Developing the Character of a Wife

No, this isn't a religious post. It's about my character for the show. ::giggle:: silly.

According to the blocking that herr Director has given us, I keep showing up as wife #2, next in line to Lady Thiang (head wife). Given this status, I've been thinking about my character; who she is, what she thinks and how she might react within the structure of the direction I've been given.

My first musical in high school was Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. What a fun show. Anyway - the director told us to write out the story of our characters - what a normal day might look like for them, what they liked to do in their spare time, what they liked and didn't like and, most importantly, how they felt about the story. Since then, I have applied that technique to every character I've ever played. It really helps me step into their skin and see through their eyes. Makes character portrayal MUCH easier. So, here is my sketched out "story" of wife #2.

My name is Kimi. I am a Japanese princess; a gift to the King of Siam when I was 15 years old. I am the second wife to the king. My child, a daughter, was born only a few months after Crown Prince Chulalongkorn. She died when the children were but 2 years old and yet the King looked kindly upon me and I remained a favored wife. I now have another child; a son. He is five years old.

Were the King's extraordinary kindness to me not enough to forever secure my loyalty, my tenuous position as #2 wife would. It is critical that I retain the favor of Lady Thiang, the head wife. As long as she looks kindly upon me and also my young son, we will be safe.

I am unsure about Mrs. Anna. She seems very kind, but she has very strange ideas about things and it seems dangerous to appear too sympathetic. She spends too much time worrying about Tuptim, I think. She should spend more time trying to please the King by properly teaching the Crown prince and other royal children. I will wait and watch.

Kiet, my son, adores her. I am very proud of how he picks up the English words. He learns faster than I do. He seems to be in his father's favor, so I breathe easy that he can be a little boy for a little while longer. It is easier for the boys with Chulalongkorn around; there is not so much pressure on them to grow up so soon.

I have seen the way Lady Thiang watches Tuptim and I think that girl is up to something. Not knowing what, I will watch for an opportunity to be the one that delivers important information to Lady Thiang. This will prove my loyalty, both to her and to the King.

::grin:: That's as far as I've gotten so far. I think that, of all the wives, wife #2 is the most scheming. Not necessarily in a cruel way, but in a very attentive way. Her position and perhaps her life and the life of her son depend on her awareness. I chose a Japanese name to explain my fair skin. I chose a Thai name for the little kid playing my son; what a cutie! He and the other little bitty ones are going to absolutely walk off with the show.

I invented the dead daughter to explain how I could be the #2 wife behind Thiang, even though I have the youngest child of all of the favored children. I've never been a direct threat to her because my first child was a girl. Also, I've been around the longest of the other wives. Perhaps the death of my child, when the Crown Prince was the same age tied us together. Now, I will do ANYTHING to keep that favored position; both with the King and with Lady Thiang.

::tee hee:: This is my favorite part of being in a show.

Ok, I'm done jabbering. I'm off to bed. ::yawn::