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.