Reflecting back on the beginning towards the end

My name is Mark Dooley. I play Aegisthus in Frank McGuinness’ translation of Sophocles’ s Electra. I am a native of Galway city.  I have been acting in Galway for seven years. The characters I usually get to play are happy, cheeky, one of the lads and also have an element of comedy to them, so to play Aegisthus, Electra's alleged villain, I will really be stepping out of my comfort zone.

Mark Leahy, Samira Barar and Mark Leahy

This is my first year in NUI Galway, I am a first year BA student in Drama, Theatre and Performance.   I had seen acting warm-ups before but didn’t realise how many there was or how far they could take you on a voyage of discovery. For the first two weeks we worked on Viewpoints exercises with our director, Charlotte. It was an exploration of me, the space in which my character moved but still as me, then we explored movement and noise.  I found myself slowly morphing into Aegisthus and then going through the same movements as him. This was a very personal experience in a room full of people.

When interaction did happen with others during the movement work, it was a pleasure and I found excitement in meeting the strangers in my space or the city I walked and figuring out whether they were friend or foe. What was my relationship with them? Was I attracted or repulsed by them? Was I experiencing fear or enjoyment? This was mind blowing. We weren’t even on the text yet but we were discovering subtext, content and shaping how we would be exploring the text. This way was the first time I had done anything like this and at first I did hold back and was wondering what I had got myself into. Once I let go and became immersed in the exercise I found it so useful.

I am off book which means I have my lines learnt and I am working on my blocking which means my movement or path through my scene. I must discover the love, the time when I’m winning and what makes this day different than other days. I have to say I really like the cast and crew and when this show is over I  will miss working with them.

Mark Dooley