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Question: Help portraying a character in Midsummer Night's Dream!?
I got casted as Starveling in my school's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream (he's one of the mechanical roles)!. I need help portraying my character!? The actor playing Flute already took a timid and shy personality, and that was my idea!.!.!.

My new idea is to portray Starveling in a "surfer's voice!." My reasoning is to give him a "laid back" kind of personality!. What do you think!? I wonder if it'd be ok to have a surfer like voice in Shakespeare!?Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Sounds good!!

Giving a character like this a unique personality outside of the text is a great idea, as long as it doesn't go against the text itself!. As long as the text itself comes first, why not!? This is all assuming your goal is to heighten the uniqueness of a character as opposed to stealing the show because you are weird and funny!.!.!.!.the latter is a sure direction towards failure!. You may want to discuss this choice with the director first, just to make sure you are both on the same page!.

When I directed the show, I made Starveling a smoker who was apathetic towards the performance and it worked out really well!. He stood out, without stealing the show and I think the actor was satisfied with a unique interpretation without trying to draw focus with their uniqueness!.

Contemporary Shakespeare is at its best when actors make it their own!. Best of luck!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Just be yourself!. The Mechanicals are hilarious on their own - if you understand what you're saying, it should be easy to make appropriate choices without sitting there and deciding every little thing beforehand!. Www@QuestionHome@Com