The Bullroar Report

I’ve probably talked about “Audition” by Michael Shurtleff on this blog once or twice before. If you’ve worked on a production with me, you’ve heard me bark about “humor” and “opposites” more then once. The powerful thing about Shurtleff’s guideposts is they are easy to understand and execute in the moment, whether it be an audition situation or during a rehearsal process where sometimes we’re just as stretched for time.

The Village Theatre Project just recently finished up our High School REP semester. Throughout the semester the students got many professional actors and directors to work with week to week from the company. I worked with them on the first class and the last two classes of the semester. A few weeks ago, I taught Shurtleff’s Guideposts. I am often way too academic when it comes to this stuff, so I created some games around

the guideposts to get them across in a more creative way. Some of these are obvious and probably already exist as theatre games, but I don’t have a lot of games in my memory bank, so I had to create them. Here is how it went down:

The Moment Before

Based on the monologues they created in Week 1 (from scenes), we improvised scenes around what happened just prior to this scene. I told them to focus on something specific related to their “other” in the monologue and it had to be a reason to drive them into the scene. Pretty basic, but fun to see what they came up with.

What are you Fighting For, Competition, and Communication

I sort of lumped all of these together into one game. I took the idea in the book of “You are always right, and your scene partner is always wrong” and turned it into a game. I had the first person get up and state something factually incorrect. A simple statement like 1+1=1. The scene partner would then say “No, 1+1=2″ and from there on they argued their points. I told them that the factually incorrect person could win if convincing enough and let hilarity ensue. It was a lot of fun to see the factually incorrect person come up with so many tactics to get the other to agree or just give in to their point of view.

Opposites

I like the idea of opposites in real life. No matter how much you love someone, there is something you hate about the moment with that person. Maybe they have a habit you hate, maybe you hate the fact that you haven’t kissed yet. I always love giving the example of the audition of a fight scene where you go in for a kiss. We see that cliche over and again. If you start looking for opposites in life, you will find them. No matter how much you feel one thing in a scene, the opposite is also true. It really helps to develop multi-dimensional characters. So for the game, I had two people get up and perform this scene in relation to their monologues they created in Week 1:

Actor 1: How do you feel?

Actor 2: <primary feeling>

Actor 1: Really?

Actor 2: <opposite>

Actor 1: Really

Actor 2: <primary emotion but raise the stakes>

Actor 1: Really?

Actor 2: <opposite but raise the stakes>

You can repeat this as many times as you want until you feel you’ve gotten to some great ideas on the extreme opposites of the character in that moment. It was a great exercise and uncovered many things we could explore in the monologues themselves.

Some ideas for you crazy teachers, directors out there. Hope it helps. I had more games on Humor and Relationships, but they are less inspired so I will spare you. If you have games that relate to the Guideposts and/or want to hear more of my ideas, let me know.

Shurtleff-esque Roar,

Corey

A Delicate Balance by Edward Albee is the story of those of us who settle. When life becomes so routine, you don’t live it anymore. Very depressing… very thought provoking… very… Albee.  This play is a fun read.  It seems to have this feeling the entire time that there is going to be something more and there never is. Kind of like the existence of all the central characters.

I actually don’t know if the plague referred to in Act III is literal or a metaphor. I would need to read it again. I probably won’t, so there you go. Act III also contains a device I’ve never seen in a play, a textual Aria. I only wish Mr. Albee had notated it with actual dynamics rather then adjectives. It made me think back to the rhythm and melody of the entire play. Rather monotonous with a sort of eerie expectation for what’s next culminating in a explosion of sound that simply gets us right back to where we started. Life!

Let’s hope he’s wrong about how life goes for most of us.

While no Goat, it is a very good read. Check it out.

Albeelicious roar,

Corey

Just finished Act I. What an amazing Act. Totally have me hooked into what’s next. Nothing has really happened yet I am completely ready for more. This is an example of where character development has kept me engaged. I actually care about these people and I don’t know why.

Can’t wait for Act II. Probably be done with this by tomorrow with my round trip train rides to work.

Stay tuned.

Albee’d roar,

Corey

Well. I am either getting dumber, not politically charged enough, or both, but Romance lost me. Don’t get me wrong, the play was once again genius, real dialogue, but the farce didn’t connect for me. I didn’t care enough about the goal. I thought it was funny to end an absolutely absurd scene with the realization that the Defendant could solve the middle east crisis, but I didn’t really care if he would be able to do it.

In most farce, the chance meetings of people and things are realistic and make sense. I was very let down when the defendant and Bernard (prosecutor’s gay lover) knew each other. Just too much of a leap to believe it would happen. And yes… even in this absurdity, I want to believe it all could realistically happen. That’s the beauty of Frayn’s Noises Off, which this doesn’t even come close to.

Guess I’m having a whiny week. What should I read next? Thinking about a new Albee. Maybe Three Tall Women.

Stay tuned.

Dis-mamet-tinized roar,

Corey

I bought this play a while ago because it sounded funny and thought provoking. Anti-semitism, homosexuality, antihistamines, lawyers, and the Middle East. Now that spells humor.

Reading Mamet is almost as fun as reading Labute. While you don’t get as many “\” (for those of you who have read Labute, you know what I mean), you can still have fun with the text. You get a true reading of what the playwright wants in his choice of every single word.

Who wants to read it with me?   I was naively encouraged by a comment on my last post, only 30 minutes after posting, that I might actually have readers?

With A Mametizing Roar,

Corey

The first play I read of Neil LaBute was The Shape of Things. This play really got to me. It was an interesting take on society’s obsession with the shape and form of both the inside and the outside of a man. It presented a good question to the audience, “What is perfection?” as well as “What is art?”

Since this time, I’ve read several other LaBute plays and seen Some Girl(s) at MCC in NYC. Nothing has impressed me or caused me to think like I had the first time. In fact, I posted some time back about Some Girl(s) and it’s almost cookie cutter Shape of Things-esque ending.

I was driven to post this due to just finishing In a Dark Dark House. This play was pretty weak. It deals with some rather intense topics such as childhood sexual abuse, strained familial relations, and revenge. The play itself was well written and LaBute’s dialogue as always is a masterpiece. The plot barely held together for me. I think a dumb audience would have a hard time with this one.

As I was reading this play, I realized why our audiences consisted of 3 people each night for the only LaBute I ever directed. No one wants to have this shit shoved in their faces. It’s just too much. Two brothers hating on each other, one jealous of the other because he was molested by the same guy, the brother then ends up going off and killing the molester and his daughter and then stealing her car, is a bit much, no? Granted that last part isn’t in the script, but LaBute certainly hints at it in his now tired dramatic surprise endings.

An “I’m Over LaBute” Roar,

Corey

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged here. I’m thinking I’m going to take this back to it’s former life as a directing/acting blog with the occasional theatre news of interest to me. Sarah and I had fun doing the bullroar reports and we might still go back to that someday, but that will be tangential to what is typically talked about here. Now that I am done talking to my non existent subscriber base, let’s get to the post…

I am going to be teaching a class next week for The Village Theatre Project REP kids. Looking forward to expanding on an idea I took to Framingham High School for the theatre exchange this year. There is a great book out there called “The Perfect Monologue” by Ginger Howard Friedman. I love the idea of creating monologues from scenes. They end up in a state that is much more actionable then a block of text from some play that simply tells a boring story. The scene, minus the scene partner, with some modifications as needed, really does work best to create a much more interesting piece to watch. Speaking as someone who is typically on the director side of the table, more interesting monologues are in high demand.

This doesn’t work for everything. I wouldn’t recommend doing this to Shakespeare for example, but you’d be surprised how well it works for most plays. Start by picking up a play you really like with a character you really connect to and find a great scene that has that character in it. Read the scene and leave out the other person. Modify the monologue where it doesn’t make sense without the other character. You won’t have to do this too often. You can justify a lot of it as non-response from your scene partner.

So, for the class this week, I am going to start by handing out scenes to half the class. I will pair them up with the other half and have them do the scenes for us. One person will have the script, one person will not. The person with the script must stay true to the text, the person without must try to enter the world as best they can. The goal is to see how the “others” responses are almost irrelevant. We will then take the “other” out of the game and have the person read only their lines. Most of it will work on it’s own, some of it will need modifications.

I then plan to break into individual work as they take it and edit it into a fine tuned monologue in their opinion and then have them all perform their monologues in front of the class by the end of the night.

Any other ideas for theatre games I can play around this theme?

A Studious Roar,

Corey

Kind of old news but I can’t remember if I blogged about this ever before now. Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf from TV’s Roseanne (Jackie) will be starring in November on Broadway this winter. Laurie Metcalf is also, more importantly, a member of the Steppenwolf Ensemble in Chicago. This is sure to be a big hit. Mamet’s writing, great acting and directed by none other then Joe Mantello. I’ve most recently seen Mantello’s Odd Couple and Glengarry Glen Ross (another Mamet) on Broadway and they were both fantastic. Not to mention, the show that put him on the map, Wicked.

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/110199.html 

This will now be on my must see list.

-Corey

I must confess I like this new show on ABC, American Inventor. I just recently went to their website to find out more about the judges and the resumes are impressive. Three of them have even invented something. The other simply puts his name on a few things so that he and his wife can have more kids named George, but successful nonetheless.

The heartbreak on a lot of these contestants is priceless. Their life work’s value being decided by 3 people you’ve never heard of and a boxer named George.

This week I am routing for the “Guardian Angel” This product is an angel that goes on top of your Christmas tree. If the tree catches on fire, the angel acts as a smoke detector and sounds an alarm followed by a steady burst of water to extinguish the flame. I think lots of people would buy these things just for the peace of mind.

There are two other products left. The backless bra which I can’t really comment on, but since it is less appealing to both sexes, I think it’s a non-starter and some kind of toy where a kid would create a paper airplane that can actually attach to a motor and fly. I think this is too complicated and will ultimately fall off the list as well.

Anyone watching this show?

Word out…

-Corey

Ok. Mr. Fatone and whoever produced this piece of crap. You got a lot of viewers on the first night, but you gotta show us the money or we are going to lose interest. So for those of you who are not aware of the reality TV show that outdid the MLB All-Star Game, I am talking about NBC’s The Singing Bee hosted by none other then Joey Fatone. What an odd second career path he is on, but I digress…

I turned on The Singing Bee about ten minutes late and watched a bunch of people singing along with easy songs and playing really easy games. You couldn’t even really play along at home as they were putting everything on the screen too quick. It was only at the very end that things got interesting. In the last five minutes the winning contestant gets to show-down for some not-so-serious cash. 50,000 dollars. You could almost buy a nice car with that or 1/5 of a house even. COME ON! Mo money or just take it off the air before Fox outdoes ya all!! opps. Too late.

So, come on Fox, tonight at 9:30 with “Don’t Forget The Lyrics.” There is a million dollar prize attached to this one and I am really hoping it’s more fun to play along at home.   It’s a great idea , poorly executed by NBC. My bets on Fox before even seeing it on air.

I was going to go out tonight, but how can I with all this Reality TV this summer?

ummm…

Roar….

-Corey