So, in trying to motivate to work on a performance for a mystery story, I run into technical questions about how to deal with 2 person (or more scenes). I run into this with the Christmas Carol I perform, but that’s easier, I think, because that is so obviously a story narrated by Dickens. What I’m looking for in this instance is the problem every Agatha Christie adaptation (or Sherlock Holmes) has suffered from, where other characters talk a lot, and then the detective talks A LOT at the end to sum it up. This is all fine and dandy with a large cast, but for a live solo performance? Difficult.
I’m going to experiment with having some of the character’s dialogue be recorded. Then I can dip in and out for what I am speaking live – I did this a little with an adaptation of Dracula at MAC, but just Johnathan Harker’s diary sections, which is easier to do: it’s a written diary and anything said by another character is therefore what he is putting into the diary and so reasonable that either it is in that performer’s voice, or, as I did it, a recording of that other character. Everything experienced was experienced by Harker, and so the performer must be live for that character.
I suppose that’s where I can experiment more – the performer will be live for the character who is undergoing change, or who that scene is about? I’ll also admit to wanting to try things with high degree of difficulty, so dipping in and out of characters, playing with the recordings, could be fun