My name is Gail. Abigail "Gail" Lynn

[Monday, 2nd April 2012]

This is such a late posting. Only because I have been procrastinating. Hey I can't help it ok! :P

Regardless, its a Monday morning again. Bleh. I always hated the start of the week. But heck, what better way to start it with a little bit of art? So there I was early again, hanging around ADP office only because I didn't want to go to the experimental theater just yet.

Because we already had our plays, I was wondering what we will be doing today. I mean, will we be starting our work on our script or what. Apparently we're still working on characterization so that's why.

Half of us were late. Heck its a Monday morning and it was literally raining cats and dogs. I had to call a couple of them who didn't have enough audacity to actually inform me that they were coming in late. Oh wells, the job of the stage manager. Luckily, Rey actually stalled enough time for almost everyone to get in.

So we started with the usual walk in the space exercise for warm ups. Soon enough Rey actually made us run around like mad people and freeze when he told us to. Luckily for me, I wasn't exactly caught in some random position that was hard to hold. hahahaha

Then we were on the floor. I've done this in theater101, and it felt real good the first time I did it. So I was kind of looking forward to the lying down part :P. So we had to get as much part of our body in contact with the floor and just let loose. We closed our eyes and breathe, and as we breathe, Rey instruct us to think of the word "empty". Bit by bit, I could feel my body relaxing, like it was made of air. I could feel the stress going away with every breath and it felt like it was just me in the universe, at peace.

Every breath I take seemed to resonate within me, like wind passing through a hollow tunnel. I felt empty inside, and to be honest, it felt good. We then had to imagine a forest. I imagined a forest that I've seen inside those children books I've read. Green trees towering over the pathway, clear of any plants. It was beautiful. I wished I could really walk in that forest and I sort of did; in my head at least. I had to walk in it, and the path twisted and bended in front of me, and I followed. I could hear the soft chirping of the birds, the sounds of the insect and the cool breeze. It felt good.

Soon I reached the end of the forest. I was standing at the end of a cliff that stretches far below and makes the river down below looked small. In front of me, there was a bridge. It was one of those wooden bridges that has ropes. Though these bridges usually seemed like it was going to break down anytime soon, this one looked sturdy. On the other side, I saw Gail. Dressed in her summer dress and cardigan, hair neat as always, just standing there, with a baby in hand, looking at me, as I was looking at her.

"Cross the bridge"

And so I did. Each step was taken very carefully, as if I was afraid of destroying this little reality. I took more steps. As I reached the other side, I reached out to her, as she did with me. I closed my eyes, and when I opened, I was wearing that blue sundress and a cardigan, a little baby in my hands. I am Gail.

The once empty, young college girl named Celine had become a thirty six year old mother of a beautiful baby, Gail. I looked around, in this peaceful forest. This was the place I want to be, but I know that someday I have to return to my home in Connecticut and face reality.

"Stand up"

I wiggled my toes, mentally standing up, and then slowly, very slowly, gets myself up, physically. I was upright, my feet firmly on the ground. I can feel the fabric of my dress touching the skin of my legs.

"Open your eyes"

I opened my eyes. The dimly lit room was somewhat unfamiliar. But yet I knew where this place was. Rey asked us to do various of activities, such as counting to 10, and how I searched for something. I acted as if my baby's pacifier had gone missing and she wouldn't stop crying. So I searched frantically for it and when I do, I heaved a heavy sigh of relief before washing them and returning them to Elizabeth.

Rey also asked how we are in our "happy place". I realized where I found myself. In my garden, alone, reading a good book with my loyal dog. It was silent and peaceful, and for once I have a time to myself, away from Fred, Eric and my baby.

Rey then asked us how we slept. I got on the floor and slept on my side, curled up like a cat. I don't know why but I always felt much more safe and secure that way. Something unexpected happens. I heard Elizabeth cry, and I jumped out of the bed running to her. It was 3 in the morning and she had her midnight dose of milk already. I rushed out of bed to see whats wrong and calmed her down. Once she calmed down, I put her back in her baby crib and went back to my bed, before waking up in a couple of hour's time.

Then it was the day that the scene was set on. I got up and took the ever so familiar path to the bathroom quietly. No one's awake yet, so I got into the shower and gave myself a nice warm shower before stepping out to brush my teeth and get dressed. I took my sundress and cardigan as well as my underwear and wore them. Then, I went downstairs to get breakfast ready for myself and Fred, my usual ritual. Then I realized that it was time to do my weekly grocery shopping. So I took Elizabeth with me and went down to the nearest grocery store. I looked around and found the things that I need and made my way home

Afternoon came and it was about time that Eric came. Elizabeth was sleeping in her crib peacefully. The door bell rang and there he was, dressed in his usual checkered t-shirt, looking somewhat scrubby, and careless. The usual Eric. I led him upstairs to where Elizabeth was, whilst making small talks with him; the works.

Just when I was about to open the door;

"STOP! Break out from your characters"

Instantly, my once erect shoulders loosened up. I was Celine again. I heaved a heavy sigh, smiled at myself and got myself moving in the way Celine would. I was back as the 17 year old girl in her theater class again. Not as Gail, the mother of Elizabeth.

We gathered around Rey, and discussed what we've done. Rey actually asked us to get back into characters again. It felt a bit weird, because I wasn't fully into Gail. Rey then asked us about us. He asked us what we like to do, what we do. Basically anything about the character. Interesting huh. I answered how I liked spending my time alone, in peace with my loyal pet dog. :D I wish I have a dog.

Script Reading

[Wednesday, 28th March 2012]


So it's been two weeks since we got our anthologies, so that means we had to show our choices today. Teck Sern and I had already met up to do some script readings, and came down to two choices; Flop Cop by Laura Cunningham and The Man Who Couldn't Dance by Jason Katims.

We went on with Flop Cop first. It's about a deranged playwright, who had lost his mind due to his constant downfall in life, and a cop, that's trying to capture him. I personally liked this play because it's dark, and there's a lot of possibility in the playwright character. It's up to the person, how they want to play them. Its interesting. But , the play is meant for two men, and there were too many references to testicles. If we were to choose that one it would mean having to change a lot of the script, because I'm a girl (you don't say :P)

So we ended up with the second one. The Man Who Couldn't Dance. It's about two people who used to be in each other's life, but had something along the way that tore them apart. Now she's married with a beautiful daughter, and he is living a simple life on his own. They took a walk down the memory lane, confesses to each other, and thought of what could have been if they hadn't screwed up along the way. I liked it because it's in a way sweet, and it taught me not to do something that you would regret :)

A Scene from another adaptation of The Man Who Couldn't Dance by Alma College

Other pieces that we considered included Ferris Wheel and Stars. We didn't go with Ferris Wheel because it had 3 kissing scenes in it, and I don't think I'm comfortable enough to kiss Teck Sern on stage or let him kiss me on stage. Nevertheless, I find the story very cute, and I could so imagine the girl as Emma from Glee. The kind of neurotic, awkward but cute at the same time kind of girl. Stars, I just didn't really get Stars. So that's why we didn't choose it.

The Face Of The Mask

[Monday, 26th March 2012]


It's Monday again, and that means theater day. Yea I do kinda look forward to the Monday class more than the Wednesday class. Why? Cuz we get to do all sorts of fun stuff on Mondays. So apparently we're gonna be starting work on characterization today. I actually don't know what to expect.

So let's just cut the chase and get going. So Rey started with his usual morning talks. He mention how we as an actor, we act out verbs and not emotion. We have to have a reason for doing something and we're constantly are doing something. The emotion comes from the action and not the other way around. This was something I've done in the past but I don't think I do that all the time.

So Rey got us to do all the random movements again. I started skipping, jumping, this, that, all the random shit I can think of. Oh no wait, I wasn't even thinking. I probably looked like some deranged bird or something HAHA. Oh wells. Then we had to play Malaysian character in Pavilion. That was funny. I played a lady who I suppose just came into the city and stuff. I was like so awed at Pavilion, like it was the greatest thing I've seen. LOL. Then we had to freeze and when Rey call our names out, we had to act that particular character that we've chosen. Josh' was funny. He played the spoiled little brat that doesn't want to go out; he dragged himself all over the floor and stuff. It was funny. When Rey called my name out, I sorta just rushed to one side of the room and shouted, "OH MA GOSH! IS THAT A LOUIE VUITTON?!" Yeaaaa. Don't ask.

So, I noticed that Rey brought with him a black box. Well it looked like a toolbox, but with hair jutting out. Probably a wig. I had no idea what he was gonna do when he had that box with him, but now I get it.

He took out a red piece of cloth and placed it over the table, and then started arranging masks on the cloth. There were about 10 masks all with different expressions and faces. We had to go up there, pick a mask, stand in front of a mirror as we put it on, and let the masks into ourselves.

Lycel and Lih Seng went first. Lih Seng picked this blue mask that reminded me of those jokers or Pierrot, while Lycel picked a very feminine, mask. So they began and I thought they were good. I thought that if I had picked Lycel's mask I would have done pretty similar things to her.

My turn came and I was paired with Adam. I picked this pink mask, that had huge nose and a one sided smile. We had to go on to the mirror and see ourselves in the mask, and slowly morph ourselves into that mask's character. Rey helped us do that; giving us instructions and all. I realized that my mask was that of a content person with a bit of arrogance. The center of this mask was the stomach.

I was kinda, urgh, I don't know. I didn't know what I was doing. I just did what felt right. Even if that includes doing a hip trust despite being a girl. I thought I didn't do that well though. Adam on the other hand, was hillarious. I could see him and he was entertaining! Bleh I wished that I could re-do mine. I don't know, pick a different mask or something. I mean it was pretty fun, being behind the mask and all. hehe.

It didn't help that despite using the sponges, my mask kept on coming loose. It constantly reminded me of how I was wearing a mask and all. I couldn't completely go into the world that the mask was trying to take me to. But of course there were times where I did, but that was only a little bit. They called me George.

Then we had to leave.

George walked back to the mirror, and slowly took the mask off. Gosh, even that little bit, I was breathless. I heaved a huge sigh, and boy I was sort of glad to see my face again. I did kind of forget how my faced looked like after I put on the mask. It was as if the mask had become my face.

Filza was another good one. I thought she was completely in character. She had that awkwardness and that quirkiness that came with the mask. I thought the ballet scene with Wei Lim was so good. Another one that I thought was good was Sam. He chose the same mask as Lycel did, and he was entertaining!

Even better was when Rey added a little twist. When Josh and Zong Yong was preparing for theirs, Vhina and I had to go up to them and put on wigs for them. HAHA! Josh had a long blond wig on and Zong had this curly, short brown wig on. It was interesting; they went for bra shopping and all. haha.

Well certainly this was an interesting class. There are a lot of masks in the world, and the ones we used was called silent masks. We couldn't make any sound. I hoped that I would be able to do this exercise again somewhere in the future. Though maybe not as George again, but as a different characters. But its a good feeling to know that George is now and will always be a part of me, living inside of me.

Don't you think this mask is just stunning? It's a Venetian Mask :D

no, No, NO!!

[Wednesday, 21st March 2012]

NO!! For once I actually don't want to go for theater. Why? Because I personally think our script sucks. I felt so unrehearsed, despite actually practising and spending time with it. URGH!

Well I'm just gonna cut the chase and get straight to the class stuff. Warm up today was different. Pretty fun though. Rey had us walking around in space at first and then made us jump around and move in a crazy way. We all were jumping around like mad people. HAHA. Good exercise early in the morning. The hard part was that we had to freeze at the exact point when Rey said Freeze. Shoot, I'm so bad at this. Thank God I never found myself in some stupid one legged position. Phewww~

Then we had to act like we're drunk trying to walk in a straight line. I think we're all looked like kookoos.. HAHA But who cares?! We were having so much fun. Some of us pretended like we're falling. It was funny. I was saying things like, "I'M OKAY! I'M OKAY!" and pretended like I'm shoving the hands of whoever's giving me help. Haha.

Then we had to act as Burglars. First alone, then with a partner. I partnered with Leanne because she was the closest person around. It was fun though, crouching about and stuff. I could really imagine in my head the dark room, with lights coming out of the edges of the door towards the room. Me and Leanne were hiding behind the couch that faces the door. We peeked and made sure there were nobody around and began moving. It was soooo coool!! Not that I want to be a burglar or something :P

Then Rey told us to change partners and then start something new. I partnered with my own partner, Teck Sern! And if I'm not mistaken we did the whole I don't want to be with you kind of scene. Boring scene. Meh. He then asked us to freeze and gather around Valerie and Adam. Valerie was hugging Adam from the back and Adam seemed like he wants to get away from her. So we had to stand in a circle around them. They started the scene and we had to shout a freeze and somebody walked in. I was so bad at this, I swear. It's either that or I'm just really out of it today. I couldn't do shit in there. Urggghhhh ><. It's like I just blank out in terms of mind and body. Urgh. I don't know how to react or how I want to react. Grrr..

Next thing was our performances. We had 10 minutes to rehearse and stuff. I was rehearsing with Teck Sern when suddenly Leanne called me out. Turns out the comb was stuck on her hair LOL! So we tried untangling it but in the end Leanne just kinda pulled it out.

So the 10 minutes was up and Leanne and Adam went first, followed by Lih Seng and Valerie. Teck Sern and I had to go last. That sucks, especially seeing how the other 2 groups did so well. That doesn't help at all. But we have no choice but to go and do it right. So we did. It was I suppose, ok. Not the best. I mean it went as rehearsed, but I thought parts were bad and needed to work on. Luckily we have our pro director, Rey with us. He re-directed everything, and even made me so called "pole dance". Well the pole wasn't exactly there, but still I had to pretend that the pole is there. HAHA. I was so self conscious. I'm so out of it today. This is not good.

Blehhh, mental note. I need to stop thinking so much and let my body do the talking. Dude it's just theater class. No one's gonna judge you for being sexy for a change. Urgh. Oh wells.

Rehearsal Notes - Confusing Script

Yes, the script is confusing. It doesn't even make sense!!

So I met up with Teck Sern on Tuesday. We couldn't meet up on Monday cuz he had to go to a doctor. The poor boy got elbowed on his back twice in a basketball game.

So we met up at 1, right after our class to practice. We brainstormed a bit and tried out different scenes. But none of them worked well. So we took, what I would call an easy way out; turning everything to a sexual innuendo.

Bleh, I felt so awkward at first doing it, and it didn't help when people barge in a couple of times. But I think it was an ok practice. Not the best one but just OK. We went through runs and once we were done, we went to the script reading for the finals. We read up Flop Cop by Laura Cunningham and The Man Who Couldn't Dance by Jason Katims. We didn't get to read up Stars though.

So here's the beat and object exercise

Who am I?
- A stripper trying to get a client to sleep with her.

Where am I?
- A local club called Milkshakes

What time is it?
- Around 11.30pm. I had a bad business so far today.

What are my relationships?
- I have a relationship with the customer/client

What are the given circumstances?
- I haven't had a customer all night, so I'm trying to see if this guy wants some action

What do I want?
- To get him to come take my service and money

What is in my way?
- He's offering too little

What do I do to get what I want?
- Flirt with him more, hinting that I want more money

Here's the beats

A: (enters) GIRL! (takes off shirt) Hold ma poodle. (shakes chest and walk towards B)
B: Would you go out with me on Saturday? (wraps arm around waist and pulls)
A: Ohh (comes closer towards B's face) I hate your guts (flicks, then walks away)
B: The car just took the corner at a hundred miles per hour (takes out money)
A: (Turns around, saw RM100 only) What the hell?! (walks away further. He's too cheap man!)
B: (to himself) Why game so fun to play with? (takes out another RM100, calls A)
A: (goes towards B, takes the money out of his hands, Now he's worth my time) Have you taken your pills yet?
B: I enjoy singing in the bathroom (whispers in A's ear)
A: What did you have for lunch?! (walks away, digusted)
B: I looked in the mirror.
A: (looks at the money, and then the man) I'm about to go on a stage (Takes his hands and leads him out)
B: Enter Sandman.

Shitt!! I swear, this was sooo awkward in so many different stages. Bleh. Just hopefully things will turn out good tomorrow. Urgh. Cross fingers

I'm sorry, Whaaatt?!

[Monday, 19th March 2012]


So it's Monday again. Urgh I hate Mondays. It's like my longest day of the week with me doing nothing. But I suppose its probably the best Monday I had so far in this semester. Something happened and well let's just say it made my day :3 I won't talk about it so let's just get down to the real stuff.

So as usual, I got down early. I just got out of a sucky weekend because my laptop broke down just like that. I was freaking out as shit, and fudge, obviously I had to send it off to the repair. Luckily it was still under warranty, otherwise my dad would go ape shit on me. Bloody laptop.

Oh wells, Leanne joined me afterwards and we did our usual bitching. She told me about how someone ruined her day so early in the morning, and I talked about how people just want to scold other people without getting their facts right. URGH I find that so annoying. Bitch please, I know my shit so don't try to come up with reasons as to why my laptop broke down. GRRRR.

Anyway, so our main exercise for today was scriptwriting. After walking around in space, we were given paper and had to take a pen. Rey made us write a statement, a question, an exclamation statement, and a title of a song. We had them put inside a bag, and Rey took one paper by random, one by one. And, we ended up with this script:

Gurl! Hold ma' poodle. 
Will you go out with me on Saturday?
I hate your guts.
The car just took a corner at 100 m/h 
What the hell!
Why is game so fun to play with.
Have you taken your pills yet?
I enjoy singing in the bathroom. 
What did you have for lunch?
I look into the mirror. 
I'm about to go on stage.
Enter Sandman. 


Two of my lines were picked out. Will you go out with me on Saturday and I enjoy singing in the bathroom. HAHA. Man this does not make sense at all. At first we had to read the lines normally; no tones, nothing; just reading. Dude it doesn't make sense at all. URGHH!! >< and Rey made us act it out. We had to come up with a scene where everything is justified and makes sense. After runs and runs, I got the sense that the lines that I say was more bitchy and high status than the lines that Teck Sern reads. 


So yea, I thought of an idea where I was a popular girl in high school, and Teck Sern was more of a nerd, that I bully. He has feelings for me and tries to ask me out, but I, obviously feeling that I deserve so much better, pushes away. 


Another idea was that I'm a stripper trying to get Teck Sern to sleep with me, but as I hit on him, he turns out to be more perverted than I am and it turns me off instead. HAHA. Oh wells maybe this one will work, since one of the effective ways to justify something is to make everything a sexual innuendo. HEHE young, horny teenagers. HEY we can't help it, blame the hormones. So yea, with two days to work on this, urgh I don't know how this is going to work out. Bleh.

BOOM!

[Wednesday, 14th March 2012]


So its the performance day for our neutral scene. And heck we didn't get the chance to practice much the day before cuz I just HAD to have a dispute with my mum over not picking up my  phone. I mean, we decided that I'll go home at 4, and she called me up at 3. I was still halfway in practice and there's no signal in the ADP classrooms (Thanks Taylor's Thanks =.=), and I received a call whereby my mum started screaming on the phone. OH I really needed that.

So due to the lack of practice, me and Teck Sern met up early in the morning to practice again. Our battlefield scene needed to be worked on. So with the help of Leanne we came with a nice ending to it, although its a bit cheesy.

Leanne was freaking out, because her group mates weren't in yet. But they soon joined us and they practised by themselves while me and Teck Sern did the same thing.

Pretty soon Rey came in, and class soon started. We had to do the usual walk around the space thing and then sit with our partners. I remembered having to give Teck Sern a massage and he had to give me one. LOL man, to be honest I do give my mum massages, but I'm not good at it. So I was like oh shit. HAHA but whatever la its done.

So the next thing we do is to add actions to our lines. That DID NOT, I repeat, DID NOT, work at all. Our scene didn't suit the whole violence thing, instead it turned out as if I was running away from Teck Sern, bleh. And then we had to do our scene and Rey was watching us. And danggg, it wasn't working out. Oh wells, he's the pro.

So instead of making me a civilian trapped in a battlefield, Rey made me a falled comrade. Like our original idea, but I'm the fallen one instead of Teck Sern. Teck Sern then found me and tried to safe me, but I, at first refused. By looking at his persistence, I began to accept him, and allowed me to safe him. I was not prepared for this at all. At first, I couldn't feel the pain in my legs, but the more I practised the more real it felt. But it took me a while. Rey had to actually threatened punching me, because it was so not believable.. ><

After about 5-10 minutes of practice it was time to show our skit. DUDE I WAS NOT PREPARED AT ALL. That amount of practice wasn't enough for me to feel the pain enough to make it real. NO SHIT! I was so not prepared. But heck, we both went on anyway, and there were some plus points and minuses. Minuses was that I should have taken the time to change my decision and make more eye contact then with Teck Sern., and we shouldn't have picked up the rifle. Oh wells.

Oh and he commented about our prop. I shouldn't have used the nerf guns, whoops. HEHE.. Oh wells, we all make mistakes and I'll just have to make sure that I don't make the same mistake again. :D