A Garden Enclosed: A Character Study and Performance of Clare from Tennessee Williams’s The Two Character Play

This theatre thesis is an intensive character study and performance of Clare from Tennessee Williams’s The Two Character Play. The work was based on the simple concept that in-depth preparation work on a character results in a more rich and believable performance. I began by researching Tennessee Williams and various character development methods and exercises, and then spent the fall semester putting these exercises into practice. I also produced a forty-six page character history (a creative writing piece where one imagines and chronicles various memories from the character\u27s life). I spent the spring semester rehearsing the play with my co-actor and two directors, and presented the show to the Simon\u27s Rock public on the second weekend of April. By and large, this thesis was about discovering what it takes to flesh out a character, and, in the process of doing so, learning to find a place within oneself where that character can then take root and blossom into being