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"All About Arvalyn" Act I [Solo]
Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2022 1:15 pm
by Arvælyn
"All About Arvalyn"
Prologue
The Golden Peacock, 3 Frost 121
“If eye for eye doth make the whole world blind,
Preserve thy sight and answer ev’ry loss
With stark severity. For nature’s state
Of balance favours cycles, and abhors
Asymmetry. Yea, shatter into shards
All swords that turn on thee, and smelt withal
The slivers into armour round thine heart.
Revenging doth return inverted when
Not practised with due diligence and care.
When executed well, solace be there.”
“Well done, Arvalyn, thank you.” Borys nodded approvingly. “I think that’s all we need to see from you for today. We’ll be posting the cast list later this week in the green room.”
“Thank you.” Arry smiled, and inclined his head in a slight bow, before turning to exit as the next auditioner slipped by to replace him in the room.
The intervening days between audition and announcement could not have moved more slowly for Arry. He haunted the green room day and night. Each time Borys entered the room, he perked up only to find the director had come for coffee not casting. Finally, on Wraedas, the stage manager entered and nailed the cast list to the wall. Arry leapt up, eyes darting to the top of the list to find:
“Wylan Royce as Aværys I Imperator?!” Arry blinked at the baffling document. Wylan Royce was a leading man at the Peacock, to be sure, but he was a human in his early forties being cast to play a Hytori-presenting elf who never aged past his early twenties. The description of Aværys in the script was so starkly similar to Arry that several of the other actors had noted that he was a shoe-in but instead, he was… It took a while of scanning down the list to find his name toward the bottom.
“Arvalyn Val’Cithaeron as Phædryn Sol’Aværys.” Arry’s face had gone red. By this point other actors were starting to swarm the list, and nudging him out of the way. Turning on his heel, he stalked out of the green room to find Borys in his office.
“Do you have a moment, Borys?”
“Arvalyn.” The director glanced up from a desk strewn with elaborate costume designs, “You look vexed. I suspect I know why…”
“I thought you said I did well, and…”
“And you did do well, Arry, but you’re still the newest member of the troupe. Wylan has seniority and he’s proven time and again that he has the chops to carry an epic like this. You gave a strong audition, but I’ve never seen you handle this much dense, layered material.” He paused, waiting for Arry to respond, but the elf remained silent. He sighed and continued, “ Phaedryn is a solid role in Act 5. If you handle his soliloquies adeptly, I’ll know for the future that you’re ready for something bigger, all right?”
“Very well.” Arry said through gritted teeth, “I’ll see you at the table read.” He pivoted round and began to stalk off, before Borys’ voice halted him.
“And Arvalyn?” The elf glanced over his shoulder, “You’ll go further in this business if you take a beat and don’t question the decisions of the creative team when you’re flustered or disappointed.”
“Noted.” And off Arry stalked.
Re: "All About Arvalyn" [Solo]
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2022 12:02 pm
by Arvælyn
Act I
The Golden Peacock, 6 Frost 121
"O mount of fiery vengeance stand aloof,
Lest we poor play'rs offend thy patron king!
We'd fain relate His glories all in sooth,
Lest He deliver us His reckoning.
We sing of slaves made royal and divine
In days of yore and distant desert climes,
Where hot as Searing sun they did enshrine
The moiety of justice over crimes.
From out-..."
"Hold there, please… Whom are you talking to right now?”
“Um… You?”
“In the speech, Kaz. To whom is this prologue addressed?”
“Uhh… the audience?”
Borys removed his spectacles and pinched the bridge of his nose as he squeezed his eyes shut.
“Does anyone know to whom this speech is addressed?” Borys scanned the row of puzzled actors until he noted a raised hand. “You don’t need to raise your hand, Arvalyn, you can just shout it out.”
“A volcano!” The Hytori proclaimed.
“...You don’t need to literally shout, but yes, Kaz- You are speaking to a ‘Mount of Fiery Vengeance’, which is how Mauvitius describes Mount Sorokyn: The sacred site where Aværys achieved apotheosis, and-...” Borys paused, noting Kaz’ hand shooting up, “Apotheosis means deification.” A beat and a blank stare persisted, “Becoming a god. Mount Sorokyn was where Aværys allegedly acquired divinity. Now then- Why are you addressing a sacred volcano, Kaz?”
“Because I… um… because I want to become a god, too?”
Before Borys could snap a retort, Arvalyn interrupted.
“You’re imploring the volcano, and tacitly Aværys himself, not to strike us down for misrepresenting their story in the play. It’s a display of humility on behalf of the production. A bit meta, I suppose.”
Borys blinked at the Hytori, taken aback.
“Well, yes, Arvalyn, that’s quite right. It seems someone’s been doing his research.” Borys acknowledged, eliciting a huge grin from the elf. “But don’t be so smug about it. Nobody likes a show-off. Anyway, let’s come back to the prologue if we have time at the end of rehearsal. For now, we press on to Act One Scene 1- In the depths of the Sorokyn mines…”
Wylan Royce smiled as he flipped through the pages, clearing his throat as he landed on the scene in question.
“Lo, woe betides the children of our Faith
Re’hyaean- Sons of sun and daughters of
The moons. We dwell in bondage cruel beneath
The sands, where neither sun nor moons do grace
Their supplicants with heaven’s light. Alas!
We damnèd refugees- Abhorred, abjured
From fair Sol’Valen’s whilom warmth- lament,
Though ne’er shall we renounce our fervent faith
For which the sons of Man despise us so.”
Arry frowned to himself as he grudgingly recognised that Wylan Royce was actually quite good. His look was all wrong, of course. He looked older than his subject ever did, and was dark of hair. Stubble speckled his cheeks and chin, the like of which never marred the pristine, smooth visage of the elven Aværys. But even in this first rehearsal, before costumes, wig, makeup and even distance served to facilitate the audience’s suspension of disbelief, Wylan’s mastery of the language was almost enough to make one forget that he wasn’t the Re’hyaean messiah himself.
It would be hours before Arry’s first line, since his character was centuries from being born at the beginning of the play. He took note of the spots in the script where he was assigned to serve as a supernumerary ‘spear carrier’ or to move set pieces, but the bulk of his attention was upon his speeches in Act V. He wished his character appeared earlier in the play. Not just because it would make it more prominent, but also because then he’d have spoken already and gotten his nerves out of the way. Waiting over two hours left him plenty of time to wax neurotic and grow anxious as the other actors' talents began to intimidate him. When he was finally his turn to speak, he felt as though his heart might erupt through his chest as if he was playing Mount Sorokyn itself, rather than the youngest son of Aværys.
“And what say you, O cleverest of kin?”
The cue line drew Arry’s golden eyes up from his script.
“I say that retribution shapes our world,
And blood divine defies all equipoise.” He answered, bluntly. He took a beat before proceeding:
“Let earthly thralls be bound by balance, yea,
But scions of the salient stars are we
And mortal laws be grounded in the dirt
To dwell amongst the worms and scarabs there.
Our father’s firstborn son and sundry more
Re’hyaean kinsmen shed their blessèd blood
That we might shun fell equilibrium
And, in its paltry place, construct withal
The pedestal we call ‘Supremacy’.” Arry could feel the fervour rising as he spoke. It felt like an invocation. It felt like he was manipulating aether with his voice, but no… He was connected to the text. He was allowing the language to possess his form and resurrect the long-deceased Phaedryn Sol’Aværys.
At rehearsal’s end, as Arry gathered up his script and other personal effects, he felt a presence looming over his shoulder. He stood erect and turned to find himself face to face with their leading man- Wylan Royce.
“Hey Arvalyn…” The human placed a palm upon his shoulder- A gesture of far greater familiarity than they enjoyed, in the elf’s opinion. “I just wanted to say, I think you’ve got a bright future here at the Peacock. I know you haven’t had much of a chance to shine, but after that read today, I look forward to what lies ahead.”
Arry blinked, gaping quizzically at the man for a pregnant moment, before replying.
“Well, I… Thank you, Wylan. You were stirring, as always. I will say I don’t envy you having to memorise so many lines of such dense text, but I’ve no doubt the ovations make it worth all the hours of preparation.”
“Heh, yeah memorisation was never my strongest suit, but I always make it work in the end. Anyway…” He patted Arry’s shoulder, “I’ll see you tomorrow, kiddo.” And off he went. Arry watched his back for a moment, before turning to stalk away.
Re: "All About Arvalyn" Act I [Solo]
Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2022 5:22 am
by Hikami
"All About Arvalyn" Act I
Points awarded:
Lores:
- Acting:
Delivering archaic language
Facility with iambic pentameter
Giving himself to a role
Letting the text do the work
Auditioning in a repertory company
Researching historical roles
Loot:
Injuries:
- Your pride will heal in due time
Notes:
- Great thread!
If you feel I missed anything contact me and we will make adjustments!
enjoy your rewards!