Grad Students Hone Skills in Workshop

Cock fighting in Oklahoma and the reformation of marijuana laws – not only is Nov. 5 voting day, it’s also the opening day for UCLA’s second-year master’s of fine arts acting workshop.

The first graduate theater event of the year, the workshop is led by faculty members Ellen Geer and Joe Olivieri, who are directing Dylan Thomas’ “Under Milkwood” and Moliere’s “The Learned Ladies,” respectively. The plays will be performed in repertory on alternating nights with the same cast.

“The second year of the program focuses more on classical work and the best way to work on classical is to showcase it,” said Giovanni Ortega, one of the second-year actors in the production. “The plays that we perform are geared toward what the professors want us to work on and improve.”

This year, the plays chosen are aimed at improving speech and voice, specifically in classical texts. “Under Milkwood,” a play recounting the lives of people in a small Welsh town, challenges the actor to play up to four characters in the play and helps them develop distinct qualities for each part.

“‘Under Milkwood,’ originally written in the form of a radio play and poetry, made us work extremely hard to portray distinct qualities for each character we played,” said Michael Agrusso, another second-year MFA student. “Because it was a radio play and poetry also, it was interesting to transition the play to a stage production where we have actions that enhance our words.”

Moliere’s play, “The Learned Ladies” is a quick-witted farce, and was chosen to further the nine students’ technique on character portrayal.

“In ‘The Learned Ladies,’ we’re all concentrating on one character,” Ortega said. “While the original play had stock characters (exaggerated archetypes), we try to add another level to the characters and make them more three-dimensional so they come alive on stage.”

Actors go from playing numerous characters one night in “Under Milkwood” to playing one character in “The Learned Ladies,” the following night.

“It’s an intense experience to go from playing four different characters in one play and then playing only one in the next,” Shaw said.

One of the main transitions MFA students make going into the second year is the technique they use to portray characters. During their first year, actors are advised to use the “inside out” approach where they dig deep inside to try to relate to the character they are playing.

This year, they are concentrating on the “outside in” technique which prompts them to take external aspects of the characters, such as their body movements and voice, and then feel the effect. According to Agrusso, this technique can be summarized as saying the line, then feeling the character rather than feeling the character and then saying the line.

“The new techniques we are using are very different, but are allowing us to experience a different aspect of theater,” said Maurice Shaw, a second-year MFA student. “This year, we’re concentrating on incorporating the characters’ true personalities rather than handling the situation with our own style.”

The directors have modified some portions of the plays. In “The Learned Ladies,” the directors have modernized the play by transforming a wealthy French family to a ritzy Beverly Hills family. This technique helps the actors relate to the play on a more personal level, according to Ortega. In “Under Milkwood,” the directors have taken the original poem and adapted it to a stage play.

“The two plays we’re performing are drastically contrasting in many respects,” Agrusso said. “While ‘The Learned Ladies’ is a short, fast paced comedy, ‘Under Milkwood’ is more poetic and actually artistic and sharpens our voice and speech techniques more.”

Set against a minimal set, the two plays are not geared toward audience entertainment, but are aimed at helping the actors refine and learn new techniques to further their talents.

“In the end, we come out learning new techniques and being able to adapt to any unique directing style,” Ortega said. “We also learn how to create styles that help us play four different roles in the same play distinctly different.”

“Under Milkwood” and “The Learned Ladies” will be performed on Nov. 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. in 1340 Macgowan Hall. Admission is free.

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Keywords

"ellen geer" "joe olivieri" 

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