PDF file: Drama - Higher - Lovers - Education Scotland

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44 DIRECTORY OF ACTING PIECES Acting roles DRAMA SECTION B Mag A strong female role well suited to a young actress. The danger with the portrayal of this character is that it is all too easy to show her mood swings and fall into the trap of presenting a two-dimensional character by over-acting. Mag is a complex character. The actress should endeavour to show her hidden depths. Mag is a lively, vibrant character and there is plenty of opportunity to use movement to get across her changing moods. Movement could also be used to good effect in the sequences where she uses mimicry to get back at her oppressors. Ideally, Mag should have an Irish accent. The language Mag uses in the play adds to her appeal as it is full of romantic imagery and has a likable, Irish quality to it.There is a great deal of humour in the lines that Mag delivers. Mag’s lines also demonstrate her maddening contradictions as well as her insecurity. Her assertions may well be irksome at times, and there is evidence of an immature Mag. However, we do also gain a sympathetic view of her when she reveals her naive, fretful, innermost thoughts. Mag and Joe are in love. The actress has to be able to convey this powerful emotion. There are many occasions in the play where this could be demonstrated through close physical contact. The actress has to feel comfortable with this and not show any kind of embarrassment. Mag wants to be loved and cared for by Joe and to know that he will not abandon her but stick by her. Joe A strong male role well suited to a young actor. The danger for the actor here is to underplay the part to the point that Joe is overshadowed by Mag. This appears to happen to a certain extent in the script. However, Joe does have plenty of opportunities to make his presence felt. Joe is a big contrast to Mag. He too is a complex character. The actor has to show his quiet bookish nature, his conformist side, his vulnerability, his insecurity; and yet the actor must also deliver the histrionic sequences where he uses mimicry to get back at his oppressors. (Joe can be as much of a madcap as Mag. This is one of the reasons why she has fallen in love with him.) The mimicry sequences are the ideal places for the actor to use a range of movement skills to create the caricatures of Mr Kerrigan, Father Kelly et al. Ideally, Joe should have an Irish accent. There are a number of very tense, angry exchanges between Joe and
DIRECTORY OF ACTING PIECES Mag. The actor needs to convey his frustration at not being able to fulfil his ambitions. Joe loves Mag dearly and this serves as a counterbalance to the angry exchanges. The actor should be able to show the tenderness and gentleness of Joe’s feelings for Mag. The actor needs to feel comfortable with these very romantic moments in the play. Andy Comedy can look easy to pull off, but in practice it requires a delicate balance of performance skills. This role is very easily over-acted. The actor must avoid merely presenting Andy as a comical buffoon. Remember Friel states that Andy is regarded as ‘a slightly dull man’ and that he is ‘unaware of the humour in a lot of the things that he says’. If you play the role of Andy for laughs and deliver his lines as rehearsed ‘gags’, then you are missing the point. In many ways Andy is quite a gentle character. He is gauche and inexperienced. He is uncomfortable in the company of women. The strained conversation between Andy and Hannah gives a clear insight into this aspect of his character. Ideally, Andy should have an Irish accent. His lines give the actor plenty of scope to use a variety of voice techniques. The actor must not overplay the comedy of his lines and ensure that due attention is given to comic timing. The difficulty for a young actor is getting across that Andy is middle-aged. This is particularly pertinent when it comes to portraying Andy in movement terms. Fifty is not old. But, it is Andy’s age that helps to work the comedy of the courting sequences. The audience is shocked and embarrassed as they don’t expect to see this middle-aged couple courting in the way that they do in the play. These sequences are certainly farcical, yet they should get the audience to consider the sadness of the ridiculous ploy that two middle-aged lovers have to use. Remember their ploy is used in order to do something as innocent as kissing. The difficulty for a young actor is to be able to deliver the balance of comedy and pathos. He needs to avoid presenting Andy as a ridiculous caricature. Andy is concerned about what others in his strict Catholic community think of him. He is a conformist. He needs these people to see him as a ‘decent’ and ‘civil’ man. Hannah A challenging female role. We have to see the change in Hannah’s character from passionate middle-aged lover and begrudging house servant to the devoted daughter, ‘the image of her mother’, who spurns her husband due to his drunken outburst. Hannah is uncomfortable in the company of men. We know in part that this is because she has had little contact with men, including her own father. We sense that her mother is suspicious of men. Ipso facto Hannah is suspicious of men. After all she has not had the attentions of a man for over twenty years. DRAMA 45
Page 1 and 2: INTRODUCTION In 1993 Scottish CCC p
Page 3 and 4: OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION
Page 43: OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION
Page 47 and 48: DIRECTORY OF ACTING PIECES Hannah.
Page 49 and 50: Winners, Episode One Page reference
Page 51 and 52: Losers, Extracts Two and Three Page

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