Three Roles, One Actor

Contributed by Daniel Goodman

Today starts the last week before tech. week for Estranged Identity! Wow, time flies! Before I begin, I must say how much I admire Trueheart Productions. This truly is the most heartfelt production I’ve ever performed in.

I’m Daniel Goodman, a 25-year-old actor from Birmingham, Alabama, and I’m playing Caleb and the demon Revenge. As the play begins, we see young Caleb and his lover Anne meet in secret outside in the middle of the night. Even though they’ve been in love since they were kids, their love is forbidden because Anne was recently married off to an established older man. She’s written him a letter to end their relationship, and in the letter, she discloses a secret that will haunt him and his family beyond his death. We fast forward 40 years later (and 4 minutes of speedily applying aging make-up and a gray beard), and on his death-bed, Caleb’s secret letter is discovered by his oldest son. Then, after Caleb’s death, I’m going to quickly change again and wash off the aging make-up to apply evil, demented make-up to become the demon Revenge who possesses Mary Magdalene! What an amazing challenge!?

The most challenging scene for me is the scene in which I die at the feet of my son Jaden, played by the incredible Bryce Barclay. We sing a heart-wrenching duet about what it’s like to feel like an outcast. The dissonant harmonies subtly reflect the struggles we have communicating with one another. Tiffany is SO SMART! And she’s done a good job of making us smart singers too! There were some notes in there that were so hard to find, but she’s drilled them into our heads, and it’s going to sound fantastic. Praise is also due to Mr. Barclay and Mrs. Harris who are helping me to understand what it feels like to live with such an incriminating secret for 40 years. And they’re helping me imagine what a father/son relationship would be like from the opposite perspective. AND on top of all of that, they’re helping me understand what it should feel like in my body to be old and very near death. I’ve still got a lot of work to do on this scene, but it’ll get there because two weeks in the theatre world may as well be 40 years outside of it.

And when I’m not busy rehearsing my death, I get to have a riot with all of the demons–quite literally sometimes. We’re having a really good time learning the dance and fight choreography, but you’ll never know that as an audience member because we’re going to look extremely demented…because we’re demons…get it!? HAHA! But seriously, Lorianne’s choreography is chilling. Also, the movement work that we’ve done with her and Mrs. Harris for the scenes has been such fun work, but again, it’s not going to look pretty. You’re going to be utterly creeped out, and you’re going to love it! My character, Revenge, is seriously dangerous because he won’t stop until blood is spilled. Even that is mere fuel for the desire for more blood. He’s employed as the perfect weapon for Deception who wants to see Mary ruined. He’s unworldly, inhuman, even serpentine. He slithers into Mary’s thoughts so that he can drive her to do the unthinkable.

And tonight we run through the whole show, so I’ve got lots of work to do between now and then! I hope to see you from the stage!

Rewiring My Mental Processes

Contributed by Sarah Harris

Trueheart Productions ran Estranged Identity’s Act 2 in entirety for the first time tonight. All in all it went quite well, although I must confess I’ve still got a few lines I slip up on. I came away from it with several new ideas for my character, Mary, as well as helpful advice from the directors. Because there are still some facets of Mary’s character that I am working to understand, I often find that like first impressions of people, my initial interpretations of a character are not entirely correct.

Like most interesting people, Mary is a difficult personality to map and understand entirely. For me, there are two points that require quite a bit of research and reflection to understand. One is that she’s extroverted. The other is that she acts insane about sixty percent of the time.

Many of you may view playing a psychotic extrovert as something effortless, like buttering toast. But I unfortunately find playing an extrovert similar to putting a square block inside a round hole; it stodgily refuses to happen. It is one thing to make a vow, as Mary, to devote your life to destroying someone else’s in an introverted manner but quite another when you have to be extroverted about it.

It is also remarkable how little information is supplied on how to behave like an outgoing extrovert when you are a rather reticent introvert. There is a significantly greater amount of information on schizophrenia, agoraphobia, and other mental illnesses. I do wonder sometimes if scientists even consider whether the time they spend studying the migration patterns of large avians will be remotely helpful to most actors.

So, while I have become quite practiced at laughing maniacally, swinging from one mood to another in a heartbeat, threatening people, invading their personal space like it’s a city sidewalk, having panic attacks upon hearing certain words, and assaulting others in fits of rage. The extroverted part is one I have not entirely grasped.

And all jesting aside, I really do find it more difficult to portray Mary’s extroverted characteristics than her psychotic ones. Because the furious outbursts and rapidly changing personalities don’t have coherent thought processes, they are simply inexplicable jumps from emotion or thought to another. On the other hand, understanding the perspective of an extrovert and how that effects the character is like rewiring my mental processing. Extroversion and introversion are two entirely contrasting differences that refuse to coalesce because they are a single continuum; in order to have a high propensity towards one, you must be low in the other.

Walk into Our World

Contributed by Heidi French

Tonight was amazing!  I play the remarkable, challenging part of the demon, Selfishness.  Rehearsal started with Mr. Lawrence Barclay, the director, urging us to put all our zest and passion into each and every rehearsal, and not just the actual performances.  He wants us to give him all we got, so that when the first performance comes we are not limp and weak in our acting.  It fills me with vigor and makes me tingle with anticipation to get on that stage and start performing!

Starting on our work for the night we did Act 1, scenes 9-10.  They are turning out extremely well!  It is amazing seeing it all come together as we now have most of the props, and people are being able to say their lines without the script! It is hard, though, for us demons.  As you can assume because it is a musical, there is dancing in this production, and therefore we must practice for it!  But the stage we practice on is challenging because it is awkwardly shaped and very small compared to the theatre we will be performing at.  But it is good to be stretched!  It reminds me of dough in the baker’s hands, being kneaded and rolled smoothed, then rolled up and patted down.  We are being worked through thoroughly with all the challenges we must undergo!

Next we worked on Act 2, scenes 1-4.  They are very intense and fun to act!  This is when some of the rising action takes place, and increasing tension is sure to be present in the audience!  It is very fun acting out powerful scenes that seem quite real to those watching, but really it is harmless!

Finally we went over one of the songs we dance and sing in.  John Carter, the conductor and music director, helped us articulate our words and put much breath and force into the them.  We went over the song several times getting better and better each time, till finally Mr. Barclay said to add our character facial expressions.  We did, and I confess it is hard to try to sing correctly, loudly and articulately, and scrunch up your face and look selfish, bitter and condemning all at the same time!  To further our moment of severe concentration, we had to then add the dance!  Phew!  And you know what that adds? Consciously moving into the right spots, doing the right moves at the right time, being confident and standing solid, and keeping our eyes focused on the proper place.  As you can see, it is hard!  Let’s just say, from now on I shall have a much greater position of respect and admiration for those in a musical or play!

It takes much effort, thought, and solid assurance to knit this all together, and we most certainly couldn’t do it without the amazing people who started it all!  Walk into our world of Estranged Identity.  You will most certainly be spellbound!

Sounds of the Imagination

By Tiffany Barclay

The process of writing a musical necessitates feeling and experiencing emotions to a depth that matches or exceeds reality.  Nineteen characters.  Nineteen people experiencing and responding to joy, excitement, and pain.  Nineteen voices coming to life.  But how?  In order for them to be real to the audience, they have to be real to the author first.  The author must feel their pain, experience their joy and view the world through their eyes. 
 
Feeling the emotions of characters yet to exist isn’t easy.  When script writing, I have found listening to music a great asset.  Music compels emotion – joy, courage, love, sadness, fear, tension and a myriad of other emotions depending on the composition.  Perhaps you’ve experienced sadness when listening to a melancholy song?  Or joy when listening to a triumphant song?  Or tension when listening to a dissonant song?
 
For Estranged Identity, a kaleidoscope of contrasting emotions necessitated being felt and experienced.  Happiness, grief, annoyance, playful-jesting, anger, bitterness, revenge, and joy are just a few of the vast collection in this script.  Several songs served as inspiration throughout this process.  The Overture from Sweeney Todd by Stephen Sondheim and Mars from The Planets by Gustav Holst aided when crafting the demon characters.  Ratatouille and Chicken Run were helpful when creating positive character emotions.  I also enjoyed listening to a few other songs when writing – Dvorak’s New World Symphony, Don’t Cry for Me Argentina from Evita, Lily’s Eyes from The Secret Garden, Johanna and By the Sea from Sweeney Todd, as well as the entire score from Ragtime. 
 
The process of feeling and experiencing the emotions of my characters wasn’t easy.  But with the help of great music, nineteen characters came to life.  Nineteen people experience and respond to joy, excitement, and pain.  Nineteen voices are heard.  And if you come to see Estranged Identity, nineteen characters will draw you into their lives, enabling you to feel their pain, experience their joy and view the world through their eyes. 

Insanity in the Making!

Contributed by Christian Edmonds

Insanity is defined as being “foolish or acting irrationally”. One might suffer from epilepsy and delusions while another might be suffering from hallucinations and speech disorders. Bringing these aspects of my character to the stage has not been easy to say the least! Being insanity isn’t just acting insane. My character is portraying the culmination of insanity.

When we first started rehearsals I felt very distant from the character. But the longer we rehearsed the more I could identify with “Insanity”. After many discussions with Mrs. Harris, our assistant director, I was able to break through my inhibitions and let the demon “Insanity” come through. It was helpful to write down the emotions I was trying to portray on stage. The next step is to bring that to the dance stage (which, by the way, looks incredible!).

Cohen, the Beggar Boy

Contributed by Jude Dowell

I play an illegitimate beggar boy named Cohen.  I am a rude and obnoxious boy.  I make everyone mad.  No one cares for me and I don’t care for them either.

Well, today I worked on a song called, “She’s Crazy.”  It was a lot of fun.  I had to dance and sing of course.  The dancing was kind of hard because I have never danced before, but soon I will get the moves down.  I also worked on Act 2, scenes 8 and 9.  In scene 8, I was at the end of the scene and I was trying to talk to Mary about Yeshua, but she wouldn’t listen, so then I had to sing to her.  After that I went to go find Yeshua.  In scene 9, I did – wait!  What I did next I can’t tell you!  You’ll just have to watch the play!  Ha ha! 

You Try Being a Demon!

contributed by Anna Dowell

It is not easy.

Demon- “comes from the Greek word, “daimon”, which means “intelligent.” According to some passages in the New Testament, Satan has a personal army of demons to asist him in attacking humans and accomplishing evil tasks. They roam the world looking for people to destroy. And devour.

In Estranged Identity, that is exactly what I, Anger, have to portray along with the other six of my fellow demons.  We are a “cluster” of demons sent out to turn Mary away from everything and everyone she has ever known. To make her completely under our power.

Tonight we worked on our own individual characterizations of each demon. We discussed among ourselves what each demon would look like in our own eyes. For instance, when Revenge sets a goal in his mind, he will destroy anyone or anything that gets in the way of his path! On the other hand, Selfishness is completely absorbed in herself and what will benefit her. Personally, I think Anger is probably one of the easier characteristics to portray. We all experience anger quite often, whether being frustrated with customers/clients at work, or fighting with siblings at home. It is, sadly, one of our more frequent emotions.

But this isn’t just a, sudden burst of anger and then I forget why I am even angry, I am carrying on this characteristic through my whole life as a demon. Hating, yelling, and screaming at everyone and everything, and influencing those around me to imitate me. It’s interesting how each of the seven demons carry a little bit from each characteristic. Insanity has his angry moments, prideful /selfish thoughts, and revenge on his mind, etc.

So yes, it may seem somewhat easy, but we have to keep in mind that by our actions, facial expressions, and voice inflections, the audience should be able to easily distinguish between each demon. We are going to have a lot of fun with this; especially seeing that we can be as inhumane has possible.  And I know you want to see me angry, so come watch Estranged Identity!