Notes on Monday’s acting class. Theatre 126. University of Kentucky. Fall 2016. Professor Matthew J Schneck. These incomplete notes are not endorsed or proofread by Prof S or UKY.
On Friday Prof Schneck called up all twenty of us in twos. Each couple was assigned a situation with tension that they would improv on this week. For example, my partner and I might be brothers living together, and my partner wants me to move out but doesn’t know how to say it. Over the weekend, each couple met and talked more about the set up - which brother is older, what props to bring, where the scene takes place, how long we’ve been living together, etc - but we were not allowed to discuss what’s actually going to happen - our lines, what we do with our hands, etc.
On Monday, five of the ten couples in the room performed.
Notes from three of those five…
Chase and Steven were adult brothers that live together. From a very conservative family. They had a normal morning together, and then Steven left to buy milk. While he was gone, Chase spent three minutes putting on makeup, the style that you normally see on women. Watching this was really intimate and enjoyable. Then Chase put on a skirt and a tank top and walked around womanly. Steven got back early and discovered his brother cross dressing, was atonished. Then they had an awkward conversation about their differing values and their future as members of the family. Awkward in a realistic and funny way.
(I think they broke the rules and planned the whole thing out, but that’s okay.)
Keeli and I were a couple that had been dating for six months and recently moved in together. We were talking about thanksgiving plans, I said I was going to go to my family’s house for the long weekend. I didn’t invite her. She was subtle at first and then explicit and almost yelling that she wanted to come. I still didn’t invite her but tried to comfort her. She broke up with me.
(Keeli acted pretty similar to how Luci does when she’s upset, and I responded the way I respond in real life. This made the scene work, but it also made me very tense and worried. It took a while to convince my underbrain that it was acting, no real relationship problem.)
Komal and Jenna were housemates, Komal was Muslim and Jenna had bought her a Christmas gift. Komal wouldn’t take it. They argued. In real life afterwards, Jenna said she herself felt super fake and stupid when trying to get Komal to take the gift. Turns out Jenna didn’t look that way to us. Interesting…
Public Domain Dedication.