Sunday, September 7, 2014

Character Analysis

I chose to sing a 16 bar cut of "Lying There" from Edges: A Song Cycle for my "audition" during class. This is my analysis of the character, Woman 1, who sings it in the show.

1. The character's name is officially Woman 1, but I really want to call her Lisa. She's always been called Lisa in my head, and is probably 20-25 in age range. She is average height, average weight, average everything in her mind. Lisa is not striking at all, but has a beauty that is not obvious to all. She has dirty blonde or brunette hair and blue eyes. She doesn't dress poorly, but she is not outgoing or bold with clothing choices. 

2. Lisa is not confident. She is introverted and shy, and does not know how to express herself without fear of being judged or looked down upon. Even though people see that she is fairly pretty and kind, she looks down on herself. She is busy with work and her relationship with her boyfriend is in a shaky spot. It feels as if everything that ever goes wrong is her fault. She blames herself for a lot of problems that have happened in the past with her family or job, and is so used to taking the blame that she has no idea how to confront people in a proper way. 

3. Since the only other character in her scene is her boyfriend, I will explain how he sees her. Lisa's boyfriend is very handsome, and he loves her a lot, but Lisa doesn't know why he's even interested in her. He sees her inner and outer beauty, and would call her beautiful, kind, perfect, intelligent. Even though he loves her, he is impatient because her feelings towards him are "wishy-washy." She tends to be unsure of things and doesn't like to take risks. 

4. Lisa loves her boyfriend, but she is not in love with him. She cares about him and loves his as a sister would love a brother, but her relationship is going downhill and she just can't find the words to tell him that. He thinks things are great, but Lisa is scared. She doesn't want to upset anyone, but she needs to get out and find her passions and explore life. 

5. The other character, Lisa's boyfriend, is infatuated with her. He is able to look past her doubts of their relationship, and really wants things to go well. He is optimistic, and totally in love with Lisa. He thinks she is beautiful and special, and believes that the feelings are reciprocated, but how is he to know that Lisa doesn't feel the same way if she never expresses herself. Lisa does not dislike anyone but herself, mostly because she is kind-hearted. There is a certain charm to her, even though she is introverted and shy. 

6. In the past, Lisa had doubts about her relationship with her boyfriend. She finds herself wondering why it's not working out. He is doing everything right! But something is awry, and she knows that it was never meant to be. She has doubts not only about the relationship, but also about her own stability and being ready for a serious relationship. Even so, after the song, she lays down on the couch beside him and tries to sleep.

7. Lisa is afraid to leave the relationship because she does not want to hurt anyone's feelings or have anyone upset with her. She would rather be sad and know she has a nice boyfriend, then miserable without anyone to lean on. Being a nervous person in general, she is scared that she will leave and never find true love. Lisa might have had an experience with a family member or a past boyfriend that lead her to think that way. 

8. kind, average, plain, nervous, content, skeptical, doubting, self-conscious, caring, compassionate 

9. Lisa has had a civil relationship with her parents and siblings. They never fought, but they never were truly honest with each other. To quote Frozen, a "conceal, don't feel" relationship I suppose. Since she never learned to express herself as a teenager, now she is an adult and going through the exact same thing with her boyfriend.