Brand New Day is a scene that explores strong feelings between two people who have difficulty in expressing those feelings. Noah is very fond of Amy and although he is sensitive to her loss he is also aware that she can't hold on to the past for ever. Amy is building her life up slowly, she has come back to work and is enjoying being busy again but she still carry's a heavy sadness. Her spirit wants to break free from this sadness but she has not yet completely released herself from the past. Although her fiance has passed away she is somehow loyal to him. For the actors this scene provides a great scope to explore the subtleties of character, relationship and emotional expression. Time and Place are also an important consideration. Relationships and human behaviour are affected by their environment. For example, the way we behave at the office is very different to the way we behave at home. For the actor playing Amy this scene provides the challenge of building a back story that involves loss, grief and attempted suicide. Establishing the past relationship of Steve is also very important. What were Amy's expectations before the accident? What kind of person was she in this relationship? Did Steve's death force her to deal with more than overwhelming grief, did it also force her to become more independent? Or is she still on that path? Emotionally Amy appears frail but there is also a resilience. The attempted suicide was most probably completely out of character, and perhaps she never believed she could sink that far. The actor playing Noah will need to invest in both his playful and romantic side. Noah is clearly a considerate and caring man. He must take a risk in declaring his intentions towards Amy and once he crosses the line there is no going back. Up to this point he has been a supportive and friendly colleague. No doubt Noah has worked this through many times but has decided his love and attraction to Amy are too great and his desire conquers his fear. The actor playing Noah will no doubt invest some of his own experiences in the art of love. Noah wants to be thought of in the best possible way. He has taken great care to find out what she most likes and is as tender as any man could be with his proposition. But by the same token he is not a sop, Noah is passionate and purposeful, he knows what he wants and he wants to woo Amy. We don't get the sense that he wants to rescue her, but this is a very male condition and is probably worthy of a question or two as we explore the scene. Over-all the actors can have a lot of fun exploring this scene. The nervousness, the banter, the awkwardness and ultimately the acceptance. It is a scene where we recognise ourselves and the game of love that is so universal and at the same time so unique to these two characters. |