Bringing Stanislavski to Life: Building a Character
Part 1: Character & Scene Analysis
For the assessment I will be doing a scene from the play 'The Flick'. It was written by Annie Baker and premiered in 2013 on the 12th of March. It contains 3 characters who all work in an old cinema that only shows 35mm films. My character Rose is a blunt, confident, carefree person who usually uses humour as a coping mechanism. Her job in the cinema is a cashier and projectionist. At times in the play there are moments where she shows her vulnerability as the characters reveal their dreams, disappointments and how their work life affects each character.
In order to enhance the scene I will be using Stanislavski's techniques to make my character and the scene more natural. There are 4 main principles that I will be using.
1. Given Circumstances: This is the who, what, where, when and why of the scene. These are the reasons for the dialogue and background as to what happened in the place and in the play before the scene. It also helps the actor have more understanding about the character. For my character and scene the answer to the questions in the technique are.
Who - Rose the cashier and projectionist
What - Cleaning up after a shift
Where - At the old cinema that she works at in Massachusetts
When - Unknown
Why - Because even though Rose is a projectionist which is a higher job role than cleaner she still helps them as is friends with Avery and Sam.
2. Objectives: This means something that the character wants to achieve at that time and the super objective is what the character wants to achieve by the end of the play.
My character's super objective is to get a higher pay and get better treatment from the boss.
3. Actions: This is how the character will do to get what she wants - the objective.
4. Magic IF: This is how I can emotionally connect to the character in order to make the scene more believable because if I connect the moment to a similar memory I can mirror how I felt and what I did in the memory to the scene and the scene will look more realistic.
Part 4: Reflection and Self-Evaluation
1. Application of techniques: To help with my performance and make it more realistic I used the Stanislavski techniques we learned. These are:
Magic If - I used this by thinking of a memory that relates to not being bothered and barely trying as that is my character's attitude throughout the scene.
Objectives - Rose doesn't care so doesn't have any objectives as she is incredibly laid back and just goes with the flow of life and doesn't have any goals or objectives.
Given Circumstances - These were that they wanted better jobs and higher pay
2. Challenges: The main challenge was playing a naturalistic person as before I haven't played a naturalistic character before so portraying this character without playing it too much like a musical theatre character was a challenge.
3. Growth: It is the first naturalistic character I have played before so working on this character who is in a realistic situation was a challenge but also beneficial as it taught me how to play a naturalistic person better for the future.
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