Discovery; Rolls & Roles

The last two weeks at Bristol Old Vic have been full of discovery.

Much of the learning at school is self-driven, individual development.
Despite the strong emphasis placed on growing as an ensemble of fourteen, the reality of conservatoire training is that you are primarily there to develop your own-self. Defining your speaking voice, expanding your breathing, developing your flexibility, extending your singing range, broadening your dancing capabilities etc.

All of these are individualised components of an actor’s performance ability. And so, while the learning environment I find myself in on a daily basis may be ‘group-based’ (and all the better for it I might add) and a significant portion of my development involves creating, exploring and working with others,  I am at Bristol Old Vic to make personal discoveries.

Not every day presents a particularly noteworthy or drastic revelation. Many days are simply eight hours of making small (albeit incredibly meaningful), incremental improvements in different classes. Last Wednesday (10th October) was NOT one of these days. In the space of a couple of hours I made two different discoveries:

1)  my body is not always moving in the way I think it is,
2) there are gaping unknowns in my acting aspirations.

Lets start with the physical.

‘Spinal rolls’ are an actor’s bread and butter. A rudimentary but crucial exercise for analyzing one’s own movement, improving breath control, and developing flexibility. Pretty simple concept really: rolling down through your head, shoulders and waist, curving your spine until you’re hanging over your feet, completely relaxed.

Turns out I’ve been doing a shit job for years…

I don’t use my hips. At all.

It sounds bizarre, but I’m simply not moving my body how I thought I was. My brain has accepted one idea of how the spinal roll exercise should be done, even though that technique is completely flawed. I won’t go into the nitty-gritty anatomical details.

The point is that I was made aware of a physical foible that I need to work on.
It can be very confronting to have someone hold up a figurative mirror to your body and show you that it is not physically operating as you think it is. 
But without being shown, I would never have known. Without knowing, I could never fix the issue. Now that I am aware, I can develop the skill of technically sound spinal rolls, and be better off in the long run.

Unconsciously Incompetent. ✘
Consciously Incompetent. ✔

Second Discovery: I have no concept of  my own casting-type.

One would think the question “what kind of roles would you like to play?” should be an easy prompt for an actor. And yet, the surprising truth that I recognised (that same Wednesday) is that I have absolutely no clue what kind of characters I would like to be cast as once I enter the acting industry.

I know that I love staged theatre.
I know a great script when I see one.
I have strong opinions on play narratives, styles, genres and productions.
I know when a character intrigues me, and when they don’t.

However, I have yet to figure out what type of roles particularly appeal. This is not to say that all roles fall under specific, pre-determined categories, nor am I suggesting that an actor should limit him or herself to a certain number of archetypes. The nature of our highly competitive, over-saturated industry means that we aspiring actors, by necessity, need to be open to whatever role might present itself next.

Even so, now is a time to develop a firmer idea of my own performance tendencies. This is a year to discover what titillates my performative senses. Personal discovery.

Recognising flaws in order to improve upon them.
Deepening my understanding of my acting aspirations.
Taking on external knowledge and applying it internally.

Rolls & Roles.

JCL.