Working on ‘Also Pink’, the third and final component of the project, a monologue.
Harriet who is playing ‘Yvonne’, the career driven, maternal instinct denying protagonist whose husband has quite different ideas about the direction their marriage is taking, has memorised the six minute monologue and has been rehearsing on her own.
Harriet has already done a very good job of bringing some physicalisation to piece which helps to depict the various different settings that emerge as the story progresses. She is also playing the monologue very subtly, her character deeply in denial, really believing that what she is saying is true.
Our work for the day consists of finding a way to reveal the subtext, letting the audience know that alarm bells are ringing, that something isn’t right. That even though superficially Yvonne believes in what she’s saying, deep down something is niggling at her. She’s a little bit too defensive about the fact that she doesn’t want to have a baby, and a little bit too pleased about her husband’s new friend.
We begin by breaking down the text or ‘translating’ it, reading into every line for the hidden meaning that is there, looking how one sentence relates to the next. This helps bring the subtext to the surface.
Harriet mentions body language and we quickly do some internet research into body language assumed when in denial, facial or hair touching, rubbing arm, pulling at clothing, other ‘defence’ responses. We try a few of these body languages out and look through the text again, thinking about which gestures can be used at which point to undermine what is being spoken.
When we run the monologue with these gestures it is very impactful and effective. The body language actually steers and guides the performance and speaks as much as the text.
We do a stopping run just to make sure that everything is in place and nothing is missed and then one more run with no stopping so that Harriet gets a feel for the flow of the monologue.
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