Written Coursework: Draft One

• critical analysis of literary features of the text 
• Themes
• Patterns
• rhyme
• Motifs
• Character development through the play as seen through the text
• How has Romeo changes and how is it visible in the words he uses (compare text from act one to now to prove how you were informed of his growth in relevance to this scene)
• comments on how aspects of the text have informed dramatic choices 
• How did his word choice (sharp, blunt vs. soft, sweet) inform your movements
• What were the moments?
• How did the dramatic choices in your body and voice shift throughout the process
• Why did they shift?
• analysis of the dramatic choices made in the realization of the text in performance
• How would an audience see this and understand it
• The importance of using the literary features to transfer to stage
• Were the literary features visible in your acting
• How so? Why?

Romeo is a character with an immense amount of passion, loyalty and excitement for anything new. Romeo is a warm-hearted, adventurous spirit whose new found love has dictated his every move. Therefore, displaying this love while still staying true to the obvious pain and grief in scene three act five was of highest priority when analyzing the scene. The adaptation centers around Romeo as a character, aiming to highlight the change and growth he has undergone throughout the play leading up to this moment. While the scene holds a strong theme of death, the live of Romeo was necessary to shine through the text he speaks before taking his life. Romeo gives strong insight to Shakespeare as a playwright, using several literary tools and stylistic choices. This role has forced me to look beyond the words of the play and into the the minds of the characters and the layers of their relationships. Portraying Romeo gave me a strong sense of his grief and showed me a darker side to love. This scene allowed me as both a reader and an actor to understand a character’s intentions behind the simple words. It also enabled me to explore mortality and love on a deeper level as motivations and characters within the narrative. When beginning the process of putting literature to stage, analyzing the characters, text and language all determine the success of the scene. The role of an audience and the depth of the acting motivations dictate the efficient portrayal. When working with Shakespearean texts, the most important parts of the adaptation center around deciphering the intentions of the language. This is done through the examination of words, rhythm, patterns and rhyme. Having all this is in mind, starting my endeavour to portray Romeo Montague in the final suicide scene was a unique challenge. My main focus was taking the literary themes as well as style of the script and transforming it into a physical experience.


The scene begins with Romeo off stage and Juliet center stage. This immediately sets the tone of the scene as the pair being separated and physically apart. Despite this, Juliet’s texts centers around Romeo instilling an idea of their minds and souls being together. This choice proves a theme of the two being the star-crossed lovers. I wanted to do this to show how even through death, the two believe their love is everlasting. I found this to be relevant of the character’s thoughts from the line….

Bushnell Review

As mentioned in my previous post I really enjoyed the piece we saw at the Bushnell. I especially enjoyed how it was a combination of art and history. In my opinion, what makes a play good is the story telling aspect of the narrative. The details of the story and what it centers around dictates the quality of the way it can be told to an audience. As an actress myself I enjoy watching pieces that have strong stories, such as 'Warriors Don't Cry'. The way the piece had multiple, intricate characters and a historically oriented plot allowed the piece to connect with audience. It connected with the audience because it related to our past and as Americans, very emotional parts of our history. The story is driven by its historical relevance to the audience. The way that the show is seen by the people watching it is influenced by the things we've learned since we were young in our American classrooms. This makes me question how the show would be viewed in another country or even by another American generation. It is interesting how a person's personal believes and experiences are so important when analyzing a piece as individuals with contrasting opinions. 

The show itself I believe was done very well, although there were a few distractions between the audience and the set. Personally, I was impressed with the actress's portrayal of all the characters but still a few times found myself struggling to stay engaged. While I was always eventually drawn back into the story, there were for sure low points where I could feel the tone of the room and the lack of engagement. All in all, I think the actress did a great job and obviously knew the show well. My only major critique was the microphone, I question why after four years of doing one piece the actress would not know the technical necessities, although she remained focused even beyond the mic problems which is impressive.

Warriors Don't Cry

Warriors Don't Cry was a powerful one woman piece centered around the themes of integration, perseverance and self worth. The piece was really interesting and I was so impressed by the actor's ability to captivate the audience all on her own. It was amazing how she was able to maintain her energy and stamina the whole hour without the support of anyone but herself. The story itself was both powerful and depressing. It made me think and challenged my perspective on the privilege of education. I think that the minimal set was really effective for the play, it was simple so the audience could focus on the content. The most interesting part of the show was the actors ability to encompass and embody so many characters. She was able to switch between the voices so fast and I could really see the characters as different people. The actress was a great story teller, she allowed me to see different settings and characters in the same scene which was something I find so impressive. Being able to expierence a peace of literature put to stage verbatim was a new and valuable expoerience for me as an actor, I enjoyed the show throughly.

Final Scene Reflection

Watch/review the video of your performance. What did you do well? What could you have done better? What was easy or hard? How well did you portray your character? How well did you adapt the literary features into your scene?

After reviewing my video I have realized the amount of growth that happened during this process. As I watched the video, I understand my intentions with each line and I am very pleased with the way I was able to convey my character. For the first time as an actor I really payed close attention to the text analysis and relied on my literature interpretation skills for most of my acting choices. I looked closely at Shakespeare's writing and dug deep into the rhyme, patterns and word choice that made this play so famous to begin with. I read the play as whole and strived to display character development through the entire scene. I believe I did a good job of this by the end of the project. Nadya and I were a great team, we worked well as ensemble and found ways to work off of each other's emotions. Both of us did a good job on re-working the staging and finding variation in our line delivery. I am very proud of our work even beyond minor flaws.

If I could have one more chance to perform this scene I would change a couple small things. In this clip, a lot of my movements are a bit 'jolted' or fast, I would try to add more variation in the way I moved rather than just the staging itself. I think I would also work on finding more truth in my sadness. While I am pleased with the emotion I brought, I wish I was a bit more truthful and less dramatic. I liked the way I drew out the death, but wish I had kept the poison in my hand so Nadya's line made sense.

Overall, I think I portrayed my character well. I had a hard time relating to how dramatic Romeo was at first, but I eventually was able to hone in on my own personalities that aligned with Romeo which helped me find him as a character. I think I found my voice in the scene and freedom in my acting which I value. Lastly, I am proud of how powerful the last few moments of the death were. Nadya and I both brought a lot of passion and emotion which I think viewers will be able to feel. Using the beats in the text allowed me to find a flow in my lines that came off very natural and I think we escaped the trap of 'simply reading lines'.

I am pleased with this scene and hope that next time I can grow even more as an actor. I truly appreciate that I always can find a new way to develop as a performer. This was my first time doing a full scene of Shakespeare, although it was challenging I found it really interesting and I would love to do it again. It forced me to pay attention to the literary aspect of plays, something I now know the importance of. This is a skill I will carry with me with every scene I do again and I am glad to have had this experience.

Romeo and Juliet Video

Link to YouTube- https://youtu.be/hG-7iOFY7I8

Fall Play Review

I attended the opening night of James Joyce's "The Dead" and really enjoyed the night! I was impressed by the acting, staging and really liked the 'in the round' set up of the black box. It gave the show an interesting intimacy, I liked how the actors used this to connect with the audience through eye contact. I also liked how the actors really expressed their emotions on their faces and their voices. I thought John Jiang and Sam Weed were outstanding in their roles, both showing a maturity and vibrancy on stage I have never seen before from them.

They connected well as an ensemble and the mix of comedy, sorrow and relationships all balanced well. Abby Zuckert's portrayal of Aunt Julia was really well done in subtly showing her death but not being obvious, it was truthful. My favorite part of the show was when Aunt Julia forgot the words to the song so Grace Green's character came up to her and began to sing with her. It was so sweet but also really emotional which I appreciated. All the actor's did such a great job and Mr. Aronson really put on an amazing show with the students.

I can tell they all worked hard and it showed in the show. The hours they put into the production showed as they seamlessly put on this large show. I was impressed by how well they all knew the lines and the text itself. They truly embodied their characters and worked so well as an ensemble. I think that the show itself was really intriguing. The script had many layers and told a unique story of family and the Irish culture. The metaphor of life being compared to a lake was really beautiful and encompassed the tone of the play. It was happy but also really sentimental. I really enjoyed it.

Log #3

Day 8:

These last few days have been mainly centered around blocking and staging with Nadya. The lines are memorized and focusing on how and where to move has been most important thus far. The staging of both deaths have proved to be challenging. How to fall without making it awkward or unbelievable has been an obstacle. Running it with Nadya on the stage will help with this. We were complimented on our levels and purpose in our movements, this will be important to sustain.

Day 9:

Day nine Nadya and I ran lines together to work on finding intent and patterns. Finding the rhyme and and rhythm in our lines has given insight into what our characters are trying to say. The patterns show Romeo's feelings and with each beat I have been able to 'chunk out' each thought.  Finding where the lines end allows me to understand when Romeo must pause or begin a thought again. It pieces together each different emotion and gives me the chance to show change and development in my acting.

Day 10:

In my notes after a run through I was told to analyze the emotion deeper so that I could add layers and change. Rather than being the same type of sad the whole scene, I need to find contrast. I did this by again going through the lines and finding movement and different thoughts. By doing so I have seen parts where Romeo is somewhat happy in this scene or nostalgic, pieces I would not have found if I just read the lines once. I also noticed Romeo's desperation and grief which has played a strong role in my portrayal. This text analysis shows me how vital literature and script is in understanding characters. Acting is not only centered around the words, but understanding where the words derive from within the author and character, then the actor.

Day 11:

This was another day for finding minor details with Nadya. As scene partners we have looked for little things we can add and take out to make our scene the best it can be. We have gone through the lines and movements and feel confident in our choices. Having the lines memorized has been intricate in our success as now the scene move freely and we can be present on stage rather than staring at the paper. This has been immensely liberating as an actor to be able to focus on my presence on stage rather than my words.

Day 12:

Finally most of the work left is solidifying our staging. Now that our acting is ready for performance, we must bring our bodies, props and stage to the same level. Nadya and I have ran the scene several times focusing on our arms, faces and steps all to ensure a smooth visual portrayal of the characters. We also have discussed the differences between our two character's movements, such as the way they walk and speak. We did this by analyzing the content of their lines and the change they have both undergone as characters.

James Joyce's "The Dead" 11/10/16

Log Entry #2

Prior to writing my logs I looked back on last week and realized how much this has helped to organize my thoughts and work.  I like it!!!

Day 4:

On the fourth day of scene work I began to really hone in on my movements and staging. I focused on communicating with Nadya on how to move with strong, relevant presence during the scene. I first started by annotating the script with different 'action verbs' to decipher what Romeo was trying to do/say/convey in each thought. This helped me to attach a movement to my words. Whether it be arms, hands, face or actually moving across the stage, I was able to use my body to show my motivations.

Day 5:

After presenting the scene to the class I went back into my script and practiced with my new notes. I worked towards trying to add more emotion and seriousness. I also thought about how to project and use an audience, as this was the first time with one. Most of the comments were on re-staging the ending and making it all more natural. I believe that Nadya and I must run the scene several more times to ensure we both are completely solid in our staging. Some of the compliments we received were about our variety in tone and infliction, I think that sustaining this will be good. Also, I think Nadya and I must work on becoming an ensemble. Even though we are doing two different monologues I think it will be valuable for us to connect as scene partners even though we may be dead during each other's lines. I would love to get advice on how to do this from my peers.

Day 6:

Day six was mainly memorization. I wrote my lines down several times and spoke them out loud, line by line for around 45 minutes. I found myself pacing and moving even without realizing it, showing me that I am a very physical learner. I also like to hear beats in my lines and find rhythm/patterns, which shows how much of an auditory learner I am. Using the other things I have passion for (music) to help me memorize has proved to be the most effective method for me. I have found that saying two or three lines to a consistent beat and then adding lines as I memorize allows me to learn the most, the fastest. I hope that the more acting I do, the better I will become at memorization.

Day 7:

Day seven has been mostly smaller details. I find small mistakes in what I have memorized and tweaks I want to add to my delivery with each run through. I also reviewed the comments of peers to add more additions to my acting. I watched other clips to learn more about other interpretations and portrayals. I have especially liked the Orlando Bloom version, I think he does a great job and I have thus far drew much inspiration from the clip. I think that at this point, final memorization and running the scene with Nadya will put us in good shape for performance.