Exam Pack

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The goodies inside our SW Exam Pack~ :)
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I say! I was pretty happy with how our group presentation went today!

While 4 of my groupmates did the main portion of the presentation, I and two others had the responsibility of showcasing and acting out a mock counselling session. My part was of a very highly-stressed wife who was the sole breadwinner of the family, who could not stand the fact that her husband was now a full-time stay-at-home-dad in-charge of taking care of the household chores and the kids. Well, to be fair, this character of mine was initially alright with this arrangement, but overtime, the gossips behind her back, and the stress at work was just too much for her to bear.

The script was about 5-10mins long, and at the end there was this part where my character was supposed to break down and cry.

I was mortified.
Cry? 'Live' in front of everyone?
I didn't think I could do it.

Well, yes, I was from Drama Club in my secondary school days, but my parts were either serious characters or funny ones; never the emotional type! I tried to get my mates to change the script, but they were saying that I needn't really shed tears or anything, that I'd just have to act really upset and look as if I was crying. And so I tried.

I thought of every somatic cues I could think of when one's crying:
voice- quivering, breaking, halting speech
lips- arched downwards, trembling
eyebrows- wrenched
arms and body- slight twitches
breathing- uneasy, short gasps of breath
throat- dry, periodical swallowing
heart- heavy.. tight and heavy heart.

...and it worked. By George, it worked!

My eyes were completely dry, but halfway through that scene, there was a slight surge of commotion from the audience (my 40-odd or so classmates who were watching). It wasn't until later when my groupmate told me that people around her actually arched their necks to see my face, and to ask my friend whether I was crying for real..!

My first 'emotional' scene and such comments from the audience. Mann, I felt a tremendous satisfaction from that! I guess this is why I love to act; or more specifically, why I love plays and acting on the stage, 'live'. Seriously, I have jitters in front of an audience, but when I'm able to confront them, though it could be with another persona, it gives me quite a sense of achievement~!

Till now, I'm quite amused by the whole experience...
Gosh, I can't hide my glee..! heh.. ;D