Titus Andronicus opens tonight. Working up Marcus has been a great experience. I've enjoyed working with the cast and crew. For me, most of what I enjoy about doing theatre is working with the text, about finding secrets. Those moments of discovery, when you feel you find a deeper level of meaning - that's what I love. And I've found that over the course of this process, I've changed how I initially felt about almost every single line Marcus has. At this point, I see almost nothing Marcus says the same way I saw it the first few times I read the play. It's been very rewarding.
However, I'm also somewhat nervous about that fact. I've already posted about the difficulties with the speech I have when Marcus finds Lavinia. The natural instinct is to comfort her, but the words of the speech are in no way comforting to Lavinia. On the contrary, Marcus seems to be focused on himself, on accepting and coming to terms with the violence that has been done on his niece. I put a good deal of thought into how this speech worked, and ultimately decided that it should generally be played *away* from Lavinia, instead of to her, because it's so internal. As much as I'd love to run to Lavinia and make everything okay, that's not the speech that was written for me. The speech I have is about my character's anguish, even though it's in the face of much greater pain. I'd also note that playing the speech this way allows for a contrast with Titus' reaction when he first sees Lavinia. Playing the speech to her, comforting her physically - I think they are safe choices, uninteresting, and contradict the text. But I think those choices are exactly what people will expect. I imagine people will ask me why I didn't do those things, or go home wondering.
I'm looking forward to getting this run started so I'll have a little more time to write about this topic. The question, as I see it, is how much should an actor let the expectations of the audience (and the critics) inform how he or she portrays the character? Do you give the people what they want, or do you stick to the meaning you've wrestled out of the text? For better or for worse, I'm going to be faithful to my understanding of the text - I think my choices are supported by the text, they are emotionally true to me, and they are consistent. And yet, I fear that people won't appreciate or understand the choice. I suppose if that happens, the fault will be mine, for somehow not selling it enough.
More on this to come.
Thanks for sharing this. As a playwright, it's always a treat to get a peek at the actor's process, especially when it comes to how they play a character.
ReplyDeletePlaying the speech to her, comforting her physically - I think they are safe choices, uninteresting, and contradict the text. But I think those choices are exactly what people will expect.
If it's any consolation to you, when I write a piece, I always enjoy actors who go beyond the obvious stuff. I often write characters whose words and motives don't always match up perfectly (because people are messy like that). In my play, Tulpa, or Anne&Me, I've written a character who does not easily share what she's really thinking and feeling. For a while I worried that this was a hindrance. It wasn't until I saw Ryan Gosling's performance in Driver that I realized that, with an actor attuned to subtext and nuance, the chthonic aspects that make up the bulk of my play's meaning can and will be expressed.
Sometimes the subtext is difficult to find, and it requires a really close reading. In a play in verse, there may be lots of clues. In prose, the subtext may be harder to find. To be honest, I often worry whether the choices I'm making are the right ones (even though I base them on the text).
ReplyDeleteYour play sounds like a challenge for the actor, which for me, is what makes doing theatre interesting. Let's just hope the director and the actor are on the same page about what the subtext is.