'Road' By Jim Cartwright - Evaluation

‘Road’ is set during 1987, in a small town near Lancashire. I had imagined the street on ‘Road’ to be a long worn down street that has suffered because of the economy breaking down, poverty is rife and teenagers are laying graffiti all over.

This interpretation of the setting came to me when recalling the location of my dad’s childhood home; he used to live on a street just like this. There is row upon row of houses, hidden by the main high street, unseen by passers-by. Since the mines closed and jobs were scarce, this area has become ransacked; the houses are near demolished since no-one lives in them anymore.

The contextual research helped me in the understanding of the 1980’s and what the characters in ‘Road’ might have gone through in their lives. The increase in tax, higher prices for everyday essentials and jobs becoming even harder to find helped me understand why these characters are the way they are. They couldn’t do anything for themselves to escape ‘Road’ unless they left the past behind and moved away.

Each of the characters individual roles takes us on a different journey; we witness how life is treating them during this time. Some characters are better off than most however, my character, Skin-Lad, found his own escape from ‘Road’ by having a belief in Buddhist culture. By conducting research into Buddhism, I now understand that he changes his own life completely by guiding himself away from the life of a Skinhead into a more ‘peaceful life’.

I had a continuous engagement in the feedback sessions by viewing the other performances of fellow students and we all gave helpful tips to help improve our characterisation and/or physicality of the character whilst on stage. This formed a great relationship between all of us.

I found my personal management within this project to be below-par. I was unable to attend all of the sessions, but I countered this by the amount of time I’ve put into the work and dedication in my Blogs and my role as Skin-Lad.

I was willing to shave my own hair off to bring a much more realistic impression to my performance as Skin-Lad, I also purchased the appropriate clothing worn by the majority of Skinheads during the 1980’s.

I’d been told by my peers that I portrayed the role as much more intimidating and ‘not like myself’ at all. Doing this helped in the growth and development of me as an actor and I’ll continue to do things such as this in future roles.

In terms of learning my lines, I was one of, if not, the first member of the group to learn all of the lines as their character. I have done so much in-between each session to come up with different ideas for the monologue to show my own interpretation of it to the audience.

Each session I performed my monologue as Skin-Lad to the group were met with massively positive results, some had mentioned that it gets better each time they saw it. Having feedback like this gave me much more confidence with the character in both areas of vocalisation and physicality. This is mainly what helped me during the main performance in front of a live audience, and I appreciate their positive contribution for my own benefit.

My response to my lecturer’s directions in each session is positive. I sometimes agreed with her intentions for each character and I thought the main performance came out brilliantly; each scene in the play was executed confidently and I couldn’t see that it could have been performed any better.

My response to the directions for my monologue before and during the final week was mostly positive, although it was near negative at first in the final week. I say this because I had done so much work on the monologue to make it what I had interpreted him to be, i.e. an intimidating and threatening character towards the audience members by going right into their faces.

This was changed at the last minute by my lecturers for my character to be pulled back from approaching the audience into what I like to picture as a ‘cage’ which was shown by a single light source in the middle of the stage and therefore limiting my physicality. I accepted the use of the light cage; it helped me in containing Skin-Lad’s frustration towards others and even himself. By looking at our lecturer’s direction objectively, it helped me enhance my characters role and my overall performance.

Many members of the group said that my overall physicality as Skin-Lad was "Brilliant" and I had interpreted the character very well. Audience members and even the front of house staff were astonished by my appearance.

During rehearsal sessions, I had made use of the whole stage. This helped my character talk about his journey about how he has to be fit to fight. This was changed for the final showing of Skin-Lad to be restricted to a light cage. I adapted well to this change as I feel I still came across as a scary character but not as near intimating.

Since my interpretation of the character was changed at last minute, I felt as though this effect was lost but this could be countered by how the audience members were reacting once I had walked out of the theatre post-show.

Throughout the whole rehearsal process, there were areas which needed to be worked on, mostly the accent which often sounded Scottish.

Another weakness I had during the rehearsal process was that I had a tendency to perform my monologue differently each time as I had researched so much information on the era.

For the next project, I will work on the weaknesses above to hopefully have an improved performance with my new character. This will allow me to gain more confidence in these areas as an actor and it will show me that I’ve clearly developed my performance skills post-‘Road’.

'Road' By Jim Cartwright Full Blog Entry: Week 7 & 8

'Road' By Jim Cartwright - Section 4: Pre-Show Planning, Off Script Rehearsals, Discussion on some Other Portrayals, Looking at Refining Scenes, More Feedback, Discussion about the first Full Run-Through of 'Road', More Feedback for the first Full Run-Through of 'Road'
 

Week 7

 



Pre-Show Planning (Structure):

 

After 2 weeks away for our Easter Holiday's, we had returned to rehearsals for 'Road'. For this first session, we had worked on the structure of the 'Pre-Show' which I thought brought a repetitive feel to our performance as it's showing what's to be expected later on with all the different characters. For the Pre-Show, our lecturer took her main interests into the blocking of the actors portraying the Professor and Scullery, but before doing this, should was to decide where each character was to be sitting/standing on stage. During this, our lecturer wants each character to perform a specific actions which relates to their scene/monologue to give that repetitive feel. I personally liked this decision as it gives the audience a picture as to what's to come later on in the performance.

We mainly looked at each of the interactions that both the Professor and Scullery were going to have with each character. This was to briefly show each of the characters different traits and personalities to keep the audience acquainted with them.

I'm happy with the look and execution of the Pre-Show, and I think it'll be good once we get to use it properly for our real performances later on in the coming weeks.

Off Script Rehearsals:

After having an entire 2 weeks off college, it should be expected that everyone in the room had learnt their lines in the script and has memorised each stage direction. I'm happy to say that I'd learnt my lines before we left for the holiday's for my final show back and over the holidays I'd acquainted myself with the set stage directions. Unfortunately, not everyone was this way. There were still a few select people who had still not learnt their lines and/or directions, which I think is quite disappointing. Hopefully they'll learn these quickly as I'd like to start doing full non-script rehearsal runs to get a real time of how long the play will last.

If there was anything that I was impressed by, it was the development of the accent for each actor. I can tell that this was the thing that they'd spent their precious time on more than anything else. Now that everything was looking to be going fairly well, we started to look at a few scenes which still needed development and/or refinement. We did this by way of '2 Stars and a Wish' so each actor had an easier time as to what needed improving the most and what they don't need any more work on as it's already good. Although this session was for the monologue's within 'Road', we each had a chance to show how to improve in areas such as the accent and overall the physicalisation of the character and how they had interpreted it.

My feedback goes as followed:

2 Stars

- Good Physicalisation: There was an overall good reaction for my show back of Skin-Lad in terms of my physicalisation. I was really starting to look the part with all of my hard work and I'm thankful for that. Some people head mentioned that my overall energy in the monologue had been twice the amount than last time, which I felt it was personally.

- Great Moments of Going towards the Audience: For the monologue, I wanted to make the audience feel more intimidated by Skin-Lad's presence. I did this by way of going nearer to the audience, so much so that I'm within their personal bubble. Everyone had a very good reaction to this, although some people felt that I wasn't going close enough. I'll work on this feedback and experiment with going closer to the audience for the next show back.

Wish

- Work on the Accent: Sadly, I still needed a little tweaking on the accent in some areas of my monologue. I somehow seemed to transition from the accents Scottish, Irish and Liverpool. Words such as "Best", "Blind Alley", "Go", "One, Two, Three" and "Won't" fell victim to this. I'd received a note that perhaps if I elongated my words, the accent would become more prominent. I'll continue to work on the accent and these words in-particular until the performance date is due.

Having this feedback after working hard for the monologue over the holiday's will really help me in the development of my portrayal of Skin-Lad. Few people have stated that my interpretation is one of the best in the group and I want to continue to live up to that high standard.

Any additional things that were added to the stars sections was that the pace was really good, it had sped up a little more compareed to last showback. The pauses I had included definitley made the scene much more tense. The "KIYAA!" line was scary for some people as they were'nt expecting it to happen.

Any additional things that were added to the stars section was that I should go more towards the audience. Nyakeh had mentioned that there seemed to be a barrier that stopped me from going closer and that I shouldn't have that, take more risks within the monologue for things like this. Luke had suggested that I should try and make Skin-Lad appear more mysterious. This can make sense as not many people in the audience might understand why he's a "Nutter". I think I would be able to show this if I worked on the pace of the monologue even more and maybe how I could say certain words differently. Luke had also suggested to add towards this that I should add a laugh to end of the line "But he was only smiling" which would pose the question as to why I found it funny.

I also recall a quote from Issie after my feedback: "Every time I've seen the monologue, its been performed differently, but this time, don't change it as it's excellent."

I had also given this form of feedback to several group members:

Frank as Jerry

2 Stars

The accent and actions done on stage during the monologue was improving, he's definitely absorbed the feedback from past sessions.

Although there were a lot of actions, it did feel sub-par at some points so I said to improve these.

Wish

I said to slow down on the monologue a little bit, not so much that the scene drags, but so he has the time needed to pronounce words properly as he was muddling them up. It also allows more opportunities to work on actions during the monologue to help make the scene more dramatic.

Kennedy as Helen

2 Stars

I felt that the accent work during this scene was very good, I never found a moment where it was lost.

The physicality of the character is excellent, I believed fully that she was the character as she was experiemnting with creative risks throughout the scene.

Wish

Learn your lines!!! If the line is forgotten, it helps to just stop what you're doing completely and to just breathe in a steady pace, the line will come back and it'll still appear as though you're in character.

Sophie as Valerie

2 Stars

The accent and overall pace of the monologue was top standard, she has really worked hard on it.

I also liked all the actions within the scene, it just added to her character so much and it made the scene overall more dramatic.

Wish

"Look at my hair, it's dry." - I suggested that the character should play around with it at this point, she could do things such as stretching it and trying to untangle strands instead of just pointing at it like she did.

Week 8

Discussion on some Other Portrayal's:
I'm happy to say that I will be doing all of the things I'm doing for my character as I think it will really benefit me in my final grade, but I'd like to talk about a few other actors I've performed alongside the most within these rehearsal sessions.

Frank as Jerry

Him and I have had our discussions in character decisions and more specifically what costumes we have chosen to wear for the performance. What he's told me about his characters costume is along the lines very similar to what he wears right now being a shirt, possible cardigan, smart trousers, braces and smart shoes. This had worried me a little bit as I think the audience would still be seeing Frank and not Jerry, just with the added accent. On top of all of this, he hadn't mentioned changing his hair style or anything for this role like I have which I think is a very unwise decision for his role. I would think that Jerry, seeing as I've depicted him being one of the older members of 'Road', would be near balding or at least have bald patches. Instead, Frank will still be walking on-stage with his Ginger mane. I would of preferred Frank to wear a bald cap at the very least.

It's not that I think Frank should change his appearance completely because I asked him to, but it's just I think it'd come across as much more effective if he did, much like I'm doing. Still, at the end of the day, when I watch Frank perform his monologue as Jerry, I still see him. The mannerisms are very similar to his, the clothing is practically the same and the hair is also. Unless he makes some extreme changes like I have for Skin-Lad, I'm worried that the audience wouldn't recall him after the performance has finished. The exception of course is his family, but I don't think any one else will. But still, I know him better than most people so this may be overlooked, but it's just a thought.

Another thing about Frank's/Jerry's monologue is that he is using a sofa as a prop; he will be sitting on it and also interacting with it when he's walking around it. From what I understand in the script, Jerry is meant to be getting ready to go out, yet with Frank's portrayal, he's already dressed to go out. I think that the overall picture of the scene would of been much more effective if he came on stage wearing some sort of vest with possible shorts and also with an ironing board as a prop. While he is saying his first line, he would be ironing his shirt and as the monologue progresses, he would be putting on several pieces of clothing to eventually be ready to go out. I think that the overall pace of his monologue will have been much better if he had done this since the beginning and it would be more interesting to watch.

Luke as Bisto

Luke shares his charm and witty humour with his own portrayal of Bisto and it works very well. I've said time and time again that his interpretation is one of my favourites in 'Road' and I'd think I'm not the only one to see this. Everything from the costume and hair style decisions for Bisto is great, he had changed his appearance accordingly and I was witnessing the character and not him.

I've had conversations and rehearsal sessions involving Luke and he mentions that his interpretation is much like the works of Paddy McGuiness. Things such as his mannerisms and attitude towards things, involving subtle jokes, is all inspired by this figure and I think that Luke portrays it brilliantly.

If there is anything I would of changed for his portrayal of Bisto is that he could of possibly worn more 'bling' as he is a Disco DJ and he also comes across as a sort of 'dude'.

One final point about Luke's performance as Bisto is his addition of improvised dances towards the songs that go off during his scene. Each time I watch it, he does something different, and it never fails to make me laugh. This is a character that I think the audience will really link well with because of this and I can't wait to see their reaction to his performance when it's due.

Milo as Brink

I would say that Milo has an 'average' interpretation of character for Brink. It's unfortunate that for each time I've seen him perform that he puts on a full Scottish accent and not even try to perform a Lanchashirian accent. I wish he would of spent much of his time on improving his accent work as I feel this will ruin the effectiveness of the scenes he appears in as it sounds 'off-putting'.

Another problem I have encountered with his interpretation is that he is still wearing the same clothes he normally wears. None of the clothing he wears as Brink is what people would of worn in the 1980's. Again, it's an unfortunate situation to occur and I think this is one of the things that will affect his overall grade.

The third and final problem is his hair style choice... it's still his original hairstyle. I feel that he should of really thought more about his characters portrayal as I don't see Brink, I still see him.

 

Looking at Refining Scenes and More Feedback:

 

For the day before we were to start running 'Road' from start to finish without stopping, we wanted to look at a few scenes to give them further refinement as we hadn't had many chances to witness the work that's been done on them.

 

Frankie and Brandon as Claire and Joey

 

We first went through Frankie and Brandon's scene as Claire and Joey. We initially wanted to see how far they would go in the monologue as they both havn't had many chances to work together and say the lines to one another. I found the scene to be a little choppy, there were quite a lot of moments where Frankie and/or Brandon had forgotten their lines and came out of character. However, I still found the scene to be very emotional, as it should be. I really did feel a connection between the two characters and I hope that the two actors will be able to work on this even more to make the scene much more effective in the mian performances.

 

A note which I had taken from Deborah's feedback was that Frankie needed to portray Claire looking "Desparate, Dizzy and Confused." This also needed to be apparent within her lines as well since, at present moment, she's just simply saying them without emotion or change of feeling.

 

Luke as Bisto

 

The scene with Bisto, as always, was excellently performed by Luke. He really does suit the character so well. I never found a moment where he was out of character, he just did his own thing and it came out to be a really funny watch. I think that the audience on the night of the show will get a real kick out of Bisto. His characteristics relate to the audience so well and this is mainly why he is one of my favorite characters in the whole play. Another reason is simply Lukes interpretation of him.

 

I had also taken note of a few more things that Deborah had mentioned as feedback to others:

 

Matt as Scullery

 

Deborah had found that Scullery wasn't very energetic for his moments on 'Road'. Since he is essentially meant to be portrayed as a sort of tour guide, Deborah would like Matt to be much more energetic for the full run-through, pretty much to Bisto's level.

 

Brandon as Joey

 

The lines need to be learnt! When Joey is shouting out the newspaper headlines, the words need to be expressed bigger than it is. I found it to maybe be a lack of confidnece, this would make sense as he hasn't really shown off the scene very much since we had started the project. Deborah also mentioned that he shouldn't appear to be tired all of the time, especially when announcing his lines, as it became very unentertaining to watch and it was hard to hear what he was saying half the time. 

 

Discussion about the First Full Run-Through of 'Road'

 

How did I feel?

 

I was very positive about the full run-through. I love to perform as Skin-Lad every chance I get, I enjoy bringing that strong sense of danger/terror into everbodies mind. I really do want them to think "Am I safe being close to this person?"

 

I'm happy to say that I did think of a few more things to add to my monologue, mainly to go closer to the audience a little bit more, but still not to overdo it.

 

Unfortunately, whilst performing the monologue, I had accidently stomped on top of Nyakeh's foot when I had said the line "Top of the Foot." This did make me come out of character completely and I lost the accent thereafter. Other than that, I thought that this was one of my worst performances as Skin-Lad. I hope that with a littole more practice throughout the sessions that I'll be able to fully enbody Skin-Lad in front of the audience to make the scene much more effective and terrifying.

 

How did I think everyone else did?

 

I thought that everyone during this session was fully commited to getting the work done, having all their lines learnt down to the teeth, although there were still a few hiccups. But we all helped eachother pull through, which is very good group work.

 

I still felt that this was one of the worst showbacks that each of us had done, possibly due to a lack of energy? It's definitley been better than this before, maybe it's just to do with going scene after scene.

 

More Feedback for the first Full Run-Through of 'Road'

 

Matt as Scullery

 

As always, Matt does perform to the best of his ability. Since the beginning of this project, he has had the accent down to the teeth and has helped others with the correct pronouciation of words. He has even helped me through my lines several times and I thank him for his contribution.

 

I did feel like there were moments where Matt may have lost the accent, but I overlooked this by his consistamnt humour as Scullery throughout the full run-through. He defintiely does give that persoanification of a tour guide; he relates well with people (audience or other characters), and he's never unfocused in his role.

 

Issie as Louise

 

Issie is very commited to her role as Louise, I've rehearsed in the same room as her several times and I'm really happy with her progression by giving constant compliments to her.

 

Out of everything, I found her accent work to be much better as time progresses, I thought that this session was one of her bests as Louise, specifically Scene 2 of 'Road' with her Brother. If there's anything that is affecting her performance it's that her face is being blocked by her hair half the time so I can't see what she's doing facially. Of course, at this moment, we're not fully in character as we're not all wearing our desired costumes, but I think that she could've made the little effort to do this just so we can see her face basically.

 

I had suggested for Scene 2 with Louise's Brother that there should be more pauses to create much more tension and it also shows the relationship between the brother and sister.

 

Jake as Louise's Brother

 

I had found Jake's performance in this role as "Good - Okay". I say this because, each time I've seen him perform, he doesn't really keep consistant with the accent, he would sometimes lose it completely half way through the scene. This has been a constant problem since the start of blocking, and I hope he works on this before the performance date is due.

 

Seeing as this is the only scene in the whole play with this character, I still think that Jake should try and show differences in his character, by form of physicalisation, to show the difference between this character, Blowpipe and Bald.

 

Phoebe as Carol

 

Phoebe has had the accnt mastered since the very beginning of the blocking process of 'Road' which is amazing! It was even done during the first read-through of 'Road' which is even more facinating... Has she done this accent before!?

 

Her physicalistion as Carol is excellent, one of the best I've seen out of anyone in the group. She really does come across as this sort of 'Bully' character, especially towards her mother, Brenda.

 

I don't feel as though there's anything to improve about her performance as Carol... Perhaps she could try having more bigger physicalised movements? It's up to her what she does, but I think she's already good to go for the real thing!

 

Hannah as Brenda

 

Hannah is another actor in the group which I feel is ready for the main performance. She has perfected both her physicalistion and vocalisation as Brenda.

 

She really does come across as this nagging old woman that Carol clearly despises of.

 

Milo as Brink

 

STILL SCOTTISH!!!

 

He's okay with his physicalisation as Brink, but him performing an entirely different accent than the rest of us just makes the whole performance overall look 'weird' to me. Some people have said it suits his character... But I don't think so. I personally think that it draws me away completely from the performance as it makes it look less 'real'.

 

I think that with hard work and determination that Milo can do so much more with Brink, especially when everyone gets up to dance in the final scene before the epilogue, as he just sits on the sofa for the whole of that moment looking like nothing is going on. I would find it much more funny if he had tried to dance with Carol but she just completely rejects him and they could have a rant or something whilst Eddie and Louise are calmly dancing the night away. It would show the relationship between the male and female characters so much better.

My Feedback for Skin-Lad

- Try not to kick people during the monologue (go into character too much clearly)
- Think of using other voices for characters mentioned within monologue
- "Pad, Pad, Pad" sounds Liverpool
- Work on the overall pace of the monologue
- Tension was brilliant!
- "I don't want to work at the engineering firm!" Great comedic moment
- Stare at the audience before I walk off stage
- Don't look confused for the last section of the monologue
- Be sure if I'm going to be pointing at one person in-particular or several

'Road' By Jim Cartwright Full Blog Entry: Week 5 (Character Profile/Study)

'Road' By Jim Cartwright - Section 3: Full Character Profile

Week 5

Character Profile For Skin-Lad:

Name: 

Skin-Lad (Real name may be James as depicted from the nickname 'Jim' as Mickey Isherwood, the bouncer at the disco, calls him this when he is leaving their conversation - "Aye, see ya Jim." "Aye, see ya Ishey.")

Age: 

Late Teens (17-19). I feel this would be an appropriate age as Skinheads are more than likely to be more popularized by younger members.

Gender: 

Male

Race:

Caucasian/White

Physical Appearance (Costume Decision): 

I'd like to follow this appearance for my interpretation of Skin-Lad.

- Shaved Head

- White Polo Shirt

- Union Jack Braces

- Black Bomber Jacket

- Dark Blue Skinny Jeans

- Red Doc Martens

Religious Choice: 

Was Agnostic.

Buddhism (Recent) - "So now, I just read the Dharma."

Friends: 

- Mickey Isherwood, the Bouncer to the local disco club. ("I'd been talking to Mickey Isherwood, the Bouncer.")

- Skin-Lad's gang of Skinheads ("I came out the disco, last man to leave, all my lads had gone.")

- Gym buddies ("You've got to be fit to fight, and I do, every Saturday night. With my friends, at the weekends, fight.")

The relationships that Skin-Lad has with the other characters appears to be very pale, he doesn't seem to be friends with anyone on 'Road'. There is of course Mickey Isherwood, the Bouncer of the Disco, but he isn't a real character within the script. This leads me to believe that maybe Mickey Isherwood could be a figment of Skin-Lads imagination, much like the 'figure' he mentions later on that leads him to change his lifestyle and become a Buddha.

Educational Knowledge:

I believe that Skin-Lad was a keen learner of sports and biology. This can be evidenced by his obsession in being fit - "You've got to be fit to fight." and how he likes to pick his targets - "Face. Neck. Beer bag. Dick. Shin. Top of the Foot." - some of the targets listed aren't the real scientific name of that body part, but with the added slang in the accent, this makes sense.

He would of taken extreme interest in subjects such as P.E. and Science. He doesn't really show or give off any other educational properties.

Parents/Past Experiences:

I would like to think that Skin-Lad, in the past, may have murdered his parents and ran away from home. He may be confused with the aspects of human life, and since he would of done this at a young age, he wouldn't know where else to go but 'Road'. He does mention that he has a mother figure in 'Road' from what I've gathered from the script - "And when my mum makes egg, bacon, and chips for me". He might have been an adopted child for one of the characters, but again, ran away and lived on the streets or elsewhere because of his past experiences and turning his life around by becoming a Buddhist monk.

Social Status:

Everyone thinks of him as  a nutter. No-one wants to go anywhere near him because they think he'll pull the so called trigger on them. Scullery, Dor and Lane refer to him as a "Fucking Nutter!" when he runs past them in one scene. For anybody who doesn't offend him, he can relate to them quite easily. Mickey Isherwood, the Bouncer at the local disco club, can be an example of this.

After talking about one of my inspirations for Skin-Lad, I had an idea that maybe Skin-Lad has a psychiatrist behind the scenes of 'Road' since he seems to come across as having some sort of mental problem; he finds the need to fight people randomly without any cause beforehand. Psychiatrists diagnose the pain of their patients and treat the whole person, not just the one area, with a constant active lifestyle. From the stage directions, I had read that Skin-Lad does come in jogging for scenes and through his monologue he talks constantly about how "you've got to be fit to fight, and practice tactics every night."

Occupation:

Skin-Lad is a full time Skinhead. This isn't necessarily a job, but it's his daily social duty and pride to be one - "And I want to be the best Skinhead. And I want to give everything. Every single thing."

Skin-Lad also could of had, or still have, a job in fitness. He keeps fit by training in a boxing gym, he could be a professional trainer. maybe even a boxer, since he's keen on fighting people. Skin-Lad could have been this before the events of 'Road'

At sometime throughout his boxing career, he may have of received a head injury which caused him to act immaturely and not think things through and consider; he acts before he thinks.

If Skin-Lad does think a lot about everything, particularly what he thinks about his target on the human body: the neck, he still doesn't think about if what he's doing is the wrong thing.

He also mentions within his monologue about working in the Asphalt Factory: "Did you work in the Asphalt Factory? I did."

Monetary Status:

Just like any other character on 'Road', I believe that Skin-Lad doesn't have much money - he doesn't have a job, not since the asphalt factory. And I doubt he gets paid for being a Skinhead. As I have mentioned before, he could have been a boxer or something along those lines.

If I was to give a rough estimate, I would say that Skin-Lad has less than fifty pounds to his name thanks to his parents savings.

Place of Residence

No. 14, Wood Street ('Road')

I strongly believe that 'Road', before its economical downfall, was named 'Wood Street'. I evidence this by the scene that has the characters named 'the Professor' and 'Dor', they are both talking to each other on the street of 'Road' and something that comes up is a line that is said by the Professor - "Memories of Wood Street."

I feel that this must hold some significance to the real name of 'Road' in some way. I've taken this interpretation with strong thoughts in mind and this is something I'll discuss with the group if the conversation comes up.

What Themes (Minor/Major) Does Skin-Lad Link With?

Firstly, I'll be listing what Minor Themes Skin-Lad links towards.

Abuse: By reading the lines from Skin-Lad's monologue, we can see that there is a lot of issues with him since he keeps insisting on fighting people. Skin-Lad doesn't fight any characters that are listed in 'Road' from what I can tell, but anyone that does mess with him will indeed be treated harshly.

Disorder: Again, going back towards the mental stability of skin lad. I discussed earlier on in this profile that he may have sought help of a psychiatrist, after receiving a massive head injury from a the potential as a boxer.
I would like to think that Skin-Lad may have the mental disorder of Anosognosia - he may not take the medication he needs from his psychiatrist and this could result in more incidents of violent behaviour.

"Multiple studies have demonstrated that the presence of Anosognosia increases the incidence of violent behaviour, both because it is associated with medication nonadherence and because it appears to directly increase violent behaviour."

Quote above - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anosognosia

Slang: To match the style and location of 'Road', there is obviously going to be a lot of slang within Skin-Lad's language.

Confusion: At first, I had interpreted Skin-Lad being confused as to why he had changed his whole lifestyle by becoming a believer in Buddhist Culture. But now, as the performance date is drawing near, and I've had more time to go through the monologue, I've decided that Skin-Lad should be certain towards all of his decisions. I don't see him as someone who follows what another says. If he wants something, he will do it, no matter what positives and negatives comes from it.

He is also confused about his own life behind the scenes to follow along with the back story I have made for him. He can't recall his past memories before his boxing incident and this frustrates him severely.

Strong Language: There is a multitude of strong language contained within Skin-Lad's monologue: "Fucking", "Cunt", "Dickhead". Some of these words have been cut out of my performance due to the possibility of offending an audience member. But I would think that if I was to use this language, I would come across as much more threatening and terrifying than I am currently.

Now, I will be listing the Major Themes that Skin-Lad links towards:

Relationships: There are obvious relationships within 'Road', but these are mostly romantic/family relationships. The relationships that Skin-Lad has with the other characters appears to be very pale, he doesn't seem to be friends with anyone on 'Road'.

There is of course Mickey Isherwood, the Bouncer of the Disco, but he isn't a real character within the script, neither are the "lads" that Skin-Lad mentions going to the disco with.
This leads me to believe that maybe Mickey Isherwood could be a figment of Skin-Lads imagination,

Much like the 'figure' he mentions later on that leads him to change his lifestyle and become a Buddhist. This 'figure' he speaks of may have been himself in the Buddhist lifestyle, trying to bring himself away from the lifestyle of a skinhead and guide him to a more 'peaceful life'

Escape: Going back to the 'figure' that Skin-Lad mentions in his monologue, I think  that this may have been himself in the future in the form of a vision, but I also think that this represents Skin-Lad's form of Escape within 'Road'.

Each character has their own form of Escape; Joey with the Starvation Diet, multiple characters with the vice of alcohol, people having sex with each other just to have a good time but to also escape the life that they hate so much.

Brink wanting to be 'a cowboy'  Louise wanting to be listened to. Carol wanting to be seen as something other than a sexual object. And finally, what I think is Skin-Lad's escape: is him becoming a believer in Buddhism.

Skin-Lad doesn't necessarily want to change his lifestyle of being a Skinhead, but, at the end of the day, it may be more worthwhile for him. He's still young and he thinks it's a much better life than others have. 

Skin-Lad Before, During, and After the Events of 'Road':

For this sub-heading, I'll be listing my own understanding of Skin-Lad to creatively write what I think he may have done during his life before the events of 'Road'. This is all my own interpretation of the character, and I am pleased with the results, as I think it makes sense alongside with his 'bad-boy' attitude.

Before Going to 'Road':

Before the events of 'Road', James was a normal young boy. He went to school and studied hard. His main subjects of interest were Physical Education and the world of Science. He had a very keen interest also in the sport of Boxing, and this was something that he had wanted to do as a job when he grew up. Until this time though, he was a member of his local gymnasium and was constantly participating in hard-core training in the art of boxing.

Life was going well for James, but one day... this all changed. After a few years of training to become a professional boxer. And during a local boxing competition James received a massively severe head injury that changed his life forever.

He was placed in a coma to minimise the damage to his brain. James' recovery was expected to be a long process. As expected, this was a big shock to both of James' parents. They spent the months by his side, waiting, watching him progress through his injuries.

A whole 10 months had passed, this was when James awoke from his coma. His parents were so happy to see him come back... the problem was that James couldn't remember who they were. He didn't know where he was, even who he was. This was a major case of long term memory loss, so doctors had assigned James onto sessions with them to recall his lost memories. Until this was to be sorted out through, he was discharged from the hospital that he had spent his time in and returned home with his parents. This was very scary for James, he was with people he didn't know, and he didn't know where they were taking him to. Once they got home, the parents had tried to treat James as they normally did before his comatose state.

3 Months had passed in James' life. He had returned to school, but he wasn't doing as well as he once was. He had now come across as much more aggressive, he was being sent to the head teachers office, not going to issued detentions and was fighting other children both during the break time and in lessons. He was described as 'Frightening' by his peers. The school had suggested that James should stay off school for a while or at least be taught at home to revert the danger that he's causing to other students and even adults. This is exactly what happened, but the same things were happening at home, this time with the aggressiveness being directed towards James' parents.

1 Month had gone by since James had left school. He was no longer being taught at home and spent nearly all of his time in his room upstairs. The only time James came downstairs was for dinner. This brought awkward moments as he sat in silence with an emotionless face, not talking to either of his parents. Once he had finished dinner, he slowly makes his way back upstairs to his room. This brought a great deal of tension and horror to James' parents and they got concerned why the doctors were taking so long to refer James to a psychiatrist. It turned out that the doctors couldn't find anyone to help James. They had encountered the same situation before and nothing had changed with the subjects life. They had just suggested that they have to give James time to cope with what's going on and see how he adapts.

It was one day that James had come down from his room, not for dinner, or anything for that matter. His parents noticed his return and were happy to see him. After over as month of not speaking to his parents, James had said to his mum: "Mum, can you come upstairs to my room, there's something I want to show you." This came across as strange to both of James' parents, but they were intrigued to see what he wanted to show them. James' mother had gone upstairs alongside her son. He didn't speak a single word on this venture. Once they had reached James' room, the mother had walked in first and said "Well, what is it James?". During this, the bedroom door had slowly creaked to a close. The mother had slowly turned around to be faced with her neck being slit by a kitchen knife. James just looked at his now blood suffocating mother, no emotion, just blankly looking at her dying in front of him. After this happened, James had repeated the process with his father. With both parents now dead for unknown reasons, James had cleaned himself up, stole his parents money, packed some supplies and left the residence without hesitation.

Arriving at 'Road':

After travelling for 3 days, with the supplies he had been carrying on his back and the money he stole from his parents wallets, James had reached a town of an unknown name. There was a sign that had the name of it scribbled on so the text became unreadable. To give more of a purpose to this newly encountered location, James had given a name to the town: the simple name of 'Road'.

He sat on the streets for several days until a woman came up to him and offered him a home to stay in. James had accepted the offer. This random woman was a part of a Skinhead cult within 'Road' and had asked James if he wanted to become part of their group. James had accepted the offer. When the woman asked for his name, he couldn't answer, as he doesn't remember his true name. He may have been called James by his now dead parents, but he didn't know what names were. The woman had given him the name of 'Skin-Lad', and this is when his Skinhead lifestyle had begun.

During the Events of 'Road':

Because of his violent nature, Skin-Lad had joined the local gymnasium, like his past self, and had been recognised by his skills in Boxing. When being asked where he got taught, he couldn't say, as he couldn't remember. Going past all of this, Skin-Lad had signed onto a job as a personal trainer at the gym. This was going well until his violent ways got ahead of him as he severely injured one of his students by training them the wrong way. Now, after having been sacked from his job, Skin-Lad was a fully devoted Skinhead, he still trained hard to be the best he could be physically, but he also wanted to be "the best skinhead".

He had also worked at the local Asphalt Factory for a while, but this all changed when he refused orders from higher members of the workplace - "I don't want to work in the engineering firm!".

Behind the scenes of 'Road', Skin-Lad was having moments of frustration as he couldn't remember his past life. He goes to bed each night in tears because of this. This frustration is also what leads him to fight people on 'Road' without any purpose. Skin-Lad has been seen by the likes of Scullery jogging about 'Road' late at night for the chance to regain his memories by retracing his steps. This sadly never works, frustrating Skin-Lad even more.

A female skinhead called Christine Dawson knows the struggles that Skin-Lad goes through and appears as though she wants to help him, but what she really wants at the end of the day is to have sex with Skin-Lad. Once realising this, Skin-Lad had refused any further offers/ supposed guidance from her. Skin-Lad's unnamed Skinhead mother on 'Road' tries to treat him with all the love and care in the world as she has no biological child of her own. Skin-Lad doesn't care for love, so he turns her aside and runs away from home.

After running away to live on the streets, day in, day out, Skin-Lad does the same routine; he goes to the gym to practice his tactics and learn new techniques, goes for a daily jog around the 'Road' and tries to recall his memories without success. This all changed one night when he had decided to go out to the local disco joint hosted by foul mouthed Bisto.

Skin-Lad had been the last to exit the Disco as he had spent the majority of that night sitting by the loud speakers to get rid of the headaches he had gained by not recalling his memories. He noticed that there was a person who looked like a bouncer standing by the door all alone. He walked up to this person and they both had a conversation. This persons name was Mickey Isherwood.

Skin-Lad wanted to return home so he had left Mickey to himself. After taking a few steps down the same street as the Disco, Skin-Lad had remembered wanting to ask Mickey if he wanted to hang out sometime as this was someone who actually wanted to talk to him and be his friend on 'Road'. What was strange was that Mickey was no where to be seen. Skin-Lad just disregarded it and decided to catch up with him later on. This was when he then encountered some rival Skinheads sitting/standing by the wall. He couldn't just walk by and leave them be as they all stared at him, so he just stood there and looked at the full moon in the midnight sky.
The rival Skinheads had begun to creep up behind Skin-Lad, and as he felt their breath, without hesitation and at a high speed, Skin-Lad had turned a full 90 degrees and lifted one of the rival Skinhead's by the neck. This was to be the pinnacle point of Skin-Lad's new life.

As he struck intimidation and fear into the rival skinheads eyes, Skin-Lad had noticed a 'figure' in his peripheral vision. He strangely felt like he knew who this was so he just nodded at him. This was when the 'figure' started laughing at Skin-Lad. This infuriated Skin-Lad, forcing him to snap the neck of the rival Skinhead to chase after the 'figure' who was now running away from him. Skin-Lad had lost sight of the 'figure' for a brief moment, this was until he saw his shadow go down a narrow alley. Skin-Lad had him cornered now.

When Skin-Lad caught up to the 'figure', he had noticed him facing the wall in a sort of peeing position. He ignored this and moved in to strike. Skin-Lad had struck his fist deep into the abdominal area of the 'figure', but after what should of left him in a great deal of pain, the 'figure' just smiled at Skin-Lad. The 'figure', with his face covered by darkness, slowly opened his eyes to Skin-Lad and said to him "Over to you, Buddha." Skin-Lad had now seen who the 'figure' really was. He saw himself, but with a complete difference in appearance. This 'figure' was James, Skin-Lad's past persona before he had his boxing accident. Skin-Lad had passed out after this moment.

When Skin-Lad woke up the next day, his life had changed forever. He no longer wanted to go to the gym. He no longer wanted to go out for a jog at night. All he had wanted to do was to meditate and read the Dharma. After meditating for the duration of 'Road' after his monologue, Skin-Lad had started to recall some of his past memories by delving into his inner psyche.

After the Events of 'Road':

No-one truly knows what happened to Skin-Lad after the events of 'Road'. Some say he had moved on in his life, others say he got so mentally mad that he killed himself. Skin-Lad's lifestyle of becoming a Buddhist monk had completely altered his life, he felt that if he spent one second not meditating that he would lose his faith in the religion. He had not eaten for several days due to this. Maybe he did die, but maybe, unlike some characters in 'Road', he really did finally find his own escape...

Skin-Lad's Personality (How he's different/similar to Me) and Background Character Details (Discussion about Skin-Lad's Feelings):

I come across as a sort of calm, quiet person. I like to absorb information and be able to express it as detailed as possible in written work, which is hopefully what I'm doing here in this blog. I'm not a violent person, I like to resolve situations through words, not actions.

Skin-Lad, however, is much different. He wants to take the action everywhere he goes and for every person he encounters. Before he heads out everyday, he picks that one target which he'll be aiming for on the human body if he does come into a combat situation.

Skin-Lad is similar to me in the way of detailing things the best way possible, but not in the same way. He expresses his information through words and overthinks a lot throughout his sentences. He can be calm at times when he's not thinking about fighting someone, but he's definitely not quiet, he'll argue at someone without reason, even if he doesn't know them.

Now I would like to talk about the background details of Skin-Lad's personality. As I've already included a full synopsis of his life before and after the events of 'Road', we can see how much of a psychopath or "Fucking Nutter" he appears to be. But does he realise this? His overall personality has been heavily affected by the incident in the boxing competition he had. The fact that Skin-Lad can't remember his past: who he is, where he's from, his own life really frustrates him. This frustration he has is what makes him who he is now. All of this anger keeps building up the more he thinks about the matter. But behind closed doors, Skin-Lad becomes something much less in the form of being depressed and crying to sleep at night simply because he can't remember all of these things.

The contextual research I've done for this production has really benefitted in my understanding of Skinheads in the 1980's overall, but all of this added stuff to do with Skin-Lad's personality and character: what he does before and after 'Road', past experiences etc. is all to my own interpretation and I'm happy with the results.

Discussion of How the Audience Will Remember Me:

I feel proud to say that I have both the passion and dedication to shave my head for this role. I think it'll really help massively in making the audience remember me after the performance had finished since, because it's generally the same people coming to see all of our performances (parents, other students etc.), they'll remember me having my hair before and once they realise why I've shaved my head that's when they'll recall me possibly more than any other actor/character on-stage. This alongside with my overall change in attitude to match that of a real skinhead is sure to bring a shock to the people in the audience who have seen me perform before.

As one of my inspirations for this performance was from Constantin Stanislavski's creation of 'Method Acting', I want to be able to walk on stage as the character. Sure, I've done performances in the past being a character, but I've never felt that really embodied by them, I would still feel a little like myself at times and I don't like that. I think that Method Acting is something I'd like to continue progressing with for my acting career, I really want to become the character's that I'm cast as, I'm fully willing to shave my head, buy expensive pieces of clothing because it I don't, I won't look my best for the role and it may affect the overall presence I'm trying to portray.

Another thing that'll make the audience remember me, especially the older members, is how I'll generally be acting as Skin-Lad. As well as following the physical appearance of a Skinhead in the 1980's, I'll also be following the mannerism's that Skinheads would of had. From my contextual research, and from any other sources I've seen of Skinheads, they are generally seen as intimidating, aggressive - pretty much a 'bad-boy' figure like I've described them as before. I'll be strutting around stage, following the acting decisions I've made (listed below), going towards the audience etc. This is something I've never done for any of my performances and I think that showing all of these changes will really engage the audience more.

How Will I Perform as Skin-Lad? Talking about Skin-Lad's Persona, How the Audience will remember Me Part 2:

For this sub-heading, I will mainly be listing what I plan to do as Skin-Lad on-stage. I'll be talking about things such as the characters physical stance, how he speaks to the audience during his monologue and any other small things I've added just to enhance my understanding of the character. Most of this knowledge I would of gained from my Contextual Research, but more than most of it is from my own understanding of real live Skinheads. This will also go towards how the audience will remember me after the performance has finished since the differences between Skin-Lad and myself in real life will be self evident both within the notes I'll be listing and how I'll perform on the performance date.

Stance: Skinheads don't have the normal stance that any other normal person would. They are most recognisably known to have their shoulders rolled back, head bouncing along as they walk really big long steps and they hold onto their bracers (if they're wearing them).

Physical Actions: These are mostly going to be things that I'll be doing throughout the monologue to keep things interesting.

I'll be breathing heavier than normal for some moments, especially when I go nearer to the audience when I'm asking them questions - "Do you know about fighting? (this is where I'll be looking slowly at each person in the audience until I stop in front of one person and slowly lower myself in front of their faces), (Abruptly) No! I'll tell you in my story."

I'm going to be using my tongue a lot when I'm not talking, I'll be doing things such as slowly licking my lips or just keeping my mouth open and moving it just to present an unusual image. This could come across as sort of 'blood-thirsty' for some people, which both expands upon his own personality as a Skinhead and my own interpretation of the character for his blood filled, murderous past experiences.

I'll be rubbing my head a few times throughout the monologue. This can reflect the stress that Skin-Lad goes through in his life from both his dedication into fighting and learning new tactics and techniques and also to go along with the backstory I made up for him where he's battling himself mentally to recall past memories.

This is something that I'd seen from Jon Bernthal's performance as the character called Shane in 'The Walking Dead' television series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TCLgLCz6G4

The link above goes to a YouTube clip containing the many times that the character rubs his head throughout his time on the show. More than most, the character rubs his head either during or after a stressful situation has occurred. Although this clip is mainly used for comedic purposes for fans of the show, but this is a physical action that adds towards his character, and also something which I've taken inspiration from.

The final thing that I'll be doing for my performance as Skin-Lad is engaging with the audience by form of staring at them. Me doing this in a certain way will look intimidating/threatening.

Vocalisation: There is going to be multiple times where Skin-Lad will be shouting at the audience, or at least speaking at a much higher volume to get his point across. He will indeed come across as a more intimidating and physically demanding character.

There will be multiple pauses (not too long) throughout the monologue to create tension for the audience. I want them to feel like they are in danger and need to get out of the theatre before I make any rash decisions. Me changing my overall appearance just adds to this effect even more.

My Interpretation of 'the Tingle':

During his monologue, Skin-Lad keeps referring back to something which he calls "the tingle". He says that this is something which comes whilst he's fighting people - "Well... You can't say it, can ya! It'll come when you're fighting. Sometime in the middle, sometime beginning, sometime end. But it won't stay." When first reading the monologue, I'd depicted that 'the tingle' is obviously to do with him fighting others, but I kept asking myself what it was exactly. This is when I thought of a fight scene contained within the modern adaptation of "Sherlock Holmes" starring Robert Downey Jr.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGCMfprPJoA

There is a moment in the fight where Sherlock Holmes is describing which body parts he is going to be striking to take out his opponent - this can link towards how Skin-Lad picks his "Targets!". But I like to think that this small moment in the fight is what 'the Tingle' Skin-Lad speaks of is.

Sadly this is something I can't recreate within my monologue, but I think that it's a good interpretation of what 'the Tingle' is only going more in-depth into my own understanding of the character.