It’s crazy to believe that after almost 3 weeks in Glasgow, we’re officially passing the halfway mark of our trip. Scotland’s beautiful city of Glasgow has been an amazing place to not only explore, but also experience an entirely different perspective of life. Seeing the way locals interact with one another, immersing my palette to different culinary dishes, and even just admiring the architecture of the city fills me with a sense of limerence. It’s like falling in love with a new song; playing it on repeat so you can take something different from it each time. Falling in love with such an artistic and historic place like Glasgow, gives me a sense of pride in knowing that all this beauty and creativity came from such rich and knowledgeable expeditions.
However, one of the things that I’ve personally learned from being out here is… THERE’S GOTTA BE A ROUTINE! Walking around Glasgow aimlessly, will result with time slipping from your fingers like quicksand. And unless you know how to prioritize your schedule BEFORE your adventures, you’ll end up EXTREMELY overwhelmed by all your responsibilities. (Trust me, it’s not a good look). Coincidentally, I found a way to manage my time effectively while being out here and be able to still keep a valid day to day consistency to help me achieve all my goals without any stress. ESPECIALLY… my acting goals!
In our show Lifelong, I play the role of Kit. A character whos fox-like tendencies is sines him as a catalyst towards people around him. Almost taking on the role of clay, in the way that he shapes himself into personas that can get him through to anyone without ringing any alarms.(Not because he wants to, but because of innate difference the world has put him in). To be able to find a way to consistently get into character. I had to start by KNOWING my character. To get into my character I give myself 3 exercises to do so that I can immerse myself into their life.
“Take A Seat”– This exercise is such a beautiful technique that has helped me understand my character so well. All you need is a chair and your imagination. You first spend about 3 minutes surveying your character thinking about their early life and how they would’ve sat in that chair. Then from there, you proceed to slowly sit in the chair the way they would’ve and act out the actions that you believe that your character is experiencing. Then from there you slowly leave the chair and leave your character in the chair and watch as they grow into the character they are now. From there, you slowly immerse yourself back into the seat, focusing on the trials and tribulations of your character. How did they get there? What are they trying to achieve throughout the play? How do I make sure that I achieve my goal. And finally as you finish your last 3 mins in their shoes. You slowly leave from the seat and watch as your character’s image gets brighter in that empty seat.
“Playlist Creation” – This is an ESSENTIAL! Everyday I walk to and from rehearsal, and to classes with my headphones in and playing exactly 44 minutes worth of music that reminds me of Kit. A playlist helps to use music as a way of forming memories and ties towards your character. A good playlist doesn’t have a start and an end, but it can have some fire transitions in between. I don’t think that a playlist should tell your whole story, but I believe that it should definitely remind you of the key parts and how they transition from past, to present, to even future. I believe that music has the power to bridge your thoughts and heart into a story that finds it own road if you listen close enough. So creating a playlist and listening to it consistently can definitely help in the realm of character development.
“7 Layers of Tension” – In this exercise I find it very important especially when you begin to focus on the movement and personality of your character. I use this exercise especially with helping to find gestures for Kit throughout the show. Yet each layer of tension has it’s own importance:
- LEVEL 1– Catatonic – when the muscles don’t feel any tension whatsoever. (think of being buried in wet sand and the constant struggle to try to get out)
- LEVEL 2 – Californian – when your tension is very loose almost as if you were waking up in the morning and your discernment, movements are loose, but hold faint tension
- LEVEL 3 – Economic – this is almost robotic, tension is only focused when it needs to be used. It’s focused on precise movement and almost minimal looseness and extra movement.
- LEVEL 4 – Curious/ Alert – this movement is focused on infatuation or tourist-like conduct. When we see one thing and decide to put our focus to a different thing, looser tension on body, but more area of looseness(what moves you to focus on one thing to the other?)
- LEVEL 5 – Suspense – this movement is focused increasing urgency with confusion, taking pauses when necessary and almost retracing/ remembering your steps when trying to find something
- LEVEL 6 – Passionate – this movement focuses on the excitement before something happens. It’s almost as if you’re lingering on the last remaining moments before something good or bad happens and the anxiety/ energy that comes with it.
- LEVEL 7 – Tragic – this is the paralyzing fear that encompasses your body as all willingness and motive to move is locked by the tension filling throughout your entire body. A COMPLETE tension overload!
10 Minute Journal Entry – helps to finalize the warmup and solidify your character. Find what you want to keep and take away what you don’t. A good thing to do is to be able to articulate as your character and write down discoveries and other forms of textual inspirations that you find while warming up or throughout the rehearsal. Being able to not only act, but think like your character is so strong because it gives your character a chance to have their voice and opinion be used rather than the spoken dialogue that’s in the script.
This exercise is so important to me because once I got their tensions down, I was able to find parts within the play that I can practice a specific tension, and see how it would be prominent towards the character.
Whether in the rehearsal room, or in the big city of Glasgow, you can never be too prepared when entering the space. So to be able to get better each day, it’s important to make routines and preparatory measures for yourself. Goals for each day are important to accomplish, so that when the opportunity presents itself you’ll be more than ready to take them on. Consistency is the seed of longevity. And for a seed to grow it must be cared for day to day.
Scotland has so much to offer, and so many exciting excursions to be involved with, but just like work…. “You have to do what you have to do, so that you can do what you want to do.”
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