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UTBU Uggims

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Topic: UTBU Uggims

Posted By: JCCTony
Subject: UTBU Uggims
Date Posted: 2/04/05 at 12:00am

I'm cast as William Uggims in James Kirkwood's comedy UTBU. For those of you that don't know, it's a farce and the charactor is blind (hilarity ensues). Has anyone been in this show? I tried googling it and only got a couple sites talking about how Kevin Spacey was in it in High School.

Any advice on playing a blind charactor? (Yes I unknowingly hit people with the cane and have a shotgun point blank in my face)

Replies:

Posted By: Topper
Date Posted: 2/04/05 at 3:36pm

I played Don, the blind character in the show
"Butterflies are Free." The best piece of direction I
got was to imagine the loss of "spatial and depth
perception" (in other words: where you are exactly in
relation to other objects or people in the room.) A
slight turn of the body, the head, the shoulders or
whatever and you are no longer in the proper
orientation we so much take for granted as sighted
persons. And unless you're wearing dark
sunglasses for the entire show, there's another tip,
but one difficult to master: Don't focus your eyes on
anyone or anything. This may cause you to appear
slightly cross-eyed, but it's a technique employed
very successfully. Only two things to worry about:
ONE -- after hours of rehearsal you wind up with a
splitting headache. And TWO -- if your mother's
watching she'll be warning you "your eyes will stay in
that position forever!"
Good luck!

-------------
"None of us really grow up. All we ever do is learn how to behave in public." -- Keith Johnstone

Posted By: JCCTony
Date Posted: 2/04/05 at 5:11pm

I actually plan on wearing dark glasses for the show and all rehearsals as well as keeping my eyes shut most of the time (yeah I know...how method!) Obviously they won't be shut the entire time as I'll need to be able to pick up cues for jokes and gags, but as much as I can they'll be shut.

As far as fosusing on people I plan on having my head turned since I figure blind people "see" with thier ears. I normally do 70% of my acting with my eyes and since they'll be covered this is a lot tougher on me and I'll have to reply on my mouth expressions a bit more.

I think my biggest obstacle is there's a platform on the set that's only part of the floor space we're working with so I'll have to make sure I'm tapping the cane correctly.

Posted By: Topper
Date Posted: 2/05/05 at 11:19am

While I applaud your convictions, I certainly can't
recommend venturing onstage with one's eyes
closed. It would be a good idea perhaps for a
couple rehearsals as a sense/memory exercise, but
to attempt it during performance is asking for trouble.
I fear for your safety and the safety of the actors
around you. This is also the same reason why fights
are choreographed and not left up to the whims of
the performers. An actor must be in control of
himself on stage at all times. For example, if you
were playing a character who was drunk, I certainly
hope your method wouldn't involve you actually
drinking before showtime. I encourage you to rethink
your position. Safety first, please.

-------------
"None of us really grow up. All we ever do is learn how to behave in public." -- Keith Johnstone

Posted By: countbio
Date Posted: 2/07/05 at 2:11pm

I second Topper....

I recently directed Wait Until Dark (blind character and fight scenes). The safty of yourself, the other actors and the audience must be number one. Skip the closed eyes for performance and try acting blind...not being blind.

My actress for WUD worked with a teacher of the blind on cane technique and spent some time with the students for some mannerisms common to blind persons. (Contact your local school system, they probably have classes for blind students or can refer you to a school that does). She did find the "out of focus" thing suggested by Topper..(not looking directly at any object/person...but looking past, through it) worked well.

Good Luck,

Countbio

Posted By: JCCTony
Date Posted: 2/07/05 at 3:44pm

I tried a rehearsal with dark glasses and I think it looked okay without my eyes being shut.

Thanks for the tip of hanging out with some blind folks to learn mannerisms and cane techniquie, I'll be inquiring about it. All I've done so far is watch Jaime Foxx in "Ray".

Posted By: Kathy S
Date Posted: 2/07/05 at 11:01pm

Other movies you could use as reference might be "The Miracle Worker", "A Patch of Blue" (a really fine movie by the way), or "Wait Until Dark".