MovieChat Forums > A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999) Discussion > Puck question?

Puck question?

posted 19 years ago by captainshipshook
21 replies | jump to latest

Hey everybody! I just got cast to play Puck in this play and so I was wondering...when you think of his attributes (ie. mischievious, fun loving slightly wicked) who else comes to mind? This can be a real person (ie. I don't know, Twiggy Ramirez comes to my mind) or a movie/TV character (such as Bart Simpson). I'm just trying to think of as many people as I can to relate to. So c'mon...who's your favorite trouble maker? Or, can you offer me any tips (maybe from a personal experience?)

Thanks in advance!
The Captain

"Never ever! Forever never!"

[–] audonamission 19 years ago

Well, the attributes you suggested are pretty much on par with the character, I can't think of a person that exemplifies Puck though. My advice to you as a fellow actor is to have fun with it, Puck is a very fun character to play, and that it's pretty difficult to go too far with the character. Puck is just exploding with energy and mischieviousness, so just make sure you put a lot into it when you perform.

What Would Leatherface Do?

[–] captainshipshook 19 years ago

Thanks nameless! Have you played Puck before?

What the hell is Guacamora?

[–] audonamission 19 years ago

No...he's just my favorite character in the play, so I pay a lot of attention to him. I'm not a boy, and the director person at my school doesn't like to do Shakespeare, because she thinks high-schoolers screw it up. :)

What Would Leatherface Do?

[–] captainshipshook 19 years ago

I'm not a boy either...yay for girls! lol. And what a bummer that you guys dont fo shakespeare!

What the hell is Guacamora?

[–] audonamission 19 years ago

Yeah, I know. Our director teaches 9th grade English, so I think she judges all the high schoolers on the ability of 9th graders to handle Romeo and Juliet. :( But we are doing The Lottery, a play about a women who gets stoned to death...which is always fun.

What Would Leatherface Do?

[–] RayZR-KaI 18 years ago

Ooo. We recently finished Midsummer Night's Dream in my 9th grade English class. And. Yes. Most were violently monotonous. Probably would have killed a lesser teacher. I'm not really a fan of Shakespeare, and I more respect him for his contribution to literature in the form of vocabulary. Like, seriously, he invented the words "lonely", "obscene", "assassination", "hint", "gloomy", "dwindle", "hurry", "excellent", "rely", "laughable", and an estimated 5000 other words. That's just insane. He also invent the phrases "the beginning of the end", "beat it" (paving the way for a certain smash-hit by a white black pop singer), "the world is my oyster", "It's all Greek/Chinese/Italian/Japanese to me", "caught a cold", "to fall for it", and many others. I mean.... whoa...

You see that yellow stuff? That's my awesomeness.

[–] wonka138 19 years ago

My high school (well, what used to be my high school...I'm not in high school) did A Midsummer Night's Dream. Females played Puck and Oberon. It worked pretty well.

"One murder makes you a villian, millions a hero; numbers sanctify."

[–] happeeboy 19 years ago

I played Puck. The character changed a lot, but in the end I ended up playing him proud, weird, and a bit slow on the uptake. When Oberon says stuff like, "This is thy negligence," it wasn't Puck pretending to be dumb for the sake of mischief, it was Puck *being* dumb. It worked well for us.

[–] captainshipshook 19 years ago

Hmm... I kinda like that...Puck actually being dumb not so much for the mischief.

What the hell is Guacamora?

[–] PhantomPhan222 19 years ago

Just to point out, a good actor will play their character their own way, and as soon as they have examined the characters lines they will know exactly how they are going to play the character. So, if you are a good actor (Which I'm sure you are!), may I suggest that you may be unsuited for the role? However, I will offer a few tips; Puck is an underling jester, who revels in working for Oberon because a lot of his work involves a large element of mischeviousness to it! That is the one solid gold rule you need if you are playing Puck, you can add your own sub-attributes to the character, for instance, since he revels in being jesterish and fooling about, so he could be portrayed as quite fond of the drink, and may speak with a slight slur (Almost Captain Jack Sparrow like) similar to the Gatesman in the "Scottish Play" (For those of you who don't know I'm talking about *beep* actors believe saying the name brings bad luck!)

In the words of Jerry Springer: "Until next time, take care of yourself, and each other."

[–] captainshipshook 19 years ago

Thank you Phantom. I agree, I don't really think I'm right for the part! But rather than bring that up, I'm going to try to do the best I can.

What the hell is Guacamora?

[–] sam_dominic 19 years ago

i really think i have to disagree with you. it's not true at all the a good actor will know right off the bat exactly how they're going to play a character as soon as they read the lines. there's a lot of work that goes into becoming a character. read the whole play, think about what drives the character, what are his motives for his actions, how does he think, how does he react to the situations he's presented with. once you get inside your character's head and understand what makes them tick, once you can really become the character, then you'll start developing exactly how each line is read. plus, you should play around with the lines in rehearsal. say it one way and then go back and say it a different way. find out what works. that's what rehearsals are for. keep developing your character from the first cold reading until closing night. and just as a brief example, ian holme, for instance, is one of the greatest theater actors and he says his delivery completely changes from night to night as he performs. he's continually developing the character. and that's what makes a good actor.

[–] PhantomPhan222 19 years ago

I didn't say "off the bat as soon as you've read the script" I said "examined the characters lines" I was summarising what you just said, I clearly don't have the amount of time on my hands that you do. Because every night at 7:30pm till 9pm, I'm out working my butt off on a stage acting, during the day I'll be rehearsing, going over my lines, and in my spare time I do other things, most of which don't involve spending 15 minutes writing a preachy lecture about how other people are meant to think, and how other people are meant to act on an IMDb message board, just because the user I am replying to made a tiny flaw in not fully explaining himself because he is busy working his butt off (enjoyably though) and earning his money!

In the words of Jerry Springer: "Until next time, take care of yourself, and each other."

[–] AwesomeAwesome 19 years ago

Let's learn to love guys. Anyway, I'm auditioning for Midsummer this fall for a college production and I think Puck is perfect for me. I'm glad to see there's a conversation going on about him right now. Does anyone have any suggestions for good Shakespeare monologues to use for the audition. I have Jaques's "a fool" monologue from As You Like It down but I might need another.

As for the whole developing a character until closing thing, I agree with that. I admit that my theatre experience is quite little because I found it in college but I've found that the way I say my lines is different every night. In the moment whoever's in a scene with you may do something different with a line that leads to a revelation about your line in your head. Unfortunately it might be closing night.

Also, I'm trying to think of characters that I'd compare to Puck. I'll get back to you on that.

[–] captainshipshook 19 years ago

Thank you so much for your responces! I closed this last Saturday. It was a great time. The reason I asked about this in the first place was because our rehersals did not start until two weeks before opening night, and our blocking was not finished until a week before. And I had not run through the entire show until two days prior to opening night. Because production was so rushed, I knew I would need some help. So thanks again for all that you've given to me!

What the hell is Guacamora?

[–] TrinitylovesNeo 19 years ago

You know the twins in Harry Potter? Puck is like them only 20 times more hyper.

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] groovy_little_chicken 18 years ago

I played Puck a few years ago and my rendition, I suppose you could say, was somewhat similar to Smeagol from Lord of the Rings, worked quite well for me.

Out here in the perimeter there are no stars
Out here we are stone, immaculate.

[–] dancingdana711 18 years ago

I always thought he seemed a bit like Q from Star Trek:The Next Generation .

[–] georgethompson 18 years ago

Think of an 11year old, full of energy, fun loving and ready for mischief. My 11 year old just finished playing Puck or rather himself. It turned out great.
GT

[–] koala_t_98 8 years ago

As an actor, I am inclined to agree with those who are telling you to develop your own character. If you have questions, you should get together with your director first. I've had two directors now who have sat down with the cast and started asking us questions about things like: Where are you coming from when you enter this scene, and where are you going when you exit? I've also been told "Don't watch other performers doing this role. Make it your own." In the end, though, the final say belongs with your director. Ultimately, the entire show is THEIR vision. Keep that in mind.