Realism duologue, Uncle Vanya, act 2, Astrov and Sonya-
I worked with Tanner on this scene, he played Astrov and I played Yelena, I honestly found realism quite hard, but it pushed me into further skills of acting.
Knowledge of text- I hadn’t had much time to research about Chekov or the playwright before we had to pick a scene. Although all I needed to know was the family dynamics of Uncle Vanya. Sonya is the professors daughter, uncle Vanya is her uncle and Yelena the professors wife. Dr Astrov is the doctor in town for Yelena, and Sonya is madly in love with Astrov. In our scene, Astrov is drunk and rambling on about this awful society in which he lives, he is somewhat depressed. And whilst Astrov is ranting on sadly, Sonya cares for him deeply, yet desperately wants to win his love and affection. It is comic in a sense, how Astrov is oblivious to Sonya’s affection, and he goes on about other women. But at the same time sad, especially Sonya is heartbroken when he leaves.
Expressive skills- This is probably where I struggled the most, because a convention of realism in naturalistic movement, so we couldn’t necessarily overreact.
Voice: I interpreted Sonya’s voice as being really strained and yearning, because she is madly in love with Astrov. I feel as though the whole time she is trying to please him, yet at the same time trying to get answers out of him relating to his love life. I tried to make her sound very hurt when Astrov leaves.
Movement: At the start of the scene, Sonya is pacing, perhaps contemplating whether to knock on Astrov’s door or not, then she does hesitantly. When Astrov comes out and announces he’s going to leave, Sonya convinces him to stay and sit down and eat. So then for the rest of the scene Sonya is siiting of the benchtop and Astrov is sitting on a stool. In the last part Sonya stands up when he leaves, and when she says her monologue she paces a little and then sits back down.
Facial expressions: Sonya’s facial expressions consisted of sadness, when Astrov was talking about how miserable his life is and when Astrov shows no love for her. Heartbroken when he leaves. At some points she laughs with hopeless longing. Mainly though I interpreted her face very worried.
How we worked as a group: I feel as though Tanner and I worked really well as a duo, he was really great to work with because he was really encouraging and cooperative. I feel like we complimented each other, and brought out the best in each other’s acting abilities.
I worked with Tanner on this scene, he played Astrov and I played Yelena, I honestly found realism quite hard, but it pushed me into further skills of acting.
Knowledge of text- I hadn’t had much time to research about Chekov or the playwright before we had to pick a scene. Although all I needed to know was the family dynamics of Uncle Vanya. Sonya is the professors daughter, uncle Vanya is her uncle and Yelena the professors wife. Dr Astrov is the doctor in town for Yelena, and Sonya is madly in love with Astrov. In our scene, Astrov is drunk and rambling on about this awful society in which he lives, he is somewhat depressed. And whilst Astrov is ranting on sadly, Sonya cares for him deeply, yet desperately wants to win his love and affection. It is comic in a sense, how Astrov is oblivious to Sonya’s affection, and he goes on about other women. But at the same time sad, especially Sonya is heartbroken when he leaves.
Expressive skills- This is probably where I struggled the most, because a convention of realism in naturalistic movement, so we couldn’t necessarily overreact.
Voice: I interpreted Sonya’s voice as being really strained and yearning, because she is madly in love with Astrov. I feel as though the whole time she is trying to please him, yet at the same time trying to get answers out of him relating to his love life. I tried to make her sound very hurt when Astrov leaves.
Movement: At the start of the scene, Sonya is pacing, perhaps contemplating whether to knock on Astrov’s door or not, then she does hesitantly. When Astrov comes out and announces he’s going to leave, Sonya convinces him to stay and sit down and eat. So then for the rest of the scene Sonya is siiting of the benchtop and Astrov is sitting on a stool. In the last part Sonya stands up when he leaves, and when she says her monologue she paces a little and then sits back down.
Facial expressions: Sonya’s facial expressions consisted of sadness, when Astrov was talking about how miserable his life is and when Astrov shows no love for her. Heartbroken when he leaves. At some points she laughs with hopeless longing. Mainly though I interpreted her face very worried.
How we worked as a group: I feel as though Tanner and I worked really well as a duo, he was really great to work with because he was really encouraging and cooperative. I feel like we complimented each other, and brought out the best in each other’s acting abilities.