In this session I had a break through with the Daughter/Counting money scene. When I first read the play and admittedly even when I started the process and now we are a good way through it I just glossed over this scene. It wasn't that interesting and felt really out of place in the play. I understand the requiring daughter motif to make Skilling into a 3D father, man and person outside of the world of business but I just didn't quite understand why I was really counting money with her. Although when we started working on this scene today I got some direction that completely changed the way I play the scene and my relationship to the daughter as a character:
Skilling neglects his daughter throughout the play; there's loads of example such as in scene 8 when I say I was on the phone when she was born. However I'd never really thought about the implications of what that does to me as a character. Just because he neglects here doesn't mean he wants/means or doesn't love her. He gets distracted by the world he's trying to change and accidentally leaves her behind. So in this scene he's trying to genuinely connect with her but the connection is broken by him counting the money.
So instead of pretending to start counting out of nowhere I have an actual objective that keeps being interrupted by my racing mind. I'm trying to connect with my daughter by playing this game where I chase her and try to get her attention but she's the one being distracted by her own childlike whimsy. roots me in the scene and actually gives me actions purpose unlike before when I was really just pretending. This work today has unblocked me from achieving good acting in this scene; I now have something to pursue and play. In order to make this scene even better I can build up my relationship to my daughter. I could do this by creating imaginary memories with her to deepen my connection to Chloe so I can have a more genuine reaction when I am playing with her.
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