prompted by your RTC performances, though applies to any theater production: with performing the same script so many times in such condensed time, i imagine that the actions themselves can feel stale and repetitive. I don't have any personal experience with it though. Does this actually happen, and do you have to make an effort as an actor to keep your performance from reflecting that? Or is it a "every night is a new experience" type of deal?
Great question! Definitely, but with experience and from what I learned in acting classes, it’s all about maintaining the discovery and newness of it all. It all boils down to the why/purpose of every line and feeling connected moment to moment. Lots of different ways to achieve this, like thinking about “I want to (fight/kiss/flirt) with (scene partner) so that I can (get something, make them feel a certain way, etc.) and thinking about how you can physically support your intentions while saying your lines. By taking things moment by moment you can discover new little things in the way you interact with your scene partners each time.
Not every night is going to be the exact same either because audiences react differently; they can be roaring with laughter at a joke one night and be completely silent for it for the next, so it would be a bad idea to replicate a previous performance just from that fact alone. For our production specifically, we find new ways to always make it fun!
For example, in the scene where Ocean pushes Constance (“my time, Constance, my time”) to Jane Doe and Jane stares at her, I’ve played around with this scene and tweaked it to keep it fresh by touching her hair, giving a little wave, giving her hugs, patting her head, etc. and changing the order around.
Another example would be the “really super hurts” scene where my Jane copies Constance’s hand movements and every night I have to really pay attention what she does because she changes it up a lot and it’s exciting because it keeps me present and from going on autopilot, which is what happens when you let the material go stale! Since Jane doesn’t have as many lines as the rest of the kids I play around with physicality a lot, but this can be done with lines as well (Our Constance is really good at this, via different inflections/emotional intention) i.e. in her monologue I’ve seen her deliver the “or they’ll think you’re a cow” line with more anger, more accusatory, embarrassed, blissfully unaware, etc.
But to be honest, this is the first time in a long time that I’ve been in a show that I genuinely loved before being in it, and I think that helps a lot too! I’m just always so excited to be performing the material and getting to do it with such genuinely awesome people 💗
I hope that all makes sense! Thanks again for the great question 😁
