DISCLAIMER: I can declare that this is all my own work
Task 1A- Project proposal
Name | Charlie Harper |
Pathway | Performing and Production Arts – Acting for Stage & Screen. |
Project title | The lovely Bones |
Section 1: Rationale (approx. 100 words) | |
In the past two years I have developed as a performer in more than one category, building up skills in both my craft but also my professionalism and etiquette as a performer. At the beginning of year one I struggled to digest a script, and would fined myself entering a rehearsal space feeling constantly unsure of my lines. But now nearing towards the end of my second year at collage I can learn and rehearse more than one play at the same time and at one point was rehearsing 4 plays at once. Along with this I have broadened my range as an actor, and can understand and execute the difficult emotional beats of a naturalistic performance along with being able to let myself go and play big caricature characters. The progression I have made within the past two years has made me an all rounded professional performer.
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Section 2: Project concept (approx. 200 words) | |
For this project I want to make sure that I deliver a genuine portrayal of grief within a teenager. Lindsey is a character that absorbs everything silently- she is an observer and a character that gets good at concealing her emotions until she is on her own, and I want this to be obvious to the audience. To make sure my performance is powerful and accurate I will do my research by using the already existing sources available to me- reading the Lovely Bones book and watching the 2010 film. I will then look into the effects of grief and use my knowledge from what I've researched to build up who Lindsey is to me. I will also break down difficult scenes individually, as a way to make sure all emotional beats are hit and the scenes are powerful. Character relationships within the play are also extremely important and I will be working very closely with actors playing Lindseys family and friends to insure that those relationships are not just accurate but progressed and changed through the timeline of the play. The main relationships I want to really execute are the ones between her, and her mother and farther as in my opinion they are the most changed and impactful within Lindseys story. | |
Section 3: Evaluation (approx. 50 words) | |
To evaluate my work and reflect on my progress throughout rehearsals I will get others within the class to video what I'm doing, so I can watch it back and see my areas of improvement. I will also attach these videos to my blogger as a way to track and document the development of what I'm doing in rehearsals an how it changes over time. I will also use my blogger as a way to talk through my thought process when in rehearsals- and will go into extensive detail on what it is that's bothering me and how we have as a team or how I have individually worked past it. | |
Proposed research sources and bibliography (Harvard format) | |
For this project I will use existing sources as part of my Research, this includes both watching the Lovely Bones film and reading the Book. Alongside this I will also use a range of online websites and various forms of media to help me understand the experiences of my character that are separate from me. | |
Task 1B- Production Diary's
https://charperacting.blogspot.com/
My headshot for this project:
Task 2A- Audition Process
Audition preparation and understanding- My prep
• I straight away thought the writing was incredible, and I could instantly see the realness within the scenes and the character interactions and relationships. It felt as if I was reading a a snippet of real life, which made me very excited about the project itself.
• In terms of characters I resonate more with Lindsey- I feel I fit the casting for her quite well in terms of physical appearance and playing age. I can also emotionally relate more to her as a younger actor and I find her role within the story to be something I can fit myself into well. In terms of characters I like within the play I would definitely say Abigale, because personally I feel that she has one of the most intense character journey throughout the play- beginning her journey with motherhood at the centre of her life and holding a very maternal sense. Her sense of purpose and self is then drastically altered when Susie is murdered and who she is as a mother is questioned in her mind along with trying to grieve her daughter. I interpret Abigail leaving the family as her trying to get away from what she would relate to Susie along with finding comfort in the idea that someone can understand her and the type of pain she’s in.• The heaviness of this play is a challenge within itself and balancing maintaining and hitting those emotional beats along with the general production of the show which I already know is going to be very difficult. The family and character dynamics within the play are going to be a fun challenge, and finding the layers within the individual connections that the separate characters have with one another
• I should be researching the effects of murder/ missing person cases on a society, along with the reality of these situations like what actually happens realistically in these situations nothing dramatized and truly understanding the ins and outs of the long process.
• It explores the effect of living within a family that’s fractured in some way- which I feel fits both Abigail and Lindsey, even though the monologue is from the perspective of a teenager.
• The monologue I’ve picked shows my understanding of naturalistic text and how to approach characters from a real life prospective
My audition
Preparation for my audition was a little bit different than it has previously been. I normally have a clear idea of who I'm going for when auditioning and this time I was still slightly unclear and ended up going into the room with two characters in mind and a monologue that I thought gave a reflection of both- although it did lean more towards Lindsey as it was from the prospective of a teenager. I feel I prepared to a good standard, I could of done more character research for the characters I was going for and if I could do it again I would do that, and give myself a clearer image of them within my mind, although It's nothing that effected my performance of my chosen monologue. I'm happy with the delivery of my monologue, and I feel I hit the emotional beats in the way that I wanted, whilst sustaining an even volume throughout. I do feel like I have a tend to fidget when performing, and I definitely did this within my audition and part of that is down to nerves but I do always need to remember to give myself more of a beat before beginning my audition just to make sure that I can keep myself more centred throughout. I felt I was prepared to answer the questions that I was asked within the audition, and I found being asked the questions to be a helpful way to breakdown were I stood with my opinions on the play and my journey and how I wanted to callenge myself
Thursday 3rd April 2025
Today we had our recalls for our end of year show auditions, but instead of being able to learn some of the scenes we were recalled with, we instead had to in a way cold read them- taking the scripts into the audition and getting around an hour before hand to put down some quick blocking before going into the recalls. We were paired with multiple different people depending on the characters we were recalled for. I was recalled for both Lindsey and Abigail, so had quite a few different groups I got to audition with, and even though we had some time to practise a few things I still hadn't gone through all my scenes fully with every group so felt slightly nervous when going in for those particular scenes- especially because I have a habit to skip lines and words when cold reading. Some of the scenes I found more difficult to cold read for were some of the romantic ones, more specifically the ones Abigail had with Feddamen as they weren't set up in a typical romance way and instead their bond with one another is fuelled by their shared experiences with sudden loss, so navigating those for me over a cold read was more difficult. Overall I think the recalls went okay and I enjoyed the challenge of them being set up like an a recall we would get outside of collage, as it makes up more prepared for being put into those situations.
Task 2.1- Research
Character development and Research notes
Who is Lindsey:
How does susie's death effect Lindsey:
Character Relationship Notes:
Task- 2.2-Production role
When we found out we'd be doing the Lovely Bones as our end of year project, I was straight away interested in both set and costume for the show- as I knew it was set in the 70s and was fascinated as to how we would transform the space and the actors to fit that time frame. I also love the style of the 70s and knew that I wanted to help create that 70s feel that the show has, so decided to join the set and decor team for my production role. I initially had quite a few ideas when it came to the decor of the show and I wanted to lean more into the idea of the individual characters homes and spaces within the set and really making it individual to them. My main focus with this Idea was definitely the Salmons house and making it feel like a home- especially at the beginning of the play so the audience can really see the generic family life that they exist in. I didn't want the set to feel like a set, but instead like a place people actually lived in. So I asked the actors playing the family members (including myself) to think of things outside of the props they use that their character would have. For example a pair of trainers/shoes that they've left near the door or near a chair as they've come in- or a jumper that's been left over a chair etc. This also included little things like books, pieces of jewellery, packets of cigarettes- just items that the cast knew their character would have that could be used to breath life into the set and make it feel more like a home. I then made bits and pieces of these props for the set and the actors
For our Lovely Bones set we also have some large fixed pieces besides the structure at the back that emulate and help separate out areas within houses. So for example The Salmon house has a severing hatch that the characters use as a way to create a kitchen without making a whole kitchen, and Mr Harveys house has his iconic green door that Lindsey looks through when she breaks in. My main focus when it came to the bigger pieces of set was the serving hatch, because as a team we wanted it to match the rest of the interior colour palette of the Salmon house- the main colour being a warmer toned orange that popped up in pillows and table cloth so it felt important that there was coherent choice to the interior design of the house. This also included the patterns as well and the Materials that were used within the house- wether that be flowers or pock a dots or geometric shapes, as bold patterns were 70s central- this also includes wooded panelling on walls etc, so I drew out and stuck together different pattern/block colour designs for the serving hatch, as a way for the team to see what worked best alongside what had already been ordered/what we had. Below are some pictures of my designs:
I also had to help strip door frames and and finally paint the hatch that I'd tested out designs for (below is more attached images of some of the work I did)
Here are some extra drawn out designs for other Ideas I had for set:
Task 4.1- Taking the Lead
This year I decided that I really wanted to push myself with naturalism by setting an independent challenge for the showcase. I decided I was going to tackle a monologue from a scene within a play called people, places and things. I picked this play because I knew the acting was out of my skill set, meaning I would have to improve and expand my knowledge on naturalism to execute it right and hit every emotional beat. Because the monologue was part of a bigger scene and required an environment around it to really give it an impact I decided to direct and put together the scene using only chairs and another 4 actors. People places and Things is a play that follows the recovery process of a drug addict called Sarah, who we watch throughout the play re laps, ruin relationships and try to save current ones. The scene that I decided to take on was a scene towards the end of the play were Sarah is trying to practise her apology to her parents for when she next sees them. This scene is set in a rehabilitation centre and she is surrounded by other recovering addicts, who she uses to represent members of her family. Within the monologue she discusses the death of her brother and feeling guilty, because in her mind she believes she should of died and not him- which is a pinnacle moment, because its a very raw bit of vulnerability that she hasn't previously shared with the group or the audience. She also switches up between using humour and being honest whilst describing her family and creating an image in their head- which is important because she struggles to tell the truth and it's important that we see that.
I began by learning the monologue before I did anything else, because the monologue itself was about four pages long so for me personally I knew I would find everything easier to breakdown and dissect if I already knew what I was saying. Once I learned the scene I went straight into a character breakdown, researching the effect of drug misusage on the brain- effects of grief and even the mindset of a compulsive liar and narcissistic disorder as from the subtext I believed those to be mental illnesses that Sarah could potentially have. Below are the photos of my written notes:
I then got the piece on its feet and started directing it and slotting bits together. I'm lucky enough that I got to watch the play as well as read it, so I used directing choices that they used if I liked them and thought it would fit my take on it. I then planned the flow of the piece and were I wanted the other actors throughout the entirety to be, letting them practise their own individual tracks. I actively decided to cast people that I wanted to work with and that I knew would very quickly pick up the blocking. This is because everyone had a lot to learn at this time and I didn't want to add too much stress on if I knew it would be too much for people. One of the characters I individually cast based on my relationship with them instead was the character of Mark. He is a closer friend of Sarahs throughout her time in rehab and he also acts as her dead brother through the scene- holding her hand as sign of comfort while she shares her apology. I give this part to one of my closest friends, because to me he feels like a brother in real life which made it easier for to envision him as Sarahs brother within the scene- which helped me to connect more to those emotional moments were she cries and breaks down about her brothers death. Mark never speaks in the scene, but by casting a really close friend for that role I felt as if I had an emotional anchor to work with and help me reach the really intense emotional moments quite quickly.
Images of set for the scene:
Throughout this process I was also doing my own outside research on the Meisner Technique as for me personally I felt it was the best approach to help me tackle this piece- below are bits of research I found from watching Meisner masterclasses and researching his practise:
Evaluation on my performance- Task 6.1, 6.2
The Lovely Bones is a play that explores grief and its long-lasting effects- following the tragic story of Susie Salmon. A 14 year old girl how gets murdered in an underground bunker in the middle of a corn field, leaving her family to pick up the pieces after her death whilst haunted by the idea of who's killed Susie. I played the Role of Lindsey Salmon- Susie's younger sister. Lindsey represents a number of things within the play, because not only does she become an image of what susie's life could have been like- she also depicts regaining life and happiness back after grief. Creating a new story for herself with Samuel and even going to collage after being a part of gifted camp. Lindseys there to show the audience that time keeps moving along and that things can always change and get better if you let them- acting as an important contrast to her parents, whilst still depicting the effect grief can have on a teenager.
I feel I understood Lindsey very well as a character, actively giving myself and creating emotional anchors that allowed me to stay connected to her experiences as I was acting them out. I used both the subtext within the play and the Lovely bones book to do this, making and sourcing belongings that Lindseys owned. Some of the things I used were based of facts from the book, for example susie's Othello assignment that she inherits because her mother can't bare to read it or the family monopoly game that Jack uses to tell Buckley that Susie's dead. Some of the other things I used weren't always based of fact, but instead what I felt was right for that moment for example her watch which I initially used In the Principle Caden scene as a motive for her to leave- but then developed it further as I got to know Lindsey creating it into something I used for her to time the fitness sessions she had as a way to contain emotions she didn't want to face. These are just a few example, but I also used other things such as pairs of shoes and different clothing items I pretended were susie's etc. These things helped me respond instinctively in character and act on the emotions that would naturally arise within the show without having to heavily force things. Making my performance one the audience could connect too and feel with Lindsey as she was faced with the challenges of losing her sister and what that meant for her.
The flow and rhythm of this show was something I found slightly difficult to navigate at times, because most of the characters remained on stage throughout the majority of the performance. Meaning you could never drop your character or take a breather for even a second because you were always being seen. This effected the way in which I used the space because even though I was always on stage I wasn't always lit or the focus of the scene, so had to limit my movements and background dialogue to match what the main moment was at any given time. Although this was challenging it made me a more observant performer and pushed me to be hyperaware of my surroundings on stage and how they might affect the way I move whilst acting. It wasn't always challenging being on stage at all times, as it meant that the stage/set became more familiar as my environment- finding myself knowing my way around and treating the Salmon house as if it was my own home. This made my interactions and movements within the house appear more authentic, naturally relaxing my body language and slowing down my general movements when existing within the house- creating a noticeable contrast when she's inside Mr Harveys house or even in Principle Caden's office.
When we began rehearsals my volume was lacking and because of the American accent that we had adopted my diction was slightly messy in places as well. I've always found it so much harder to project when tackling an emotional piece of theatre, because naturally when things are emotional or when your crying your voice puckers and can become more closed off making it harder to support your diaphragm and push your voice to the back of the theatre. So getting this note in rehearsals really made me aware that I was going to have to work a lot harder and be a lot more mentally conscious of my volume whilst on stage. When we moved into the theatre I was told my volume was good within rehearsals, so I kept this consistent for the show as well and actively was checking my projection throughout my performance as its so easy to just drop in volume when your not keeping on top of it. There were moments were I feel my diction definitely could of been clearer- this is mainly because of the American accent and specific words I find harder to say than others for example "murder" and the sentence "come on Holiday lets go for a walk"- personally they felt slightly garbled and unclear, which is something that comes back to the American accent and just ironing out a couple of words that I struggle to execute correctly.
Photos from show night:
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