dinnertime!

hello friends
After a meeting with Scotty and discussing my role - he gave me the idea of research coping with grief in the 80’s as this is what Monika had to go through - and there may not have been the same grief coping services in the 80’s .
I found some information on grief but there wasn’t much to be found regarding coping with grief in the 80’s specifically. i’ll continure this research, possibly through phoning a service and asking them what was available in the 80’s but for now this is some of the stuff i found that could be useful to me in understanding Monika.
Grief - the emotional response particularly of sorrow, over a great loss such as the death of a loved one.
Grief is a healthy and necessary process. It is not healthy to avoid grief or to deny a loss for a long period of the time. Avoidance of grief may lead to serious physical or emotional problems later in life. - Monika doesn’t deny her loss, however she does seem to avoid dealing with her grief properly and doesn’t seem to know which channels to go through in order to deal with her grief - causing her outbirsts - her avoidance to deal with grief and determination to forget the past and have a fun night out (possibly in order to escape from coping with grief) may cause problems for her later.
People who are grieving may need to keep certain coping tips in mind, including:
• Avoid isolation. It is important for grieving people to talk to others and explain how they are feeling. They must not be afraid to ask for support. - this may be Monika’s motivation to go out with the girls (she doesn’t want to be alone) and it explains her outbirsts and insistance to talk about her husbands death. she tells Paula and Dympie that they’re her best friends - she seems to be alone and not have anyone else to talk to - explaining her motivation for opening up to Dympie and Paula.
• Postpone major decisions when possible. Grief may interfere with judgment. Major decisions may need to be postponed. - her judgement may be skewed and affected by her grief - this helps us to understand what motivated her to get drunk, take drugs and especially helps to explain her decision to go home with Stephen, so soon after her husband’s death.
This research has helped me a lot to understand some of Monika’s motives and reasons behind her behaviour - i feel that this deeper understanding of my character will help enhance my performance. i recommend this kind of research to all actors! - research broader topics that seem to be apparent in your characters life in order to grasp a greater understanding of them.