Victim of method acting
“Just hold your leg up higher and straighter. A ninja kick,” the director said. “Put your hands round his neck…Mike, stick your tongue back in.”
“She’s hurting my neck,” said Mike the prop guy, who is the victim of Menopausal Ninja, one of the Martini Bond baddies.
Mike prefers a bird on his head rather than hands round his throat
“She’s supposed to.”
“Can’t she just pretend?”
“I dunno. Method acting has its place.”
We were all giving one of the cast a bit of advice on developing their roles. We have enjoyed a few runs in London and have the time now to develop the play for its Manchester dates.
You can see the longer you have to work on the actions and words, the funnier it becomes. Or at least that’s the plan.
How about you? Does your work improve the longer you spend on it? Or do you do endless changes without really getting anywhere?
Mark replied:
Taking a second or third look at any work usually improves it. Endless changes makes everything stale and often pulls out the good stuff. The hard bit is knowing when you reach the line that separates one from the other.
February 7, 2013 at 2:23 pm. Permalink.
Carrie Rubin replied:
I hope it improves the more I work on it. The trick is knowing when to leave well enough alone.
February 7, 2013 at 3:02 pm. Permalink.
colonialist replied:
Fine tuning can be endless, as long as one has the discipline not to change anything unless the tweak is a definite improvement. Mike is suffering from a strangulated hernia -?- oh, no, just strangulated with her near.
February 8, 2013 at 8:23 pm. Permalink.
WomanBitesDog replied:
Yes, we’re not endlessly tweaking. Got over that last year…love your picture. Is it a meerkat? I hope it is…Let’s just say meerkats feature in the show…
February 8, 2013 at 9:49 pm. Permalink.
colonialist replied:
It is a meerkat, indeed. I cannot for the life of me think what James Bond or the villains or daughter would be consorting with a meerkat for, though.
February 8, 2013 at 10:00 pm. Permalink.
WomanBitesDog replied:
I love meerkats! And so does the Bond villain…
February 20, 2013 at 2:25 pm. Permalink.
jmmcdowell replied:
We’ll see what I’ve done after these latest revisions. One of my manuscripts has just gone out to three new beta readers….
February 8, 2013 at 11:17 pm. Permalink.
WomanBitesDog replied:
Are beta readers fellow bloggers? Just seen the term used a lot.
February 20, 2013 at 2:24 pm. Permalink.
jmmcdowell replied:
It’s just the new term for critiquers of a full manuscript who help point out areas that are working and those that need work. The term was borrowed from beta testers for software. My new betas happen to be fellow bloggers.
February 20, 2013 at 9:24 pm. Permalink.
kateshrewsday replied:
I improve a little, and then leave it. but if I were putting on a play for a discerning London or Manchester audience, why, I might spend a little more time perfecting my act
February 9, 2013 at 3:32 pm. Permalink.
Tilly Bud - The Laughing Housewife replied:
I know that a poem is never finished, as far as I’m concerned. I am always going back and tweaking, even the published ones.
Best of luck with the play!
February 10, 2013 at 9:05 pm. Permalink.
tutankhamon61 replied:
Thanks for the post!
This is interesting.
February 10, 2013 at 9:19 pm. Permalink.
Chris Edgar replied:
Looking forward to seeing this show — it’s unlikely that I’ll be in the UK any time soon, but if there are clips of it available online I’d love to check them out. As for the way I write, I have the luxury right now of working on a show that’s being released over a series of episodes, so I can constantly tinker with each episode and ideally improve it.
February 15, 2013 at 8:09 pm. Permalink.
WomanBitesDog replied:
Yes, I get that tinkering with episodes thing! But it’s the way to get the best show at the end! We have actually got a DVD of one of the performances at a regional London theatre…I should look into posting clips on YouTube. I’ll add that to the list…Thanks for your comment
February 20, 2013 at 2:19 pm. Permalink.
WordsFallFromMyEyes replied:
This is great! I used to be in acting, now I’m into being a mum…
This looks very interesting.
March 3, 2013 at 5:09 am. Permalink.
WomanBitesDog replied:
Thanks for the comment.
March 7, 2013 at 11:31 am. Permalink.
rawmultimedia replied:
Acting & Ninja…well that’s right up my alley…I am a ninja that acts. nice post.
April 4, 2013 at 4:34 pm. Permalink.