Death of a Salesman Rehearsal Plan
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Death of a Salesman Rehearsal Plan We chose the conversation between Howard and Willy that ends up with Willy being fired because we believed that this was the most important and significant dialogue to occur within the text. It was a clear portrayal of Willy as a failing salesman that distinguished him from the arrogant successful nature of Howard. Most of all, the section outlined and explained Willy’s past as well as the reason he became a salesman. Ivan and I also liked how it mentioned the phrase “death of a salesman” as an easter egg. We started off by researching what the exact natures of the two characters were like through the internet and book itself. We tried to play out and visualize what the setting would be like during drama periods. After reading through the dialogue several times as well as reading the whole text, we formulated a more detailed script of our duologue. This script more clearly outlined what each character’s feelings, thoughts, variation of sound and facial expressions would be in every single line. We even cut out a paragraph that we agreed was unnecessary to the building of our characters given the time limit we had to stick within. However, as we went through our script over and over again, sitting down, we realised that there needed to be more action within the dialogue that was still realistic and true to the characters. We started brainstorming props to add, attire of the characters, objects within the room and interactions with the space that emphasized the desires of the characters. When we were starting to become stuck within our own ideas, we decided to download a film version of Death of a Salesman to be able to see on screen how Willy and Howard’s relationship unfolded. Drawing inspiration from the movie, we adjusted some lines because we thought that they felt more natural.
Transcript of Death of a Salesman Rehearsal Plan
Death of a Salesman Rehearsal PlanWe chose the conversation between Howard and Willy that ends up with Willy being fired because we believed that this was the most important and significant dialogue to occur within the text. It was a clear portrayal of Willy as a failing salesman that distinguished him from the arrogant successful nature of Howard. Most of all, the section outlined and explained Willy’s past as well as the reason he became a salesman. Ivan and I also liked how it mentioned the phrase “death of a salesman” as an easter egg.
We started off by researching what the exact natures of the two characters were like through the internet and book itself. We tried to play out and visualize what the setting would be like during drama periods. After reading through the dialogue several times as well as reading the whole text, we formulated a more detailed script of our duologue. This script more clearly outlined what each character’s feelings, thoughts, variation of sound and facial expressions would be in every single line. We even cut out a paragraph that we agreed was unnecessary to the building of our characters given the time limit we had to stick within.
However, as we went through our script over and over again, sitting down, we realised that there needed to be more action within the dialogue that was still realistic and true to the characters. We started brainstorming props to add, attire of the characters, objects within the room and interactions with the space that emphasized the desires of the characters.
When we were starting to become stuck within our own ideas, we decided to download a film version of Death of a Salesman to be able to see on screen how Willy and Howard’s relationship unfolded. Drawing inspiration from the movie, we adjusted some lines because we thought that they felt more natural.
During our rehearsals, sometimes it would be extremely difficult for Ivan and I to truly “feel” or let ourselves become the character. This was because we didn’t fully relate to the character given our circumstances. Yet i overcame my difficulty in understanding Willy not as a character, but a person, by imagining myself 40 years later, disappointment that i had not achieved all the goals that i optimistically believe i will achieve now. This really shook and shivered my spine, which channeled into my voice and body when i shouted the line “I put 34 years into the company!”. In that 3 or so seconds, i had really became Willy, the old and failed salesman.
One of the main considerations that helped the fleshing out of characters within our minds was analysing what the objectives of our characters were in every word they uttered. But even knowing the objective of my character when he grabs Howard by the collar, an action we had written in, it was hard to actually portray it because i wasn’t actually angry at Ivan and there is a huge difference between acting angry and actually being angry. As contradictory as it may seem, it was actually the imagination and over-the-top-ness that helped in showcasing my character for what he really was in that situation.
When a boxer punches a still bag, he feels less weight than if the bag was moving towards him when he punches it. The same applies to speech or emotion. When Willy is angry and begs Howard, the fact that Howard wanted nothing more than to get away from Willy was a factor that helps the atmosphere of realism of the performance when both actors have gotten the mindsets of their respective characters embedded in their minds.
