Improving Duologue Skills

Dear Evan Hansen

Tuesday 19th September

Today we were given a duologue from a scene in Dear Evan Hansen, the scene is an argument between Evan and his mum. I paired up with Millie Trodden, for now we were tasked with just reading through it and going over what we think is happening and how each character is reacting to one another. 

We got tasked with going away and digging deep into the scene to find out the story and the context of what is going on. Just from the duologue alone I can see that the mother cares about him a lot and is trying her hardest but Evan always paints her as in the wrong because of how much she works. His mum feels like she is losing him to another family which she calls "these people" insinuating that they're strangers to her to which Evan says "they're not these people." Tensions are at an all time high from what I could pick out but its not constant shouting part of it is just truth that needs to be said in a manner that like stabs the other person in a hurtful way. 

We have done duologues in the past but not as much into this depth, we also haven't really done dramatic scenes in the past where the tension starts off high and slowly just starts building. So it broadens up my variety of what I can push myself to do as an actor. 

Tuesday 26th September

Today we had an in depth look into analysing scripts. Script analysis is where actors strip a script apart to find its intended meaning and determining what the writer is trying to say. So we got asked to sit in our pairs and pick apart the script even if it is obvious things such this is the first time we have ever had a real in depth look. Some of the stuff we picked out about the scene is shown here on these images. 

After we had done an in depth analysis we were then asked to make a question about what we would like to learn  about the scene. My question was "What makes Evan think he's such a burden to his mum?" After we had finished doing an in depth script analysis we were tasked with performing it in 3 different ways each with a different emotion. At first I started it off with slowly building Evan's anger till he blows up and starts shouting back at his mum. The 2nd time I decided to start it off with Evan already being full of anger and hatred for how she had treat him in the scene before. I struggled to find a 3rd way of doing it as at first I didn't understand the task that it was the emotions that we had to change. 

I learn from this lesson how to look at scripts that give no context as such and analyse ourselves what we think is happening or what we would like to know about the scene. This helps us an actor to get a feel of the character we portray and to understand what the character and character's around them must be feeling. It also helps int he future for when we get other scripts to point out the obvious or what we can interpret ourselves to fully understand the scene/scenario. 

Tuesday 3rd October

We started off with a couple of us performing our Dear Evan Hansen duologues, Millie and I had been practising a little the week before to fully get a feel of the characters so that we could be ready for this. We had got chosen to perform and we had improvised a little scene beforehand as well where Evan goes to try the door handle but instead starts getting all sweaty and nervous while his mum is pacing up and down the living room. During the performance I made the decision to not look at Millie till Evan starts talking about himself so I was always avoiding eye contact whereas Millie was always keeping eye contact, there was a part where she mentions about how good Evan is in her life and Millie grabs my hands but I pull away when there's a beat to give it more awkwardness and show that Evan doesn't care whats being said to him at the moment. The feedback given was that I was a little quiet at times when I got faster in what I was saying but I was clear when talking fast which has always been a struggle for me. I just need to improve on projecting my voice for future scenes. 

Afterwards, we had been split into groups to direct the first couple pages/scenes of a stage show. I chose to join the group doing curious incident of the dog in the nighttime. See blog post for that. https://connorsacting.blogspot.com/2023/10/script-directing-curious-incident-of.html

No Context Duologues

Monday 25th September

We got into pairs after doing a warm-up that ended with us pairing up with someone random. I got paired with Zia and we had to choose a duologue that gives us no context and analyse and answer the questions of what relation our characters have with one another so it could help build an image in our mind and be fully in the moment. We chose one about someone being in a coma and we said our characters were best friends where one is going through the stages of grief and the other is the supportive friend trying to help but always saying the things that esculate the situation. 

Wednesday 27th September

Today we were showing our pieces that we had worked on in Monday's lesson. We had some more time to prepare ourselves, like learning the lines and being comfortable with the scenes. It was good to watch other interpretations of the same one me and Zia did as its good to see how everyone else's minds work when choosing the same piece. When me and Zia went I managed to do it without stuttering and it felt different to what we had rehearsed but it was better than when we were rehearsing it. Our feedback was that we have connection that showed we were best friends, and that we work really well together, I was also told that I slipped into being quiet again when performing something sad so thats something I need to work on. I also got told I played it as if I was trying to be strong in front of my friend and deny everything they were saying wasn't true and when they left the room I completely broke down, which was what I was looking for.