Tasks: "Where am I"? In terms of where I want to go! - In the future my intentional destination is drama school so my pursuit to be an actor become a reality.
What skills do I possess and how have I developed - In the past I had known myself to be quite self-indulgent and I would focus mainly on just acting and bringing energy to stage. Though due to the feedback from my peers I have found out that I've gained also new skills myself. For example leadership, team bonding, performance, articulation, diction, openness, resilience, projection, respect, determination, spacial awareness, characteristics, persistence creativity and listening skills. This is all through the year that I know I have definitely learnt and I hope to keep up through the next year.
Next steps? What do I plan to do beyond this course and how will I aim to achieve it? - what I'm hoping for in the future is to get into the right drama school that suits me, gain experience through doing workshops and then start putting myself out in the world. How aim to achieve this? That all comes down to me being determined on my work and by being persistent in finding auditions and getting into films and having certain connections within the industry so I can put myself out there.
I came upon this monologue from a book my friend borrowed from the library called Nern Books. At the time I was struggling to find a good monologue that I thought would interest me but then this came along. In a rough summary, this monologue is about how a young man is relaxing near a pond and has a strange experience with a dummy (dress up dummy from in shops). Now what interested me about it was the weirdness of the character. How he would always give weird examples to explain something so simple or how he would trail off into his wild imagination. Though what I get from the character's base emotion and reason for all this, is to try make the audience wander about the minds and thoughts of human abilities. He wants the audience to think, to be confused. To be drawn into his unparalleled story.
Pamela Carter:
Pamela Carter is a playwright and dramaturg. Her work as writer for untitled includes: Paul Bright’s Confessions of a Justified Sinner, An Argument About Sex and Slope. Other plays include: Fast Ganz Nah (Almost Near) directed by Elias Perrig and premiered at Dresden Staatshausspiel April 2013; meat for Peep/Natural Shocks, Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2012 & 13; Skåne (directed by Tim Carroll at the Hampstead Theatre Downstairs in October 2011; winner of the New Writing Commission at the Berliner Festspiele Stückemarkt 2012); Wildlife for Magnetic North Theatre Company (2011); What We Know (directed by Pamela in a co-production with Traverse Theatre in 2010; published by Nick Hern Books); she also works as writer with Swedish conceptual artists Goldin+Senneby on The Nordenskiöld Model, their long term-investigation into hedge funds, algorithmic trading and the nature of financial reality. So far ‘scenes’ have been staged in Bucharest, Vilnius, Rotterdam, Stockholm, New York, Aachen and Copenhagen. Her work as a dramaturg includes: Saturday Night (2011) and the award-winning Interiors (touring internationally since 2009) by Vanishing Point Theatre Co; and, for untitled The Salon Project (2011).
EDUCATIONAL:
This is very trivial topic for it is one of the most common things to learn in acting. Shakespeare was like the founding father of the arts. It was because of him acting is so popular and it has lead us into the wonderful entertainment we enjoy today. Shakespeare has given us amazing techniques, which has helped us learned valuable things that can improve our acting. Such as:
Iambic pentameter - It uses ten syllables with emphasis on every other syllable, giving it a distinctive, lilting rhythm, sounding like this: “de-DUM-de-DUM-de-DUM-de-DUM-de-DUM”.
Personification - when human qualities are attributed to inanimate objects, animals or even abstract ideas, such as deities.
And many more.
COMPLICATED:
I think that this topic is very difficult comprehend. The reason is because Shakespeare always wrote a lot of lines at his era and now a days there is a little less dialogue in scripts. For instance we would be a given a script and there would be short line or mini paragraphs. whereas in Shakespeare's scripts there would be more paragraphs. this gives an overwhelming view of the project and may confront us in harsh way.
MACBETH:
Macbeth is a tragedy by William Shakespeare; it is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. For this years assessment Macbeth is what we shall be performing.
Macbeth, Thane of Glamis, is told a prophecy from a three witches who say that he will become Thane of Cawdor and "king hereafter." His wife, Lady Macbeth, commands him to take this chance in taking the throne. One night, Macbeth murders King Duncan in his sleep and frames the guards.
Macbeth's friend, Banquo, was there when the witches' talked of the prophecy and realizes that Macbeth is killed King Duncan. To protect himself, Macbeth hires assassins to kill Banquo. Fleance, Banquo's son, escapes (and he's was also predicted to become king).
Duncan's sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, run away from Scotland, where they begin plotting against Macbeth. One of their allies, Macduff, in this play Macduff is seen as a threat to Macbeth. Malcolm and Macduff work together and prepare for the fight.
Overcome with regret over killing King Duncan, Lady Macbeth commits suicide. Macbeth doesn't care and gets three new prophecies: 1. to beware Macduff, 2. that "none of woman born" can kill him and 3. that he won't be defeated until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane. Macbeth thinks that he is invincible.
Macduff's army camouflage themselves with Birnam Wood branches as they march on to Dunsinane. Macduff, who was born of a c-section, was not "of woman born" and so has the power to defeat Macbeth, who realizes too late that the witches' prophecies talked about his death and not his success. Macduff kills Macbeth and in the End Malcolm becomes King of Scotland.
Lessons & Research :
This not so short summary will contain all the information that was produced from the lessons I attended for the past month and a half. All for which shall prepare me for the performance starting between early to mid March. I describe the lessons in three sections. 2/3rds of them being January and the last section being the first half February which is before the half term holidays.
SECTION 1 - For the first half of the month the entire class and had read the script that was updated by our mentor Rob Alexander.
Our mentor had also assigned us into three groups. Pink, blue and black and I was assigned to the pink group. As were my peers Roman, Dejaa, Mya, Diogo, Ben .T, Favour, Anakin, Elena, Maya and Katie. Our mentor had also assigned us our characters. I was given the character Malcolm (king Duncan's son). For this section of the month me and my group had been focusing on our lines so that for the rest of the month we can focus on blocking.
As you can see on the left, for me to remember my lines, I recorded my lines on my phone and listened to them at available free times (mostly before I reach the college and sometimes after I leave to go home). Not only did I try focusing on my lines but I also did research into my character. As you see below:
MALCOLM - He is the older son of King Duncan, the heir to the throne, and Donalbain's brother. In the end, he gets his throne after getting support to overthrow Macbeth. The character was based on the historical king Malcolm III of Scotland, and is taken from the account in Holinshed's Chronicles, a history of Britain. Malcolm is seen as "chaste, trustworthy, and patriotic". As the heir to the throne, Malcolm is one of Macbeth's worst enemy.
After killing Macbeth and taking his rightful place, Malcolm delivers the final words of the play as a speech contrasting himself and the former tyrant. During his final speech, he gives Macduff and others the rank or title of an earl, while taking his birthright.
All this info gave me enough good circumstances to match up to my character. I gathered that he is a kind-hearted young man who is not into war but peace. He has a strong will and will only fight when needed. That means for me to act like him I must always look as I have higher power but act with a kind heart. I must be seen as a worthy ruler who shall destroy evil so that there may be peace in Scotland.
SECTION 2 - It had come to the second half of the month and I had still not learnt all my lines. Though I still would listen to my recordings each day. From this part of the month onwards to February our new mentor Shenagh Cameron (whom had replaced Rob temporarily due to his injuries), Ben .T and I, plus two other students from different groups (we were seen as the ones to direct our groups and help with receiving info from Shenagh) decided it was best that we split most of our lessons into threes. Giving us individual times to rehearse for we are too much for one class room. From then on we have to stay in the order of pink group first, blue second and black last. At the start it was in different orders but the mentor decided we should stay this way.
My group and I mainly focused on our blocking so that we have a good understanding for the performance. I also focused on my voice so I would do vocal exercises (shown in previous blog) to help with my pronunciation. In this play the speech patterns are very Shakespearean so I had to practice a lot in pronouncing my words. Iambic Pentameter really contributed to this.
SECTION 3 - For the last section it had reached the month February. I was still struggling with my lines and my group had decreased. Sure enough people in my group have volunteered to fill in for them and it is quite challenging for them. We only have a few weeks left and we still need to finish our blocking and bonding with our characters.
I trust my peers to get through this as much as I trust myself. From 1st of February to today I have been non-stop reading my lines over and over. for right now that is my main problem and if it's not fixed my group shall surely suffer. I help out with directing others but from today to the performance I am going to start focusing on my self and leave all the directing to Ben Taylor.
[HALF TERM HOLIDAYS]
After the holidays it was straight back to work. For the rest of the month I was mostly trying to focus
on my lines mostly but that didn't mean I didn't put effort into the lesson. Whenever the teacher or Ben would give a command for where is should be on the stage, when I have to come on or how I should act; I'm all ears. Though I think if I want to act to my full potential i'm going to need to have all my lines completely printed to memory. All I want to do is have a great performance and for that to be a reality.
Final rehearsals :
It has reached march and I shall be performing on the 19th of march, which means my group and I only have 2 weeks and 5 days to rehearse I and get everything on its feet. I have learnt most of my lines; the only bit I need to learn is Malcolm's end speech. As the weeks past by I was trying to increase my acting level. Though it was kind of tough because I looked over my research of Malcolm; I could tell that he's character, his way of thinking was that he is a really humble person (who is in pursuit of getting revenge for his father's killer). That means I can't really go to the extremes with my acting. I know I can still do a lot with this character. I just feel like this is undermining me as an actor. This is a challenge that I hope I can wash over by the performance.
It was the day before the performance and it was time to start thinking of my costume for Malcolm. Now of course I knew that my character is royalty but due to our theme I had to try and make him apocalyptic ready. What I planned to then was wear royal clothing only when king Duncan is still alive and when I'm being crowned at the end of the play. Then when Malcolm runs away I decided to wear my own coat. It's big, it's leather and its kinda roughed up so that give that kind of apocalyptic style. Plus I also added I wore my plain black jeans to help. The end of the lesson was drawing near and we had done a full run through while setting the lights for the theatre tech people.
Performance Evaluation :
What I think went well with my performance is my composure, me pacing through the lines and the fact that I stuck to characteristics that were given to me. I knew my character well and the choice of my costumes came in handy as well. I'm just really glad that it came at well and that not only me but peers acted amazingly. Seeing how I've acted on this just gives me more confidence that I can achieve my goal to be an actor. Though I knew I could do more; that wouldn't be good for my character especially and it would seem as if I'm over-acting. Though there were scenes that I could have added more enthusiasm. Such as the scene with me and Macduff (Deja) and the end scene with my big speech. Doing that could've shown more of my character's emotions.
1- Actors communicate characters and situations to an audience through dialogue, body language and actions. Dancers use movement to interpret music, tell stories and express emotion, often under the guidance of a choreographer. Musical theater performers are generally ‘triple threats’ – skilled in singing, dancing and acting. Dramatherapists is a performing arts job that allows you to use your love of the dance, music or drama to help individuals of all ages overcome personal difficulties. Theater directors bring scripts to life on the stage, working closely with everyone involved to create a show that connects with the audience. Screenwriter if you have a passion for creating scripts, and a strong interest in digital media, this career could be for you. Arts administrators organize arts activities and services and ensure they are successful. They work for various organizations such as theaters or museums. Theatre stage manager is another performing arts career in which you’ll need good organization skills is that of a theater stage manager, in charge of making sure shows run smoothly. Broadcasting presenters are the public face or voice of programs presented on television, radio and the internet. If you want to use your love of the performing arts to motivate and inspire young people and encourage budding talents, a career in teaching could be very rewarding. 2- In order to work as an actor, my chosen career path would be London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. This drama school is one of the greatest and oldest schools that I've heard of and it has had many graduates who have had great successes in their future. I think going there would be a great path for me. 3- Voice is a very important ingredient for being a great actor. It useful for a giant crowd and it's good for manipulating words in different ways, so you can show your emotion. That's why you must always warm up your voice. There are six steps to vocal warm up and there are does and don'ts. Now not only are these warm ups but they are the DOES. Breathing Relaxation - breath control and removing tension around the nose mouth and throat. Jaw Release - stretching and tensing the jaw to remove stress from that area allowing the actor to speak properly. Lip Trills - stretching lips so words are pronounced properly when lips come in contact. Tongue Trill - stretching the tongue will help with articulation and good pronunciation of words. Two octave Scales - going from a high pitch to a low pitch. This will help with showing different tones/emotions in words. Humming - vibrating your vocal cords is like massaging/clearing your throat. It helps so you can be able let voice go from a low to high pitch. Things you should do to help your voice DRINK A LOT OF WATER DO VOCAL WARM UPS Now here are the DON'TS (All examples below may harm either your throat or your breathing): NO SMOKING DON'T DRINK A LOT OF COFFEE, SODA, AND ALCOHOL. DON'T MISUSE/ABUSE YOUR VOICE DON'T CLEAR YOUR THROAT. All of this are vital points for an actor for this will help with how voice can reach the entire audience. Not only with sound but with emotion. This will be a lesson that shall always be taught in a actors life and I will always need it if I want to be a professional actor.
(Tue 31) -Today we had come back from half term and it was time for us to start on our new performance project. We received our new scripts for our 'Stanislavski/Chekhov' performance. my group received the play called 'Seagull'. My group decided we should read the entire piece so that we can get an understanding of it. What i got from the play is that Treplev writes up a play and has a women, which he loves, called Nina perform it. The play is performed but it is interrupted repeatedly by Treplev's mother for she hates his play. The show is then cancelled and Treplev runs off. he then comes back with a dead Seagull in his hand and shows it to Nina. To show his love for her. To cut a long story short there is a lot of arguments, love, and in the end the death of Treplev. I was at first not interested in the script but as i gradually got through it, my opinions started to change. The whole plot is amazing and i'm very excited to perform it. Though i was a bit disturbed by how many gigantic paragraphs there were. Next lesson the 'Seagull' and 'the Three Sisters' group were given a task on what we thought of our script. We were paired to whoever was near us. In our individual groups of course. My partner was Anakin Fox. We thought of a few things that could help us with the back ground of the story. we understood that the 'Seagull's' main objectives were: Love, Determination and Empathy. Due to information from the script we new that the play was set in Russia. Maybe around the soviet times. We also knew all the characters and what techniques we could fine in the scripts. Once we were done others in a group and the 'Three Sister' group shared there opinions of the play. What my we found similar in my group was that the main objectives was definitely love and determination. Also the techniques were similar which is good. When the lesson was coming to an end we were reminded that on Thursday we shall be receiving our characters and which section of the script we shall be performing.
[BOTH TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY WERE NOT PUT IN DUE TO US ONLY JUST READING THE SCRIPT OVER AND OVER AND NOT GETTING FAR IN THE WORK] Blogs (Thur 1) -Today we were given our characters and the section we had to perform. I was given the Character Treplev and my partners were Daniella. O (who plays Nina) and Harry (who plays Sorin). We given the section from the beginning all the way to pg.89. Once we were got what we needed we started practising. The scene plays out as Sorin babbling about how boring his life is and all Treplev can think about is his performance and Nina being late. Then he complains about his mother doesn't appreciate him. after that Nina enters and we try to comfort her since she is tired from rushing to get to the theatre. My character then tries to move to Nina (engage romance with her) to show his affection for her but she keeps changing the subject. The scene then ends with how she is not really impressed by Treplev's script. It was quite short but we were able to complete the first part of our section, which i was really glad about, because now i have the information i need to play my character. Now I can try to find the subtext so i knew enough of the back story for my character and i can also try and produce his emotions.
Week 5: Mon 5th & Thur 8th Blogs (Mon 5) - for today's lesson we came fresh and ready for practising. Dan was the director so she decided we should all go in our individual groups and practice our pieces. Then hopefully before the lesson ends we can perform as a whole. In the first lesson my group was trying to grow the image of how it will be performed. All we had to do now is develop it. we got the sections right so now we had to try and use the space and make our characters our own. Not only that, how we enter. When me and Harry enter we had to enter as our character. Meaning Harry had to enter as an old man and i had to pamper him as we walked. That's so it looks like i'm helping out an old man. Afterwards I realise that two of my/Treplov's performers are still on the stage and tell them that they have to go away. From my perspective i feel that i have to say it kindly so i don't come out rude. Harry then tells one of them how their dog irritates him. Once he said that, Danielle realised how he wasn't his character any more. She quickly advised him to stay in character. He repeated his lines and everything went smoothly. After that the performers left and Harry had to talk about his life isn't good enough. I would sit there listening. Then when he finished i would tell him about how the stage would be set. I knew i had to be energetic for this because i'm showing my perfect creation. Which i hoped will please Sorin(Harry). This is where i had to be creative and spontaneous. I had to try and paint a picture for him. That meant a lot of hand gestures, pointing and taunting. When i finished we started again and kept going from the beginning to the end of our bit. The end of the lesson had approached us so we didn't have enough time perform as a whole. We promised each other that next lesson it would so everyone can be comfortable with it. [BOTH TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY WERE NOT PUT IN DUE TO THE HAMILTON EVENT] Blogs (Thur 8) - For today's lesson we all were ready to divide into groups and work on our sections. This lesson I had to focus on trying to increase the volume of my voice because after last lesson I noticed that I was a lacking in voice. I had a lot of time after school to do some vocal warm ups. such as stretching, massaging the mouth and exercising the tongue (with tongue twisters). When it came to rehearsal my group and I did the same blocking allowing to go through quickly. Though I have still not remembered my lines so I'm still going to have to work on that. I would mumble on words and I wouldn't understand some of them.
It had then come to the lesson and what I learned today is that I was not bringing enough energy to practise. Though that was due to me not learning my lines so tonight I made it a mission to focus on my lines.
Week 6: Mon 12th - Wed 15th
Blogs (Mon 12)- For today's lesson we decided to try and work as a group so that we can see every groups individual work. The order for the scenes were as follows. First it was Diamond and Pedro's duo scene, then it was my group, then it was Michael and Teigan, then finally Mya, Anakin and Elena. We joined them all together and it seemed to come out pretty well. Everyone was keeping the pace, most of us had learned our lines and the blocking looked fantastic. Though everyone was a bit low on vocals and bringing more energy to the performance. No one really felt there character or had the emotions of their character. That just showed me and everyone else that we had to start doing vocal warm ups and do exercises for making the performance truthful. The director also felt we should do more on the blocking of the performance so we understand how the stage is set. Blogs (Tue 13 & Wed 14) - In the first lessons we all decided to do focus on our lines. Then next lesson we can perform the whole thing again and it will hopefully produce that showman-ship we want it to produce. I researched some vocal warm up tips for the group that they can choose to do if needed. For e.g: Breathing Relaxation - breath control and removing tension around the nose mouth and throat. Jaw Release - stretching and tensing the jaw to remove stress from that area allowing the actor to speak properly. Lip Trills - stretching lips so words are pronounced properly when lips come in contact. Tongue Trill - stretching the tongue will help with articulation and good pronunciation of words. Two octave Scales - going from a high pitch to a low pitch. This will help with showing different tones/emotions in words. Humming - vibrating your vocal cords is like massaging/clearing your throat. It helps so you can be able let voice go from a low to high pitch. Then for the second lesson we performed to each other again and things were very promising. i could hear everyone clearly, I could understand them and they all were really linked to their character and made it there own at the same time, which was quite surprising. We ran through it two more times and as we were going we added more improvements making it better and better. Then when we finished we just went through lines so it will be smoother next lesson.
[The next two weeks were more weeks of practise and there wasn't really that much of a change. I was very excited though for this was this Thursday is the performance and I was focused and ready for everything.]
In Tuesdays and Wednesdays session with Sharon we were learning a new topic called script writing, which in acting is another choice in the future. Script writing is a very hard but fun topic. Its like writing a book only there is less description and speech text for the actors. This is a topic that is available to people who are very creative, can type well and know how to use good English language, punctuation and vocabulary. Now this isn't my first time writing a script but it is my first five minute script with acting company that will performed by professional actors. The company that we were writing the script for was called Papatango.
They're a professional theater company who work with young/moderate aged individuals in acting activities. our task was in our groups, which Sharon made for us, was to make a story line for five minutes, think of a name for our group and think of a backstory of our character that goes into the performance we're writing. My partners in my group were Diogo, Sebastian and Pedro.
We each thought of our characters and there backstory so we were completely ready. What was the problem was the actual story. We weren't sure what it was going to be about and we were thinking way to big that the performance would be longer than five minutes. The best thing we could get was that one of our characters was rich and we owed him money. Then it was how the rich character kidnapped the others and watches us kill each other. We couldn't think of anything that was logical. until the next day. The next day one of the company's producers came in to help us on what to do for our scripts. the producer told us that we had to think of the performance's structure before we start thinking of dialogue. Since the script had to be five minutes long we only needed five sections. EXPOSITION: the set up of the story.
BUILD UP: what the situation is leading up to. CLIMAX: the point in which things get a bit tense in the situation. CONSEQUENCE: when everything gets worse for the main character. RESOLUTION: when the story is concluded/comes to and end. We were then given time to place where each scene is and have a few ideas to of what happens in the scene. Also making sure it links with the title of the section. For the Exposition it start with the protagonist has a "coincidental" in-counter with the antagonist and gets kidnapped. The Build Up is that the antagonist explains that there is poison that was inserted to the protagonist and two other side character's arms. Then in the Climax there is an argument between the two side characters that may lead into a fight. The Consequence is that time has ran out and both the side characters die leaving the protagonist. Finally the Resolution, the protagonist is killed. after we figured everything out all we had to do was type the full script and add dialogue. it came to the end of the lesson and well all i can say was that it was very enjoyable and that i might think to do some more.
WWW: What I think went well with the performance is the teamwork. My group had been practicing really hard and i from what I've been hearing from viewers is that the performance was amazing. For the whole show i focused on everything i was trying to achieve. That meant voice projection, spacial awareness, energy, subtext and more. I also was happy that I kept with Stanislavski's drama method 'NATURALISM'. I also kept the fourth wall up leaving it unbroken. When I was on the stage, I felt that I had really shown the audience how my character would react to not only the other characters words but as he would act as himself. All the practices the group and i did was worth it. I cant wait to do future shows even better than this ones.
https://roobadams.blogspot.com/ EBI: The problems i caught from watching my performance are only a few. For example, when i was explaining how "the stage" will be set up I kept going up and down. I also noticed that i was speaking to fast with my lines. Until i'm left with my partner Daniella. The last thing I wish could have been better is presentation of emotion. The reason I feel like that is because I felt that my emotions were only at 28%. Which doesn't really sit well with me. I hope that in the future I learn to express more exaggeration and.... DRAMA!
For today's lesson we were in the theatre so that we can get a feeling of what it'll be like on the day that we will perform. At the start we started just little warm ups. For instance vocals, knowing your surroundings and being truthful with your acting. Then we all went into our pairs, trios or groups and started practicing for the performance (10th October.) In the session I focused more on trying to make words truthful so that I can present the subtext of my character. That means I need to dig deeper into the character and find the hidden meaning for him. That's so I may succeed in playing Haemon properly.
To help me with voice I did a few vocal exercises before entering class. Then while practicing I tried changing the tone of my voice so that I wouldn't be on a monotone for the whole time. I would change the environment in places. This I thought would really help give the performance different vibes than just anger which is what I thought it would be like the first time me and my partner performed.
[In these two days were we did work with the theatre company PAPATANGO. All information about the day will be shown in the evaluation]
Unit1-4 (Thurs 27th) Perform & Feedback
In today's lesson we mostly had to focus on remembering our lines and performing it to the best of our abilities. i wasn't really sure what i could really do for I remembered everything and I felt like i was connected to the character. then i realized as we performed it once again that our blocking could be changed. For the whole performance we were standing still and it didn't feel natural to me. To fix the situation I would move around at certain points at which it would feel more comfortable. Then it was time for each of us to perform it in front of Rob. We finished performing it and he gave us feedback that'll be very useful to us when perform it to the actual audience. We showed quite a lot of anger in the performance because our performance is based in a argument so it was very easy to go into anger. Therefore sometimes we could maybe add attitude to it so it's not fully rage throughout the entire performance. The little movements I did were good because it made it look like a young man who didn't want to listen to his father so he would move around from place to place. To annoy the father. Other than that it was very good and we only have to work on that improvement.
This lesson we were given our first script of the course. The three main GREEK Theatre scripts that were handed to the class were The Trojan Women, Antigone and Oedipus. I received the an Antigone script. This script was about a young man called Haemon and his father Creon arguing about a relationship with a women called Antigone. At first me and my partner Ben Miller weren't sure what character to choose so what we did was we read it twice. The first time I went with Haemon and my partner went with Creon. I felt this character suit me more not because of what the script was based on but I understood and felt what the character was feeling for the subject in the script. Because the topic that they were talking about confusing at first, I wasn't sure of what to do for on of the characters. Though read again and understood the plot and realised which I character I felt comfortable with. When actually tried to act it we both were fluid and performing it quite well even while reading scripts. I could tell that my partner was really pleased with his character as I was pleased with mine because he really enjoyed acting like an annoying father figure. While I played the stubborn child.
Unit 1-4 (Tuesday 18 &Wednesday 19th) Medea
In this lesson our second mentor Sharon wanted us to perform our script that she gave us last week. The play Medea. We were put into groups. Then each of our groups would perform it. My partners were Ben Miller l, Ben Taylor, Katie, Danielle and Diogo. Our scene was a paragraph about how Medea's friends heard about her divorce and they won't to try and comfort her but they're afraid she won't listen. They need one of them to talk to her but they are arguing about it. In our groups we decided that we should perform it saying one line for each person. In total it was 3 lines per person. We would obviously go in order for the script but the people would be different places. The performance had four sections. The first section would start out as us talking to the person next to us like it were a conversation. The second would be us talking to try crowd. The third section would then be talking to ourselves while thinking about it deeply. Then we would point at one another for someone to try and talk to her. Then Fourth section would be everyone saying at the same time "stop her from being so STUPID!" After that the performance was approved and were given feedback. We weren't really powerful enough with our words (due to it being the first performance) so we had to show the powers we had to put in certain words. The following day my group and one other were to come for practice so that we could perform it in front of our mentor Sharon. As we practiced we decided to add some changes. We would start off with our back towards the audience and then do section one. The second section was kept the same. As for the third section, we would still talk to the crowd but we would make our posture go from low to high. For example someone would at start of the line be low and someone else would be high. I though this was a great idea because it gave our performance something to make it look interesting and so we don't just stand there talking. The last section was changed completely. Instead of saying one line at the same time. We created a mini scene where everyone argues about who should talk to her. Then everyone except Danielle would grab and pull me towards the front as if they're telling me to go. I suggested this idea for it would bring an surprising effect towards the audience making them think what's going to happen next. Will this person stop Medea. Though instead the scene was ended by Danielle crying out for everything to stop. What this was suppose to give to the audience is that Danielle is not only saying that the performance has ended but also to stop this insane argument over who should try to comfort Medea. When both groups were done with there scenes our mentor wanted us to merge both scenes to make it one. What both groups created was my group would go first then we would separate as the second group goes through us. While my group would like extras in there scene. In the end our mentor congratulated us on doing well in our scenes.
Unit 1-4 (Thursday 20th) Improvisation
For this lesson our we entered seeing artistic objects that were put on a table. Our mentor Rob wanted to see our IMPROV abilities.
All we had to do was pick an object and create a scene for a performance. If no one came up Rob would choose a few people and direct a little short scene. Although there were more performers in the class this time. There were level 2 actors and year 2 actors who acted as well as us. It was a great time to see the everyone's acting skills while watching.
