Improvisation
1. Improv on train
This was more of a plot development exercise than a character building exercise, but it helped me develop my character in her initial stages. Originally, Ara was supposed to be the sober one trying to control a very drunk Cal and Maya. However, this made Ara really boring on stage as there wasn't much I could do. Also, initially, Ara was supposed to be the very responsible, regular law-abiding one, but that personality was incongruous with her backstory and provided no reason for her to think her life was awful. So we changed this and I portrayed Ara as being drunk too, but less drunk than Cal and Maya and still the more responsible one. However, this worked better with her aversion to authority and sarcastic personality as it enabled her to be rude to strangers, which is how I decided Ara would interact with most people because of her contempt for 'conformists' and people with good jobs and sensible lives. This also enabled me to develop Ara as a comic character through her interactions with Cal and Maya and the strangers on the train e.g. the phone lady who she kept shushing.
2. Improv in bar
This was an interesting exercise solely for character development as it is not going to be used in the actual performance and was helpful for me to further develop how Ara interacts with strangers or acquaintances such as her boss. Cal and Ara were put in a bar and various characters introduced such as a woman who decides to quit her job after being persuaded to do so by Ara and Ara's boss, who threatens to fire her after Ara is rude to her. This made me think about how Ara would sit around other characters (does she lean towards them when she talks? How does she angle her body? If she likes them, she will angle her body towards them, lean towards them and make eye contact. If not, she will angle herself straight ahead, sit up straight and not make eye contact) and what kind of things she would say and how sarcastic she would be to whom. I discovered that Ara was very rude and aggressive to those she considered to be 'conformists' and often seemed to be looking for a fight. Interestingly, Cal appeared to be embarrassed by Ara's conduct, especially when Ara's boss appeared, and had to 'rein her in'.
