training

Character Study

Typically I take classes as a way to maintain and improve my skills, and I look to the professor or instructor as the primary guiding influence. However, recently, a studio acting class I’m in regularly took an interesting turn.

This time around I was truly challenged to identify with my character in the scene I had been assigned, which is a good thing. If I’m not challenged in studio, then work in the real world is out of the question. It’s not that I didn’t understand the scene, but finding the inner crux of my character proved to be a larger hill to climb than I had anticipated. My primary hurdle was age-related. The character I played is at least 15 years my senior and identifying life experiences to utilize as affective memory tools proved difficult for me. Substitution is an instrument I could have used more effectively.

The acting dilemma I faced was nothing in comparison to the drama and turmoil … Read more »

Not quite tragic

It’s been a busy weekend. I had to purchase and learn how to smoke a cigar. (Don’t worry–it was for an acting class.) I went to four hours of class on Saturday. Sunday morning I went to work at Old South Church and then another six hours of class after that. All-in-all I have to say I was rather mediocre in all things.

My first cigar store stop was a total bust. Only the bartender was present and she knew nothing. The knowledgeable owner would return in three hours–too late for me. So, she referred me to another store only a few blocks away. Conveniently, the salesman was kind and understanding, allowing me to ask as many naïve questions as necessary to make my scene believable. The scene called for a high-end, pre-Castro Cuban cigar which was entirely beyond my budget, but the character would mock it as though it were a low-end, Romeo & Julieta. So, that’s the one I bought–the $6.25 R&J. I should … Read more »

Character Study

Not quite tragic

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