I was nervous. Proper nervous. I suddenly thought "Hang on, do I really know what I'm doing? Shit - what's my first line?!" etc etc. Fortunately, I did know what I was doing and yes, I even knew my first line. Once I stepped out into those lights, the nerves were converted into energy, and we were off!
I arrived at the theatre slightly later than planned because of the traffic but i was still 2 hours early for the show. We sat in the dressing room chatting, chilling out and telling stories. I also took the time to prepare Dennis' spots.
I left my last blog with a bit of a cliff hanger regarding Dennis' spots. If you were sitting there begging me to tell you what my amazing plan was, you should probably consider getting one of those life thingies. But anyhoo, my great plan was that i would cut around the outside part of the spot and just stick the pimple part on my face. The best way to describe these spots is as a fried egg. Imagine cutting the egg white off the yolk, and sticking the yolk on your face. that's pretty much it. The spots lasted fairly brilliantly. Only lost two in the first act and maybe another two in the second. Though to be fair one of those was flicked of my face by the actress playing Lady Rumpers. After the show and once the audience had gone I went around the performance space hunting for my escapee spots. I found three.
I'm very happy (Though not as happy as our AD was) to inform you that the actress playing 'Muriel' who was taken ill, has managed to soldier on through the pain. She's on pain killers but that's commitment for you. A lesser person would've given up, but if you're serious about your craft, and that passion runs through your veins, come hell or high water, you're going on that stage and nothing's going to stand in your way.
Because of the pain her movement is somewhat limited. This meant that much of the action involving her needed to be reblocked very quickly. I haven't seen the changes as i've been in the wings and unable to see the performance space but the audiences thus far has been laughing away, so it must be working.
Anybody who has done theatre will know that opening night audiences are usually somewhat quiet and though they enjoy what they're seeing, they may not express it outwardly. This audience was of that ilk. Occassionally I caught sight of faces when the lights were not burning into my retinas and they were smiling lots. Which again, is good.
Wednesday 30 November 2011
Habeas Corpus 3
I appologise for this being a tad late but I've just not had time to blog. It's also nearly half one in the morning so appologies if this isn't as in-depth as you'd like but unfortunately performance comes before blogging :).
Okay well Monday saw our final Dress Rehearsal and Tech Rehearsal.
We were now in the theatre (WOO-HOO!!!) and what a massive difference it made. Suddenly we had this mass of space we didn't know what to do with. It was like learning to swim in a paddling pool and then being dropped in the middle of the ocean. Obviously this meant that we needed to be much quicker getting on and off stage because we had that much more ground to cover. In some instances, delivering lines as we are approaching our "spot" so as to allow the play to flow naturally. Our set consists of three chairs. During rehearsals, at the church hall, we used the resident chairs, as it were. The chairs we're using in the play are much taller , much lighter, and much easier to tip over. There's a point in the play where 'Shanks' leaps the chairs in a single bound, to escape 'Muriel'. It was at this point in rehearsals that the actor playing 'Shanks' discovered just how easily the chairs tip. Moral of the story? Use the actual props asap in the rehearsal process and get used to what you can and cannot do with them.
Something I forgot to mention in the first entry, we are performing Habeas Corpus in the round - well almost, the audience are on three sides. This means that we do not need to ensure we face the front so much as you would when performing with a proscenium arch, for example. It also means that many of our entrances and exits are through the audience. One of my exits, where 'Dennis' runs off stage is a fairly narrow gap between the main block of seating and the stage left block of seating. I also had light shining into my eyes and as i ran off i literally could see nothing. I asked the techy if he could put a piece of tape of something on the floor across the width of the exit so i can see where it is, and know how wide it is. He got his tape and stuck a great whopping white arrow on the floor. Brilliant. Subtlety is lost in Essex. But at least I can now see where I need to go. Which is always helpful.
I discovered something else about my characterisation of Dennis. I've taken him a step further in his stance. I now have him occassionally stand like he needs to use the toilet, one leg straight, the other bent, and pelvis rolled back with bum sticking out. Then obviously the lost innocent child facial expression adds to that.
As for Dennis' spots, they still looked stuck on and the red wasn't really working. But I had an idea...
As mentioned previously, one of our actresses was taken ill and our AD stepped into the breach. We were all completely impressed, within a few days she was very nearly word perfect for the whole play.
Okay well Monday saw our final Dress Rehearsal and Tech Rehearsal.
We were now in the theatre (WOO-HOO!!!) and what a massive difference it made. Suddenly we had this mass of space we didn't know what to do with. It was like learning to swim in a paddling pool and then being dropped in the middle of the ocean. Obviously this meant that we needed to be much quicker getting on and off stage because we had that much more ground to cover. In some instances, delivering lines as we are approaching our "spot" so as to allow the play to flow naturally. Our set consists of three chairs. During rehearsals, at the church hall, we used the resident chairs, as it were. The chairs we're using in the play are much taller , much lighter, and much easier to tip over. There's a point in the play where 'Shanks' leaps the chairs in a single bound, to escape 'Muriel'. It was at this point in rehearsals that the actor playing 'Shanks' discovered just how easily the chairs tip. Moral of the story? Use the actual props asap in the rehearsal process and get used to what you can and cannot do with them.
Something I forgot to mention in the first entry, we are performing Habeas Corpus in the round - well almost, the audience are on three sides. This means that we do not need to ensure we face the front so much as you would when performing with a proscenium arch, for example. It also means that many of our entrances and exits are through the audience. One of my exits, where 'Dennis' runs off stage is a fairly narrow gap between the main block of seating and the stage left block of seating. I also had light shining into my eyes and as i ran off i literally could see nothing. I asked the techy if he could put a piece of tape of something on the floor across the width of the exit so i can see where it is, and know how wide it is. He got his tape and stuck a great whopping white arrow on the floor. Brilliant. Subtlety is lost in Essex. But at least I can now see where I need to go. Which is always helpful.
I discovered something else about my characterisation of Dennis. I've taken him a step further in his stance. I now have him occassionally stand like he needs to use the toilet, one leg straight, the other bent, and pelvis rolled back with bum sticking out. Then obviously the lost innocent child facial expression adds to that.
As for Dennis' spots, they still looked stuck on and the red wasn't really working. But I had an idea...
As mentioned previously, one of our actresses was taken ill and our AD stepped into the breach. We were all completely impressed, within a few days she was very nearly word perfect for the whole play.
Sunday 27 November 2011
Actor vs Character
When I was studying performing arts, one of my lecturers gave me the best advice I have ever been given as an actor. It was simply, "Don't act. Be". He was very much of the Stanislavski school of acting and this advice is obviously a nod to the needle in the curtain exercise. (Don't act like you're looking for the needle in the curtain - look for the needle in the curtain.) If you're playing a traffic warden, don't ACT like a traffic warden - BE a traffic warden. When I was given this little nugget of purest gold, I actually heard choirs of Angels singing the Halleluia and i think - I'm not sure, but I THINK there was even a lightbulb involved. Because of this train of thought, I have real difficulty getting my head around a certain issue. And to be honest, it's an issue which I went for years never hearing about, and all of a sudden it's happening more and more.
My view on acting is that we are essentially illustrations in a book. The script is the story, we are the moving images that go with that story. Therefore we need to look the part. And if we don't already, we must be willing to alter our "look" so that we do. The first ever paid gig I had was an Ebay commercial back in 2006, playing a goth. I'm not a goth. Never have been, never will be. My hair was longer than it currently is but the same style as it is now. However, I really wanted this role so I turned up to the casting, wearing all black (which admittedly wasn't a massive leap from my own taste) but I did not wear any make-up. I decided I'd rather get to the casting in one piece and put the make-up on when I arrived. So I signed in, and locked myself in the toilet with my trusty white Snazoo (the make-up. I don't call my willy Snazoo, it's the make-up) and began applying it to my face. I got a lot of funny looks from the other actors there but I got a call back and ultimately got the part. When it came to the shoot itself they wanted to alter my hair and they wanted me to shave. I agreed.
My point is, in my eyes, we actors are puppets, we're balls of plasticine that are to be moulded into the required shape of the character. Yes casting directors tend to look for the actors who are closest to the character originally but an actor, i believe, should always be willing to change their "look" if necessary. We change our accents, body language, everything else. Why do some actors have issues changing how they look? Once the play or the shoot is over they can always go back to how they were.
Case in point:
In April I was shooting one of two commercials in Spain where the hotel was supposed to be run down and nasty and so the hotel maid had to reflect this. This was in the casting breakdown so everyone who applied for the role knew they were going to be made to look haggard and miserable. The crew tried to shoot both commercials in one day so as soon as they finished one, we were called to make-up. When the actress who was cast as this haggard run-down maid saw herself in the mirror, she was NOT impressed and became quite upset and almost seemed betrayed that she was being made to look so terrible. She confided in myself and the other actress. We were both of the opinion that it's what the part required and she needed to look terrible. Anyhoo, the actress then confided in the producer and our shoot was put off until the next day.
When our call time came, we went to make-up as usual and then the actress in question walked in stating that she'd done her own make-up. She looked normal. This really upset the make-up artist as well as the producers. But it was too late to cast someone else so we went ahead with it.
My question is, what's your opinion? Should actors be willing to change their "look" for a role or should the role change to suit the actor?
Leave your opinions in the comments section :)
My view on acting is that we are essentially illustrations in a book. The script is the story, we are the moving images that go with that story. Therefore we need to look the part. And if we don't already, we must be willing to alter our "look" so that we do. The first ever paid gig I had was an Ebay commercial back in 2006, playing a goth. I'm not a goth. Never have been, never will be. My hair was longer than it currently is but the same style as it is now. However, I really wanted this role so I turned up to the casting, wearing all black (which admittedly wasn't a massive leap from my own taste) but I did not wear any make-up. I decided I'd rather get to the casting in one piece and put the make-up on when I arrived. So I signed in, and locked myself in the toilet with my trusty white Snazoo (the make-up. I don't call my willy Snazoo, it's the make-up) and began applying it to my face. I got a lot of funny looks from the other actors there but I got a call back and ultimately got the part. When it came to the shoot itself they wanted to alter my hair and they wanted me to shave. I agreed.
My point is, in my eyes, we actors are puppets, we're balls of plasticine that are to be moulded into the required shape of the character. Yes casting directors tend to look for the actors who are closest to the character originally but an actor, i believe, should always be willing to change their "look" if necessary. We change our accents, body language, everything else. Why do some actors have issues changing how they look? Once the play or the shoot is over they can always go back to how they were.
Case in point:
In April I was shooting one of two commercials in Spain where the hotel was supposed to be run down and nasty and so the hotel maid had to reflect this. This was in the casting breakdown so everyone who applied for the role knew they were going to be made to look haggard and miserable. The crew tried to shoot both commercials in one day so as soon as they finished one, we were called to make-up. When the actress who was cast as this haggard run-down maid saw herself in the mirror, she was NOT impressed and became quite upset and almost seemed betrayed that she was being made to look so terrible. She confided in myself and the other actress. We were both of the opinion that it's what the part required and she needed to look terrible. Anyhoo, the actress then confided in the producer and our shoot was put off until the next day.
When our call time came, we went to make-up as usual and then the actress in question walked in stating that she'd done her own make-up. She looked normal. This really upset the make-up artist as well as the producers. But it was too late to cast someone else so we went ahead with it.
My question is, what's your opinion? Should actors be willing to change their "look" for a role or should the role change to suit the actor?
Leave your opinions in the comments section :)
Habeas Corpus 2
Today was our last dress rehearsal before we go into the Palace Theatre tomorrow for our tech rehearsal. Then we open on Tuesday.
I made some interesting discoveries with my interpretation of Dennis Wicksteed today. You may remember from my previous entry that I was trying to work out how he should stand. Ironically I solved this issue when I was sitting down. I noticed that when I sit down I usually sweep my feet under my chair, resting the weight of my legs on my toes. I decided today that because Dennis is not very light on his feet, and always seems to have some kind of illness, his heels should always be in contact with the floor, unless there's an over-riding circumstance, such as walking.
As for his arms, i still like him to fidget with his clothes but when rehearsing the intro to the play, I found a nice comfy area for Dennis' arms down by his side, and slightly behind him. Where there end up on the night, i have no idea - I'm just going to see where the energy takes me. One of the other key elements to Dennis' awkwardness is that he is always adjusting his underwear, de-cracking himself, as it were.
Now then, as I also mentioned previously, today I was trying out some new spots I got from the fancy dress shop. They're yellow-heads and if you can imagine a nipple with a yellow centre, that's pretty much how these look. Problem is, the outer area which is "flesh coloured" is not "Dave flesh coloured" so i'm going to need to experiment with foundation to blend them in. They also do not have any red bits. My director insists they must have redness around them. So I shall also be experimenting with redness.
Something else I need to learn is where to put them so as my face moves throughout the show, they don't work loose and fall off. This happened twice today.
The rehearsal itself went quite well. Apart from a sound effect analogue shattering sending peppercorns all over the floor, and one of the actors who was supposed to jump over these chairs, decided inside that he would test his flying ability parallel to the chairs. Once he managed to peel his face off the floor he decided to return to the original plan.
One issue that we are all currently experiencing is that we have been rehearsing the show so much that we've stopped laughing at each other. As a result we've began to second-guess ourselves, changing things that were once hilariously funny, hoping that we can get a laugh. We're all ready for our audience now.
We had some bad news tonight aswell. The actress playing Muriel Wicksteed (Dennis' Mother) has been taken ill and may not be able to perform. If this happens the assistant director, who has acting experience will take over but obviously we hope that our actress is well enough. With the work she has put in, acting-wise and producer-wise, she desserves to have her moment in the spotlight. Also, at this late stage (2 days before we open) our assistant producer is unlikely to be able to learn all the lines aswell as "own" the character. Fortunately she has been at every rehearsal so knows the moves and having read in when people have been away, she is very familiar with the lines. It is likely, however, that there will be a script on stage when we come to perform which is bad for a whole shebang of reasons. Never the less, our assistant director is a diamond for stepping in at this late stage and we are all grateful to her for that.
I made some interesting discoveries with my interpretation of Dennis Wicksteed today. You may remember from my previous entry that I was trying to work out how he should stand. Ironically I solved this issue when I was sitting down. I noticed that when I sit down I usually sweep my feet under my chair, resting the weight of my legs on my toes. I decided today that because Dennis is not very light on his feet, and always seems to have some kind of illness, his heels should always be in contact with the floor, unless there's an over-riding circumstance, such as walking.
As for his arms, i still like him to fidget with his clothes but when rehearsing the intro to the play, I found a nice comfy area for Dennis' arms down by his side, and slightly behind him. Where there end up on the night, i have no idea - I'm just going to see where the energy takes me. One of the other key elements to Dennis' awkwardness is that he is always adjusting his underwear, de-cracking himself, as it were.
Now then, as I also mentioned previously, today I was trying out some new spots I got from the fancy dress shop. They're yellow-heads and if you can imagine a nipple with a yellow centre, that's pretty much how these look. Problem is, the outer area which is "flesh coloured" is not "Dave flesh coloured" so i'm going to need to experiment with foundation to blend them in. They also do not have any red bits. My director insists they must have redness around them. So I shall also be experimenting with redness.
Something else I need to learn is where to put them so as my face moves throughout the show, they don't work loose and fall off. This happened twice today.
The rehearsal itself went quite well. Apart from a sound effect analogue shattering sending peppercorns all over the floor, and one of the actors who was supposed to jump over these chairs, decided inside that he would test his flying ability parallel to the chairs. Once he managed to peel his face off the floor he decided to return to the original plan.
One issue that we are all currently experiencing is that we have been rehearsing the show so much that we've stopped laughing at each other. As a result we've began to second-guess ourselves, changing things that were once hilariously funny, hoping that we can get a laugh. We're all ready for our audience now.
We had some bad news tonight aswell. The actress playing Muriel Wicksteed (Dennis' Mother) has been taken ill and may not be able to perform. If this happens the assistant director, who has acting experience will take over but obviously we hope that our actress is well enough. With the work she has put in, acting-wise and producer-wise, she desserves to have her moment in the spotlight. Also, at this late stage (2 days before we open) our assistant producer is unlikely to be able to learn all the lines aswell as "own" the character. Fortunately she has been at every rehearsal so knows the moves and having read in when people have been away, she is very familiar with the lines. It is likely, however, that there will be a script on stage when we come to perform which is bad for a whole shebang of reasons. Never the less, our assistant director is a diamond for stepping in at this late stage and we are all grateful to her for that.
Sunday 20 November 2011
Habeas Corpus 1
Had I thought about it a few months ago I would've created this blog and given you a rehearsal by rehearsal account of my progress in bringing my character of Dennis Wicksteed to fruition. As it is, I'll try to get you up to speed with this entry and explain my journy to this point. Then obviously, successive entries with continue the progression until I bid Dennis farewell in January when our run of Habeas Corpus closes.
I was telephoned by the resident director of Full Circle Theatre Company (http://www.fullcircletheatre.biz/) and invited to read for Dennis Wicksteed. As I'd performed with the company befroe she didn't require a full audition but asked me to read so she could gage weather or not i was right for the part. I asked her what sort of character he was so I could have a good preconcieved idea of him before the read-through. She told me that Dennis is a limp, lofty, hypochondriac of a mummy's boy, and falls in love with the beautiful Felicity. My mind immediately went into Monty Python mode as I likened Dennis to "Prince Herbert" from Monty Python And The Quest For The Holy Grail. "Prince Herbert" has a whiney voice and a northen accent. I felt this was perfect.
On 31st August, myself, the director, her assistant director, and the other auditionees attending this particular session sat around a table reading through selected parts of the script, each of us reading for several parts. As well as Dennis I read for Sir Percy Shorter. There were 2 reasons I didn't get Sir Percy. First I put more effort into Dennis, and secondly, Sir Percy is about 5 foot tall and i'm over 6 foot.
I was given the role of Dennis. Now the fun began.
Voice
I found that when speaking in the style of Prince Herbert, everything was fine at first but as the play progressed and Dennis experienced different emotions, the whiney voice became too much of a restraint. I felt like I was trying to dance the macarena in a straight jacket. After a disasterous second read-through and a monotonous performance, I decided I needed to rethink the voice.
My director decided that Dennis should be from down south rather than up north so that was my starting point. I needed him to sound wimpy but at the same time, interesting. Lose the monotony but keep the disaster. How the bloody hell was I going to do that???
I started trying different ideas such as speaking through the nose. This made Dennis sound far to positive and self-confident. I needed him to have a more innocent voice with hardly any self-confidence at all. So I tried closing my throat slightly. This gave him a quirky cartoon-esque voice. It was getting there but still needed something. So I started to play with tones and it was when I made my voice higher that I felt I'd found Dennis' voice. There was much rejoicing. Then I realised - I'd heard a similar voice somewhere before. BLUEBOTTLE!!! There's a part in the play where Dennis has to laugh so as an homage, I've tried to give him a similar laugh to Bluebottle. If you've never listened to The Goons, click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H-yF50BD0Q otherwise you're seriously missing out.
So the voice was there.
Mannerisms / Body Language
Michael Caine has been quoted many a time as stating that acting is all about the face. Get the face right and everything else follows. I would go further than that. For me, it's all about the eyes. Get the eyes right, and everything else follows. And I don't just mean what you do with the eyes - I mean the eyes themselves. If you look at an actor in performance closely, you can always tell if he truly believes in his performance by looking into his eyes. Despite what his body language says, if he doesn't believe that he is the character he claims to be, you can see it in his eyes. Therefore, as an actor, I always try to get myself into the mindset of the character as soon as possible. Everything else then follows, though research is always required. Because I am playing Dennis as an innocent mummy's boy, I've decided to make him pretty much a child in an adult's body. So his eyes are often wandering, surveying all he sees as though it's all new to him. I also want him to feel awkward so he fidgets with his clothes alot. As research I started to think of any characters I could relate to Dennis. I watched Dad's Army to see how Ian Lavender played Pikey for sincerity, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em to see how Michael Crawdford played Frank Spencer for awkward believability (or believeable awkwardness). And whenever I'm in London, if I have time I like to sit upstairs in Liverpool St Station and people-watch. I'm still not completely satisfied with my characterisation of Dennis as I need to give him a walk, a stance...He's getting there but he's not quite there yet.
Make-up & Costume
In the play Dennis believes he has Bretts Palsy and one of the symptoms of this is spots. When i were a lad (cue Hovis music) there was a tv show called Copy Cats with a load of impressionists doing their stuff. One of them was a man called Gary Wilmott who went on to publish a book called The Right Impression. In the book he gives away some of his secrets to his impressions and I always remember one of them was to use rice crispies for spots. (Stop the Hovis music) I used paint to create different shades of red on them and threw in a few lentils and other small dried veg for yellow-heads, etc. So I now had various types of spots in a pot.
As the show is set in the 60s I wanted Dennis' outfit to reflect the neglect he has suffered from his parents but still show that he is thought of. So a clash of mismatched colours and jack-ups were the answer. The weird thing is, I actually quite like his shirt. And i'm not the only one :).
As far altering my 'look' goes, I have had a hair cut which will be slicked back with Brylcreme and I will be clean shaven for the role.
Dress Rehearsals
I don't like wearing my characters' costumes too much outside of performance because i don't want to become too comfortable in them. So I went to the rehearsal in normal clothes and got changed in my van. I wanted to spend the entire rehearsal in character but this wasn't possible when people were asking me questions and i gave them the proper answers in the style of Dennis. Anyhoo, the visual impact was brilliant but as the rehearsal progressed, Dennis' spots migrated onto people's costumes and the floor. The problem was the spirit gum. I had ordered a high quality one online but it had not arrived so I had to make do with a cheap one. It was rubbish. I explained this and at the next dress rehearsal I had the proper spirit gum and it worked much better but still not perfect. To this end I have been to the fancy dress shop and bought some joke spots. Let's see how these go on Sunday.
I was telephoned by the resident director of Full Circle Theatre Company (http://www.fullcircletheatre.biz/) and invited to read for Dennis Wicksteed. As I'd performed with the company befroe she didn't require a full audition but asked me to read so she could gage weather or not i was right for the part. I asked her what sort of character he was so I could have a good preconcieved idea of him before the read-through. She told me that Dennis is a limp, lofty, hypochondriac of a mummy's boy, and falls in love with the beautiful Felicity. My mind immediately went into Monty Python mode as I likened Dennis to "Prince Herbert" from Monty Python And The Quest For The Holy Grail. "Prince Herbert" has a whiney voice and a northen accent. I felt this was perfect.
On 31st August, myself, the director, her assistant director, and the other auditionees attending this particular session sat around a table reading through selected parts of the script, each of us reading for several parts. As well as Dennis I read for Sir Percy Shorter. There were 2 reasons I didn't get Sir Percy. First I put more effort into Dennis, and secondly, Sir Percy is about 5 foot tall and i'm over 6 foot.
I was given the role of Dennis. Now the fun began.
Voice
I found that when speaking in the style of Prince Herbert, everything was fine at first but as the play progressed and Dennis experienced different emotions, the whiney voice became too much of a restraint. I felt like I was trying to dance the macarena in a straight jacket. After a disasterous second read-through and a monotonous performance, I decided I needed to rethink the voice.
My director decided that Dennis should be from down south rather than up north so that was my starting point. I needed him to sound wimpy but at the same time, interesting. Lose the monotony but keep the disaster. How the bloody hell was I going to do that???
I started trying different ideas such as speaking through the nose. This made Dennis sound far to positive and self-confident. I needed him to have a more innocent voice with hardly any self-confidence at all. So I tried closing my throat slightly. This gave him a quirky cartoon-esque voice. It was getting there but still needed something. So I started to play with tones and it was when I made my voice higher that I felt I'd found Dennis' voice. There was much rejoicing. Then I realised - I'd heard a similar voice somewhere before. BLUEBOTTLE!!! There's a part in the play where Dennis has to laugh so as an homage, I've tried to give him a similar laugh to Bluebottle. If you've never listened to The Goons, click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H-yF50BD0Q otherwise you're seriously missing out.
So the voice was there.
Mannerisms / Body Language
Michael Caine has been quoted many a time as stating that acting is all about the face. Get the face right and everything else follows. I would go further than that. For me, it's all about the eyes. Get the eyes right, and everything else follows. And I don't just mean what you do with the eyes - I mean the eyes themselves. If you look at an actor in performance closely, you can always tell if he truly believes in his performance by looking into his eyes. Despite what his body language says, if he doesn't believe that he is the character he claims to be, you can see it in his eyes. Therefore, as an actor, I always try to get myself into the mindset of the character as soon as possible. Everything else then follows, though research is always required. Because I am playing Dennis as an innocent mummy's boy, I've decided to make him pretty much a child in an adult's body. So his eyes are often wandering, surveying all he sees as though it's all new to him. I also want him to feel awkward so he fidgets with his clothes alot. As research I started to think of any characters I could relate to Dennis. I watched Dad's Army to see how Ian Lavender played Pikey for sincerity, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em to see how Michael Crawdford played Frank Spencer for awkward believability (or believeable awkwardness). And whenever I'm in London, if I have time I like to sit upstairs in Liverpool St Station and people-watch. I'm still not completely satisfied with my characterisation of Dennis as I need to give him a walk, a stance...He's getting there but he's not quite there yet.
Make-up & Costume
In the play Dennis believes he has Bretts Palsy and one of the symptoms of this is spots. When i were a lad (cue Hovis music) there was a tv show called Copy Cats with a load of impressionists doing their stuff. One of them was a man called Gary Wilmott who went on to publish a book called The Right Impression. In the book he gives away some of his secrets to his impressions and I always remember one of them was to use rice crispies for spots. (Stop the Hovis music) I used paint to create different shades of red on them and threw in a few lentils and other small dried veg for yellow-heads, etc. So I now had various types of spots in a pot.
As the show is set in the 60s I wanted Dennis' outfit to reflect the neglect he has suffered from his parents but still show that he is thought of. So a clash of mismatched colours and jack-ups were the answer. The weird thing is, I actually quite like his shirt. And i'm not the only one :).
As far altering my 'look' goes, I have had a hair cut which will be slicked back with Brylcreme and I will be clean shaven for the role.
Dress Rehearsals
I don't like wearing my characters' costumes too much outside of performance because i don't want to become too comfortable in them. So I went to the rehearsal in normal clothes and got changed in my van. I wanted to spend the entire rehearsal in character but this wasn't possible when people were asking me questions and i gave them the proper answers in the style of Dennis. Anyhoo, the visual impact was brilliant but as the rehearsal progressed, Dennis' spots migrated onto people's costumes and the floor. The problem was the spirit gum. I had ordered a high quality one online but it had not arrived so I had to make do with a cheap one. It was rubbish. I explained this and at the next dress rehearsal I had the proper spirit gum and it worked much better but still not perfect. To this end I have been to the fancy dress shop and bought some joke spots. Let's see how these go on Sunday.
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