Beat #2: Picnic (William Inge) , Howard & Rosemary

I can't just seem to "decide" and write down "acting verbs" and objectives for each line or two, and then just except/hope/pray those actions happen -- something is missing, and what's missing are triggers, triggers that make those things happen automatically . . . but what is a trigger?

Beat 2

In beat #1, I seem to trying to get certain things from Rosemary.

Here, it's almost all about what I want, little about what I expect or hope because this is all taking me by surprise. It's almost like someone has pulled a gun on you, and now they're making demands on you that you never knew they had . . . What one would do is really focus on and pay extremely close attention to that person, watching them, listening to them, trying to understand them, trying to talk them down because you desperately want to get out of this situation, you want to get away from them without looking like you're trying to get away from them. It's not perfect, but it's not a bad metaphor for what's dramatic about this scene.

Focus on the triggers (i.e., what's Rosemary doing?) -- know what I want, know what I'm going to be doing physically (i.e., focus on and pay extremely close attention to her, watch her, listen to her, try to understand her , try to talk her down). I don't know what she's going to say, and I certainty don't know how I'm going to respond. The responses will be whatever they're suppose to be -- I don't want to think about/worry about/plan responses:

11 . 27 . 2005 (Sunday): OK -- this continues from Beat #1. This confirms this is about sex, about what happened tonight. I know full well now that this is what she's upset about. Beats are about ONE SIMPLE THING. With this is mind, here's what I'm doing:

• I hear she wants to go with me
            -- I don't want this: talk her down, talk her out of this
• She's so lost . . .
           -- I simply can't deal with this. I need more time.

Rosemary.
  Where you goin' Howard?

Howard.
  Honey, I gotta get home.

Rosmary.
  You can't go off without me.
  [is that a gun in her pocket?]

Howard.
  Honey, talk sense.

Rosmary.
  You can't go off without me. Not after tonight. That's sense.
  [F***k! It is a gun]

Howard.
  Honey, be reasonable.

Rosmary.
  Take me with you.

Howard.
  What'd people say?

Rosmary.
  The hell with what people'd say!
  [I don't care if I spend the rest of my life in jail!]

Howard.
  Honey!
  [12 . 12 . 2005 NOTE: Here there needs to be a thought, and "Honey" starts it, e.g., 'Honey -- be reasonable' or 'Honey -- you're not yourself to night', but R cuts me off. Not having this was like just briefly putting on the breaks. Having this thought keeps me connected to R and keeps me in the flow of this section of the scene . . . it's much much smoother now]

Rosmary.
  What'd people say if I thumbed my nose at them? What'd people say if I walked down the street and showed them my pink panties? What do I care what people say?

Howard.
  Honey, you're not yourself tonight.

Rosmary.
  Yes, I am. I'm more myself then I ever was. Take me with you Howard. If you don't I don't know what I'll do with myself. I mean it.
   [I hear her say she's so lost. I can't deal with this -- I need some time here to figure out what's going on, what should I do . . .]

<NOTE: the above here is a good example of how to identify/focus on a trigger and on what I want. I haven't planned any response>.

Howard.
   Now look, honey, you better go upstairs and get some sleep. You gotta start school in the morning. We'll talk all this over Saturday.

<NOTE: Bottom line. There's a big difference between knowing what you want and what you're doing and knowing how you're going to respond in the moment . . . I'm not sure if I got it, or if all this work is exactly right, but I'm hoping I'm on the right track and that all this will become easier and more automatic, so I won't have to work so hard to really, deeply, in the most connected way I can, understand a character and a scene. That's my long-term goal and why I'm working so hard).