Directing Project Reflection

During this directing project, I feel that I have been able to learn a lot and be able to see a different aspect of theater that I have never really experienced before. I had so much fun directing our group's project, from dividing a monologue into a two person scene to setting up the final staging of the scene. I felt really lucky to be part of a group that had a lot of ideas and were open to experimenting with different angles in order to figure out what worked best in terms of expressing our main ideas. I feel that the division on lines was done well, so it was not just one person speaking at a time, but two people being a part of a shared pain, but speaking as different people with different experiences. We made it so "mine" was said at the same time, to emphasize that point strongly and leave a bigger impression on our audience. I think we also did a good job on blocking and staging the scene. We started out with Medgar and Pacifica sitting at a table, then Pacifica getting up and the Medgar standing so they meet in the middle, then they move away from each other to meet back again at the table. I think we did a good job showing the tension between the characters by doing this, and starting and ending with the characters facing away from each other at the table. We also had Pacifica wearing an apron, because there is a line "these shoes and this apron, this place and its patrons...". We had it so Pacifica throws off her apron at the table, and Medgar picks it up and folds it for her at his line "he is messy but he is kind". Pacifica then throws the apron back down when he offers it to her, which further suggested that their relationship was not a happy one. I think we did a good job setting the mood and conveying the message through these various blocking techniques and dialogue changes. Another powerful dialogue change we had was making the last line of each character say "he is gone" for Pacifica instead of "she" and "she used to be" instead of "he" for Medgar, so showcase their relationship a bit more. This dialogue was about each characters pain but their relationship played a big part in that, and we all agreed that it was a impactful way to showing that. I think that we used good lighting, having the spotlight on Pacifica first, since she spoke first, then the spotlight on Medgar when he started his line, then having the whole stage lit up, because I think it shows their equality in the scene and not just one person showcased at a time.
Some weaknesses we had was having even more obvious emotional build up and blocking to go along with that. I think that it was very hard because the original song is so raw and emotional, you have to really be familiar with your character and dive into the scene in order to do that, so if we had more time we may have been able to do that more. Maybe even more obvious blocking and emotion in tone of voice may have taken this scene to further.
I had so much fun directing this scene and I found it very interesting how we could take inspiration from another scene or song and take it in a different directing while still keeping the core elements. I really would love to further study and take on directing. I am very excited for what we are doing next!