Creating a backstory
This is only superficially related to hall life, actually. It relates what I discovered about delving into your character, while I was acting in one part of the EHOC programme.
Basically, one part of the 5-day programme was a whodunit, involving the kidnapping of the famous star, Girlyman. (Pronounced girly-mahn). He was due to perform at The Big Show on Friday, but had been tragically kidnapped on Tuesday morning. The freshies were given a list of suspects to interview, and I was one of them. I suppose it says a lot that they wrote in a part for a crazed stalkerish fan, and the first person they thought of to play that part was me. *sweatdrop*
I wasn’t given all that much info or backstory about my character, I made up a lot of the little details myself. Add to that the fact that I had to tell the same story 6 times, so coherence was important, otherwise I’d be unintentionally misleading the freshies or giving the game away.
All I was told was that my character was a crazed fan of Girlyman who attended every performance and had been accused of kidnapping my idol, in order to have the ultimate collector’s item. As for plotline, I had been stalking following my idol to the band room where he was having a rehearsal with Screaming Girl. Unfortunately I had to run to the bathroom, and when I came out, he was gone. My accuser was Girlyman’s brother, also under suspicion. Basically all the suspects were pointing fingers at each other. The brother didn’t like me because I set his shoes on fire, but I wasn’t told why, so I came up with a very elaborate backstory tying together lots of disparate threads. I’m still very proud of that.
I started out with a pair of scissors, since I was told to be cutting up Girlyman pictures for my shrine to him. When we did the run-through during Counsellors’ Camp, I discovered that threatening to cut people’s hair pretty much freaked them out, so I added in a hair fixation. Just for fun, I saved one of my own hairs (it was especially curly) and preserved it with cellotape, so it would be the highlight of the crazed fan’s collection.
As for setting the shoes on fire, this would be the crux of my entire backstory. I decided that I would frantically defend it as an accident, and spill the story if the freshies asked. This is pretty much what I told them, group after group:
I didn’t mean to set his shoes on fire! It was an accident! It was the 12th death anniversary of Girlyman’s hamster, and I was lighting a candle for the poor thing… but the wind blew, and my hair caught fire… I used to have hair like yours. (At this point, I would pick out a long-haired girl.) But I lost it in the fire. (Cue maniacal looking and caressing of girl’s hair.) So I didn’t really set his shoes on fire, I don’t know why he keeps accusing me…
The next thing they usually tried to do was to convince me to give up my scissors, which I was wielding quite dangerously. (Indeed, I injured myself, but no one else.) Then they would ask why I was cutting up all that waste paper. At this point, I would reply, “If I didn’t cut the paper, I’d be cutting hair.” *cue more maniacal gazing at hair*
I decided to wear a red hoodie, simply because Girlyman is wearing a red jacket in the video. If anyone asked, the hood was up to cover the bald patches on my scalp, from the fire. One particularly naughty orientation group tried to pull my hood down, so I decided to freak out and chase them out, then sniffle about this to the next group.
As with most orientation programmes, the freshies had to do something for me before I would give them any information. Their task was to follow Girlyman’s dance steps, presumably to cheer me up since I’d lost my idol. I just refused to answer their questions if they wouldn’t comply, by curling up into a ball, rocking myself and muttering “I’m so depressed…” One smart-alecky group eagerly agreed to dance for me, and then performed the Macarena. I turned my back on their “performance” and proclaimed that I was even more upset, because I hated the Macarena. Wahaha! At the end of the questioning, one group (I forget which) slipped up and asked “So who do you think killed Girlyman?” Upon hearing this, I started wailing “He’s dead???” and huddled in a corner sobbing, so they had no choice but to leave. Their time limit was up anyway. That was a pretty good performance, if I do say so myself.
I actually didn’t know that one of the other suspects was lying, and that my testimony (if true) was the one that proved her guilt. As it was, I was busy trying to defend myself, and I guess I do a very good innocent act, because the freshies decided I wasn’t the kidnapper after all. And although my character is slightly obsessed, not mentally challenged, some people insisted on speaking to me as though I had the mentality of a 5-year-old. That’s not to say I didn’t take advantage of this confound to play dumb when I was asked something I didn’t know how to answer. The concrete evidence linking the perpetrator to the crime was sequins, presumably from Girlyman’s costume. One group asked if I remembered what Girlyman was wearing when he disappeared, and of course I didn’t know what the other suspects had answered. Plus our Girlyman wouldn’t be dressed the same as the dude in the video. So I gave a gormless smile and said “Shiny suit!” since as his biggest fan, I couldn’t convincingly say I didn’t know. Luckily, they chose to interpret my mutterings as confirming the sequins as evidence.
All in all, I had a lot of fun acting, although there were times when I slipped out of character, or rather, into a character different from the one I originally envisioned. I took Bellatrix Lestrange as portrayed by Helena Bonham Carter to be my role model. I kept my room dark, so I could peer at them from the door and ask huskily, “Are you here to dance for me?” Unfortunately, by the 3rd or 4th group, I’d lapsed into Singlish and wasn’t quite as darkly menacing anymore. Bah. I have a newfound respect for theatre actors now. It can’t be easy giving a consistent performance night after night.
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