Tuesday, July 24, 2007

scene study class...

The difference between my intro to acting class from a couple of months ago, and the scene study class I am taking now, is massive. It is very much like going from open mic stand-up, to standing in front of a paying audience.
When you're doing open mic, it's kind of expected that you'll suck. Paying people expect you to NOT suck. Depending on what they paid, they may actually expect you to do WELL. That's pressure.
The teacher split the group into two person teams and gave them a stack of scenes to look at. I am teamed with a pleasant older lady with a heavy Brooklyn accent. I had asked for something by Christopher Durang, because he writes some funny, dark... well, a lot of what he writes is presented like sketches from SNL or something. Only at least 50% insane. He writes a lot of two person conversations where one person is vastly demented and the other person is the straight man who's only job is to react.
christopherdurang.com

He writes similar to Chuck Palahniuk, only in play form. I like me some Chuck Palahniuk.
chuckpalahniuk.net

So the nice older lady and I dug through the various options we had for a scene and settled on a piece from Laughing Wild. WCere two dreaming people are interacting. Here is a synopsis:

The Woman dreams she has killed Sally Jessy Raphael and taken over her talk show; and the Man dreams this as well, appearing as a guest on this talk show, the Infant of Prague, a religious figure the Woman has never heard of. The Infant is a very difficult guest, and the Woman tries to kill him, but he is a religious icon and can’t be killed.

Wikipedia Entry for the Infant of Prague

I am the Infant of Prague. I think it is good casting. I kinda look like the Infant of Prague.


i am the infant of prague

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