A JOYful Workshop

This afternoon at 2:35 PM, all of the confident STACies in Joy's acting workshop packed up their monologues with unhappy grins, eagerly rushing to snap a picture with the well accepted instructor. I was one of these disappointed students capturing the memory because our time with this talented actress, who we barely got to know, was officially over. Anyone in that workshop can agree with me when I say that Joy is extremely confident in her field of work and has total respect for aspiring actors and actresses. She sustains an eloquent persona and constantly emits positive energy in her tone of voice, her mannerisms, and her unique personality. Handling constructive criticism professionally, Joy took her time in focusing on our characters and pointed out anything minor that we could fix in our pieces. For example, Joy would constantly enforce breath placement within our monologues to avoid tension and reduce the distraction of our nerves. At the same time, Joy would leave us thinking about the characters depth and the general subtext of our prepared monologues. The most effective strategy I picked up from this workshop, was to let the character have a purpose for everything he says, not just for the opening lines. This purpose will come from focusing on someone in front of you that has extreme significance in the subject of the monologue.

I admire Joy's availability, her dedication to each member of the group, and her ability to recognize our specific talents.

Overall, The workshop was extremely productive and captivating; however, it would have been better to have at least four more days with Joy because most of our time with her seemed rushed. She is such a knowledgeable actress, and if the workshops weren't so rushed, we could have grown even farther in the monologues and character study. I possibly could have tackled the other monologue I prepared. I think I speak for the whole group when I say, "Joy is welcome again anytime!"

I would also really enjoy making the documentary about Joy, portraying all of these unique qualities.