During rehearsals for The Government Inspector, we started off by doing a class read through of the play. This was to get familiar with the text and understand the concept and characters.
Once we were assigned our characters through auditioning, we started to rehearse each scene and this was useful as the whole cast was not on stage at once, so we could receive feedback from each other on improving each scene.
We used props, such as chairs to show hierarchy and power between the characters who were standing up looking down on others. We also practiced each scene and made adjustments as we went, by using Stanislavsky technique of 'Magic If' to connect with the characters and scenarios deeply.
Thursday, 21 June 2018
The Government Inspector
In 1835 Gogol began writing the comedy "The Government Inspector". In early 1936, the play was premiered in Moscow and St. Petersburg. But Gogol continued to make adjustments in the text of the work until 1842, when the final version was completed.
"The Government Inspector" is a quite innovative play. Gogol for the first time created a social comedy with no love line. Courtship of the Inspector for Anna Andreevna and Maria Antonovna is rather a parody of high feelings. There is also no positive character in the comedy. When a writer was accused of this, he replied that the main positive hero of "The Government Inspector" is laughter. The composition is unusual, because there is no traditional display. From the first sentence the mayor begins the plot exposition. Final dumb scene surprised many theater critics. Earlier no one used this technique in drama.
In the play, Gogol raised essences of Russian life: government, medicine, court, education, post office, police, merchants. In "The Government Inspector" a lot of unsightly features of modern life such as bribery and neglect of duty, embezzlement, ambition and passion for gossip, envy and squealing, boast and stupidity, petty vindictiveness. "The Government Inspector" is a real mirror of the Russian society.
Tuesday, 12 December 2017
Devising our own piece of theatre and performance
Our original story line for our piece of theatre was going to be about a girl who meets a guy online and lies about his age as he is a serial killer. I was given the part of the male character however after trial and error I felt disconnected from the piece and that it wasn't a strong enough story line as the play only lasted five minutes.
We eventually came to a conclusion that the play would be about two friends who meet online and the girl who is in a care home is recorded singing badly and put on YouTube to shame her. This links in with cyber bullying and is a relatable topic for most people in a world full of social media and the internet. Half of the group didn't want to change from the original idea so this left a dilemma and caused some tension as they felt there wasn't enough time to change the piece and perfect it by the performance date. We then decided to go with it and improvise the scenes, then writing out the script to have que lines for the lighting and sound.
The first scene involved Olivia (the girl from the care home) and Joanna (the girl who adds Olivia as a friend on Facebook. Two spotlights are placed on each character as we started off by reading out our messages to each other. This set the scene for the audience and gave an understanding that they had just met online. We then had a black out to represent the location was changing. The next scene was Olivia having dinner with the two girls from the care home who were bullying her. They call her names which shows the audience she is lonely and has to resort to the internet to feel connected. A spotlight was then placed on the dining table as the two girls circled Olivia singing the theme tune from 'Pretty Little Liars' which is about having a secret. The last line is "If two can keep a secret or one of them is dead" which is said to the audience by Olivia to state that she doesn't want anyone to find out about her online friendship. It then progresses to Olivia sneaking out to meet Joanna. To show this we used the Pink Panther theme tune to create a suspense and to show that Olivia is leaving without permission. We also used a blue light to represent the night.
Joanna, Olivia and another girl from the care home sneak out and arrive at a party. We then had party music playing such as Little Mix as this is current and relatable for the audience. This scene was difficult to play as we had one character missing due to illness therefore it wasn't as strong as it could be. The feedback we received was this scene needed more work and could be improved by having more set dialogue as the lines were quite flexible and sounded thought of on the spot.
To end the play, we shame Olivia with her tape singing and as the light blacks out, a spot light goes onto Olivia who gives a monologue to the audience asking if they have ever been cyber bullied. As she states the words: "I felt".. we each walked into a line a stated a feeling such as hurt, isolated and betrayed. Yasmin then informed the audience to think about who they add online and made them aware to visit the website stopspeaksupport.com
We eventually came to a conclusion that the play would be about two friends who meet online and the girl who is in a care home is recorded singing badly and put on YouTube to shame her. This links in with cyber bullying and is a relatable topic for most people in a world full of social media and the internet. Half of the group didn't want to change from the original idea so this left a dilemma and caused some tension as they felt there wasn't enough time to change the piece and perfect it by the performance date. We then decided to go with it and improvise the scenes, then writing out the script to have que lines for the lighting and sound.
The first scene involved Olivia (the girl from the care home) and Joanna (the girl who adds Olivia as a friend on Facebook. Two spotlights are placed on each character as we started off by reading out our messages to each other. This set the scene for the audience and gave an understanding that they had just met online. We then had a black out to represent the location was changing. The next scene was Olivia having dinner with the two girls from the care home who were bullying her. They call her names which shows the audience she is lonely and has to resort to the internet to feel connected. A spotlight was then placed on the dining table as the two girls circled Olivia singing the theme tune from 'Pretty Little Liars' which is about having a secret. The last line is "If two can keep a secret or one of them is dead" which is said to the audience by Olivia to state that she doesn't want anyone to find out about her online friendship. It then progresses to Olivia sneaking out to meet Joanna. To show this we used the Pink Panther theme tune to create a suspense and to show that Olivia is leaving without permission. We also used a blue light to represent the night.
Joanna, Olivia and another girl from the care home sneak out and arrive at a party. We then had party music playing such as Little Mix as this is current and relatable for the audience. This scene was difficult to play as we had one character missing due to illness therefore it wasn't as strong as it could be. The feedback we received was this scene needed more work and could be improved by having more set dialogue as the lines were quite flexible and sounded thought of on the spot.
To end the play, we shame Olivia with her tape singing and as the light blacks out, a spot light goes onto Olivia who gives a monologue to the audience asking if they have ever been cyber bullied. As she states the words: "I felt".. we each walked into a line a stated a feeling such as hurt, isolated and betrayed. Yasmin then informed the audience to think about who they add online and made them aware to visit the website stopspeaksupport.com
Saturday, 11 November 2017
Devising our own piece of theatre
1/11/2017
To begin the lesson we looked at ways to devise theatre and different techniques to help us work well as a team.
Today we started to plan our scenes for our own devised piece in our set groups. The name of our play is 'Cupcakes or Knives' as it is based in a orphanage and the girls are selling cupcakes to earn money, however at the end the main character Olivia feels like she has been stabbed in the back.
We wrote out each scene in bullet points to prompt us during rehearsals throughout the week, and as we develop the scenes and go through each part we will begin to script the lines. The reason we chose to act out the scenes before scripting the play is because we felt we could be more free whilst improvising and create more naturalistic characters without setting boundaries or limits. We then listed all the weeks from 1/11/2017 up until the performance on 24/11/2017 and stated each day from Tuesday - Friday and what scene we would rehearse to clearly set out dedicated time to work on each part and to spend equal time on the scenes to not become fixated on minute details. During the final week, we have chosen to work on the whole play to finalise any adjustments and to run through as smooth as possible.
Draft overview plan of our scenes:
8/11/2017
Today we wrote the script for our play. We each took it in turns to lead each scene and to write our thoughts and each wrote our individual lines for our set characters. This was to help feel more in control of the characters dialogue and connecting to the words. To inspire our work, we used an improvisation technique during my scene as Joe before he logs online to talk to Olivia. The rest of my group re-enacted a setting of being Joe's family and the tensions arising during his childhood. This helped to root myself as the character, by understanding his harsh backgrounds which has led him to turn out the way he has. His parents were very strict and controlling and his father never listened or showed him any attention. His parents were also addicted to drugs which built a lot of resentment and anger inside of Joe.
To begin the lesson we looked at ways to devise theatre and different techniques to help us work well as a team.
Today we started to plan our scenes for our own devised piece in our set groups. The name of our play is 'Cupcakes or Knives' as it is based in a orphanage and the girls are selling cupcakes to earn money, however at the end the main character Olivia feels like she has been stabbed in the back.
We wrote out each scene in bullet points to prompt us during rehearsals throughout the week, and as we develop the scenes and go through each part we will begin to script the lines. The reason we chose to act out the scenes before scripting the play is because we felt we could be more free whilst improvising and create more naturalistic characters without setting boundaries or limits. We then listed all the weeks from 1/11/2017 up until the performance on 24/11/2017 and stated each day from Tuesday - Friday and what scene we would rehearse to clearly set out dedicated time to work on each part and to spend equal time on the scenes to not become fixated on minute details. During the final week, we have chosen to work on the whole play to finalise any adjustments and to run through as smooth as possible.
Draft overview plan of our scenes:
8/11/2017
Today we wrote the script for our play. We each took it in turns to lead each scene and to write our thoughts and each wrote our individual lines for our set characters. This was to help feel more in control of the characters dialogue and connecting to the words. To inspire our work, we used an improvisation technique during my scene as Joe before he logs online to talk to Olivia. The rest of my group re-enacted a setting of being Joe's family and the tensions arising during his childhood. This helped to root myself as the character, by understanding his harsh backgrounds which has led him to turn out the way he has. His parents were very strict and controlling and his father never listened or showed him any attention. His parents were also addicted to drugs which built a lot of resentment and anger inside of Joe.
9/11/2017
Today we each hot seated our characters in my group. This helped to deepen and develop the characters personality, history and background information. By doing this exercise, I learnt a lot about my character and the motivations behind his actions in the play. I learnt that Joe is 40 years old, however feels he didn't have a teenage/young adult life as he was controlled by his drug-addicted parents which is the reason he lies about his age online and tells girls he is 20 years old. He doesn't feel that his action are harmful as he is making other girls feel good about themselves and in his spare time he enjoys reading articles and watching wildlife documentaries. He dislikes sports and is a very shy person with a lack of confidence. He also has a lot of held in anger towards the world and feels that he can become aggressive sometimes as he has been grown up around a angry family. I found answering the questions freeing and being able to improvise helped me to creatively answer the questions and let my mind flow. I went into the rehearsals of our scenes with a clearer understanding of my characters personality and history which helped me create a more naturalistic scene.
How does music affect theatre & workshop planning.
2/11/2017
Today we started of the lesson with the question "How does music affect theatre?" To explore this further we each played a different song and reflected on how each song made us feel. We noted that fast paced songs created a higher energy in the room and made us all want to dance and move our bodies. However songs with a fast beat also created a tense atmosphere depending on the song and lyrics. For example, the song 'Paint It Black' by The Rolling Stones created a panic in the room in comparison to 'Shake It Off' by Taylor Swift which left everyone feeling positive and motivated. We also listened to 'Grown Woman' by Beyoncé which has a strong message about being independent and left all the girls in the room feeling empowered. I believe lyrics can be very strong and send a subconscious message to our brains which can affect our mood. If the lyrics are positive and align with your morals, you are more likely to feel upbeat and lifted. In opposition, if the lyrics are negative or provoking you could be left feeling sad and deflated. I also noticed that whilst some people played instrumental music, this left the class feeling more free and light as there were no messages being fed into our minds and you could be more mindful and focus on the sounds.
After this we split up into groups of threes and started to plan a workshop to run to the class. This was to prepare us for our own workshops we will be doing after our performances. We started off by listing different games to engage and break the ice and then chose music to go with our workshop. We had to discuss the length of time on each exercise and ways to get the focus of the class. In my group, we chose a trust exercise. We started off by getting the class into pairs and labelling themselves: 'A' and 'B'. All the 'A's' had to close their eyes whilst the 'B's' guided them around the room. We then moved onto playing IT with their eyes closed. We ended off the workshop by explaining the benefits of trust in acting and how it is important to trust each-other on stage so you can be comfortable and have a connection which creates a naturalistic and believable performance. We kept the first exercise to 1 minute each as we didn't want to cause too much anxiety as closing your eyes can be very challenging. We kept the second exercise of 'IT' to 10 minutes as more focus is needed and was our main exercise for the workshop. To improve our workshop, we learnt that slower music would of been more beneficial to keep a calmer atmosphere and doing more warm ups before closing their eyes would cause less anxiety.
Another group ran a workshop and this was based on character building. A piece of music was played and we had to walk around the space as a character we would associate with the song. The song was a laid back rapping song and I chose to walk slow with a slouch as this felt most appropriate with the lyrics which were talking about 'not caring.'
The next group ran a workshop on movement. We did this by getting into pairs and mirroring each other to ballet music. This helped us to connect to our partners and the music helped to set the tempo and created a calm soft atmosphere.
The final group created a workshop with emotions and warming up. A song was played with a fast tempo and we had to walk around in the space with the emotion the song made us feel. Then a slower song was played and we had to react with the emotion the song made us feel. This was useful to connect to emotions and find comparisons with happier feelings compared to sad feelings.
Today we started of the lesson with the question "How does music affect theatre?" To explore this further we each played a different song and reflected on how each song made us feel. We noted that fast paced songs created a higher energy in the room and made us all want to dance and move our bodies. However songs with a fast beat also created a tense atmosphere depending on the song and lyrics. For example, the song 'Paint It Black' by The Rolling Stones created a panic in the room in comparison to 'Shake It Off' by Taylor Swift which left everyone feeling positive and motivated. We also listened to 'Grown Woman' by Beyoncé which has a strong message about being independent and left all the girls in the room feeling empowered. I believe lyrics can be very strong and send a subconscious message to our brains which can affect our mood. If the lyrics are positive and align with your morals, you are more likely to feel upbeat and lifted. In opposition, if the lyrics are negative or provoking you could be left feeling sad and deflated. I also noticed that whilst some people played instrumental music, this left the class feeling more free and light as there were no messages being fed into our minds and you could be more mindful and focus on the sounds.
After this we split up into groups of threes and started to plan a workshop to run to the class. This was to prepare us for our own workshops we will be doing after our performances. We started off by listing different games to engage and break the ice and then chose music to go with our workshop. We had to discuss the length of time on each exercise and ways to get the focus of the class. In my group, we chose a trust exercise. We started off by getting the class into pairs and labelling themselves: 'A' and 'B'. All the 'A's' had to close their eyes whilst the 'B's' guided them around the room. We then moved onto playing IT with their eyes closed. We ended off the workshop by explaining the benefits of trust in acting and how it is important to trust each-other on stage so you can be comfortable and have a connection which creates a naturalistic and believable performance. We kept the first exercise to 1 minute each as we didn't want to cause too much anxiety as closing your eyes can be very challenging. We kept the second exercise of 'IT' to 10 minutes as more focus is needed and was our main exercise for the workshop. To improve our workshop, we learnt that slower music would of been more beneficial to keep a calmer atmosphere and doing more warm ups before closing their eyes would cause less anxiety.
Another group ran a workshop and this was based on character building. A piece of music was played and we had to walk around the space as a character we would associate with the song. The song was a laid back rapping song and I chose to walk slow with a slouch as this felt most appropriate with the lyrics which were talking about 'not caring.'
The next group ran a workshop on movement. We did this by getting into pairs and mirroring each other to ballet music. This helped us to connect to our partners and the music helped to set the tempo and created a calm soft atmosphere.
The final group created a workshop with emotions and warming up. A song was played with a fast tempo and we had to walk around in the space with the emotion the song made us feel. Then a slower song was played and we had to react with the emotion the song made us feel. This was useful to connect to emotions and find comparisons with happier feelings compared to sad feelings.
Wednesday, 18 October 2017
Pros and Cons of HE
I have listed a number of pros and cons of going to University or Drama school below and I have researched a number of alternative options and routes that I could possibly pursue.
Pros:
Pros:
- Extensive education provides more studying in a safe environment.
- Gain more confidence as you are constantly working at developing your skills and improving.
- You are surrounded by like minded people whom understand your passion and can offer support and advice.
- It gives you the chance to network through workshops and showcases.
- You have consistent performance opportunities
- It is a structured way to learn.
- Expands your skills and helps you grow as a character by becoming stronger and tolerable to criticism.
Cons:
- It can be very rigid and mould you into a 'type'.
- It is less flexible so you will have to dedicate most of your time to the studying, leaving less opportunity to work outside.
- It is harder to save up money if you can not find a job with the correct hours.
- Going to drama school or university doesn't guarantee a job in the arts.
- Miss out on opportunities in the community.
- Can become too structured in your performance style and loose spontaneity and freedom.
I have read an article on 'The Stage' website which states that going to Drama School isn't the only option in being successful in the performing arts industry which is linked: https://www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/2014/drama-schools-arent-the-only-route-to-professional-acting-success/ and another interesting article I found inspiring was from 'Spotlight' which is linked: https://www.spotlight.com/news/archive/2013/11/26/how-to-train-without-drama-school.aspx
There are alternative routes to attending university or drama school such as working with an acting coach, attending workshops, joining a theatre group, adult education centres, The National Youth theatre and auditioning for an agency to help you find work in theatre, film and TV.
After doing a lot of extensive research into the pros and cons of attending drama school, I have concluded that I will be applying for drama school as I have learnt a lot during my Level 3 Acting and Performance diploma and I believe I can keep learning more and bettering my craft. To be constantly surrounded by the arts and theatre will be a useful and motivating environment with a lot of contacts and access to networking with industry professionals. This article helped me to finalise my decision of attending drama school: https://www.spotlight.com/news-and-advice/tips-and-advice/drama-school-to-be-or-not-to-be-the-pros-cons-of-formal-training/
After doing a lot of extensive research into the pros and cons of attending drama school, I have concluded that I will be applying for drama school as I have learnt a lot during my Level 3 Acting and Performance diploma and I believe I can keep learning more and bettering my craft. To be constantly surrounded by the arts and theatre will be a useful and motivating environment with a lot of contacts and access to networking with industry professionals. This article helped me to finalise my decision of attending drama school: https://www.spotlight.com/news-and-advice/tips-and-advice/drama-school-to-be-or-not-to-be-the-pros-cons-of-formal-training/
Monologues
I am preparing two monologues for my drama school auditions; one in which is contemporary and the second is a classical piece. I have chosen the monologue from Sarah Kane '4.48 Psychosis' as my contemporary piece and I have chosen Helena from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' by William Shakespeare as my classical piece.
The reason I was drawn towards the speech by Sarah Kane in '4.48 Psychosis' is the heightened emotion throughout the monologue and conflicting inner dialogue. The speech is worded with pure intention and feels very personal and flows fluidly. I found it interesting to research about the British playwright Sarah Kane. It was her last piece of work and the play includes no explicit characters or stage directions, which gives me as an actor flexibility and freedom to create my own perception of the monologue. The themes that run throughout the script, in addition to depression, are those of isolation, dependency, relationships, and love. These are all relatable to society in this day and age, and I felt empathetic towards the character which led me into wanting to express the words with meaning and integrity as I became attached and felt protective over the words behind the script. Everyone has experienced hard moments in life, and I found this useful to use emotional memory to really delve into the characters emotions and I used the 'Magic If' to imagine being in a similar situation of abandonment and betrayal. I was drawn to the emotional aspect of the text and I felt I could visualise the scenario and use gestures and movement such as hair pulling and slamming my hand on the floor to portray the anger.
To help “root” the speech, consider:
· What has just happened prior to the speech?
· What is your inner monologue from moment to moment?
· “See” the story you are saying i.e. visualise the moment
· Start quite “televisual” with the speech and build from there.
· Don’t have any extraneous movement unless the role needs it
· Take your time
· Give yourself “Actions”. Annotate the script with these actions so you can refer to it all the time
10/11/2017
Today we went to Young Actors Theatre to perform our chosen monologues that we have been rehearing to a panel of 'judges' with an actor watching us and giving us feedback after our monologues. This was to prepare us for drama school auditions and film/theatre castings. I performed '4.48 Psychosis' by Sarah Kane and the feedback given to me was that I was very honest, natural with real emotion. I was told to keep it exactly the way it was as it wasn't over-acted which could have really damaged the emotional yet heartbreaking speech. I chose this play as I felt it would be a challenge to delve in deep into such a dark emotional space as the character feels so low and alone that it's unbearable for her any longer to hold in these feelings. I liked the way the speech allowed me to use different strengths and variety in tone as she has been labelled as having an 'illness', I used this to change my tone into sarcastic whereas I completely went quiet and low when talking about not feeling part of the world. The diversity yet subtly of the dynamics gave this piece strength and I am happy that I chose this speech to explore and use for my audition speech.
The reason I was drawn towards the speech by Sarah Kane in '4.48 Psychosis' is the heightened emotion throughout the monologue and conflicting inner dialogue. The speech is worded with pure intention and feels very personal and flows fluidly. I found it interesting to research about the British playwright Sarah Kane. It was her last piece of work and the play includes no explicit characters or stage directions, which gives me as an actor flexibility and freedom to create my own perception of the monologue. The themes that run throughout the script, in addition to depression, are those of isolation, dependency, relationships, and love. These are all relatable to society in this day and age, and I felt empathetic towards the character which led me into wanting to express the words with meaning and integrity as I became attached and felt protective over the words behind the script. Everyone has experienced hard moments in life, and I found this useful to use emotional memory to really delve into the characters emotions and I used the 'Magic If' to imagine being in a similar situation of abandonment and betrayal. I was drawn to the emotional aspect of the text and I felt I could visualise the scenario and use gestures and movement such as hair pulling and slamming my hand on the floor to portray the anger.
To help “root” the speech, consider:
· What has just happened prior to the speech?
· What is your inner monologue from moment to moment?
· “See” the story you are saying i.e. visualise the moment
· Start quite “televisual” with the speech and build from there.
· Don’t have any extraneous movement unless the role needs it
· Take your time
· Give yourself “Actions”. Annotate the script with these actions so you can refer to it all the time
10/11/2017
Today we went to Young Actors Theatre to perform our chosen monologues that we have been rehearing to a panel of 'judges' with an actor watching us and giving us feedback after our monologues. This was to prepare us for drama school auditions and film/theatre castings. I performed '4.48 Psychosis' by Sarah Kane and the feedback given to me was that I was very honest, natural with real emotion. I was told to keep it exactly the way it was as it wasn't over-acted which could have really damaged the emotional yet heartbreaking speech. I chose this play as I felt it would be a challenge to delve in deep into such a dark emotional space as the character feels so low and alone that it's unbearable for her any longer to hold in these feelings. I liked the way the speech allowed me to use different strengths and variety in tone as she has been labelled as having an 'illness', I used this to change my tone into sarcastic whereas I completely went quiet and low when talking about not feeling part of the world. The diversity yet subtly of the dynamics gave this piece strength and I am happy that I chose this speech to explore and use for my audition speech.
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