Theater

I am so grateful by how my second monologue went. I have been working so hard and I feel like it finally paid off. This monologue and speaking with my teacher has inspired me to double major. I am having meeting with some counselors these upcoming weeks to see if it is possible...I sure hope it is! With my second monologue I think I got some great feedback. As I practiced today I noticed how breathy I was and I tried applying the note I got of having some better breath control. I think it has made a great improvement to my piece. We also talked about breath control and took notes on it. I learned that actors need to have impeccable posture and to sound natural under pressure. I have slipped out of my habit of having nice posture and I carry lots of tension within my neck, jaw, and shoulders. If I could relax all these things while I perform and really dive into the character I think I could have better breath control. I also learned that the diaphragm is vital to taking a good breath...

Learning about auditions was hugely beneficial to me this past week. The resume was something I had idea about but I like looking at physical examples of them. You should be able to fit all your experience on page and then staple a picture as big as the page to the back (staple all 4 corners). Make sure that experience is relevant and well ordered under specific titles. I am also pretty nervous about doing my second monologue this week. It took a long time to find something I thought was good so I am feeling pretty unprepared, memorization wise. But the book I found Women on Fire is a fantastic monologue book and I think I might buy it. Within my monologue it has been hard to convey what I want. It isn't revealed till the end, so I think that  I will have to really show it then, so people can know my goals in my piece. I have to make sure to have specific tactics to achieve those goals so that people watching will remain engaged as I am trying to reveal what I want. I have also l...

Wow I have learned so much this week! First I have seen the power of constructive criticism. When students in the class started performing this second time around IT WAS SUCH A HUGE CHANGE. It really makes me appreciate the suggestions that were given to me. I saw that people memorized their pieces more so that they could take the criticisms given to them and actually apply them and make them more natural. I hope that as I continue with my theater education that I will  be able to receive constructive criticism so my performance can keep getting better and better! I love the piece that was done when a girl was trying to make herself not look crazy while her character was crazy. It added so much dimension to her piece and allowed her to make such bold choices. I really want that when I perform. But I am not quite sure how to cultivate that. I think that I should try to take risks? Well I will see what I can do. Maybe even watching performances will help me with that. For my piece...

Oh dear.  Well I have had an interesting week in theater. Its definitely hard not to compare yourself to to others. Everyone in the class is very talented an it has become very intimidating in class because they are all good, but at different things! I think I will just try to work hard and do my best. I learned this week that you need to know who you are talking to. You tell things differently to different people so you need to know who you are talking to and why you need them to listen. What do you need THEM to feel? As I saw other actors workshop this I saw them step outside of themselves. It made the scene very active and much more interesting to watch. I saw them trying to overcome a large obstacle and it made their monologue more interesting. For my piece I am talking to my friend, but she is only one of the two people that still love and talk to me so what I am saying to her is very important and I need to make sure that I can say it in a way that she will understand and so...

Acting is behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances. Seems easy in theory, but trust me, its not. Ive learned that you need to relax, trust, have exuberance, discipline, take criticism, have a playful attitude, and freedom. For my first monologue I wanted to find something powerful. So I found a scene with high steaks and real circumstances. Now, I do not consider myself a dramatic actor. I definitely prefer doing a comedic piece, but I wanted to stretch myself. I found it early and began to memorize. I am definitely glad I decided to memorize early. It took me a long time because the characters phrasing was so weird. This also helped me keep calmer than usual on performance day. I definitely should always prepare early so I can focus on other things than the words of the woman I am portraying. With the feedback I got performing, I found how powerful having outer motives is. Like for example: to make my 'scene partner' feel shame, or to intimidate her. These outer mot...

Hello I am Heather Winkler and I am super excited to be in theater at SUU. Theater is a unique way to study human emotion and life in general. I hope to carry what I learn with me through my life.