After the first draft, we found there is a lot to change and to improve. The main weaknesses of the first draft are the staging and body language. Specifically, the occupation of fire escape landing on the stage is too small to have any action and my body language should be more controlled. Besides, Jacob and I did not fully memorize the script. Therefore, our main job after the first draft is memorization.
Firstly, we just sit in the black box and ran the script over and over again. It was a tedious process when you repeatedly read your line but helping each other remembering the line made the process become interesting. I remembered that one day when we complained how redundant and how repetitive (especially "how soon, quite soon" part) the lines were, and he asked me whether I could remember all the lines because Amanda has too many lines. I showed him my confidence or a kind of arrogance that I can remember all of them in a short time. Clearly, he doubted my words and begun to test me, and of course, I was exposed to the light in a really bad way. He read my lines and I repeated it and tried to remember immediately. We spent almost an entire class working on Amanda's lines but we still did not finish. Therefore, I continued memorizing after the class. As a result, Jacob remembered his line more quickly. Memorization took us a plenty of time. Compared to the memorization, we made changes and improve quickly. For the staging, the fire escape landing is too small, so we decided that the space of fire escape landing and living room will be separated equally; besides the correct exit, Jacob added the sound of pushing off the chair when he was leaving, and he also added the sound of smashing the door. In addition, for the connection of the characters, I decided to hit Jacob when I said the last long paragraph in the last scene. Even though I felt shy at first, I believed it could reveal the anger mood more.
For the final draft, I think it is much better than the first draft, which not only reveals on memorization but also the character's building. The space using is one of the strengths in the final draft. I chose the best time to walk into the living room instead of going forward and back to the fire escape and living room repetitively. After we entered the living room, I had more walkings in the living room. In the last scene, I like Jacob pushing his chair and hitting the wall, and standing still near the door for a little longer, which the actions did not happen in the first draft. Besides, I stood up and turned my back to Tom to show that even if I wanted to tell him something very "funny", actually I do not want to talk to him at all because of the anger and sadness. Then, when Jacob went toward the door, I grabbed his arm to show that I was concerned and hesitated. The reason for the actions is that I believe Amanda does not want Tom to leave unconsciously. Every word she spoke come from a feeling of anger and depression. Thanks to Jacob, his reliability allow me to act without any restraint or concern. I enjoy this performance.
The weakness is memorization and the time. In acting, I stumbled at some lines because I did not remember the lines well, and it caused the recording time really long. I still need to work on memorizing. Yes, I feel sorry for it... I kept memorizing, and then I kept forgetting. Moreover, I did not wait for Jacob to finish his last line. I need to pay attention to it.
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