... Yellow Leather

When discussion came as to how to approach the play, my director said she'd require accents. My castmembers picked Irish and English. I (being unable to do either of those accents) went with the accent that I could barely do. Why? Because I can't seem to do either of those previously mentioned accents and because I started with Scottish (albeit accidentally) so it seemed right to continue with it.

I can say (with some degree of certainty and without fear of contradiction) that my Scottish accent has improved: it doesn't suck as bad as that audition day. In addition to my somewhat improved accent, my dedication to has shot up. At least it's noticeable to me in how I prepared for this role. For previous roles I had, the research and application of said research was minimal (in comparison, and even on its own). This time around, I spent more time focusing on this role even though it wasn't a lead or starring role or anything of the sort. I think at one point, I said, "This [is] more of a glorified extra." Of course, this was in jest; there are no extras in theater, and I was kidding.

I would insert an explanation about how even the parts with the fewest lines contribute to the overall quality of the play and write some analogy about cogs and small pieces in a great big machine but from the proposal to write about said analogy, I've already done it and to write at further length would accomplish two things: create a long run-on sentence, and drive the point into submission to the point of redundancy. But I'll do it anyway. Sort of.

Any collaborative effort is like a pyramid in which there must be a strong foundation, the same with a machine: which is made up of many many many parts. In order for said pyramid, or machine, to stand or function correctly, every bit must work well, in unison and so forth. As such, even the role with the least amount of lines can and often does contribute to the overall play/film/etc. If the role with the least lines falters, this brings everyone else down. You've noticed this, too, in any movie you have ever seen. The weakest link tends to drag the quality down considerably. I may be but a cog in this great machine but that doesn't mean I'll give it less than my best; I don't want to let the side down. They've given a lot of their time and energy into creating this so it would be a great insult to not deliver my best possible performance or dedication.

My focus in preparation included watching Trainspotting over and over, as well as other films and programmes that feature many Scots. The point of this was to figure out a decent Scottish accent that approached authenticity and didn't sound like a total caricature. This is a bit of an impossibility at this point because I have almost no experience with accents other than goofing around, which doesn't actually count. That being said, while I tried to approach verisimilitude, I still sound like a caricature. And for that, I apologize.

How did I study and develop my (take on the) Scottish accent? Firstly, I thought of any shred of contact I had with Scotland or anything Scottish. Some of the things that came to mind immediately were "Ach!", bagpipes, Sean Connery, Ewan McGregor, Susan Boyle, and the Loch Ness monster. After filtering things out, I decided to listen to various people try their accent. Fellow actors, film/tv actors, actual Scottish people and so on and so forth. I decide to focus on the trends in their speech: how hard or soft the R and L sounds were. Where certain sounds dipped and raised, which syllables and words one leaned in, and so forth.

By noticing trends in how certain words are spoken and so forth, I managed to form a wide and large patchwork of sounds ranging from a young Sean Connery, just about every character in Trainspotting, and Billy Connolly, as well as Fat Bastard from the Austin Powers movies. From there, I started to narrow down my choices and options as well as recognizing my limitations. The final product has received a strange reception. One that pisses me off to no end but for which I am grateful because it gives me an idea of what to improve on. Of course, I'm still pretty pissed because I spent so much time working on it. Oh well, at least nobody has said it was bad or horrible or just plain shite.

The accent was the most difficult part and the most fun.

The rest of the stuff sort of fell into place on its own through means of fairly extensive research regarding police procedures of the 19th century, fashion of the time (especially with facial hair and hair). That in turn led me to shave my goatee, leaving only my mustache. And I started smoking again, using a pipe, even though I'm not allowed to smoke on-stage in any way, shape, or form. I then stopped smoking after the last performance.

Some will point out that I did too much preparation for a part that only speaks for a minute in total. And that I shouldn't have done so much but I don't care for that sort of talk. And I refer you to my little spiel about machines.