Improvisation

Improvisation exercises that helped my characterisation:

-Explored what would happen if women were in parliament trying to explain why they should get the vote to the men. This went really well because we were all in the improvisation so that atmosphere was more realistic and crowded. Doing this is character was a bit difficult because I don’t know if Eve would necessarily speak up at the point in the play that I play her. So I found myself constantly wanting to jump in and use Eve’s alter ego but I had to hold myself back.

Roseby and Clement really shone in this improvisation and I felt as though I was a part of a scene from a movie or broadway because it was so successful in the depth of character, performance and research that it was obvious we had all thought about carefully.

- Eve working in Limehouse with Mr Blair. This scene was good in allowing me to picture what Eve has gone though in her past rather than just accepting that she was troubled by him in the factory and being raped by him too. There were words that were physically said that I could relate to this disgusting man now that otherwise wouldn’t have been there -I wrote about this improvisation in my logs more.

One thing that was really nice was that on the last day of the show we all met up a lot earlier than we were called in. We did some exercises and then had a huge moment of relaxation which included us all giveing massages to one another for about an hour. This made up all feel a lot more relaxed and also comfortable with one another because there was a strong sense of trust in the air. This meant that when we ran our own improvisations (because we find that the improvisations are really helpful with getting into character and learning things about the character that not only differs our interpretation of the characters and their responses to certain scenarios, but also makes them more substantial) we were in a safe environment that we could experiment in.

-Although this doesn’t involve me directly, one improvisation included a group of harlots luring Will into a party and tempting him with the the idea of being adulterous. This scene did help me consider if perhaps the thought of being a harlot to gain money ever had gone through Eve’s mind because I don’t think much could’ve been worse for her than working for Mr Blair. I don’t believe she ever became a harlot or would have but I’m sure it crossed her mind; in fact she probably thought of herself as one having to satisfy Me Blair.

But playing the harlot in the improvisation was fun and freed me up a bit because although I wasn’t Eve I was being playful and truthful to that new character. Watch the improvisation after Will had taken a harlot home was priceless and you realise how truthful these character are when moments like Celia walking into the room and asking what’s going on to Will and a hidden harlot but then leaving the room saying ‘Don’t come upstairs pissed. Oh and I can see the girl.’ For me this line was so something that Celia would say and I award Tara for connecting to the character so well.

-Phoebe and I did a scene pog Emily bumping into me at the race. I really liked this impro because I couldn’t think of a reason for Eve to be at the smashing but now I had the perfect reason -Emily had told me to. Eve did tell her she wouldn’t turn up but after seeing the passion after being hit by the horse she chose to go. Meeting Emily also helped with my reaction in the prison to finding out that she’s dead because I didn’t know how to react considering I didn’t feel Eve had any relation to this woman or feeling. So she was shocked before but not necessarily upset.

A magical moment happened in this scene and we went straight from mine and Phoebe's encounter to Emily being hit by the horse and that opening sequence which was good practice.

-Even leading up to the performance it was obvious that everyone wanted to be their best which I was really proud of. For example, waiting in costume in the changing room I did an improvisation telling Florence that her sister had died because Gloria really wanted to get the emotional connection in this piece. This didn’t necessarily help me at all but it was the wanting to help each other that also made our final performance so spectacular.

-Then behind the wIngs right before we went on as the audience were coming in, Eden and I did a couple of imprivs. First we were just in prison and later Antonia joined this improvisation. Being able to have focus behind stage but in an active sense really worked well for me. I was already living as the character behind stage rather than just having a quiet moment of focus. The only downside to this was that our first scene isn’t in prison so it didn’t emotionally connect us to this first scene but I am so glad that we ran it.

-Eden also wanted me to ask her is she’d ‘met any of the famous actors or actresses.’ This was good for Eden because it drove her annoyance in the scene and I was quite persistent in the improvisation asking this question and I constantly interrupted what she was trying to tell me about the movement to get any info on the famous side to her life. For me I had to question why Eve might ask this question because in my head it’s a bit out of character for her to ask. So I had to question whether she asked this because she just wanted to hear about the glamour that her life lacked or even see if she might bump into anyone famous whilst doing her duties. I do have to say that I can’t imagine Eve’s reasoning being a shallow one; it must have been an innocent enough reasoning. Although I don’t think Eve and Florence understand each others banter either so it could simply be that Eve was joking when she asked this but Florence being the much older and serious character mistakes this for rudeness.

Without the improvisations I really don’t believe I would have performed to the level that I did and I enjoyed them so much!