WEEK 4, Day 21: HOW TO END IT

Think whether you are man or woman at the end.

What is the message of the piece?

You have layered and woven many ideas of HOW TO BE AN OTHER WOMAN into one another. Your piece of theatre is operating on various different levels of reality. You have understood what is going on by making lists: of characters, intentions, scenes, concerns, joys and woes. (Tuck the last few personal lists in your pocket, they are for your eyes only). Surrounded by your lists, shoes, cigarettes etc., and stretching out after busting out some Jane Fonda moves, wonder: how should the piece end? Unfortunately you have realised that when the story by Lorrie Moore ends you have to keep working. As a very clever story- teller you have created a level of reality of you as a shop assistant making the story, being part of the story, you have become the author of your own fate. What happens as Charlene's reality fades? Are you the shop assistant in fact Charlene? Are all of you in the ensemble Charlene? Who even is Charlene and the various men in her life, is she and all the characters you have incarnated in a montage of all of the story-tellers experiences? Remember that you can't reveal all the answers on the internet - to find out how this piece ends, book tickets and find out: www.gatetheatre.co.uk or call the box office on 0207 229 0706 Mon-Fri 10am-6pm.

WEEK 4, Day 19: HOW TO BE A NARRATOR

When you were young you thought that being a narrator was basically not getting the main part in the nativity...

Shop Assistant/ Window Dresser/ Dream Seller

When you were at school you believed that being a narrator was reading out the boring bits in the school Nativity play. You weren't outgoing or pretty enough to play a Wise Man or Mary. Now you are older you know it can mean many things and it definitely doesn't mean reading out the boring bits. You realise during the process of devising from a short story adaptation that the narrators are the story-tellers, they are the audience's guide. Everything that happens, everything that doesn't happen is because of them. They stop and start the action, creating the story live. You thought when you first read the script that when you were being a narrator, i:e not a man, woman, mistress, wife, you might get a bit of down time; no real need to do character work on a narrator. And just like in the school Nativity play there are four of you narrating the action, in a tag team. As long as you emphasise the key plot words, smile and show off your polished general American accent, you can present the fruits of all your method acting skills when you get to play heroine Charlene. After 18 days of rehearsal you understand this idea of the narrator in a very different way. You understand that this piece of theatre, unlike your school Nativity play, operates on many different levels. The narrators/story-tellers create the frame-work for the performance, they make the rules, and once you have made the rules you have to follow them through, just like in any good game, the rules create the logic. At first this makes no sense, it sounds dumb, because you don't even know who these narrators are. You think to yourself the Nativity narrator at school was just a voice, characterless. Ask questions: Why are they here and why do they want to tell this story? What do they think about the story and do all the narrators want it to end in the same way? You are beginning to ask the right questions and they help you to unlock many of the ideas within the piece. As a narrator you are in the guise of a shop assistant, the world of the play is set in a shop, a shop that sells a dream, Think about selling and advertising and what happens when you buy into a dream that isn't yours, Why do people sell anything? You are becoming a better story-teller, your attitude to the story and the characters in it, you can just walk into the middle of a scene, talk to Charlene, make her do things. You are having a lot more fun than you were in your school Nativity. You decide that your narrator/shop-assistant/story-teller is a little bit like a fairy godmother - you can make Charlene's life better, you also realise that even though you tell Charlene to do something she doesn't always do it. It is times like these that you decide that you want to be Charlene. (Make a list of things still to do: Invite your 5th Grade school teacher to see this show to inspire a new generation of Nativity narration.)

WEEK FOUR, Day SEVENTEEN: HOW TO BE A PARANOID FANTASIST

You are beginning to see things differently, and just generally see things at this point in the rehearsal process. Being in this play feels a little like a kaleidoscope or being a shape-shifter: 

Man or panther? MANIMAL

 (remember the 1980s programme ‘Manimal’, now that really is shape-shifting, imagine what kind of animal or your characters could be- get carried away. Fantasise: move across the floor like a panther: a predator a seductress a mistress.)

Your reflection appears to have come to life

You have inhabited at least four different characters, you have been in a relationship with a married man, you have given advice to a mistress, you have been a married man. You and the ensemble have also created at least 6 different locations out of three abstract structures that are part of the set design. Look at your list of scenes, you still have twelve to make, and you overheard that all the props have been bought. Ponder to yourself as you walk around the rehearsal room, start to visualise ALL the potential uses of beige raincoats and shoes, they really do look like a row of people hanging up next to each other, 5 people queuing at a movie box office counter- one of them looks like they are flirting with another- his hand on her... Turn away and blink, all three other members of the ensemble look like they are staring at you, using their shoes as phones, they are judging you for what you did in that last scene, look at the director she also seems to be using her shoe as a phone, are they talking about you and your drunk acting in that last restaurant scene? Focus. They have all turned away now and it's time for you to go back to the office for the next scene. Two of the pieces of the set structure seem to be closing in on you, your fellow ensemble members are closing in fast, pushing them, you become claustrophobic, dizzy and in a… elevator. They are closing in a little too close it feels crowded, hot (ask the stage manager if the air conditioning is on or if she can open a window or something!) you are sweating into your expensive beige raincoat. Don’t panic, this is just a paranoid fantasy. The director seems… impressed? She is certainly applauding your performance, a slow clap though - not a good sign. You explain that you merely understand the language of the rehearsal room; you have been learning your intentions. Nothing paranoid about that…suddenly ‘did that hat just move across the room on it's own or are we doing puppetry now?’ you think to yourself: ‘Puppetry!’ hmmm not in your physical vocabulary yet, perhaps another pattern in the kaleidoscope.

WEEK THREE, Day Fifteen: HOW TO BE AN OBJECT OF DESIRE

You have got under the skin of a man you can walk and talk like one; and hopefully you now know what a man looks for in a woman. So... now you are a woman again, you know exactly what to do to become an irresistible object of desire. (Note to self: make a list of all the scenes and what character, and gender, you play in each. You have spotted the potential for total identity crisis) You have to play it cool, men like cool. You dance like an idiot and whoop with excitement in the privacy of your own apartment - he doesn't want to see this. More importantly when he doesn't want to see you or puts you on hold for more than a week, DON'T call him, just wait and be happy that you have a man that could potentially call. Whilst you are waiting for him to call practise your Jane Fonda exercise moves, get your hair done, go shopping for fabulous outfits, but don't tell him about any of this - he won't be interested in your grooming just the outcomes of it.

'Wrap yourself in something special' for who?

Consider how you walk, push your hips forward and put your feet one directly in front of the other in a straight line, just like the models do, walk like this even when you are not with him just in case you bump into him. You are learning throughout this rehearsal process that being desirable is basically a lifelong career it is physically and mentally taxing, more than your office job anyway. When you are on a date, say cocktails at a fancy bar, hang upon his every word, focus only on him - eyes on the prize. Whilst you are listening to his stories which you have heard before, DO NOT tell him, just laugh at the parts that are ‘funny’ (this week’s to do list ‘Practise sexy laugh’).

WEEK THREE, Day Thirteen: HOW TO WRITE A LIST

1. Think about what you are going to put on your list.

2. Is the list related to your home, work, health, or is it a hybrid list? Think about categorising to streamline.

3. Why are you writing this list? Is it a) cathartic b) functional c) to waste time.

4. Who is this list for, yourself? For someone else? Is the list completely private, would you like someone else to see it by accident? Think about what you will do with your list when you have completed all the tasks on it, or you no longer have any use for it any more.

5. Where do you write this list, in a notebook, a diary in your head, on your co-worker's post it notes. (Steal your co-workers post-it notes when you can't gain access to the stationery cupboard)

Post-it office

Make a list of all the uses for post-it notes

6. Do you get distracted whilst writing the list?

7. Do you enjoy getting distracted? (Are you a total fantasist?)

8. Do you actually love to hate making lists because it makes you think about all the things all the things you never do? Do you make this kind of list because you want to punish yourself and organise all your disorganised thoughts?

9. To do... Work out how lists function theatrically. You do not have a hi-tech mini camcorder attached to a pen and projector screen, you have ten beige raincoats, think about the list the designer made when designing the set.

WEEK THREE, Day Eleven: HOW TO BE A MAN

Understand that you will need to change many facets of your psychology as well as your physicality in order to represent the opposite sex. Despite what you may think or what you overheard in the male locker room it is not simple being a man. Begin by changing the most material of things, your clothes, throw on a larger, shapeless coat, some tragic shoes, and a hat (no as a woman in the 80s you would not wear a hat- your hair is a sculpture - see Jane Fonda). Physically you need to take up more space, you have noticed in your observations of men outside the rehearsal room that men are generally lovers of space, taking up as much room as possible. Think back to your journey to rehearsals this morning, could his legs have got any wider and further into your personal space? You have also noticed that men do not walk with their hips in a sultry fashion, it is all about the shoulders, a different rhythm and above all else: confidence. As a man, the man in this story anyhow, you know where you are going stride around with purpose, it feels good. You have also discussed and discovered what his intention is in most scenes of the play now too, so you definitely know what he wants, contrary to an earlier thought, his motives are a little more straightforward than Charlene's. Be glad of this difference (especially because you are beginning to learn how many props you are going to have to remember to use for each character, the simpler the intention the better!) Learn his smooth moves, how he seduces, how he dances. Now you know the tricks of the being a man trade, surprise your fellow actor by sweeping her up into your arms and carry her over the threshold of your imaginary apartment. You will impress the director and choreographer with this move, you will impress yourself with your strength. Pat yourself on the back, you're a hot man! Now you have nailed the physicality and psychology, concentrate on how you talk as a man, it is not all about lowering your pitch, but volume too. Place a greater emphasis on every word. Remember 'behind every consonant is a vowel, just like behind every president there is a wife' . Your voice coach makes you laugh with these comments. It distracts you from your loud man voice, you giggle like a girl. Remember what sex you are trying to be; regain your composure. Be playful with the pitch and keep your voice grounded in the back of your throat, pretend you are talking out the back of your throat with your hand. Have a conversation with another actress playing a man like this. Enjoy the reverberations. Don't forget you are speaking in an Uppercrust Delaware dialect. This is different again to your New Jersey and Brooklyn dialect. Keep slipping into your favourite De Niro impression. Think about who you are talkin' to. Are you talkin' to me?