Brief Synopsis:

The play starts with an argument between Roderigo and Iago in a street in Venice. The argument is brought up because Roderigo has been paying Iago to keep his suit to Desdemona, a senator’s daughter who has recently wed Othello, a black moor. Iago hates Othello for promoting Cassio, an inexperienced soldier to a lieutenant instead of Iago which then leads him to take revenge on Othello. He later manipulates Othello by telling him that Desdemona has been having an affair with Cassio thus, leading to Cassio’s, Desdemona’s and Othello’s demise.

 

Genre and stye of the play:

The genre of the play and style of the play is tragedy. The style of the play is like many of Shakespeare’s other plays where characters all die a horrible death and one of the characters is wicked beyond belief but, ‘Othello’ is different in some way. The way that the play is written and the plot is unlike any other, like other plays – Shakespeare is always complicated but, Othello takes it to another level.

The Character:

Desdemona is the daughter of a senator in Italy named Brabanzio. She lives in Venice with her father but, her mother died when she was young. She marries Othello, a black ‘moor’ in the military much to her father’s dismay. Despite her youth as an eighteen year old, and Othello as a much older man, around 40 – she loves him very much. She is described by Brabanzio as “a maid so tendr, fair and happy”  She is spirited, independent and modest. Desdemona is admirable, loyal, clever and generous and Cassio, a friend also describes her as an “exquisite lady”

What appeals to me about the play:

What appeals to be about the play is the characters. The characters have such a likeability about them especially Iago, the bad guy of the play. Each character has that special thing about them which makes the play more interesting. Also, the play itself is just spectacular. The plot line and the way that it is written is just appealing in itself. There is just something different about Othello which stands out from other Shakespeare plays, and since it is not widely done by everyone, the play is just exceedingly good.

 

What appeals to me about the character:

What appeals to me about the character is Desdemona’s innocence. There’s something about Desdemona that is unique and mysterious that counteracts the innocence in he. Shakespeare has created a character that is different like any other.

 

The differences between the character and I:

The differences between Desdemona and I, are the living conditions and the way that she generally is. I’m definitely not a senator’s daughter in Venice. The obvious differences are the ones where she’s Italian and married to a man twice her age in the army. Also, she is a very calm character even when Othello hits her and verbally abuses her, I don’t think that I could react in that way.

The similarities between the character and I:

The similarities between Desdemona and I, I feel is the personal traits that she has. She is described as generous and clever; I feel that I can be that when I want to be. Another similarity between Desdemona and I is the fact that she is drawn to adventure and excitement as described in the play which is why she married Othello because he wooed her with stories of his adventure.

The difficulties playing this role:

The difficulties playing this role will be the fact that I have to get into the mind set of an 18 year old Venetian beauty in the 16^th century. Desdemona is quite a complicated character to perceive at times, and the monologue is a very emotional and intense one. I know from experience that I have trouble portraying an emotional monologue, so playing Desdemona will be a challenge.

What I need to work on vocally:

What I feel I need to work on vocally is to connect with my voice since the monologue is quite emotional and intense, also I would need to work on my accent and to make sure that the words don’t have a London slur on the end. Also, I would need to make sure that my voice is projected as Desdemona is upset in this monologue and is in despair about her husband so my voice would have to be natural and believable.

What I need to work on Physically:

Things I would need to work on physically to play the role of a senator’s daughter during the monologue is my posture. I have the habit to slouch sometimes during my performance which alters my voice and generally makes the performance lack energy and since this monologue is a powerful one the last thing I want is my performance to lack energy.

What I need to work on emotionally:

What I would need to work on emotionally would be to get into the mind set of Desdemona around the time that Othello had accused her of having an affair. Evidentially that is a quite distressing thing and would be quite emotional so I would have to get connected with sadness and anger and maybe a touch of frustration.

Character Exercises: The Spider Men

 

 

Walking home in Character:

 

 

The exercise that we did to prepare for our 2nd Modern was walking home in our character, this exercise was a real struggle for me because I find it hard to stay in character and always find myself doing little things that break out of character. Our aim wasn't to break character until we reached our front doors but that is easier said then done. I found it difficult because as I was waiting at the bus stop someone asked me the time and I totally forgot to answer in character and it just broke my concentration, there was other incidents that made me just return to myself again, I managed to make it through college and on the way to the bus stop but, there was so many people trying to talk to me it really ruined my mood but I knew that I couldn't rise above it even though I knew I had to.

 

 

Observing people in Selbourne Walk:

 

 

Another exercise that we had to take part in was going to a public place to observe individuals and how they would walk and talk, perform little gestures while engaging in something normal. Our group decided to go to Asda in Selbourne walk because that's where most people perform little things and walk differently down each isles.

 

Notes:

 

Slow shuffle, dragging feet across floor. Leading by their feet, not really bothered. Very little gestures, only small hand movements to people.

 

Fast paced walk, broad shoulders, leading with their chest. Walking with intention and purpose down isles.

 

Man with noticeable limp, very slow walk arms are droopy by side, not much intention in walk.

 

Woman with buggy, gesturing people to move out of the way with big hand movements, extremely fast walking.

 

What I noticed is that many people do little gestures without realising it like, one man put his hand on his chin and twiddled his fingers while looking at cans on a shelf. Many gestures performed daily are not realised, which I guess is similar on stage. We do things while performing without even noticing it. Also, what I realised in someone will try their hardest to stop whatever they are doing and act 'casual' if they notice someone is watching which I guess is also quite similar to performing if you're nervous, you tend to be quite stiff and act stiff if there is an audience. This exercise really helped me in my monologue because it made me realise how significant little gestures could be and to not over-act or put too many arm waving gestures in my monologue because in truth, no one in a day-to-day business does that.

 

 

 



 

 

Observations

 

The exercise that we did for our 2nd modern; filming ourselves perform our monologue in a public place to get a feel of our character in a real place didn't help me as much as I thought it did but it helped a tiny amount. You can see that in the first video I messed up quite a lot because of the distractions around me, like the wind, passing traffic and pedestrians, it really put me off doing the monologue probably because I wasn't concentrating as much as I could of. As you can see in the 2nd video, I was more concentrated than the first but, It wasn't much better. I felt that this exercise was really hard to do because I am easily distracted and I know that  is a major weakness of mine and needs to be overlooked but, watching everyone around me made me think more about what I was doing and really put me off but, I did enjoy doing this exercise and should be able to do it again with another monologue and hopefully feel more comfortable and confident doing it.



 

ROMEO AND JULIET:

 

 

Watching the various versions of one of Romeo and Juliet’s most famous monologues made me realize how over-done the play is. Despite its familiarity around the world, it’s frowned upon to perform such a monologue for a Drama school audition because of how popular the play really is. Watching the videos also made me realize how important it is to actually make a monologue your own. Some of the videos like #5 and #9 were example of under-acted and not making the monologue interesting – which the drama schools are looking for anyway. #9 unfortunately played the part very dull and spoke in a monotone, which I’m afraid of which I might do as I am aware that I may speak in a monotone voice maybe due to nerves or just my lack of acting realistically.

While watching the videos I was aware at the fact that even just looking at the performers at the way that they looked and how they acted on stage. This is very popular on drama panels and in drama schools; to be judged on appearance, so this is a lesson on how to appropriately look ready for auditioning.

The 1^st and 2^nd video that was watched were really varied and contrasted. The first video displayed a version of a traditional interpretation of Romeo and Juliet. Although it was clear and the actor understood what the monologue was about but, the actor had little emotion and the it was very cringe-worthy and cheesy. The 2^nd and 3^rd video, were very modern. They wore very casual clothes and had a casual and simple set. I enjoyed these the most because they weren’t stereotypical or cliché. They added emotion but wasn’t over-dramatic.

What I enjoyed about the two modern videos (2^nd and 3^rd) is the fact that they were spontaneous, they both seemed to have a good thought process. Unlike the 7^th video which was a college/school production, the set was very weak and the acting wasn’t much better. The man portraying Romeo seemed like he was rushing the monologue and was out of breath, I’m not sure if this was part of the performance or the fact that the actor was poorly breathing. Also, the actor over-acted too much, he seemed like he had a poor thought process and didn’t seem to understand the  script very well he added emphasis on certain words that didn’t need it. It could of been improved if he slowed down, breathed better and understood the monologue more where as the 5^th video as I stated previously it was very under-acted but seemed to understand the words that he was speaking which is what drama schools are looking for it would be pointless to audition without knowing what a single word you was saying.

NOTES:

#1 – Little Emotion, added in a traditional/classical romance.

#2 – A little over-dramatic but good at the beginning, hardly any classical romance. Very clearly staged and set, played with different emotions and very casual

#3 – Very Mysterious, calm and not too little or too much emotion. Lightly spoken despite the staging and set, it was modern and casual

#5 – Very under-acted, no emotion but clearly spoken

#6 – (Children) Very adorable, reflective acting but done well for learning the lines at age 6.

#7 – Very dramatic, over-acted, rushed and he didn’t seem to know what he was talking about

#8 – Boring, doesn’t understand the script

#9 – Very monotone, little emotion.

What I have learnt from watching these clips and renditions of Romeo and Juliet monologue is the fact that making it your own version is much more interesting from just playing it the same way as everyone else. I know that I have the tendency to read the lines and to act the line without having a second thought or attempting to make it my own. I’m not sure if it’s due to being nervous to perform it or just afraid to make it different since Shakespeare is so popular and I’m afraid of failing or not giving the good monologues justice. But, watching the clips made me realise that the more popular or the favourite auditions are the ones that are not afraid to take risks and to make the piece interesting and different.

What I know also that I need to work on is my voice, I’m aware that my voice needs strengthening and that I need to take more risks with it. I’m also aware like I said before that sometimes I don’t add different pitches or tempos to my voice, I either talk to fast without slowing down or just speak with one monotone voice. Watching these clips, I noticed that many of the actors say different lines with different voices to make it more unique to watch as I got quite bored of watching the 9^th video because he kept his voice on one level.

I’m also aware that I sometimes perform using a lot of hand gestures and reflective acting. Sometimes I do it without realising and noticing how cringe worthy it could be while acting, I know that I need to work on stopping reflective acting and using certain obvious gestures can be quite annoying and cheesy. Also, I have to work on using a stronger thought process during auditions to show that I am capable of understanding the monologue, although I do thoroughly enjoy Shakespeare. I need to improve on the skill of being able to make the monologue my own to really get the experience out of the performance and to make it enjoyable to the audience.

I really enjoyed this task as it opened my eyes to not only just performing but how hard it is to perform monologues and how you are thoroughly judged by panels as I felt that I was on a panel watching the renditions of the performances and having to judge them on how good they were or what they needed to improve on. It really showed me how competitive the Performance world is. It also showed me the little aspects of performance that need improving, taken away and what I need to start doing in order to really strengthen my chances of succeeding in acting.