Devising the Great Thick-Knee
“[Observing] People we know. Examining closely what we really see or may have taken for granted. Their actions, habits, mannerisms and appearance and how these relate to their backgrounds, their class, education, family job, position in the community, religion, nationality, and the psychology we’ve experienced. Imagining ourselves in their circumstances and how they must sense and feel things.” (Gillett, J. 2007. p.29)
The first step I took in developing my character was to research the bird, the Great Thick-Knee as this was the bird I was given, by our costume designer. I was then to focus on the stereotypes of this bird and how I could link it to my character- The Gloom.
Whilst researching a Great Thick-Knee, I was able to pick up on its characteristics. The movement of the bird when it walks, with each footstep sharp and stiff and the head twitching vigorously, yet there are moments when the Great Thick-Knee keeps its head still for a few seconds, then the vigorous twitching comes back. This was a challenge I found myself dealing with as I struggled to realise why a bird with such distinctive movement would be given to a character such as The Gloom who comes across as a complaining and whining woman. However, through the rehearsal period I found it easier as an actor to portray the Great Thick-Knee.
“Only by feeling something can actors be satisfied that they are intimate with it with a fullness that approaches the required condition of being that thing.” (Mitter, S 1992 p.10)
Personally, I found myself facing many challenges when trying to link the Great Thick-Knee to The Gloom. The majority of The Gloom’s dialogue in the play is mostly complaints about aches and pains; the decision was made later on in rehearsals for myself to deliver the lines in a whining, complaining way. This was challenging at the start of the rehearsal process, yet after rehearsing this tone of voice many times it became easier to work with. As I already speak with a northern accent, the director instructed that I should exaggerate it for the purposes of my character. This wasn’t particularly a challenge for myself, however I did not want the audience to have trouble understanding what I was saying, therefore I had to be careful with how I went about exaggerating my northern accent.
Physical Study of the Great Thick-Knee
Relating back to the Great Thick-Knee, I wanted to emphasise the characteristics of the Great Thick-Knee as much as possible when it came to the performance. During the rehearsal process, I played with different characteristics to see which worked and which didn’t. At the beginning of the process, I was travelling across the stage stretching my legs out as much as I could, to emphasise that the Great Thick-Knee has long legs. However, after a number of rehearsals doing so, I found that this movement did not match my character. The Gloom first interacts with the audience by telling them about her bad knee and how it ‘locks’. So I was struggling to understand why a bird with bad knees would be able to stretch her legs out? This then led on to the movement changing into a sharp and stiff shuffle when it came to moving around the stage. When it came to The Gloom standing still, I felt that I still needed to show some movement. My reason for this is from watching videos of the Great Thick-Knee standing still, they still seem to twitch the upper part of their body and head. In the parts of The Cagebirds where all of the birds are huddled together as The Wild-One is interrogating them, we all individually did subtle movements with our head and upper bodies, just so that these parts did not look as static.
Another way in which I developed my character of The Gloom to be as realistic to the Great Thick-Knee as possible was to make an occurring sound throughout the performance that was like the animal itself. This proved to be more difficult than I originally thought. The call of a Great Thick-Knee is very much similar to the seagull and I personally found this to similar to the other bird calls that other characters had chosen, for example The Gossip with her Parrot call. I then decided that a suitable sound for The Gloom to make would be that of a gagging sound. I found that this related a lot more to my character and was still similar to a bird call as my character is a huge hypochondriac and always has to have something physically wrong with her.
To distinguish a difference in moods with my character The Gloom, I tried to do this in many ways. In my opinion, the main places in the script which drastically changed The Gloom’s mood, was the entrance of The Mistress, and also, later in the script, the entrance of The Wild-One. When we first hear the mistress speak, all the birds freeze and then go into panic mode. The Mistress comes across as a strong powerful woman, however in our version of The Cagebirds we never actually see The Mistress. To signify to the audience that The Mistress makes The Gloom nervous, I stiffened my body and pulled my props in closer to my confided space. I also changed the way in which I spoke, making my voice shake and seem uneasy in order to portray the power in which The Mistress has over The Gloom. When The Wild-One enters onto the stage, this was also when I felt that The Gloom’s mood would change. The Wild-One enters the stage rocking the rest of the birds’ world. They are all very unsure, nervous, scared. I wanted to show this both physically and vocally. I did this by emphasising my bird call a lot more, making it louder and more repetitive. Physically, I made my bird twitches greater, and faster which led to the necessity of the increase in my personal bird call.
Work Cited:
Gillett, J. (2007). Awareness. In: Gillett, J Acting on Impulse. London: Methuen Drama. p.29
Stanislavsky, K. (1992). Stanislavsky: To Find the Face Constructed in the Mind. In: Mitter, S Systems of Rehearsal. London: Routledge. p.10
