Wednesday the 15th of April was my cast's show day. We have been working on The Wonderful World Of Dissocia since January 2015. After I audition in the beginning of January for the part of Lisa by doing a monologue she has the first scene, I was thrilled to get the main part as Lisa.
In the first scene Lisa meets Victoria the watch specialist . She tells Lisa that her watch was perfectly working and that she in herself has lost and hour and that it could be found in the world of Dissocia.
Personally I found that it took a while to get the energy to flow in this scene. At first I was trying to portray a naturalistic persona. I did this by keeping the pitch and tone of my voice very similar
to my own tone and pitch. To make this as natural as I could I tried not to act to hyper , but I had closed body language by having my arms crossed. This represented the caution Lisa had to this stranger in her home.And could also represent her insecure persona.
I made my movement slow and swift to imitate how Lisa would usually act relaxed in he own home. However bursts of the true story that Lisa was on a psychiatric ward would show . For example Victoria asks for a 'glass of piss'. This is shocking to Lisa and to show the contrast from being relaxed to being shocked , I stopped in my tracks when that line was delivered. I chose to do this within my movement to show the audience that Lisa was so surprised and confused it phyisical made her stop moving . It also added some extra humor to the line. To furthermore show the shock , I shouted my line 'piss!?' in a loud pitch and surprised tone.
However I thought my monologue in this scene was strong and convincing. The fact that Lisa agrees with Victoria that she has lost an hour shows the Dissociative Disorder that constantly surrounds Lisa. To show signs of Lisa slipping into this convincing mental delusion I looked straight out to the audience like I was talking to myself. I had my hands out in front of me to show her shock of realization and disbelieving that she had lost an hour. And when delivering this monologue I would occasionally laugh to myself to also show connotations of inanity and disbelief . If I had a chance to do the monologue again I might do it differently by directing it more at Victoria to show a bigger interaction between the characters, however I though I delivered it in own successful and creative and imaginative to show Lisa's disconnected manner.
The next scene was the Lift scene. Pace is the most important element of this scene as it makes the humor appreciated on a bigger level . One thing that I found was a distraction was the automated voice , I found this was off putting and was sometimes accidentally repeated , messing up our movement sequence . However this scene got a great audience response. It was clear my over exaggerated facial expressions got some laughs. I reacted well to the disturbing conversations I heard in the lift . Sometimes i'd bite my fist to show discomfort or pure astonishment. Also i'd slowly drop my jaw in amazement to what I was hearing to add to the comic element. This scene worked well in the box of light we had on the stage and set a good representation of a lift. I found this helped me keep up the cramped body language through out the scene. Staying in the light was a good guide line for the space .
The next scene was the guard scene I felt this went really well and the humor bryleah and ashley brought to the audience was brilliant and that wasnt just because they wore silly wigs and crazy slippers ! They delivered their swear words boldly and loudly ! This was important because if a swear word is going to be used it needs power and passion to make an impact ! I wouldn't of really changed much of what I did in this scene because I thought having a confused expression on my face and a question in my tone of voice was appropriate for this scene. However when bryleah and ashley would get upset as the 'in security guards' I felt that I should of been more sympathetic to win over their assistance, instead of an annoyed tone to my voice and an up tight body language .
I felt the oathtaker scene went really well . Especially when I was copying the oath . I showed that Lisa was getting annoyed by sighing and dropping my hip.However something that was off putting was that the assistance forgot their chant which left myself and Kim with abit of a long pause however we saved it by moving on . I wouldn't change Lisa impatient attitude towards this scene as I think it give the audience an idea that Lisa could be a selfish character who only thinks about her self .
I think my monologue or call to vince could be improved if I had a second chance . I felt that it was messy and I had to improvise . The improvisation could of given the call a raw naturalist feel . However Act 1 is non naturalistic .My song went well considering I made the tune up on the spot on the night. This worked effectively because it showed how Lisa was wondering off into her own
thoughts. Again it was foreshadowing the reality that this word is all a delusion .
I think the goat scene was really successful, myself and Luke did really well to create an uncomfortable scene through our enthusiastic animate movement and tones of voice
.There is a serious subject of sexual assault in this scene which was really hard to performer in a manner that was appropriate. The goat attempts to rape Lisa and this may be a contrast to Lisa's boyfriend Vince . I had to let out an ear piercing scream as the goat leans over Lisa. I thought the entrance of Jane was perfectly executed by Liviey. If I had to do this scene again I would show more fear towards the goat instead of anger,as I see Lisa to be more of an insecure character then confrontational.
The Jane scene was the most challenging scene for me as myself and Liviey had to go around on the tricycle .This was a good scene for improvisation because if something didnt go to plan on the tricycle we could improvise and it added humor to the scene . We had sound effects in this scene to help us set the minimalist set/environment.If I had to do this scene again I would suggest getting on the tricycle later on in the scene as some of the lines didnt make sense as we where already cycling . Overall I think myself and Liviey did well in this scene as the cycling could be very off putting and cause us to mess up dialogue.
The last scene in act one was the Britney scene. This was the scene with the most mistake in it . I thought I could of really improved in this scene. I felt it was messy and people where talking over eachother in all the madness in what was going on , on stage . However we all pulled it off to make it very comical even if i felt the story was a little lost in all the confusion .
Act 2
Act 2 was surprisingly the my favorite act . It was all done in a naturalistic style
. It was of time passing in the mental hospital Lisa was currently in. We used house lights to give the effect of a hospital environment. And I performed 'in the round' . I felt that I had performed really well in this act . I had a drained , hostile expression on my face for the most of the act . The only time I broke out of a stable condion was when Lisa is dancing madly around her room . I went over the top to show the effects of the drugs and her mood swings. When I had to swear I delivered the line with a swear word I put extract enthasis on it to show her aggression and out of control state . I then collapsed on the ground sobbing to show her deterioration when the nurses took the ipod away .
I think myself and Luke interacted really well , showing the awkwardness between their relationship. I used a shy tone of voice and a low pitch . I would also play and fidget with the blanket on my bed to show her nervous and anxious state. To make this even better if i could do this scene i would try to get tears in my eyes to show Lisa' s disrepair and fear of being alone .
Overall i felt act 2 went really well and i was proud of my performance as Lisa. I really felt i understood and connected with her persona .
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