Character Research

Nancy, Oliver Twist - Ghost Light Tours

Pinocchio, My Son Pinocchio - Christmas Musical

Leah, DNA - Student lead project




Character Analysis - Leah - DNA by Denis Kelly

An extremely complicated character.

Desperate to be liked.

Very insecure, seeks validation and confirmation, shown by her asking questions constantly.

Has low self-esteem, which she tries to hide with her chatter.

Desperate to connect with Phil, she needs his approval.

She feels separate from the death of Adam as she wasn’t there when it happened, therefore she kills the hamster to try to feel something, to understand how the others felt, but she can’t because a hamster is so different from a human.

She is not really a part of the group, she is only there because of her obsession with Phil. She doesn’t believe she really has friends, which is true as everyone in the group only truly cares about themself, barring Jan and Mark, the only true friendship.

She is an outsider because she doesn’t agree with the others' morals.

She acts as a moral conscience and is the emotional core of the play, someone the audience can relate to.

Phil stays cold and doesn’t let her in, he barely speaks and when he does he is straight to the point. Leah constantly speaks but waffles when she does. They are a direct contrast of each other, which shows the imbalance in the relationship.

Her monologues reveal her longing to connect with Phil, and her trying to make sense of the situation she is struggling to understand.

She ponders deep questions about humanity, morality, and identity in an abstract/absurd way.

She is emotionally drained.

Her inability to connect with Phill symbolises her greater isolation within the group.

 
Ensemble/Gang member, 'Normalised' - National Theatre Connections

Part 1: Basic facts


My character’s name is Becca mae Jones.


My character likes her name because she thinks it matches her personality.


Her mum came up with this name after she found out she was having a girl.


The stereotypes of the name is chavvy/rough/girly/glam.




Becca is 17 years old.


She was born on the 6th March 2008.


The UK went into a deep recession with the economy shrinking a lot, Unemployment went up, businesses closed and consumer confidence took a big hit. There was also panic in the financial market globally.


Becca likes to have a house party for her birthday, and she usually gets new clothes from her mum, or a new charm for her pandora bracelet.




Becca isn’t very sporty, she’s slim but only naturally, and never tried in PE because she was scared she would embarrass herself. Instead she would mess about with her mates, or purposely forget her PE kit.


ACTRESS?????




Becca wears chavvy clothes, her go to’s are: fluffy sliders, trainers, fluffy socks, frilly socks, fluffy coat, north face puffer, leggings, juicy tracksuit, nike quarter zip, hoop earrings and lots of jewelry.


For a night out she would wear a short dress from pretty little thing, with some heels. She wears pink victoria secret pajamas, or primark fluffy pj’s to bed.


Becca lives in a small housing estate, that is close to the sixth form, and near the meadows and field that her and her mates hangout by. It’s a small house, and often messy because of her siblings.


She likes her house but wishes she had a prettier, bigger one. She loves her room because she was allowed to decorate it however she wanted.


She lives with her mum and dad, has two younger siblings, they get along most of the time but it’s always noisy in her house so she likes to go out to get away.


Her family gets along with some of her neighbours, but not the others as they often complain about the noise in the house.


The view from her bedroom window is the meadows out the back, she quite likes it when it’s sunny.


Next to her bed, Becca keeps her phone, airpods, alarm clock, candle and eye mask. She keeps a vape hidden in her bedside draw, along with a book she’s never even opened.


Becca’s most valuable item is her phone, she can text everyone on it and loves being online.




Becca is in sixth form, studying health and social, and childcare. She doesn’t know what to do when she’s older so she picked subjects she thought were easy. She’s never been academic.


Becca used to have a job, but left when she started sixth form because she was too tired and too busy. She has money left over from this to spend, but usually gets given lot’s at christmas and birthdays.




Becca used to date Jamsey, but not for very long. After they broke up, she developed a crush on his brother, but now it’s dissolved into a hatred for him. She will always like Jamsey, and tries to be supportive of her friend who is dating him, even though she is somewhat jealous.


She likes family functions because she gets to see her cousin, who is one of her bestfriends. She likes to socialise, with family and friends, but often prioritizes her friends.




Her closest friends are: Jamsey, Dee, Mox, Jack, Chantelle, Chelsey and Gemma. Chelsey and Gemma are her closest as they spend the most time together. Gemma and Becca met in primary school, and have been friends for a long time so often bicker.


Becca doesn’t feel she has anyone she can truly trust apart from her cousin, she see’s her school friends as people to pass time with, not people she can rely on.


She doesn’t make friends outside of her group, she likes to stick with the same people.




Becca’s dream date would be a trip to nandos, then to the cinema after, watching a rom com.


She likes boys who aren’t as interested in her, which leads her to get her heartbroken.




Her favourite food is a dominos pizza, she also loves a mcdonalds - mostly because its cheap.


She hates cooking, but likes to bake with her mum sometimes.


She has no allergies, but is a really picky eater and doesn’t like to try new foods.


She hates broccoli and cauliflower.




She spends her weekends going out with her friends, she sometimes see’s her nana on a Sunday before having a bath and fake tanning.


Becca really wants to go to tenerife, she keeps trying to persuade her mum but is told it’s too expensive. Instead they go down to a caravan park in Bristol every now and again.




Her favourite TV show is gavin and stacey, and her favourite actor is Drew Starkey.




Becca’s favourite singer is Becky Hill and Ariana Grande, but she also loves D-block europe and Central Cee.


Becca loves concerts, but mainly likes festivals, she went to leeds last year and wants to go to glastonbury this year with her gang.


She hates reading because she can never stay focused.


Becca’s favourite quote is, ‘Am i bovered’ by Catherine Tate




Part 2: Character personality & behavior traits




Becca is an extrovert and loves being social, but not meeting new people.


Becca will judge someone when meeting them for the first time based off how they look.


At a party she will stick with her friends in groups, and only talk to people if they talk to her.


Becca doesn’t do much small talk, she mainly just gossips.


She hates being the centre of attention.


She’s really disorganised, always late to things, and her room is always messy.


Becca is easily distracted but only by the things which she deems more important than others, but she is a logical thinker.


Her pet peeves are people who are different to her.


Becca annoys others by being quite arrogant if she isn’t familiar with you.


When Becca gets angry she hides in her room and sends voice notes complaining to her friends.


Becca gets frustrated easily, she’s used to having her own way as her mum is easy going.


If she was driving and stuck in traffic she would beep her horn at people wasting time, but not be too fussed as she knows there's not much to do to fix it.




Becca’s greatest strength is talking people in or out of things, such as teachers trying to give her detention.


She learnt this by talking her way out of bad situations with her dad so he would let her off.


Her biggest weakness in blending in with the crowd, and hiding her true feelings and thoughts to fit in.


She wishes she could stand up to people who do the wrong thing.


Becca used to be addicted to her vape but she doesn’t use them as much at the moment.


Becca neglects her schoolwork as she struggles so can’t be bothered to try.


Laughing with her friends makes her happy.




Part 3: emotional questions




Becca’s biggest fear is being an outcast.


She has these fears because of her experience in primary school where she only really had one friend - Gemma.


She ignores things that scare her, hoping her problems will solve themselves.


Becca’s hopes are to have kids and raise them in a nice big house.


When she was younger she wanted to be a dancer, but she quit in year 8 and can’t do it very well anymore. She regrets this sometimes.


She isn’t superstitious or religious, but does believe in a heaven, mostly because she doesn’t want death to be the end.


Becca’s spirit animal would be a wolf, moves in a pack, scary on the outside but soft underneath.


Her role model is her Nana. She raised her children by herself, and isn’t afraid to speak the truth. She secretly knows that she is Nana's favourite granddaughter. She likes being someones first choice




Her biggest regret is not moving away when her dad had a new job opportunity.


Her deepest secret is that she had a crush on Bo, someone who was absolutely not acceptable for her to like.


Her favourite place to visit as a child was the old pond in the park, she would feed the ducks with her dad.


Her grandad’s death left an impact, as she regrets not spending more time with him.


Her proudest moment was winning the dance supreme in year 7, her trophe is now hidden in her wardrobe as it makes her miss dancing.


Her most embarrassing moment was falling over when going to collect a certificate in assembly. Everyone laughed.


Her childhood was good, as it was just her, her mum and her dad. She doesn’t spend as much time with them now she has two younger siblings.




Becca thinks little lies won’t hurt anyone, as she lies all the time, almost pretending to be someone she isn’t at heart.


Becca keeps her promises, as her Nana always taught her to.


She prefers to do things easily than do them right.


She has felt betrayed by Gemma and Chants, who spoke badly about Becca behind her back to someone she didn’t like. She forgave them for this but she never forgot the mean things they said.


My character is a follower.





Lindsey, The lovely Bones - End of Year production

Lindsey character research




Lindsey is Susie’s younger sibling, the middle child between Susie and Buckley. Lindesy is left behind with her grieving family after Susie’s death, growing past her sister's age and becoming the sole sibling to Buckley, being the oldest sister but never realling being the eldest sibling, as Susie was left behind in time. Susie watches Linsdey surpass her age, and do all the things she never got to, like fall in love. Lindsey starts dating her classmate, Samuel Heckler, who she opens up and lets go to, leaving Susie full of jealousy and desire, but also pride and happiness in who her sister has become. Therefore, Lindsey must be a stoic, headstrong and self contained character, who’s passionate and caring, a person Susie could look up to as she grows older. Lindsey takes matters into her own hands when Susie’s case is not progressing, investigating Mr Harvey and even breaking into his house. This is a pivotal moment in the play, as it ends act 1 with Lindsey finding evidence. At first Susie lives vicariously through Lindsey, but as time passes both sisters learn to live without the other.




Lindsey matures through Susie’s death, and a drive to keep the family together. Her mother is absent, emotionally and physically, whilst her father grows obsessed with proving the neighbour to be guilty, engrossing himself in her death and distancing himself from the family. As Buckley is too young to understand, Lindsey is left alone in her grief, and in her new identity as the dead girl’s sister. Lindsey will always be in the shadow, at first as the younger sibling, and then as the dead girl’s sibling. She is a perfectionist, who attempts to block the outside world from witnessing her grief. She is given an overwhelming amount of responsibility, in caring for her younger brother, keeping her dad sane and living with a distant mother. She’s been given the label of a ‘gifed’, pushing her to keep excelling in everything she does. She is considered a genius as she’s very clever academically, and emotionally.




She has a touching relationship with Jack and supports her dad as an attempt to keep the family together, and uncover the only lead they have. She continues to repair the fractured bonds with her family and within herself. She sticks by her dad after he is beaten in the cornfield and after he has a heart attack, when Abigail returns Linsdey is finally free to pursue what she desires. Samuel proposes to Lindsey, allowing her to become herself, and envisioning her future as a new, different family dynamic.




What were the initial thoughts on the script you have chosen?




When I first heard we were doing the lovely bones, I was intrigued, as i’d heard the story but never read or watched it. I watched the film straight away, and was on the edge of my seat the full time, even having to pause at times to have a breather. The Dynamic between heaven and hell is really interesting, it was a new interpretation of this idea of an afterlife. I researched how this was done on the stage, and loved all the short clips I could find. It is a very heavy play, which will push everyone to act to their best ability, I think it’s important to keep challenging yourself.




Which particular character do you like/ resonates with you?




The Character of Lindsey caught my eye, as she is a strong, determined girl. I liked the dynamic between her and her sister Susie, as Susie watches Lindsey grow and develop, living vicariously through her. As a younger sibling myself, it made me question our similarities and differences. I'm not sure I would have the bravery she has, which makes me admire and respect her, making me want to take on this role to present her in the best possible way. I also believe she is an overlooked character, but she has such depth to her, being given the new responsibility of being the oldest sister, and trying to keep her family together as it falls apart, whilst grieving alone.




In what ways do you think this particular piece will challenge you?




It will push my naturalistic acting, and my emotional acting. I’ve never played a role that suffers from grief, and the only family dynamic I have done is a father and son duo in Pinocchio. It is a role that experiences love, which I would like to push myself to do; I have only done a role with a ‘crush’ before. I also think it is a good role to practise my techniques with, for example: emotional memory, the magic if, 7 levels of tension.




What three areas of research do you think you should be covering to be able to take on this challenge?




I think the three most important areas for my character are: Grief, Love, and teenagers in the 70’s. Grief is a difficult topic as it comes with the struggle of accepting your loss and moving on, which Lindsey and her dad struggle to do. In the story, Lindsey tries to overcome her grief by finding answers, and getting closure.

Love is an important theme in this story, happening for many different characters. Lindsey falls in love with her classmate Samuel, which is to emphasise the love Susie never got to experience. In some cases, Love can make people fall apart, but for Lindsey it does the opposite, she becomes complete, as her broken heart is mended. This is symbolised when Sammuel gives her a half heart necklace, and he has the other heart, completing it. Teenagers were very different in the 70’s as they had greater independence and self sufficiency, spending more time outdoors as there were no digital phones. With this greater freedom comes greater consequences. There was also a lot more children going missing in the 70’s as there being less phones meant less safety measures.




Why did you choose the monologue that you have brought with you today?




I chose this monologue because it links very well to my character, and shows how it can be difficult to accept loss, being in denial of your grief until you can’t keep it hidden anymore. It is about a girl who’s brother is missing, and she wants to go find him. This monologue moves through different feelings, of determination, persuasion, frustration, problem solving, futile hopefulness, reminiscing, struggle and sadness. This shows the effect of greif, and how it can change your mindset completely.




What does this monologue that you have brought with you tell us about you as an actor?




This monologue showcases my skills as an actor, the ability to move through the piece, and deliver it in a truthful way. It also tells you I’m a confident actor, unafraid and able to take on different emotions to the best of my ability.




Link to my monologue: https://www.dramanotebook.com/monologues-teenagers/#Lost