Over the course of several weeks, my group and I had to select and learn a scene from a play of our choosing to be performed as an assessed piece for our class. My group had four girls in it (myself, Imogen, Katherine and Tracey). We chose a play called OTMA, which was about the four daughters of the last Russian Tzar in their final days before their execution. It was a very emotional and hard-hitting play with a lot of dramatic scenes. The entire play was set in one room, so we had no set changes, but this also showed the audience how close the sisters were in the time leading up to their deaths.
We did a few read-throughs of the play in different characters to try and get a feel of which one we suited best. In the end, we decided that I should play Olga who was the eldest sister. Tatiana was played by Katherine, Marie played by Imogen and Anastasia played by Tracey. Once we'd chosen our scenes and characters, our workshops were cut down to once every two weeks, giving us more time to rehearse in between workshops.
Our rehearsal schedule started out a bit bumpy with everyone being ill or not being able to make it, but eventually we settled into a solid routine that would start with a little warm up of some kind, followed by a read through, then blocking the stage area. There were a lot of instances though when one member of our team in particular wouldn't show up to rehearsals, even after they promised they would be there by a certain time. It got to the point where the rest of us were doing everything for them, including picking out costumes, sourcing props, and even reading their lines when they forgot them. They were incapable of following directions from anyone, and refused to acknowledge any useful tips anyone gave them about their posture, accent, line delivery and other important things. However, when it came to the dress rehearsals, she had at least managed to get there on time and remember her lines, even if she didn't take in the advice we had offered. It was quite a struggle for our team to cope when one of us was hardly ever present, but in the end I think we pulled it out of the bag for our actual performance.
I found it relatively easy to come off-script in our rehearsals, finding I could easily remember my lines by bouncing off of what the others' lines were before mine. Luckily, we worked well as a team and our characters became believable and a part of who we were. I myself became very attached to my character emotionally, and felt I was able to portray her thoughts and feelings relatively well. This is important for actors to feel, in my opinion, so that they can fully understand what the character was thinking at certain points in the script, and what their main objective is for the play. Olga was a loving and caring character, who only wanted the best for her little sisters. While she was the eldest, she was by no means the most uptight, and was able to have fun while maintaining boundaries between what was appropriate and acceptable and what wasn't.
So what did I gain from this?
I learnt how to cope in situations that are difficult, especially when the solution is utterly out of my control. I am so used to being in charge that when there was something I couldn't fix I became quite angry with myself and others involved. This was easily remedied by reminding myself that as much as I want to help, it is not always my responsibility and that my team are doing well regardless.
I also found that when a play or scene is particularly emotional, I am able to get into character really well and put everything I have into really becoming the character. I enjoy this part of acting the most, where you can truly feel like another person altogether purely by changing your voice or stance.
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