Stanislavski's Acting Technique- Historical Post 1

Who is my character? 

Sally Bowles

The historical character I have decided to create for this project is Sally Bowles.  Now I know Sally Bowles will be a character chosen by many of us, but I aim to create a unique interpretation of Sally, as there is so much information to build on and each individual has a different idea of Sally's look and persona. 

There are many descriptions of Sally Bowles, and most of them state the same thing, that Sally is a 19 year old actress and cabaret singer who has come to Berlin with dreams of stardom.  However, Sally is made to look different in each of the adaptations I have researched.

Overview of Sally Bowles Character:

"Sally Bowles is a fictional character from the novels of Christopher Isherwood “Mr Norris Changes Trains” and “Goodbye To Berlin” (also known as The Berlin Diaries)  published in 1935 and 1939.  She is a 19 yr old English/ American actress and cabaret singer.  He also adds, “She had a surprisingly deep, husky voice. She sang badly, without any expression, her hands hanging down at her sides – yet her performance was, in its own way, effective because of her startling appearance and her air of not caring a curse of what people thought of her”.

Reference:  Sally Bowles | Cabaret Berlin. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.cabaret-berlin.com/?p=100. [Accessed 14 October 2014].

Image Credit: Liza Minnelli STEPPING OUT.... [ONLINE] Available at: http://steppingoutliza.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2014-07-31T13:43:00-07:00. [Accessed 14 October 2014].

Before I watched Cabaret, I first read the script.  For the most part, Sally always seems a little agitated but always seems to have an outgoing personality. From the script I got the impression that Sally was quite a confident and loud character also, however my impression of her soon changed when I watched the film.  After watching the film, I really noticed the softer side to her personality, she seemed very naive to the outside world and her confident persona just seemed like a front to fool the people around her. 

I was unsure as to what Sally was exactly styled like in the script and in Christopher Isherwood's book, as of course there were no visual references.  However there are certain quotes that suggest Sally wore "brilliant cherry lips" and "emerald green nails".  Similarly, at the beginning of the film, her make up is very bold and bright.  She wears colourful eyeshadow consisting of greens and purples and she frequently wears a red lip which reflects the idea that the colourful make up is their to try and portray an outgoing and unusual woman.  However as the film goes on, we see her make up change which reflects her changing persona.  When  Sally gets an abortion and also when she is rejected by her father, Sally seems to have much more of a bare and natural face.  She is no longer dressed in her hot pants and rather revealing leotard, but instead is wearing very neutral clothes that cover up her body a lot more than usual.  This shows that Sally isn't the confident girl that she first comes across as but instead is a broken women underneath.

My idea is to make Sally a little more toned down than we see her in Cabaret, but maybe keep one of the key, bold features for us to remember her showgirl persona.

References:

Christopher Isherwood (1939). Goodbye to Berlin. Vintage Classics; New Ed edition.