Playing fear in a comic scene is a tough gig. The audience has to believe the fear but still find the circumstances funny. 'DBD' gives actors strong comic material and solid comic structure. When trivial matters are emphasised with deep sincerity we believe the character's experience and we maintain our appreciation of the humour of the situation. Both characters deal with their circumstances differently. Nicholas is very nervous and constantly reasoning against the fact. Brendon is full of bravado and machismo. He acts as if he's a pro. Both characters have strong emotional obligations in the fear, panic areas. And each deal with these emotions in his own way; Brendon is much better at suppressing his fear than Nicholas. Who is very expressive about everything he is thinking and feeling; this provides Brendon with a great source of irritation; which in turn gives the scene a strong comic premise on which to build. The scene gives actors good comic structure and a clear journey through beginning, middle and end. There is an inherent reveal or surprise which adds to the tension and the humour. This scene is a very good example of an escalation of defeated expectations; culminating in the grandmother coming home to find the boys caught at the window trying to escape. 'Get out of that one Brendon'. Things just go from bad to worse. One challenge for the actor is to give strong and clear focus to external threats, such as sudden noises outside. Creating this stimulus convincingly requires a clear and specific focus on what kind of noise it is, where did it come from, how far away was it, etcetera. The two actors must also remain very intently involved with their own inner monologues. They are both there for the same reason but they both feel very differently about the fact. Another challenge that a scene like DBD presents is that each time the actors perform or rehearse the scene they must discover this space for the first time. This is a subtle but important point when creating believable circumstances. Discovering each character's reason for being there will help understand the need. A strong part of the need for both characters is of course to survive and not get caught. But further, why is the dare so important to either of them? Wherein lies the need to commit a crime in order to gain approval and acceptance from peers? Is this the reason and it strong for both characters? |