Exit Interview

1. What is your essential question and what are your answers? What is your best answer and why?

• EQ
• What is the most effective method a theatre actress can use in order to best build her character?
• Answers
• The most effective method a theatre actress can use in order to best build her character is the Stanislavski Method.
• The most effective method a theatre actress can use in order to best build her character is the Meisner Technique.
• The most effective method a theatre actress can use in order to best build her character is the Chekhov Technique.
• Best Answer
• My best answer is the Stanislavski Method because it is the only method that really goes in-depth with the psychological characteristics of the character the actor is supposed to portray. The psychology of the actor's character is one of the most important parts of character to build because it is what's going to create the realism the actor needs to fulfill the purpose of theatre. The psychology will then lead on to creating real actions, mannerisms, and connections.

2. What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

• The process was very simple, I took the knowledge I knew from my past experience and independent components, the knowledge I had from my mentors, and the information I got from my research, I can to the conclusion that what really creates realism in acting is the psychological characteristics of the character. Without the psychology of the character, the character would a cliché which is unappealing to audiences.

3. What problems did you face? How did you resolve them?

• I only had one problem I had to overcome. The first was that I had a mentor from July-October. After that, he didn't have anything for me to do and he would hardly ever reply to my emails. Luckily from August-October I was able to fit in 48 hours of mentorship. To fix this issue, I had to find a new mentor. I asked my dad if he knew anyone that could help me, and he introduced me to his co-worker Chip Healy, the drama teacher/director at South El Monte High School. Mr. Healy is an amazing and encouraging mentor. He has taught me so much about my topic and encourages me to start getting into the business.

4. What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

• One of my most useful sources was my mentor Chip Healy. He talked a lot to me about what makes theatre and acting so meaningful and important. He gave me many tips on character building and his take on the methods I decided to use. A lot of the information he gave me during Interview 4 was about important aspects when character building, leading me to picking my best answer.
• The other source that was significant was actually three different books written by Constantin Stanislavski. An Actor Prepares, Building Character, and Creating a Role, all gave me in-depth information on the Stanislavski Method while explaining how it fulfills the meaning of theatre. They helped me because they had everything I needed to know about the method and provided valid reasons as to why it works so effectively, helping me choose it as my best answer.

Independent Component 2

Literal

• A
• I, Iliana Solorzano, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 70 hours of work.
• B
• Sharma, Shaan. "12 Steps to Consistently Brilliant Performances, Part 1." Backstage.com. 5 Nov. 2014. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.
• Sharma, Shaan. "12 Steps to Consistently Brilliant Performances, Part 2." Backstage.com. 5 Nov. 2014. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.
• Sharma, Shaan. "12 Steps to Consistently Brilliant Performances, Part 3." Backstage.com. 5 Nov. 2014. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.
• Tobolowsky, Stephen. "5 Simple Questions to Create a Performance." Backstage.com. 28 Nov. 2014. Web. 11 Jan. 2015.
• Wallace, Craig. "How to Fully Embody a Role." Backstage.com. 25 Mar. 2015. Web. 26 Mar. 2015.
• C
• To see my Senior Project Hours Log, click here, or click on the link that says "Senior Project Hours Log" on the right hand side of my blog. My independent component 2 hours will be at the bottom of the spreadsheet.
• D
• My independent component 2 consisted of putting together, directing, and performing, in a 10 minute performance of Seussical! The Musical in order to perform it for the Fullerton College High School Theatre Festival in March. We had a cast of 14 and it was one of the most amazing performances IPoly has had in a while. I am extremely proud of the entire cast and of the amazing scores we received on the days of the competition.

Interpretive

• My strongest evidence was the night we performed at Fullerton Pre-Show. There, with the rest of the drama club going to the competition, performed our competitive pieces to which received great audience reactions. I also have photos from the pre-show and a couple of other pictures from the competition. There's also a video, sadly it doesn't include the opening number.

• One of the significant parts of my independent component was the first time we put everyone into costume. It was the first time that my classmate and I had done any sort of costuming and it was a really fun experience to go shopping for costumes and putting them all together. Another highlight was when we finally put together all of our songs and kept rehearsing the entire number. It was an amazing feeling to finally have the piece finished and looking so amazing. The final highlight was from the second day of the competition. Our CD for the music wasn't working the first day so we were prepared to use our extra speaker. We had no problems performing and we put on a really great performance. However, on the second day, we were prepared to use our extra speaker but apparently that was against the rules. They allowed us to perform and get judge's notes but not be ranked. We were all extremely disappointed and furious at the ridiculous rule, but we had our best performance nonetheless. After the performance, we received our scores. I could not be more proud of the almost perfect scores we received. In all honesty, if we weren't disqualified, we probably would have made it to finals. I'm so proud of my cast and I hope the festival changes their backwards rule so no incident like this ever happens again. The competition is based on our performance. Not if our music works or not.

Applied

• This independent component helped me answer my EQ because I had to get in touch with my character Gertrude. I tried to implement some of the methods I learned about and it really worked. I felt as if I really connected with my character because we had a lot of the same qualities and experiences, allowing me to portray Gertrude more realistically. One example is where we had to explain to the cast that if they don't become their character onstage, the performance wouldn't be as great as it could be. After we told them that, their characters really stood out and made the performance bigger. I really felt as if I became Gertrude, meaning that the character building methods really worked and made the performances more fun and realistic.

New Mentorship!

After not having talked to my original mentor since October, I have finally found a new mentor who is extremely happy to have me working with him! My new mentor is Chip Healy. He's a math teacher and the drama teacher at South El Monte High School. I found him through my dad who works in the same school. I had told him about my troubles with my mentorship and he directed me to Mr. Healy.

What Mr. Healy allowed for me to help out with was something really big. He is giving me the opportunity to direct act 2 of their play, La Casa de Bernarda Alba. He wants act 2 to be reader's theatre instead of actually performing the scenes. This means that the actors sit down and read off of their scripts in-character. However, this has been proving to be difficult because this play wasn't meant for reader's theatre. I hope to try and create something in which I can make the act look the least awkward possible. It's a challenge I am sure I can overcome.

Mr. Healy is truly a great mentor. During my interview 4, he gave me a lot of tips, stories, and information I can use for my final presentation. He's a really fun guy and I'm so thankful for the opportunity he is providing me.