Multi-rolling - Jonny & Kurt

 

In the second scene of LTROI we meet my first character, Jonny whom is introduced by bullying Oskar, the scene leads nicely into the third in which Kurt, my second character, is introduced; due to the fact that these scenes are consecutive and that Jonny is a fairly important role, not to be confused with other characters, it is intensely important that I clearly differentiate between the two characters.

Physically, Jonny is very open, he pushes out his chest and will allow his arms to hang creating a very big, dominant, image, that is until the end of the play where Jonny crawls into his shell revealing that he actually is just a child, especially in comparison to his elder brother Jimmy. Kurt on the other hand is much more casual in his posture, he has little, and cares little, to show off. Kurt is also fairly effeminate in how he holds himself, this is down to his soft nature and the fact that he feels hidden all day behind his Kiosk and so can simply relax.

Vocally, again Kurt is soft, I feel it is in ways similar to Oskar's tone, confident yet playful. On the contrary Jonny's voice is deeper and more powerful, pronouncing each word correctly and adding emphasis on crude words, more regularly when he is angered. The voice is difficult to explain however I feel the paths that I have chosen for the characters are alternating and effective when viewed side by side.

Visually costume wise, Kurt makes up the base of the costume with a white collarless shirt and a red sweater vest to create a smart image with glasses possibly to show ageing and maturity. He may be noted for having his hair swept to the side, one of his traits. The bottom half of Kurt is fortunately blocked from audience view by the Kiosk and so is less important, although given a proper time to change outfit, Kurt would be dressed in suit trousers and formal black shoes to complete his middle aged smart look.
However he actually remains in Jonny's snow boots and dark jeans, these are casual wear for Jonny's character and worn with the intent of staying warm in the cold weather more than anything. Kurt's once sweater vest is made to look like a red jumper for Jonny under his winter coat that covers the lack of sleeves.  He wears no glasses and his hair is arguably scurfy finding its way over the right side of his face from underneath his winter hat to help fight off the cold conditions. Finally, the collarless white shirt becomes less of an intelligent look and so blends in with Jonny's casual winter wear.