Closure: Rosemonde
So, last Spring's entries, especially here I talked about my role as the 84-year-old Madame de Rosemonde in Les Liaisons Dangereuses. For a change, I thought I would give some closure on the problems that were facing me back then.
(Also, I'm trying to write more on LJ and this seems like a good topic.)
I don't think I ever really did find Rosemonde's inner life - when I stabbed in this or that area, the director corrected me, so I settled to playing her as directed and concentrating instead on the physical parts. Don't get me wrong, the director was absolutely right to pull me up when she did, since on at least one occasion my interpretation made a scene really boring for the audience. But I never really was Rosemonde in my head.
After the dress rehearsal and opening night, I was fortunate to have a major makeup re-design, so I no longer looked like a thirty-something woman in too much stage paint - very subtle shading with eyebrow pencils under my jaw line and in laughter lines worked miracles. I am good at the physical side of acting, so I picked a couple of gestures that Mark's (84-year-old) grandmother uses a lot, and worked from there. My greatest compliment was people's surprise when I came out of the dressing room decades younger than they thought I really was.
We had six performances. Leaving the pub after the fifth one I slipped and sprained my ankle*. The following day was a bit dramatic all round, as when I woke I wasn't able to walk, but I did eventually hobble onto the stage and had a very convincing night. No cast party for me, though.
* I know what you are thinking, but you are wrong! I am far too old to go on stage with a hangover, so I was mildly tipsy at best. If I had been blotto I probably wouldn't have hurt myself so badly :-P
(Also, I'm trying to write more on LJ and this seems like a good topic.)
I don't think I ever really did find Rosemonde's inner life - when I stabbed in this or that area, the director corrected me, so I settled to playing her as directed and concentrating instead on the physical parts. Don't get me wrong, the director was absolutely right to pull me up when she did, since on at least one occasion my interpretation made a scene really boring for the audience. But I never really was Rosemonde in my head.
After the dress rehearsal and opening night, I was fortunate to have a major makeup re-design, so I no longer looked like a thirty-something woman in too much stage paint - very subtle shading with eyebrow pencils under my jaw line and in laughter lines worked miracles. I am good at the physical side of acting, so I picked a couple of gestures that Mark's (84-year-old) grandmother uses a lot, and worked from there. My greatest compliment was people's surprise when I came out of the dressing room decades younger than they thought I really was.
We had six performances. Leaving the pub after the fifth one I slipped and sprained my ankle*. The following day was a bit dramatic all round, as when I woke I wasn't able to walk, but I did eventually hobble onto the stage and had a very convincing night. No cast party for me, though.
* I know what you are thinking, but you are wrong! I am far too old to go on stage with a hangover, so I was mildly tipsy at best. If I had been blotto I probably wouldn't have hurt myself so badly :-P