1. Initial Thoughts

Upon reading ‘The Rimers of Eldritch’ for the first time I knew the process would be an exciting and demanding challenge for me as an actor. The play follows a detailed and complex storyline. Its non linear structure was new to me and pushed me to think about story telling and performing in a different way. 

The play explores themes such as hypocrisy, prejudice, ignorance, society, and violence. It centres on a range of characters within a small town as they confront these issues.

These themes highlight the moral failure within the town, exposing how popularity can outweigh justice.  The death of Skelly represents the town’s complicity and fear of confronting the truth. Lanford’s writing feels bold, honest and inspiring. His willingness to expose uncomfortable behaviours challenged me to look more closely at how all characters in this play justify their actions whether they are right or wrong and opened my eyes to how easily a community can allow injustice to happen.  

2. Casting

When our director Jess Millward announced that we would be auditioning for roles in this play, I was very excited. From the beginning we were given an opportunity to approach this process as a professional rather than a student. It helped me envisage being involved in a professional production rather than a class project. 

We were asked to prepare a short scene from the play and choose characters we felt personally drawn to and could genuinely see ourselves playing. As I explored the script, I found myself particularly connecting with the characters of Patsy, Nelly, and Eva, as each offered different emotional challenges and perspectives. For these reasons, I chose to audition for all three roles.  However from the moment I first read the play I felt the strongest connection to the character of Patsy.  She is bold, sassy, and unapologetically headstrong. For a young woman in the 1960s, her confidence and way of life would have been viewed as inappropriate or unconventional, which makes her presence on stage stand out so strongly. Patsy brings humour to the play, but at the same time she represents resilience and female empowerment.

The audition process was motivating, Jess created a welcoming and supportive atmosphere that I immediately felt at ease during what could have been a nerve-racking experience. This environment allowed me to perform my scenes with confidence and make bold choices. I felt particularly proud as I am used to submitting self-tapes rather than auditioning in person.  The experience also highlighted the importance of being able to take direction and apply notes quickly, a skill I am eager to continue developing.

After the audition process I was delighted to be cast as Patsy for Act Two of the play. I was grateful to have the opportunity to explore a contrasting character to those I am usually cast as. I was excited for the challenge of balancing Patsy’s comedic moments with her underlying strength and vulnerability to expand my range as a performer.

3. Character work

As a company, we carefully read through the script together and broke it down into units. Jess described a new unit as being “like a new chapter in a book or a change in temperature on stage,” which helped me visualise how the story shifts and develops. Within each unit, we worked collaboratively to identify the concrete facts, allowing us to build a shared understanding of the narrative and the characters’ circumstances.  This approach helped me to engage with the text on a much deeper level. Through this process we clarified the relationships between characters which helped us to define detailed objectives. (see Figure A)

FIGURE A

​​I found this work to be particularly valuable, as it encouraged me to think more about why Patsy behaves the way she does, rather than simply accepting her actions at face value. Prior to this process, I would have taken her character as she appeared, but this approach pushed me to explore her motivations and circumstances in greater depth, resulting in a more informed and layered performance.

By the time we began running scenes the ensemble shared a clear understanding of each other’s obstacles and objectives and I felt much more grounded and confident in my choices. It also made me realise how important and detailed script work can be, which is something I want to continue developing in future projects. 

Patsy is a young, popular girl which influenced the way I embodied her physically. She is constantly aware of how others perceive her and carries a sense of superiority. Because of this, I chose to give her a straight, upright posture, consistently holding her head high and moving through the space as though she owned it, this helped communicate her confidence and dominance. Patsy is constantly seeking control, therefore I made a conscious effort to physically claim that control dominantly within the space. (See Figure B)

FIGURE B

https://youtube.com/shorts/MWvtKZPuO0U?feature=share

Even in moments of stillness, I wanted Patsy to remain unapologetically herself. I often shifted my weight into one hip, adopting a relaxed yet poised stance that suggested her sass and self-assurance. This physical choice allowed her character to remain present and expressive even when she was not the focus of attention. (See Figure C)

FIGURE C

https://youtube.com/shorts/SvsfVwo7IR8?feature=share

To make these choices more specific I used techniques I had learned previously from animal studies and Laban movement. I explored Patsy through the qualities and essence of a cat which tends to be steady, graceful and self contained yet able to turn quickly into something almost dangerous and vicious within an instant. I portrayed this ‘vicious’ quality specifically in sudden head turns / looks and sharp eye movements. I found the fun in using these techniques when she became defensive, jealous or cruel. To differentiate her inner and outer feelings I chose ‘flick’ which reflects her anxious and reactive energy that sits with her underneath. As the stakes rise for Patsy in the play that internal flick begins to break through her persona. Exploring this contrast helped me to really portray Patsy not just as a sassy bully but a young woman desperately trying to maintain control within her life. 

Vocally I chose to place Patsy’s voice to sit a little higher than my natural pitch reflecting that she is still a teenager. I also wanted her to speak with more volume and projection than I normally would which reinforced her need to be heard and to maintain status within her relationships to other characters within the play. What interested me the most was exploring Patsy’s intonation. Playing with her range, the way she rises, falls and stresses certain words and phrases reveals how carefully she performs this persona of being sassy, and confident. At times her voice becomes playful and exaggerated, performative and almost theatrical which suggests she is being fake and hiding her vulnerability. Working on these different vocal layers with the added strong Southern American accent was a process I not only enjoyed but learned immensely. (See Figure D)

FIGURE D

https://youtube.com/shorts/cNuuHOyl8_Y?feature=share

This process helped me realise how much of the character is shown through what we hear in the voice and these are skills I am keen to develop. I am particularly interested in exploring the same techniques while performing in my own accent so I can see if the choices and techniques I have chosen to use still have a strong enough impact without relying on a new accent.

4. Rehearsal Process

In the lead up to the audition date we spent the time reading and discussing the play and researching the 1960’s in Missouri USA and what was going on socially and politically at the time. This ground work felt essential to the process. It ensured that we approached the text with respect and context and that the full company were all working from a shared understanding rather than guessing our way through the world of the play. (See figure E)

FIGURE E

One exercise that I found useful was creating a personal “timeline” of words that described the play. Everyone contributed one word to describe the play and then we individually organised those words into an order that made sense to us. I found this surprisingly revealing. I found these words to be useful links to help grasp the plot early on. The structure of the play felt initially confusing, this exercise helped to simplify the main themes in a simple and interactive way. (See figure F)

FIGURE F

After casting we moved onto a staggered run of the play. This stage of the process was exciting for everyone, as it was the first time we were able to get on our feet and fully step into our characters. Because it was still early on, nothing was set in stone, which created an opportunity to experiment, take risks, and explore physical choices. It was refreshing to move beyond read throughs and engage with the material physically.

Seeing the play in motion was helpful. Given that the non-linear structure of the play was something that I was finding the most difficult , seeing scenes staged in the space for the first time helped me understand the plot in a way that reading the text alone had not. At the same time I found parts of this slightly intimidating and the structure still felt complicated, we were working in thrust staging and everything felt new and overwhelming. On reflection I realise I held back more than I should have, if I was given the opportunity to repeat the process I would be more confident within this initial stage, and trust my instincts. The next time I enter a staggered run I would like to commit to bolder choices even if they are ‘wrong’ at first. I’m beginning to understand that early rehearsals are the place to learn, explore and make mistakes. 

I believe part of my anxiety came from the intimacy scenes. At first I was nervous about portraying a character who is so confident and comfortable in those moments however as we worked through them safely I realised the importance and liberation of a young woman in this time to own / claim that space. Recognising this and taking ownership felt freeing and it helped me grow as an actor. 

Throughout the process I really began to discover the depth and complexity of Patsy’s character, and I felt myself becoming increasingly immersed in her. I understood that her nastiness and arrogance comes from a place of fear and the instability she faced in her life, this really helped me to become empathetic to my character and justify her behaviour.  This made Patsy more relatable to me, my understanding and sympathy towards her made me so much more connected.  

Most of my scenes as Patsy were with the character Lena, played by Bern.  Together we were able to develop a strong on stage relationship. Through the rehearsal process we began to discover the deeper meaning behind the power dynamic of their friendship and the emotional dependence holding them together.  A breakthrough moment for both us and Jess was the comparison to the characters Cher and Tai from the film “Clueless”. Although we laughed about this, the comparison gave us something strong to hold on to and helped us understand the way Patsy controls, shapes and intentionally/unintentionally manipulates Lena. Recognising that Lena essentially acts like Patsy’s lapdog pushed the comedy in a serious play which I think the audience enjoyed. Reflecting on this I’ve realised how useful it can be to take inspiration from existing characters and how comedy can sometimes reveal deeper truths which in this case revealed status issues, insecurity and the need to belong.   

I felt proud of our final performance as an ensemble. The rehearsal room always felt safe and supportive which encouraged everyone to take risks and to fully commit to their choices. Portraying such a huge personality such as Patsy was demanding both physically and mentally. In the end, being able to find the sense of authenticity from a character that was so far away from my own personality which was so rewarding. I’m leaving this experience with a range of new tools from script analysis, vocal technique, physical work and a new appreciation of collaboration. Most importantly I feel more confident about trusting my instincts and being bold with my choices while staying open to learning and changing. I’m looking forward to implementing these new skills as I further develop my craft.