Week 2

We started to chronologically block the play 'The rover' as we started blocking Act 1 scene 1, however my character wasn't needed until act 1 scene 2. Even though in that scene my character Valaria doesn't have any speech, it shows clearly her status and family values, showing she is a part of the family relations of Hellena and Florinda. She is both of their cousins but is very close, almost like a third sister in the ways of her always willing to give them both a helping hand. I showed this characteristic of her by laughing and smiling showing that happiness and family connection. However the main scene block with my character was Act 3 scene 1 from which Valaria thinks that Hellena getting with Willmore is a accident waiting to happen. However she jokes and teases her about it. Showing she does kind of have a nasty, sly side to her. Taking the mick out of her cousins feelings:

'Ha, ha, ha-- i laugh to think how thou art fitted with a lover, a fellow that, i warrent, loves every new face he sees'

Showing no remorse or support, this may be out of confusion because Hellena is a nun and having falling in love means that her religion and faith would change which back in this period which was 16-17th century would have been a massive shock. So Valaria takes it as jokes, almost mimicking her.

As well as finding out new characteristic and family values of Valaria i started to understand the language more, reading through the script over and over, each time i get a better understanding of their speech and how they spoke in that period. Almost making it a second nature to speak allowed from the script to the stage. It''s almost poetical how they spoke, very contrasting to some characters who were filthy men only after women, which i think makes it easier for it being a restoration comedy. For example when Willmore tries to hit on a random women on a street he says:

'Pray where do these roses grow? i would fain plant some of 'em in a bed of mine'- saying that he wants to sleep with her, to be put very bluntly. As he is a very blunt and straight forward character. Yet uses very poetical language to try and flirt and win over the women, just to get them into bed, which very funnily works like a charm almost every single time.

Body language and stance was a main focus point in this week as well, once again making sure that body posture was very womanly, getting away from my habit of a slouched over back and hands on hips. Also whenever on stage, i always have my fan, getting use to the prop, making sure i use it correctly. This is because in that century for a secret language that only women could understand they would use their fans in many different movements for speech. For example when a women drops a fan in front of the man, that means that they want to sleep with them. Also when placing the fan to the left and right means 'yes' and 'no'. Using these techniques and codes in the performance would not only look more realistic to how they were used in this period but also gives Valaria a chance to show what she actually thinks of certain characters by this secret code, for example she doesn't like Willmore at all for trying to get with Hellena, so would always use negative actions with her fan such as when he arrives on scene, fold her fan up immediately to show that she doesn't approve.

Improvements for next week would be to build on my character even more, asking more questions about her:
-Why is she acting differently while Fredrick is in the same room as her?
- Why is there so much hatred towards wilmore? could she be character based on feminity?
- How strong of a relationship does she have with her two cousins Hellena and Florinda?
- What kind of personaility traits does she carry?