I'd be in a theater company that worked in this way for months at a time before ever performing something on stage. Hahaha. I know this will never happen in this country.
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