Tuesday, February 2

STAGE COMBAT WORKSHOP
Robert, our awesome combat instructor, is back for the week. :)

The 1st-years and 2nd-years are in the workshop together. The 2nd-years will have our actor-combatant recognition exams on Sunday.

Today, we just did some basic things: pushes, shoves, slaps, punches, and blocks.

The hardest thing for me in stage combat is keeping my legs bent and my center of gravity low.

I was having trouble remembering that in punches, you have to lead with the soft knuckles, until Newbie reminded me of something we discussed last year: when you punch (you're aiming toward the invisible parrots on your partner's shoulders; Roy on the right, Larry on the left), imagine that you're holding the handle of a beer mug, and you don't want to spill your beer. In other words, your fist is vertical. It helped a lot.


MACHINAL
The Director said something today at the beginning of rehearsal that I liked. He said that in order to prevent a depressing play from becoming a depressing night of theatre, we as artists have to come at it with a sense of playfulness.

We're blocking the first of my scenes tomorrow. I'm going to try to be as playful as possible.