Specialized character work takes acting into another
dimension. Not only do you have to get into the story, you have to
get under the skin of a person who is very different from you. Not
only do you have to believe the action is happening around you, you have
to present an unforgettable personality that will hook the audience's attention.
I often develop my on characters from scratch.
That means I develop a life history, personality, look and feel for my
character. It's fun and exciting and quite a challenge.
Madame Du Morte
(photo by Jerry Davenport)
I first created Madame du Morte to be a guide
at the Terror Show, an interactive environmental theater that took the
concept of a haunted house to a whole new dimension of fear. Groups
of people (preferably 13 of them) were guided through a darkened maze while
their guide introduced them to all kinds of horrors. The maze twisted
and turned , went up and down ramps and the ceiling sometimes dropped so
that people had to crawl on hands and knees.
The guide had complete control as well as the
only light. We were the only ones who knew the way out and we appeared
and disappeared at will. Along the way we set off special lighting
and sound effects that set the stage for our monster/actors' attacks.
A single tour took about 20 minutes and two or
three tours ran at once, with different groups in different parts of the
maze. Our audience not only experienced our tour as a full environment,
they heard the sound effects and screams that accompanied the other tours.
It was the most popular attraction at the Louisiana State Fair, and our
lines were usually hundreds of feet long, with wait times of up to three
hours.
When the show died, Madame du Morte continued
her terrifying afterlife. I have used her as a storytelling character
and a special event performance. Recently I developed a one woman
environmental show featuring her. She takes her audience on tour
of hell while she tells her story. There's a surprise ending that
allows the audience to escape back into normality.
