Lincoln's Compiled Cacophony

Today was a nice change of pace. I’ve been so concerned with myself and my performance, that I never stopped to consider my connection and support of my classmates. I’ve written before about the importance of connection in theater and in this work, but I’ve been neglecting it as far as voice and diction is concerned, beyond just smiling at people during warm-ups and the like. But today I think I rediscovered that feeling a bit, and I still like it. There really is potential for great joy and theatrical experience in being an audience member. I’ve forgotten that in the shows that I’ve gone to see this semester, and I’ve been too focused on myself and the notes I was taking or whatever. But I think one of the reasons that I love minimalist, intimate theater is what I discovered today watching my classmates perform their pieces: connection with a performer as an audience member has as much potential, if not more, for change and discovery as does performing onstage, and I think...

AAAAAHHHHHHH THAT FELT SO GOOD! My final performance of the poe piece was today, and it felt even more connected, driven, and powerful than the first time. I continually have this experience of thinking that I nailed it or that my performance was perfect straight out of the gates, and that’s a serious failing in my own personality. I continually have to work to make sure that my hubris isn’t getting the better of me, and as an actor that’s significantly difficult, but I feel like it’s healthy to work on. The improvement that I felt between today and my first performance of this piece was significant. I went into today not feeling entirely sure about the new choices I was making with the scoring; the inflections and punctuation especially felt a bit forced. But as I went over it and started getting into it, I started to connect with the choices I was making, using my breath as conscious support for the emotional link I was discovering. The onomatopoeic words started to bit...

Today was kinda hard. I’m not entirely sure why yet, but something felt, at the very least, slightly off today. It was interesting when we worked our pieces in the groups and during the walk around with everybody, but the feeling of connection I had the other day wasn’t all there today. Don’t get me wrong, there was still a significant amount of good feeling with everybody in there, but something was definitely missing. The walk around during warm ups was the first time I noticed it. These last few class periods have been so connected and joyful for me, and as I connect with my classmates in our work I’m consistently overcome with a feeling of love and gratitude for them, and I think it has significantly improved the quality of all of our work. I’ve especially loved the feedback I’ve received from my classmates and their contributions to my work in the class. But like I said, today was different. When we were walking around, I felt like I was doing everything the same w...