"I was new to the community theatre group and felt distinctly like an
outsider, but there was no way I was going to let my insecurity keep me
from doing my best to get a part in this play. "10 Little Indians" was
the first serious play had participated in with this community. I truly
wanted to be murderer in this play and I figured the best way to do
that was to just be the darkest, sexiest bitch there.
I lowered my voice to an alto whenever I read a line and made sure I
moved with a grace that bordered between sex kitten and assassin. I
never felt so comfortable in a cold reading audition before. I was
enjoying myself and after a while, I no longer felt like I was being
watched and judged on my acting. I was the character.
I didn't get the part, but I found out later the reason why they didn't
give me the part was because I was apparently too good. They said I was
too creepy and dark and though they loved my characterization, they
thought it would be too obvious I was the murderer. I felt a lot better
about not getting the character then, and through myself into
portraying an old man who murdered his wife, went insane, hit on a
younger woman, only to be murdered himself. It was awesome.
And, as it turned out, I was able to use the same characterization I
created for the murderer audition, for my portrayal of the Wicked Witch
of the West in 'The Wizard of Oz"
This is what I posted in response:
"Merrick,
This is a really intriguing and fascinating memory. I was never into theater, but took a class in High School on acting. I love the line "moved with grace that bordered between sex kitten and assassin." This is such an opposing idea, but it works here. It works very well. I think if you wanted to turn this into prose or a poem, the next step would be to relate this to something else, to get away from the triggering subject and into something deeper. My thought would be to relate this to Italy and traveling here, because I know we have all felt a little out of place and a little intimidated by the people we are with. My suggestion would be to find something about the people that you are with (ie: the group) or something about how you feel about traveling with us that reminds you of this theater moment. I love the idea of morphing yourself into a character. Would the speaker be morphing themselves to fit in here? Are we morphing ourselves to fit in with Italian life? How is traveling like acting? I think if you meditated on how the two relate, you could have a really interesting and thought provoking piece on your hands. I will be more than willing to help you with sorting out ideas and such."
This is a really intriguing and fascinating memory. I was never into theater, but took a class in High School on acting. I love the line "moved with grace that bordered between sex kitten and assassin." This is such an opposing idea, but it works here. It works very well. I think if you wanted to turn this into prose or a poem, the next step would be to relate this to something else, to get away from the triggering subject and into something deeper. My thought would be to relate this to Italy and traveling here, because I know we have all felt a little out of place and a little intimidated by the people we are with. My suggestion would be to find something about the people that you are with (ie: the group) or something about how you feel about traveling with us that reminds you of this theater moment. I love the idea of morphing yourself into a character. Would the speaker be morphing themselves to fit in here? Are we morphing ourselves to fit in with Italian life? How is traveling like acting? I think if you meditated on how the two relate, you could have a really interesting and thought provoking piece on your hands. I will be more than willing to help you with sorting out ideas and such."
