‘Jerry’
Performance
Techniques
What
Theatrical Aesthetic can I bring to the character?
What
does ‘Jerry’ look like? – Amongst all the characters, ‘Jerry’ is the
weary
old war veteran. Visually he would have the appearance of an
energetic mid-life man. His wardrobe I
pictured to be simple, yet formal, and to give the indication that he is almost
“dressed to impress” even though his wardrobe could be considered “lazy”. Two clothing styles of inspiration were:
I found these two images would summarise ‘Jerry’s’ wardrobe. Both indicate a formal, old age, feel, plus
with their near colourless vision and power it reflects a sense of mystery,
tragedy, and, I find, a sense of concern.
Saying that this isn’t a character you might want to be in contact with,
foreshadowing my performance style of creating a sense of creepiness to his
actions.
What would ‘Jerry’
smell? - As his monologue draws to its end he shares
his thoughts on how the world has changed; “I can’t see how that time could
turn into this time.” I find this
extremely reflective, showing how he despises how modern society has changed. Plus I find this reflective of what his sense
of smell is. Of course with his pain and
living in the past attitude, supported in Act Two, we find that ‘Jerry’ is in
fact an alcoholic. Making all those who
meet or come across him smell the beer.
But I believe that the smell of alcohol has become his aftershave, it
has become a natural smell to him, but I find the one thing that increases his
disliking towards modern society is the greasy and dirty smells his road gives
off. Plus it also reflects a theme of
‘inevitability’, as I find ‘Jerry’ who straight up hates the world and the new
generation, ‘Generation X’, but cannot hide forever and finds himself,
particularly later in the play that he excepts he is part of this new
world. “Jerry comes on in a worn blue
velvet jacket, shirt, tie. He is drunk
and weepy-looking, eyes closed, dancing round and round with himself, across
the stage.”
What does ‘Jerry’
feel? - Of course ‘Jerry’ feels absolute sorrow
and pain. One feature that stood out for
me, in ‘Jerry’ monologue, was his repetitive usage of the words “I can’t get
over the past, how it was. I just
can’t.” Plus with his mention of “I was
RAF” making it clear for me that this was a character with tragedy in his history. As well as being backed-up by the theme of
‘change’ and how he despises the new generation and the look of modern society,
his monologue allows me the opportunity, as an actor, to express multiple
emotions within less than ten minutes of stage time. I will express:
·
Pain – Over the loss of
his old friends; “I see ‘em now me old friends, their young faces turning round
and smiling.”
·
Sorrow – Particularly for
himself as he is desperate to get out and do something. Except he is plain lazy. I deduced this through his stage direction: “He puts his tie on the ironing board, irons
it.” This, I found, depicted his
preparation for a night out, but clearly after his monologue he isn’t meeting
any friends nor anyone for that matter.
·
Despise – Vastly towards
the new generation and how society has changed, clearly not to his liking.
·
Dread – I deduced this
particularly through his final words: “F***ing hell who’s spoiling life, me,
us, them or God?” I found that this is a
reflection that he fears if he steps out of his doors he will instantly become
a part of this new and dangerous world. Something he dreads and possibly fears.
What
performance style will I bring to the performance?
·
Accent – With Jim
Cartwright’s ‘ROAD’ being set in the North of England, many of the characters
have a Northern Accent; ‘Jerry’ is no exception. Deduced from my first read through of the
script ‘Jerry’s’ pronunciation of words, such as “them” are projected as
“’em”. As well as using “me” instead of
“my”. I found this to be a challenge as
an actor as I personally never succeeded in mastering the Northern Accent,
having previously slipped into a Scottish Accent. But with support and vocal lessons and
techniques I am succeeding bringing ‘Jerry’ to life vocally in rehearsals. (One particular video that has supported my
projection and inflection into the Northern Accent is Emily Bland’s Accent Tag
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OktDllQvXIY
– supporting my projection and inflection of the accent into everyday little
words) Plus for the main performance I
aim to truly reflect the setting of this play, by mastering the Northern Accent
and bring ‘Jerry’ to life as intended and in a realistic manner.
·
The Monologue – Going through the
monologue, and learning my lines, I find that this scene alone has its own
style and story, extracted from the rest of the play. While the majority of ‘ROAD’ bring many
different and unique characters with various opinions and views of the modern world/society,
I find ‘Jerry’s’ has a significant difference.
His monologue offers an intriguing tragedy background, plus the audience
can become all the more engaged to see the true pain and suffering of this
character. But what I hope to accomplish
within this performance it show layers to this character. Giving him more dimensions (instead of making
a simple tragic character) and showing an aggressive, perverted, and dreaded
side to the character’s structure. I
believe if I can physically and vocally projected the layers of details that I’ve
discovered in the character origins and status I can make this monologue one of
the most intriguing and stand out moments from ‘ROAD’.
What
major themes does ‘Jerry’ represent?
When analysing the script of ‘ROAD’ in
more detail in a class we deduced several themes. While the list varied I found these themes
were the most essential within ‘ROAD’s’ storyline:
·
Change
·
Relationships
·
Friendships
·
Depression
·
Sex
and Drugs
·
and
Poverty
All I found summarised the play’s
characters (the confusing and dysfunctional friend and family relationships),
their attitude (towards the change in their society and their usage of alcohol
and drugs), and reflective of the world this play is set in (the 1980s when
society changed in politics, poverty, economy, society, and when sex was viewed
differently by the generation of that time).
But what themes does ‘Jerry’
represent? I particularly found, when
reading through the script and learning my lines, that ‘Jerry’ has five
distinct themes. The themes are
incredibly reflective of ‘Jerry’s’ character, his origins, and his
attitude. These themes are:
1) Change – When researching the recorded history of
Britain I looked particularly to what major changes happened in the society in
the 1980s. Through this research I found
three historical events that changed society.
These events were:
Margaret Thatcher becoming Prime Minister
– This was a huge historical event; Britain had gained it first female Prime
Minister. This caused a huge divide
between the British public and politicians; “Thatcher was respected but not
liked by the British public” - http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/thatcherism_01.shtml. Breaking away from the diversity traditions
and showed what women can do in their prime wasn’t to everyone’s liking.
The Economic and Currency changes –
More historical events that had a huge impact that divided the public’s
opinions was the economic changes. This
caused great stress and concern for nearly everyone in the UK at the time. Supporting Margaret Thatcher’s rise to Prime
Minister was also the rise of conservative in Houses of Parliament, causing the
inflation of the economy. This lead to
many becoming unemployed or receiving a lower pay salary. “Unemployment shot up to 3 million and high
unemployment persisted throughout the 1980s.” - http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/630/economics/economy-in-1980s/. Plus all backed up by the change in the
currency becoming pounds caused more stress amongst the public.
A New and Different Generation entered the
world –
With the 1980s being a huge political decade of change, all events didn’t quite
have a personal effect on the public quite like this change. Known as ‘Generation X’, all those born after
the Second World War experienced the society changes and received a new
education into matters/subjects like sex and politics. This caused more attitudes amongst all teenage
individuals, plus opinions, views and attitudes towards sex became more open
and less personal. The impact and shock
changed the future generations to become something out of tradition and
new. ‘Generation X’ - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X.
I found through this research, backed up with my understanding of my
monologue, that it is these three historical events that have had the biggest
change emotions to ‘Jerry’. Plus I find
it give some reasons behind his actions, gestures and opinions to these
matters. He has a slight disliking
attitude towards women, and having a female Prime Minister and people changing
their views of the role of women changing as well doesn’t help him when he
expresses his views and disliking to women.
Backing up this he has a strong connection with tradition, so with an
economic and currency change, I find, he wouldn’t cope with these
circumstances, especially when it supports his living. But all wrapped up with the change of the newer
generation having an attitude towards sexism and society is extremely not to
his liking as it is all out of tradition, and in his eyes, horrific. So I feel the theme of change has a huge
impact on the character, and I wish to project that physically in my
performance.
2) Loss – I believe this theme has a more devastating
impact on ‘Jerry’ particularly when he talks of his origins. I found that in one of his last lines, it
strongly identifies his sorrow of the loss of his friends: “I see ‘em now me
old friends, their young faces turning round and smiling.” Indicating as well that he might have lost
them during the war, and feels either responsible or guilty for their losses. I personally feel that it is ‘Jerry’ feeling
responsible. I like to believe this because
it backs up his sexist attitude towards women.
In his monologue he gives a few hints towards perverting towards women
(or “girls” as he refers to them as) but he mentions that his girlfriend worked
in a factory – “And you’d go to your girlfriend’s factory.” – This gave me the
impression that he had a strong, and very, independent young lover. However with him feeling responsible for the
death of his friends he might have felt the need to express his anger and guilt
towards her. This might have caused
friction between them in their relationship; the only problem was he wouldn’t
let her leave (in keeping the traditions of having only one relationship
partner). So when his girlfriend became
more and more depressed and alone in their relationship she decided to leave
him and secretly marry another man. When
discovering this news ‘Jerry’ would have been both really disappointed and
really sad. Disappointed because his
girlfriend joined the new generation and broke the tradition gender roles. But sad as well because he lost the only
person, he never told, he loved. So
where we find him in the play he is moaning both losses and drinks away the memories,
and perverting at other women as a way to get back at her, but in both
circumstances fails as he doesn’t go anywhere with his life.
3) Pain – ‘Jerry’s’ pain strongly links in with
his losses. In my performance I will
really enhance my vocalisation and physicality to show what pain this character
is going through. Plus with an
understanding of his origins now I will project these emotions, but give them
to the audience to an extent that they don’t feel complete sorrow for the
character and more shock at what he has become as a human being.
4) Greed – I strongly believe this comes into the
character of ‘Jerry’ only slightly. I
see greed within him as I want to show a dreadful and perverted side to the
character and give an indication that he is almost seeking women for sexual
pleasures in a greedy manner. As I
mentioned earlier he perverted thoughts and gestures towards the opposite sex
come down to a slight sense of revenge towards his ex-girlfriend. Therefore for line extracts, such as: “And
the girls, so pretty.” This line will be
my opportunity to show his greed. But I
will also use this line: “You know I’m not saying this is right, but girls didn’t
even go in pubs.” Especially the wording
of “I’m not saying this is right” gives a slight indication, in my eyes that he
is holding back slightly in expressing his opinion of women. Showing he knows that women are becoming more
independent and it is wrong to make sexist comments now, so he slightly holds
back on what he says. Plus it could be
his way to find another lover.
5) and Downfall – This theme strongly comes through how we
currently find the character. ‘Jerry’
has truly fallen throughout his history.
He began as a respected individual, now he can’t accept the changes in
his life he has become an outcast and can be considered lazy, sexist, and
useless. While in his monologue he
attempts to take a stand and prove he could be, and used to be. But the monologue, I also find, ‘Jerry’ expresses
that he is too lazy to continue and wishes to keep in his current house hold
traditions. Thereby making ‘Jerry’ the
perfect depiction of how far an individual can fall if they don’t try.
Key
Influences/Practitioners
What
contextual research has influenced me?
Through my research and understanding of
three major historical events in the 1980s I have been strongly been influenced
to perform a physical and vocal projection of themes and emotions to the
character of ‘Jerry’.
As stated previously the three major
events: Margaret Thatcher becoming Prime Minister, The Economic and Currency
Changes, and A New and Different Generation entering the world; all have caused
a huge impact on the Historical, Political, Economical and Social structure of
this world and ‘ROAD’s fictional depiction the same world. Plus all three events have had a huge impact
on the character, especially ‘Jerry’. As
I also stated previously, I will use these historical events as inspiration to
give greater depth and meaning to ‘Jerry’s’ character.
Using performance techniques such as
vocalisation and physicality (as well as the script) I will bring the character
to life. Giving hints and references towards
the themes he represents and how the historical events back up his
characterisation and the plot of ‘ROAD’.
Thereby giving my performance, and the entirety of the play, a deeper
meaning and representation of future generations to behold and take in for
their future.
How
will I structure this performance?
Physically -
These
are the Physical performance traits that I will project:
·
A
posture status of shoulders high, knees bent, and a slow walking pace to show
the character origins and state of mind (mourning the loss of his long gone
friends).
·
Slow
hand gestures to show the old age that is suddenly dawning of him (he is only in
his middle ages and old age is suddenly hitting his body and saying “it’s time
to give up”).
·
Slow
and creepy facial expressions, all the more to back up his old age and his perverted
attitude towards women.
Vocally -
These are the Vocal performance traits that
I will project:
·
A
gruff vocal tone, to project his old age and bumpy roller-coaster filled
journey that has brought his life to this.
·
A
near silent and slow pace, though this I can really show the audience ‘Jerry’
is calculating his speech (thinking what he ought to say next) even when he
changes the subject.
·
A
change of pitch and volume when the monologue draws to an end, especially on
the line: “I see ‘em now me old friends,” to really express the sadness of this
character. But as the monologue ends: “F***ing
hell who’s spoiling life,” I want to indicate a sense of anger and frustration,
to give my scene an ambiguous ending, giving the audience the opportunity to
ask themselves “was that a good or bad character?”
Previous
Characterisations
When analysing this character I looked to
what other characters on stage or screen and inspire me to make my performance
all the more convincing and intriguing.
Through my research I have come across three particular characters who I
believe have a significant reflection/similarity to the character of ‘Jerry’. If it is in the character’s physicality,
origins, or vocalisation it has inspired me to bring ‘Jerry’ to life as
intended. These characters are:
1.
‘Scaramouche Jones’
from ‘Scaramouche Jones’ by Justin Butcher – One feature that appealed to me
about the similarities between ‘Jerry’ and ‘Scaramouche Jones’ was their
origins. Both characters have been
through a lot and have seen many things and both have the sense of a
tragedy. The only difference is that ‘Scaramouche
Jones’ uses his tragedies as way of entertainment and comic relief for others
to behold. But I do get the sense that ‘Scaramouche’
also has moments of complete break downs and mourns his losses, this is where I
think the strongest similarity is. ‘Jerry’
spends the majority of his time, both on and off stage, mourning his loss of
friends and family. But I do get the
sense that he spends his social time hiding his pain to appeal to others, the
only difference is he isn’t doing it as a clown, he is doing it to gain new
friends and lovers. So together ‘Jerry’
and ‘Scaramouche Jones’ share a tragedy in their origins story, and they share
the ability to hide their emotions to attempt to bring about a better future
for themselves.
2.
‘Grand Maester
Pycelle’ from HBOs TV Series ‘Games of Thrones’ written by George R. R. Martin – While ‘Pycelle’
and ‘Jerry’ have very different qualities, in that ‘Pycelle’ is the grand Physician
in his capital city and ‘Jerry’ is not I find they have many similarities
vocally and objectively. Vocally I see
that ‘Pycelle’ is a weary old man and strongly considers what he is about to
say. This is something I really want to
project in my performance as ‘Jerry’, the only difference is ‘Jerry’ does not exaggerate
that his is an elderly man. But objectively
both character share a creepy passion towards younger women. On screen audiences see ‘Pycelle’ enduring
sexual activities with women and proceeds to show his perverted and creepy
actions towards them, in a way believes that women are only there for his
pleasures. In some ways I believe that ‘Jerry’
would have the same affections. Not in
the sense that he is only attracted to women because he believes they are there
for sex, but in the creepy fashion that he cannot take his eyes off the really good
looking women and cannot stop his mind from wondering. So I find ‘Pycelle’ and ‘Jerry’ share the
same vocal traits and attitudes towards women.
3.
‘Edith’ from ‘13’
by Mike Bartlett
– Now this character I believe has the closest similarities to ‘Jerry’. ‘Edith’ is at an old age and finds she is
incapable of managing the ever changing attitude of the world around her. Although ‘Edith’ isn’t lazy as such she is
slow in processing what she is to do and what the consequences of her actions
are. But I think that is a strong
similarity to ‘Jerry’. ‘Jerry’ too is at
an age where he is incapable of managing and accepting the ever changing
society around him. Plus he does not put
one hundred percent of his mind towards his actions, thereby suffering the consequences.
I stand by in stating that these three characters
are the most similar to ‘Jerry’ and have inspired me the most to bring him to
life on stage. In my main performance I
hope to make the slightest of references and give that relevance and similarity
nearly obvious to audience members who know the other characters and can
instantly relate and like the character of ‘Jerry’ because of these slight
similarities.
Personality
To conclude, what do I think summarises ‘Jerry’s’
personality? Through this understanding
of the character and the script, I believe these five points summarise ‘Jerry’s’
personality. These points are:
1. Energetic – When picturing ‘Jerry’ at first I
imagined him to be a younger man with minor areas of momentum and energy within
his actions. But as I progresses in the
rehearsal and blocking processes and saw him as an elderly man I still stand by
thinking of him as energetic. In his mid-fifties
the character is still at an age where he has energy and is capable of doing
physical activities. Except where we
find the character in the script he is in a lazy state and gives the impression
that he isn’t capable of doing any physical activity what so ever. But I’d like to imagine that there is still hope
for this character having an energised future.
2. Engaging – While complex and layered I find there
is a sense of engagement with ‘Jerry’ that I wish to bring forth in my
performance. When reading the script I
feel an engagement particularly towards his gestures and thoughts towards
society and the past, more to that his past.
It is interesting to have the views of an elderly man in real life, but
to have it from this character in this world makes it all the more interesting
to see what he sees of how the world has changed. This is something I serious would like to
bring to the character, so I can make both my character and my performance all
the more memorable for the audience.
3. Social Outcast – ‘Jerry’ is ‘ROAD’s’ perfect example and
representation of a social outcast in this dark depiction of the world. I find that ‘Jerry’ is covered in fear. Fear that he will fall again. Fear that he will never find a friend or a
lover again. Also the fear that he is no
longer of any use to the world. “So
horrible for me and so complicated for me.
And being poor and no good, no use.”
I think this line summarises his social out-casting as it summarises why
he wouldn’t dare step out his own doors.
Believing he will have no purpose and will be instantly pushed
aside. This really enhances my
engagement with the character as I do pity him, and this is what I wish to
bring forth towards the audience, showing more sorrow and less disliking to the
character.
4. Pervert – This comes through his actions, gestures
and thoughts towards the opposite gender.
In this monologue we do get the strong sense that he is/or was a sexist
man and still has an attitude towards women.
Particularly when he has an origins story where the love of his life
left him. This only enhances his slight
hatred towards women. But the perverted
side to it comes from his desire to seek a new lover. By this he spends almost all of his time in
his local pub staring at the women hoping to get attention and perhaps a
future. But it all fails for him, as he
doesn’t understand the next generation of women and falls to being the local
creep.
5. Tradition – ‘Jerry’ very much likes to keep in
tradition. Not only did I receive this
from his old traditional attitude towards the gender roles back before World War
II but he has a very tradition with himself.
In his scripted actions he is very organised with his clothing
preparations, I think I could physically project the traditional manner within
him show his organisation skills. Plus
when it comes to him leaving the house I think I could also show two
meanings. Firstly, he doesn’t like the
new generation’s attitudes and manners and he strongly believes it is out of
tradition for all youth groups.
Secondly, he keeps to his own tradition of not going out unless there is
an important reason for leaving the house. All the more bringing the character we see on
stage to life in an unsecure manner that can be seen as both unhealthy and unnatural
for this man.
I find that all this traits, emotions,
themes and origins that I will bring to life on stage will help me vastly to
bring my character ‘Jerry’ to life. In a
style that is to mine and everyone’s liking, in our performance of Jim
Cartwright’s ‘ROAD’.
