Character Intensive

Between Volleyball, the "Battle of the Books," and illness, I only had four actors show up for practice... Fortunately two of them were Gandalf and Thorin, and I had intended to work on their scenes together (it would have been nice to have Bilbo, but I'm generally feeling good about how our lead is reading his lines at this point). To shake things up a a bit, I had them read the scene in very different ways--first as if they were all on the verge of tears, then as if they couldn't stop laughing, and finally as if they each wanted to kill the other two. I was impressed with the range they showed, and I think it helped in distinguishing the characters. I found that each character in that particular scene needs to move towards two of those emotions--Bilbo needs to move in the direction of both humor and sadness (or somberness) as he wrestles with the Baggins and Took side of his personality. Thorin needs to move in the direction of both anger and sadness (as he recalls the fall of Erebor and how the dragon killed many of his people). Gandalf needs to move in the direction of both anger (which helped the actor to achieve a sense of authority he'd been lacking) and humor (as he is playing a great joke on both Thorin--passing Bilbo off as a professional burglar, and Bilbo--tricking him into hosting this Unexpected Party and join in the adventure). I'm not sure the ACTORS were able to see the benefit of the exercise, but it helped me to see what they are capable of, and know what I can bring out of them in their performance. A day well-spent!