Actor's Journal
John Ashcraft
Acting 1
Fall 2002

This is my 4th year at UAF and I am looking for a life-enhancing break from my
Computer Science major. I am generally introverted and a bit hesitant to put
myself out in front of people. I am hoping to gain a bit more confidence and
have a lot of fun.

I have had no formal acting instruction but have performed in two East
Anchorage high school productions during the 1998-1999 Academic year:
Arsenic and old Lace (Police Officer)
The Crucible (Deputy Governor Danforth)

Oh yeah, This past summer I Traveled By bicycle a few thousand kilometers
around England, Belgium and the netherlands With the CyClown Bike circus And
we did Circus shows At the Glastonbury Festival in England. I played a Comical
Villain.


NOTE: Because I am so disorganized and hate typing on the computer my class
notes and early journal entries have mostly been taken on random pieces of
paper of which most were probably recycled when my girlfriend cleaned our room
last week. I'm not trying to excuse anything, just explaining why some big
things are missing from this journal.



Character Analysis for final Scene
1.) (Who?) John Proctor, an attractive charismatic 30 year old resident of
Salem Mass. He is a man who is proud of his reputation and feels confident in
his own version of Christianity. I distrust the local preacher even before the
talk of witchcraft begins. Although I do have faith in God I do not have much
confidence that the church always speaks on god's behalf. I have committed the
sin of adultery with an independent young woman when my wife was ill and have
not yet resolved this with my wife. I am torn up inside by the guilt and have
not been close to my wife Elisabeth since. I love her dearly and feel too
unworthy to expect any love from her.
2.) (What?) A resolution between lovers, I am faced with the choice between a
martyr's death and a disgraced life with my wife whom I love but am unsure of
her true feelings toward me.
3.) (When?) Pre-dawn it is a cold fall morning and the little clothing I have
been left with leave me constantly chilled.
4.) (Where?) A Spartan jail cell a bench and a small window.
5.) (Why?) Because there is injustice in the world. Because the church has the
authority of god but the eyes of men and is easily distracted by those with
covetous motives. I have been accused of witchcraft by my partner in adultery
in a backfired attempt to have my wife killed and our sinful relationship
reinitiated. Because God is punishing me for my sin.

Prop idea, I will have a bible in the scene that I am struggling with as
Elisabeth enters. The bible represents my faith, my ideals, my sin and my
death. Eliabeth represents life, family and love. The bible will be passed
around in a way that illustrates this struggle. When I ask her what she would
have me do she offers me the Bible, I reject it to hint that that's not the
answer I'm looking for. The point is made and she takes the uncomfortable step
of telling me she'd prefer me to live. Later at the height of my frustration I
will throw the bible to the ground resolving that I will shed my principles
for my life.

Concern; It is vital to display a sincere and deep intimacy with my wife. How
far should it go, deep eye contact and emotional smiles, intense embrace
passionate kisses or sex on the bench. The scene is about love and breaking
down barriers. If left alone we probably would make love, but I believe the
scene ends before that point. I think that a well performed passionate embrace
is appropriate before I proclaim "I will have my life" that's the last line
and we haven't yet decided on a strong ending.

Motivation, I will use Stanislavski's method acting technique to the best of
my ability. I need to feel john proctor to be John proctor. I do in my life
hold many perfectionist ideals but rarely uphold them. That's a major reason I
put everything off to the last minute because I am so intimidated by the
thought that it needs to be done perfectly. This journal for example I never
felt I could casually write my random thoughts down on the computer in a form
that would accurately reflect my intentions. So I scribble notes on papers
that I don't bother to keep track of.  I once had a plan for my life,
motivation to graduate with a computer science degree and make a lot of money.
Now I have lost faith in that ideal and just want someone to validate my idea
of living simply with no big job and commitments, no expensive house or car. I
want to be able to camp out in the forest for 6 months or live on the street
and experience that community. I am faced with the choice of sacrificing the
life of freedom that I want for the idealized destiny of college degrees,
careers and corporations that I just don't believe in. For me to follow the
`American dream' is a fraud! I cannot honestly go that route I do not have
that dream, it would be a pretense to impress others but it will not be my
life. Nothing is lost by abandoning that path for the life I want.  I want my
life.  I Will have my Life!
Cool, I feel it. I just need to amplify it and bounce it off of Elisabeth.


Lysistrata Play Review.

Lysistrata
By Aristophanes
Theatre UAF Fall 2002
Directed by Thomas Riccio

The message I received from this play is that war is game played by men and
peace is only achieved when the rewards for peace outweigh the rewards of war.
 To illustrate this message Aristophanes shows that women have the power to
withhold the most enticing reward, Sex, in their campaign for peace. In the
end ofcourse the desire for the women of Athens outweighs the urge to destroy
the Spartans. This universal desire brings Spartans and Athenians together. Or
perhaps it is merely a comedy about the two biggest industries in us today,
Sex and war.

As always the acting and costumes impressed me. I will attempt to explain what
made the play an enjoyable experience for me and what I found distracting.

The first thing that caught my attention was that the group of women in the
opening scene seemed to be taking turns delivering lines and making calculated
gestures. There was an unnatural robotic feel to the scene. Although some of
them did move and act a bit when they were not the center of attention I was
not convinced that there was any real motivation behind the lines. This is a
distraction that persisted with me throughout the play.

Charlie Pierce, as the lead of the male chorus played a strong role as an
extremely ridiculous figure. His performance reminded me of a cartoon style
villain who's overconfident attempts always seem to backfire. He remained in
character while on stage and became increasingly comical as the play
progressed, his use of his prosthetic penis as a prop was more convincing than
most of the others, holding it with pride and showing a real excitement. Even
his occasional masturbation helped to express his character's frustration.

Chip Brookes, as Kinesias played a convincing yet brief role as the confident
attractive soldier who has come to shoot down this silly notion that his wife
has of anti-war abstinence. His confidence seems sincere even as his wife,
played by Ariel De Lormier, expertly seduces, teases and rejects him.

By far the most memorable aspect of the play is the spectacle of a Giant penis
and vagina talking, dancing making wise cracks and even fondling each other.
Margaret Bonnell the vagina quivered and tapped herself around the stage in a
constant state of orgasmic flirtation, while her counterpart Robert Anderson
the penis waddled around becoming more erect as she came near. I think the
actor's choices were good here, but I think it may have been a stronger
statement if the vagina had instead undulated like a butterfly which to me
would show the desire and anticipation, not just a constant orgasm while
everyone else is so sexually frustrated.

The costumes were excellent drawing attention to the sexuality of the Greek
men and women. The Vagina costume is particularly memorable because of the
detail in design and the quality of materials used. I particularly liked the
fact that the back side of the giant vagina was a giant uterus and ovaries.



Camelot Play Review
FLOT
November 2002
Herring Auditorium

Note, My notes and the playbill have been misplaced, I apologize for the lack
of names and details.

This was the second time I have had the pleasure of seeing Camelot on stage. I
feel that I was much more critical of this performance than the one I saw at
UAA years ago. This may be due to the fact that I am now familiar with the
score and script, or it may be that my acting 1 class has made me more
judgmental. In any case I enjoyed the musical Immensely, I laughed I nearly
cried and I yawned.

The sound system was atrocious and destroyed the credibility of the characters
in many scenes where a voice would suddenly completely shift back and forth
between tones as the microphone kicked on and off. Lancelot's voice appeared
to crack constantly and it was quite a distraction when Guenevere leaned on
Arthur's shoulder and we heard her breathe into the microphone. But that was
not the fault of the actors.

Arthur's voice was a dynamic aspect of his character. In the opening scene his
voice seemed unnaturally youthful and cracked a bit from time to time. But as
the play progressed and the king became an old man the voice deepened he also
stuttered when he was excited. I think these were excellent choices for the
character but not completely pulled off.

In contrast to the female chorus in Lysistrata I found the large female chorus
in Camelot to be very animated with realistic motivation when their characters
were not the center of attention. They interacted meaningful with each other
and I suspect they had real improvised whispering conversations.

Guenevere had a delightful scene where she cheated in a chess game with the
king as he was distracted by the conception of `Camelot'. She was gleefully
devious as she would move the chess pieces when he was turned away.  In the
end when he casually and distractedly announced a checkmate her frustrated
squeal of surprise and disbelief made me laugh out loud. Her voice, facial
expressions, gestures and timing fit together perfectly for the character.

Pellinore the king's old friend played a good old English fool who has
mastered the use of the word `wot'. The character has a dog that behaved
excellently on stage adding to the comedy. The duo turned an on-stage accident
to an emotionally charged improve. As Lancelot, whom Pellinore distrusts, is
backing away from the king to exit the stage he steps on the lying dog. The
dog's yelp of pain drew the attention of every audience member and Pellinore
expertly and instantly calls the dog to him and sincerely but comically
comforts him telling him to stay out of the way of that rude Frenchman.

Major problems I had with the performance included:

During Arthur's first song he repeatedly missed the beginning of his lines and
would start singing in mid sentence. This was immensely ackward and completely
broke the audience's ability to believe in the scene. I would have much
preferred for him to just skip the whole line in the song and pick up at the
next logical word. It might have still seemed like something was missing but
at least the audience wouldn't be pitting the poor actor who is struggling
with the words of the opening song.

The Villainous Mordred just wasn't devious or evil enough. The playbill said
that he had auditioned with a love song and was surprised to be cast as the
villain, I guess he never got over it. I couldn't see the motivation behind
his deceit and treachery. I think the character was meant to be evil simply
for the pleasure of causing mischief (much like Prince John in Much Ado About
Nothing who didn't really convince me in the recent film version). Mordred
talked about doing devious things but never convinced me. In the scene `Fie on
Goodness' where I expected him to lead the protest against Arthur's virtue
system Mordred simply sat back smiling pleasantly as he watched the other
knights boast about the fun of being malicious.


Film Critique
Bisbee Cannibal Club
By, my friends in Bisbee Arizona

This video was written, performed and produced by a handful of bored hippies,
circus performers and punks in an old mining town in Arizona where there is
way too much lead in the water.

The movie was edited smoothly and there were a lot of really nice camera
angles and unusual perspectives. But the plot moved slowly and thee were many
minutes of unnecessary footage.

I only really intend to review one character and not the entire work. Jason
Normal played `bug eater' a freakish sort of cannibal who's habits even
disgust the other cannibals. What I like about his performance is that he has
the courage to take his character to extremes. From eating bugs, and roadkill
to sucking on used tampons this cannibal never drops his freakish character.
His hunched back, bent legs and screeching voice add the characteristics
necessary for me to believe he would chew on the disembodied finger of a
murdered vegetarian.