Directing my Jim Quinn (Prodigal

Son) Monologue after watching The

Audition Doctor
Wednesday 10th of November

Between the first lesson, where we practiced the tool of directing,

and the second, we watched a video tuition from the audition
doctor. The questions she prompted upon the actors, sparked
thoughts that they use to paint a faithful image of their character
on stage. They were forced to produce information, from
analysing the emotions within the given text.

After I had a shot at performing my Jim Quinn monologue. Kieron

fired questions at me to prove that I had read the play and that I
was knowledgeable, in the case that the audition panelists throw
questions at me, to try and catch me out. He asked of me to
section off different emotions present in the text, and project
them, with a heightened difference in each. During this process, I
had to produce small transitions between emotions to showcase a
change in thought as humans would. I added an array of
elongated pause and marked gesture where it deemed
appropriate. By this method, every action the audience perceived
on stage would be purposeful. Nothing was just chucked in there -
each physical element was calculated. A difficulty arose from this
process; I had to now memorise the choreography and noticeable
marks of human nature, alongside the dialogue. I benefitted from
constant practice of my freshly devised piece. Repetitive practice,
consolidated my newly ‘put together’ monologue. When going
through the lines I would always complete a brief action. Just to
aid me to remember the order. This method of devising was a new
one to me. Normally, I would add in the marked gesture, or
elongated pause or whatever it may be, after I had completely
learnt the lines. But composing my piece around my lines,
combining dialogue with choreography, will hopefully allow me to
include every learnt piece in my final performance. By trying new
methods of devising, prompted by my director Kieron, I was able
to meet my target of taking risks in the performance space - trying
something new to refreshen my heavily rehearsed piece.