As a solo performer, or actor, I think that Simon Callow would be a good influence for myself in terms of my performance. As Callow is more of a solo actor than an artist, I feel he would be great example for myself. Callow normally performs his solo pieces from a text/script that he has learnt, although there have been occasions when his performance has been both performative and felt quite like a lecture as he talks to you asboth himself and a character – his Being Shakespeare was precisely this.
Callow is more of a classical actor, acting in numerous Shakespearean play and Dickensian adaptations for the stage (he even played Dickens in a couple of episodes of Doctor Who) but this isn’t what I want to take away from his acting style. His characterisation, particularly in The Man Jesus, is what I want to take away from his acting style. I am wanting to create a character that is obviously different to me, but the character I am wanting to create, I am taking away the characterisation of Christopher Boone from the West End version of The Curious Incident. I think I should make it clear that I only want to take influence from the actor who plays Christopher rather than directly copying the character. I like the characterisation of Christopher and his quirks and so this is the style of character I think I could play/portray best.
As well as Asperger’s, I think that I may like to add a little bit of OCD to my character too. I think that this could make my character more interesting to perform and to explore as well. There are aspects of OCD that I think could be interesting to explore, particularly some of the ticks and/or the habits of the guy in the video in my ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time’ post. However, my character will have a little bit of me in him, but that will literally be his favourite colour, which is red (the same as me).
My piece will involve me writing a script for my performance, one that I intend to stick to quite roughly, so I don’t have to worry about . But the main idea behind me writing a script is so that I can give myself a structure to my performance. If I have a structure, then I will be more organised with my performance.