The Greatest Showman - Chapter 5: Amazing technique

Chapter 5: Amazing technique

Renly slowly stood up, as if each movement has consumed all the energy in his body, fighting against the tarzan-like weight to re-straighten his body, but before he could stand firmly on his feet, he took two big steps forward, the vast and powerful aura that was released down to form a wave of air suppressed, thundering to make each spectator hold his breath.

“I beg of you! If you harbor enmity against me, execute your will while your blood-stained hands are still sending out heat!” Renly stretched out his hands, holding the enemy’s hands in the air, the tense arm muscles let people feel as if the whole body was like a taut bowstring, eyebrows bursting from the depths of the brazen incredulous light, “even if I live to be a thousand years old, I can not find such a good opportunity to die as today; let me lie next to Caesar, is there a better place to die than this? Could there be a better place for me to die than at the hands of you, the great and handsome man of our time?”

Earnest and sincere, heroic and valiant, straightforward and resolute.

The short words in the chest and head collided with a group of sparks, like a shocking wave, one after another, hit the softest place in their hearts, and were moved by it.

The two of them suddenly drew back their hands, and the despondent look was like the moonlight under the jade trees, sparingly spilling down, “Friends – alas! What shall I say?” He took a step toward the other side, the heavy footsteps dragged on the ground, as if tied with a thousand pounds of shackles, “My credibility is now at stake, you do not think I am a coward, you have to think I am a flatterer!”

Lifting his head, and looking at the deep and vast blackness above his head, the taut curve of his jaw ran a tangle of contradictions, “Ah, Caesar! I have loved thee, it is a thousand truths; and if thy shadowy soul looked upon us now, and thou sawst thy Antony shamefaced with vengeance before thy corpse, holding the bloody hand of thy enemy, should it not make thee feel worse than death?”

The resoluteness of grief burst forth with dazzling brilliance in the midst of that resounding tone, so that every listener could deeply feel the earnestness, “If I had as many eyes as your wounds, I should have let them flow with heady tears, as the blood gushed from your wounds; but I was ungrateful and became friends with your enemies. “

Among those deep and wide eyes, melancholy sorrow and earnest pleading were shining, the projection on the ground tilted as if a giant had collapsed, a moment of vulnerability, a moment of softness, a moment of shame, only to make the whole figure’s image become full.

Then they saw Renly withdraw his movements and pause in place for about two seconds, all emotions slowly converged, as though the naked eye could see the powerful aura like a lingering smoke gradually dissipated, the shock brought by the mind even began to affect the sense of sight, hearing and smell, the whole room was silent, there was no sound, so much so that when Renly walked back to the center of the stage, the theater could still only hear the sound of his footsteps, as if each step was a thousand pounds, stepping on the hearts of every audience member.

He stopped and turned to face the audience, openly accepting the scrutiny and judgement from the bottom of the stage.

But no one at the bottom of the stage could react in time, it was as if they had just been through a storm, and they were a canoe in the middle of the storm, unable to resist, only to follow the waves constantly bumping. Now that the storm was over, they were frozen in place, and their battered spirits needed a little time to recover and settle down.

As an actor, Tom was undoubtedly the most impressed, in Renly’s body, he saw the talent for acting, between the hands and feet burst out the energy of the natural, even a look, a smile, a movement were full of flavor, the shock that came with a strong infectious power, easily let the audience into the world he had built.

This is a power that is convincing!

While it is true that Renly performed Shakespeare, perhaps the British actor’s best content; although it is true that this performance Renly may have refined countless times, presenting precisely the most perfect moments; and while it is true that the performance just now is full of theatrical style, which may not fit with the drama ……

But, but! The richness and unique flavor of Shakespeare’s words, the vivid images and profound connotations of Shakespeare’s plays, burst out in that short performance, which can be described as absolutely stunning. This is the reason why Renly deserves a standing ovation.

Especially after the off-track stand-up comedy that just happened, the contrast just got more and more striking.

Tom turned his head to look at the other colleagues around him, each with such similar expressions of shock, astonishment and amazement. Even the sophisticated Steven had a playful look on his face at this moment, apparently taking a huge interest in Renly, which is rare.

Clearing his throat, Tom was the first to break the ice, “This is ……” his understanding of Shakespeare’s plays is still very limited, just this performance was not among the famous plays in his memory. From this point one can also see the courage and confidence of Renly.

“‘Julius Caesar’. ” Renly replied with a smile, “a tragedy written by Shakespeare before he composed ‘All’s Well That Ends Well’. I just performed an excerpt from Mark Antony. “Historically, Mark was one of Julius Caesar’s most important military commanders and administrators, and his most widely known exploits were undoubtedly his love affair with Cleopatra VII, the Queen of Egypt.

“Interesting choice.” Tom eyes couldn’t help but brighten, “But why did you choose this paragraph?” Only after the words were said, Tom noticed that Steven’s adjusted his sitting posture, propped up his chin, and assumed a sideways listening posture, which made Tom smile.

“Because that’s what I do best?” Renly’s answer brought a soft chuckle from everyone in the audience, a hint of teasing amidst confidence, before going on to explain, “I always thought Mark was a very interesting character, and his private life aside, Shakespeare gave Mark a soul in the play ‘Julius Caesar’ . Throughout history, he has been remembered as a reckless man who was obsessed with the illicit affair with Cleopatra and delayed his career, or perhaps as a simple-minded, fastidious martial artist, but in this case Mark was an eloquent speaker, a calculating politician and a determined military commander.”

With a simple explanation, everyone suddenly became enlightened.Renly’s head-to-head performance just now became fleshed out immediately – Mark just faced the enemy who killed Caesar, so how should he avoid his own death and not look too cowardly and flattering, this is the game of the art. Their minds could not help but recall every detail in the performance just now, and the surprise brought about by the second recollection once again made their pupils begin to dilate.

“Weren’t you worried that none of us had seen the play to the point of not understanding your performance?” Someone nearby spoke up, not Tom, and all eyes looked over in unison, it was actually Steven.

Not only the other actors who auditioned, but also the other staff members of the cast and crew all looked askance. During the whole audition process, the two bigwigs paid a lot of attention to Renly and that’s really quite uncommon!

“Ha.” Renly laughed out lightly, not hiding his joy and exuberance, but not being overly flamboyant, “A performance is a performance, a play is just a vehicle, and it’s the performance I need to present, isn’t it? What’s more, I don’t think there will be a need to use Shakespeare’s plays in “The Pacific”.”

The latter half of the sentence was clearly a rebuttal to Tom’s joke earlier, Steven turned his head to Tom and gloatingly laughed, Tom himself was dumbfounded, “I thought you were eager to seize the opportunity.” If it wasn’t for that joke, they wouldn’t have had the chance to see Renly play that soundly, and they could see that Shakespearean plays should be what Renly is good at.

“We won’t know until the results come out, will we?” There was a hint of slyness in his simple words, and once again a light laugh rang out from the audience.

Steven closed his jaw, pretending to be serious and said in a deep voice, “I can confirm that the person who makes the decision is not standing on the stage.” The staff laughed collectively, but the actors standing on the stage were full of bitterness and growing nervous.

Renly knew it was time for him to exit the stage, and he nodded politely in greeting before turning back to the group. Right in front of him, he could see Rami’s facial expression that was so tense that it looked like it was frozen, but Rami still secretly raised his right hand and gave a thumbs up to Renly.

Renly couldn’t help but smile and nod his head slightly to cheer Rami on.

Rami took a deep breath, after the wonderful audition that Renly just had, the pressure on his shoulders undoubtedly increased again, but he did not feel frustrated or jealous, on the contrary, he felt inwardly inspired, getting more energetic, he shook his fist, and then Rami stepped forward, he and Renly crossed paths, one back to the group, one towards the front.

Renly stood in the line, gently exhaling a breath, although just now he seemed calm and relaxed, but in fact, the tension he felt was no less severe than others, palms also seeped a thin layer of sweat, this is his first official audition and he is a complete rookie.

It would be impossible to say that the phone call before the audition had no effect on him at all. Now, every opportunity was extraordinarily valuable to him, and he wasn’t sure if the performance he had just given was enough, but he was sure that the performance was so wonderful, so enjoyable, so magical, that deep inside his heart his dream of being an actor had never been stronger.

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Translator Question of the day – What did you think of Renly’s first audition?