'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.