My Characters/characterisation

In the wolves of Willoughby Chase, I play the Guard. I need to ask myself:

- What did they dress like?
- How would they speak?
- What mannerisms would my character have?
- What do they look like
-How would other people react to me? (imperialism)
- What was their physicality like?

After some research, I found an image of what I imagined my character of the guard to look like:



This was one of many pictures I found of guards and policeman in the 1800s. I especially used this one because this is how I imagined my character was like: big, tall, assertive and also a sense of authority, I also think he looked quite scary.

The first time I played the guard, I tried different tones of voice and different accents. In the end, I decided to have a very low tone of voice like a man and had a deep southern accent, as I couldn't imagine the guard sounding posh like everyone else in the play. I also bought big steel toe boots to wear with pants, a white shirt with a long jacket. I also purchased a moustache like the one in the picture. When playing the guard, I kept clearing my throat and adapted an assertive tone when speaking to Sylvia as she was an orphan. Baring my physicality in mind, I walked on with my hands behind my back shouting "Tickets please!" I also had a stapler which I used as a ticket stamp to stamp the tickets I was given. I acted manly and assertive because that's the personality I wanted to have as I think its important to give a character a personality as it allows you to embrace who/what you're playing. Also, before my character enters the stage, Mr Grimshaw walks on stage, but he walks on with his stick and sits opposite to Sylvia and the way he walked on and sat down, you could tell he was of a higher status than Sylvia, who acted very sheepish and shy. Then when I walk on, the status levels change again, Mr Grimshaw rummages through his pockets to find the ticket, and Sylvia rushes to look through her bag apologising. I felt my character was of a higher status at this point, as also the 1800s was the time of imperialism.


Wolves:
I found a video on YouTube that shows how wolves move and behave. Their slow hesitant prowling, sudden halts where they look left to right, or raise their noses in the air to smell, this really gave me a good insight on how I want to move as a wolf. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI7fxQHuw5s

As I was part of the chorus, we adapted the roles of wolves also. So most of the time we were on stage as the chorus, we maintained a creepy, slow, scary persona as we wanted the audience to be intrigued and get the hint that bad things were happening in the play. Then towards the end of the play, when Miss Slighcarp is found out, we completely change our personality to happy, excited and giggly.

Servants

A domestic servant had only two choices depending on their situation. They had to become a live-in servant or live outside of the home they are servicing; and in most cases, men and women who entered into this type of workforce had no choice but to live within the confines of the home chosen for them. These men and women who entered into this kind of labour were more than likely very poor (in some cases lonely); some were young children and teenagers whose parents needed the extra income to make ends meet for the family and had no other choice but to send their young one's off to a workhouse to learn to become a domestic servant, like the ones in the play. The youngest a domestic servant started out if they were children was 7 years old; but if you were a young man or woman, you started at the age of 14.  Depending on what kind of labour you'd be doing as a servant, these young men and women lived within the confines of a workhouse -- which was kind of like a boot camp for domestic servants -- and you were literally taught how to do all the jobs expectant of you as a servant of some kind.

Servants couldn't afford to wear clean tidy clothes much like anyone else. They wore torn, ragged clothes during all seasons.

As I'm playing a servant in the play, I wanted to purchase a plain apron which I would dirty myself. I will have my hair up looking scruffy.

As I was unable to purchase a plain apron after looking everywhere, I bought an original apron with font on or whatever and turned it inside out to look plain. I also play a chef in the same scene, so a purchased some plastic knives, things to chop in the scene, and Danielle also brought in a chopping board for us to use.

I play a servant twice in the play, in one scene I have no lines, but there are about 6 of us stood in a line, and we are being dismissed by Miss Slighcarp and Mr Grimshaw, we listen to their lecture they're giving us, saying we are not needed anymore, and we are ridiculous. We then fight over our wages she throws at us, courtesy and then walk off. Then we play servants in another scene where Miss Brisket enters, where we are cleaning, and get hit and have to act like everything is okay when the school inspector arrives.