Dual Character Analysis - Mr Darling/Smee | PP

The contrast of both these characters was one of the greatest challenges i have faced during my time at college and in the world of acting. Origionally i had only auditioned for Smee, but after talking with Kelly she suggested i play a dual role!

This was something i had never done before and would certainly challenge me. I wanted to prove to myself i could do it! So i accepted.

Mr Darling:

Playing Mr Darling was very fun, although he only has a small opening at the beginning of the play, it was enjoyable to play around with the different fluctuations and ways he would portray his upper class self. I chose to give him a posh kind of accent, portraying him as a stuck up father who just wishes for some familiar attention. 

However, after further research i decided to go for the "he loves and supports his family in his own way" kind of character, and chose to show this through his hardyness and refusal to show direct affection, but express it through his actions and words nonetheless.

Smee:

Smee was an exceptional challenge for me. I had origionally wished to audition for Captain Hook himself, yet through further thought i had realised id never portrayed a comedic character. I see my time at college as a time to explore my capabilities and always push my boundaries so that my horizons are as wide and broad as they could possibly be in my time when i leave. This was a perfect way to probe to myself that i could portray a very idiotic character and play him in a way that doesnt leave the crowd in a still, motionless sit. I wanted to make people laugh, to take each line and make it my own. 

I did this by choosing to embody the very person of who smee was, a stupid but incredibly loyal pirate. He would kill for his captain but would would hate the mess. He would follow orders without a second thought but on his own would be like a headless chicken. The different line deliveries i gave made sure to carry a level of idiocy yet someone who tried their best to please. I believe i fully showed this the best i could during the rich damp cake scene, where smee was scrambling around the place trying to command the situation and yet failing miserably. I wasnt afraid to make a fool of myself and i believe that helped the character itself massively.

All in all, these two characters will always hold a special place in my heart moving forward and i will take the experience i got from a dual cast performance with pride. I now know that in my ablities, i can not only play a upperclass snob, a idiotic comedic character, but i can play both in the same production.