A dramatic puppet

So far the audition piece I am involved in has been really challenging. Abby and I are doing an intense and dramatic scene, and we are doing it with sock puppets. It is a dialogue between an old man and a killer who is debating whether or not to to take the old man's life, and thought the old man doesn't know this, he can sense that something is off.

The main challenge for me is functioning with the sock puppet. I didn't realize that there's a specific way you have to hold it, to breathe with it, you as a person have to look a specific place, and there are so many other complications. It really is a struggle to do all of that and also convey emotions and memorize a script. This character is nothing like I have done before, with the intensity and stumbling awkwardness. The puppet is definitely the most challenging part of the audition piece, as I am nowhere near being comfortable with it, as a matter of fact I'm a little embarrassed working with it, so this is a total stretch for me as an actor and it is pushing me way past my comfort zone, and a little bit farther than that.

The growth for me as a performer are in so many ways. This is definitely a skill I have never had, and now I can say that I'm able to do a puppet performance, and it is a different type of character than I've done before. The old man is a passive personality, as many times throughs the script you can see this by him trying to change the subject and avoid conflict at any means, as well as being defensive as to not offend the other character. This is different from the dominant, powerful characters that I have portrayed already this year, whether the emotion is fear, numbness and hatred, or annoyance. Those are all very oppressive of the other character in the scene or just dominant personas. The passive timid portrayal of the old man will be a huge challenge for me, especially combined with the puppet.

My goal for this performance is to somehow find the shy timidness within myself and portray this through the puppet. I think that the wall activity that I did with Dayna and Abby for the last performance could help, except this time instead of getting more dramatic with certain words, I could get more frightened at them. For work with the puppets I can just practice a ton. I can also make them sing show tunes. Abby suggested that and not only does it sound absolutely hilarious it is so fun to do. To do the dramatic portion of the old man and to get that emotion from the puppet I'll sing les miserables. I can also say things in a dramatic tired voice to achieve this.

Because I think that puppets singing show tunes are the funniest thing on earth as well as the best thing a puppet could ever do , here is the muppets singing bohemian rhapsody. Side note: yes I realize this isn't technically a show tune, but it's the muppets!!!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tgbNymZ7vqY