when appropriating this project I wanted to make sure that I focused on the opposite of what I did last year- taking on one of the main antagonists in the play and adopting characteristics that juxtaposed the ones I embodied last year. I made an active effort to experiment with bolder more difficult character choices that I knew I would find more difficult to execute- especially as character acting is something I'm quite comfortable with I wanted to really try and make it as exciting and challenging for myself as I could. When approaching the character of Stromboli I made sure to cover different sections of research before hand so I could create a backlog of information to refer back to and build off when delving into his mindset and emotions. I also used my research to help me finalise my acting choices and add my own backstory to the choices I would make. An example of this is the relationship Stromboli has with his Marionettes and how I used the backstory I had built from research and influence to form this- taking the direction of mania after being a failed performer and driving himself crazy. This is something I really made sure I communicated to the audience by making certain consistent choices through my performance. One of which being the discrete mannerisms I would adopt, such as rapid eye movement, regular twitching (especially when switching between marionette personas) and playing with my clothing. Although my angle on Stromboli was one of slight craziness I made sure not to try and let that over power every Stromboli scene, as that was not the focus all the time, and would of actually pulled from some of his underlining motives and emotions that he experiences throughout the show. A good example of this is his opening scene, were Stromboli tries to encourage the blue fairy and Geppetto to see his Marionette show- his aim is to deceive them in this scene and make them feel sympathy on behalf of the fact that he's penniless and without an audience. Aggressiveness and an inconstancy of composure wouldn't have been effective here, but also would have made the scenes later on when he is more unstable less impactful and character defining.
The vocal and Physical aspect of Stromboli was both challenging and rewarding, finding it very difficult to maintain the physicality choices I had developed along side singing his main musical number. This is because the energy I was using whilst sining to stride walk, shout, and really push my facial expressions, was taking away energy I had to use to vocally maintain the difficulties that are within his songs. This was a prominent struggling I was facing during Rehearsals, the tech run and even for my performance on stage which lead to my longer held notes being weaker towards the end. This was mainly down to my lack of strong breath control but also my physical stamina- which is something I'm definitely going to have to improve as a performer so I don't have to compromise small elements of execution when performing difficult songs such as this one. Although there were struggles I had when it came to performing his songs I also feel as if I excelled when it came to acting out the song and not letting the character slip whilst singing- maintaining the accent a long with the energy. Characterisation and stage presence was a large part to the way I played Stromboli, not just within musical numbers but throughout the whole play utilising the creative freedom I had to move around the stage freely by coming very far down stage, breaking the fourth wall and snarling at the audience when openly talking to my Marionettes. I felt it was important to address the audience through quick glances or gestures when asking myself questions on stage or talking to the multiple puppet personalities- because for me it was an extra way to highlight to the audience that he's an entertainer, and still consistently throughout the play will refer to them as a way to seek outward approval that he is so often deprived off. I feel this added an extra layer of depth to my character and even encouraged the audience to feel more involved within the performance, so much so that I actually had an interaction with a young boy who was asking me about what I was going to do when I found Pinocchio. This wasn't just a test on my improve, but on my characterisation skills as I had to fully stay in the moment as Stromboli whilst talking to the boy, but then also pull the attention back to the actual performance without getting thrown off track. This is a situation that really showed tester-meant to the development I've had going from first year to second year, as I would say I handled it smoothly and didn't let it de rail my performance which is something I definitely wouldn't of been as confident doing this time last year.
Ensemble was a key part to playing the role of Stromboli, and without the rotating Stromboli support and trust our scenes would not of been as strong, and the actors on stage would not of been as confident. This is because every person who played Stromboli would swap out to play each others Marionettes in the alternating casts, but because there was four Stromboli's the Marionettes we would play would change depending on the Stromboli, so we ended up learning three separate individual parts in the same musical number. This meant that we all had to be very in tune with one another and make sure that whatever role we were taking on in the scenes was not mixed up with the other roles we had. This was especially challenging for me when it came to the lifts throughout the song because depending on what Marionette you were would decide your role within the lift- for example in the first couple of shows I supported the Strombolis back when being lifted, but for my next Marionette shows I was supporting the weight of the Stromboli using my thighs. There's never been a time before taking on this role were I've had to know more than two parts for the same given scene, so found this experience to be one I've learnt a lot from, especially when it comes to trust and the importantance of a united ensemble within scenes- being pushed to pic up choreography faster and become a more reliable actor when collaborating.
Photos from the Performances:
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