This lesson we completed a full run through of Mother Courage
The Quartermaster.
Physicality.
In terms of physicality I think I have come along way for The Quartermaster since the start. I am now portraying The Quartermaster as a nervous character. I think I have used pace effectively, I am not speaking too fast so the audience can't hear me but just the right speed that it shows he is anxious. I'm going to try and not make eye contact with Mother Courage but with the audience. I researched that people who are nervous usually do not make eye contact with what they are nervous about. As for The Quartermaster, he is nervous about whether Mother Courage is going to buy the bullets or not. I think this will also make it easier for the audience to understand how The Quartermaster is feeling.
Voice
For The Quartermaster, I think I have honed this skill. I am really confident in my voice. I have found an accent that suits this character and I have found it easy to use tone of voice with this accent, which I have found difficult with other accents. I am very confident in my projection of the character as well. I think where I have focused on this character the most compared to my 2 other characters. This is why I am really confident with this skill than the other. The reason I have focused on this character the most is because he is my first character and I would like to make a good impression for the audience.
Sub-text
Over the course of rehearsing Mother Courage I have delved into sub text a lot with The Quartermaster as I was confused as to what the character was about and what he had in connection with Mother Courage. After looking into my lines, I found that although he is nervous he is also very persuasive and eager with what he wants, this is money for the bullets so he can buy alcohol for the colonel. He tries to persuade Mother Courage to buy the bullets. I think this has helped me with my characterization although it is quite challenging. I need to make The Quartermaster nervous yet very eager in his interaction with Mother Courage, kind of like the people who always try and sell you things when you are on Holiday. You could even say he his is a bit like Del boy from 'Only fools and horses'. I think I am going to use Del boy for future inspiration for The Quartermaster as it may help give me more ideas on how portray his eagerness.
The Clerk
Physicality
As The Clerk is sat down for the whole scene there isn't much i can do with physicality apart from using my top half of my body. This, so far, has been challenging as there isn't really much I can do with my top half, only my arms and head. For The Clerk, I think he is quite calm and laid back in his actions as he is one of the receptionists who just doesn't care about what any one is going through, only himself. I also want to give The Clerk some sass to him, I think giving him some sort of sass towards others will create comedy in the character as it could make the audience laugh. I am going to practice this over the Christmas half term.
Voice
I think this is one of my strongest skills with this character, I am having no problem in not being heard using my projection and I feel as though I am portraying the right kind of tone of voice for the character. I am using quite an obnoxious tone of voice. Like the stereotypical posh people who are usually described as 'stuck up'. I want the audience to create a kind of love/hate relationship towards this character. As I only have one scene to do this, I need to make sure that I make an impact to the audience's relationships with the many characters in the play.
Subtext
There isn't really much subtext to delve into with The Clerk as he has few lines after his interaction with Mother Courage at the start of the scene. However, I was able to analyse the first part of the scene where I analysed his interaction with Mother Courage. This is where I discovered the obnoxious side of The Clerk. One of The Clerks line is as follows, 'Listen to what I am telling you'. This line highlights that The Clerk is quite authoritarian over Mother Courage, it gives the impression that he knows what he talking about which is where i derived the idea that he could be obnoxious. I think subtext so far has helped me develop The Clerk as a character
The Farmer's son
Physicality
For the farmers son, I think Physicality has been the easiest skill to adapt to this character. As The Farmer's son is in a very sticky situation in Scene 11, I've decided that The Farmer's son is going to have two transitions in term of physicality. At the start of the scene he is very timid in his actions however when he returns after being taken by the soldiers and is handed the axe, I feel as though the axe should highlight the change in confidence The Farmer's son has when he is wielding the axe. He somehow grows up in the space of 10 seconds. I need to show this change in confidence through his physicality as well. For instance, as The Farmer's son is very Timid/shy in his physicality i could portray this by him cowering whenever he is threatened by a soldier. However as soon as he grabs hold of the act, if he is threatened he will stand up to the soldier instead of backing down. I am going to try these things out over the half term to see if these ideas work out.
Voice
I feel very comfortable with my voice as a whole skill for the Farmer's son however i am still having issues with the couple of lines when he is attacked by the soldier at the very start. The lines are "Don't" and "What do i do?". These lines are meant to show the despair of The Farmer's son however I am still unsure whether I am doing this. I don't think I am using the right tone of voice. This is also down to the accent that I have tried to put with the character, It is restricting me portraying this emotion with the Farmer's son.
Sub-text
The most obvious piece of sub text i found with The Farmer's son is his anger. Towards the end of the scene before Katrrin dies, he tells her to keep on drumming. This line has a "!" at the end of the sentence, which most likely highlights that here he becomes consumed by some sort of anger. I think I need to look more into subtext of The Farmer's son as I dont fully understand him as of yet. I am going to focus on the start of the scene as this is where i am confused with his intentions.
Brecht Techniques
So far I think using Brecht Techniques has been really challenging. I am really used to Naturalistic acting like Stanislavski, so the drastic change at the start of the year really impacted the way I act. Trying to add comedy into my acting has been really hard for me as I'm not sure where to place it. I feel really awkward whenever I try to make my characters funny. I think I am going to work on my comedy with all 3 of my characters over the Christmas break.
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