The rehearsals so far are going well, we are starting our piece with a Kurt Weill song- Alabama Song.
This has a dark element to it, the song is about a man who feels like the world has got the better of him, he ends up killing a little girl, this lyrics is stated in the song... 'Oh show me the way to the next little girl, Oh don't ask why"
The man has gone mad and can only think about drinking his life away, stated in the song "show me the way to the next whiskey bar"
The main motive for this beginning piece is to feel disorientated and slightly mad.
There is some choreography and it's main objective is to intimidate the crowed by braking the fourth wall and focusing on the girls.
The rest of the pieces are based on Brecht's poems, some are performed as a whole group and some are performed as split groups, we have all put our ideas into each performance.
Thursday, 9 December 2010
Friday, 26 November 2010
Finally It All Makes Sense- Introducing Kurt Weill !!!!
Well... I am so excited to discover the genius Kurt Weill- it all makes so much sense now, I understand my passion for this sound, I have always been very inspired by The Doors, Jim Morrison has always hit the nail on the head, but now I understand his inspirations- Kurt Weill, of course, with his interesting chord changes, he is most definitely the foundation for music, a seminal composer. Listening to all the music that inspires me from Kate Bush who is very theatrical to The Door, it seems to me that they would have also been inspired by Kurt Weill.
This might sound insane but I have always believed I was around in the 1920's era, I never knew exactly why, but now after discovering Brecht and Weill it makes sense why I feel so connected to this era… it all began here, the art, the music, the expression, the gruesome sense of humor that I adore and finally the messages.
Being Jewish and listening to this music almost brings back a sense of remembrance, the kind of music that is heard in the synagogue, the kind of music the Rabbi sings; it's a very exciting feeling for me.
It has so much passion; it's almost religious in a way.
Now to also to discover Lotte Lenya, who was married to Weill, a fantastic quirky singer, I love her voice, the tone is so distinctive, she is another inspiration, like Liza Minnelli, who is so fantastic in Cabaret- she is so quirky, she was not classically beautiful but so striking and even more eye catching.
Over all I am very excited for the new project ahead, Brecht, Weill- here we come!
Left is Kurt Weill.
Above - Lotte Lenya- Quirky Singer- Married to Kurt Weill.
Liza Minnelli
This might sound insane but I have always believed I was around in the 1920's era, I never knew exactly why, but now after discovering Brecht and Weill it makes sense why I feel so connected to this era… it all began here, the art, the music, the expression, the gruesome sense of humor that I adore and finally the messages.
Being Jewish and listening to this music almost brings back a sense of remembrance, the kind of music that is heard in the synagogue, the kind of music the Rabbi sings; it's a very exciting feeling for me.
It has so much passion; it's almost religious in a way.
Now to also to discover Lotte Lenya, who was married to Weill, a fantastic quirky singer, I love her voice, the tone is so distinctive, she is another inspiration, like Liza Minnelli, who is so fantastic in Cabaret- she is so quirky, she was not classically beautiful but so striking and even more eye catching.
Over all I am very excited for the new project ahead, Brecht, Weill- here we come!
Left is Kurt Weill.Above - Lotte Lenya- Quirky Singer- Married to Kurt Weill.
Liza Minnelli
Tuesday, 23 November 2010
Introducing Bertolt Brecht.
Brecht : 1898-1956, he was a German poet, playwright and theatre director.
Many people thought of Brecht's work as political and unemotional, this was not the case, he had a strong passion for politics but due to human conditions, this is what led him to write challenging and truthful pieces of theatre.
He would mostly focus on themes such as crime, drink, rape, murder, prostitution, and mob violence- over all, Humanity.
From his late twenties Brecht remained a life-long committed Marxist, this developed into his works.
He worked very closely with Erwin Piscator and together they developed epic theatre, introducing film on the stage.
Piscator loved technology and early film, he would use projection whilst Brecht would compliment with banners and placards.
The two together called it " agit prop" which came to describe any kind of leftist politicized art.
Brecht had a motive and this was to engage with an audience, showing every day to day life, reflecting, pushing, nudging, he wanted people to think about themselves and their every day to day life.
He was confrontational and showed reality.
Brechts was a very early post modernist, a theatrical magpie, he would steel bits and pieces of life, from news papers, theatre, people and their every day to day lives, in order to create his work he would show not the black and white but the grey of people and life.
Brecht has influenced artists and many theatrical productions of this time, he is a true genius and has made a huge impact on theatre and the arts of today.
Bellow-Bertolt Brecht
Many people thought of Brecht's work as political and unemotional, this was not the case, he had a strong passion for politics but due to human conditions, this is what led him to write challenging and truthful pieces of theatre.
He would mostly focus on themes such as crime, drink, rape, murder, prostitution, and mob violence- over all, Humanity.
From his late twenties Brecht remained a life-long committed Marxist, this developed into his works.
He worked very closely with Erwin Piscator and together they developed epic theatre, introducing film on the stage.
Piscator loved technology and early film, he would use projection whilst Brecht would compliment with banners and placards.
The two together called it " agit prop" which came to describe any kind of leftist politicized art.
Brecht had a motive and this was to engage with an audience, showing every day to day life, reflecting, pushing, nudging, he wanted people to think about themselves and their every day to day life.
He was confrontational and showed reality.
Brechts was a very early post modernist, a theatrical magpie, he would steel bits and pieces of life, from news papers, theatre, people and their every day to day lives, in order to create his work he would show not the black and white but the grey of people and life.
Brecht has influenced artists and many theatrical productions of this time, he is a true genius and has made a huge impact on theatre and the arts of today.
Bellow-Bertolt Brecht
Character Analysis
I feel my character was totally in the moment, especially when my Que for drinking water, only to discover that the props for this were not set on the table, James and I had to improvise and I felt totally convinced with James' and my reaction to this, there was tension added which made the scene more interesting.
Vocally it started well, however towards the end of the performance the vocal could of been a little more louder. Physically I did look and feel vulnerable.
The audience was in the moment with us, I do feel I could of fourth walled a little more than I did.
I do feel there was a definite truth between the characters. It was very emotional and any improvisation that need to happen was done with complete conviction.
Vocally it started well, however towards the end of the performance the vocal could of been a little more louder. Physically I did look and feel vulnerable.
The audience was in the moment with us, I do feel I could of fourth walled a little more than I did.
I do feel there was a definite truth between the characters. It was very emotional and any improvisation that need to happen was done with complete conviction.
The Performance!
The final performance was taken place at the Arts Depot Studio Theatre on Monday 15th November.
We stared the day with some technical rehearsals, allowing the lighting department to find the right light for each performance. After everyone had a tech run we ran a rehearsal which in my opinion was not very heart felt, It was difficult to channel into my emotions and I was slightly nervous, which did not help my performance.
Now for my real performance, in front of an audience, I had to really focus all my energy on Nina and become the character she is. In order to get to an emotional state I had to cry before going on stage which I found rather draining, I do believe I did not protect myself, going back to past painful memories is not an easy thing to do, however I had to reach a vulnerable and slightly delirious character, I do feel I did get to this place before stepping on that stage.
I do believe I was in character and feel the audience responded to this.
Unfortunately there was some hick ups, due to nerves and being over emotional I forgot some of my script, however this was not noticeable. Over all I do feel I through myself into the character and channeled my emotions well.
We stared the day with some technical rehearsals, allowing the lighting department to find the right light for each performance. After everyone had a tech run we ran a rehearsal which in my opinion was not very heart felt, It was difficult to channel into my emotions and I was slightly nervous, which did not help my performance.
Now for my real performance, in front of an audience, I had to really focus all my energy on Nina and become the character she is. In order to get to an emotional state I had to cry before going on stage which I found rather draining, I do believe I did not protect myself, going back to past painful memories is not an easy thing to do, however I had to reach a vulnerable and slightly delirious character, I do feel I did get to this place before stepping on that stage.
I do believe I was in character and feel the audience responded to this.
Unfortunately there was some hick ups, due to nerves and being over emotional I forgot some of my script, however this was not noticeable. Over all I do feel I through myself into the character and channeled my emotions well.
Monday, 22 November 2010
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Poster- Final Draft
For my poster I decided to go for the art approach, I looked up 1800 art and came across many types of images.
I initially had an idea for my poster, the meaning, the reason behind naturalism... Bare Your Soul.
I took my search further, I looked up naked women 1800 art, that's how I came across my choice of image.
Using the technology was challenging, I did have an idea for ghostly images which was when I had to delve further with photoshop, it did take several times to develop my piece but after experimenting over all I was extremely happy with the results.
I initially had an idea for my poster, the meaning, the reason behind naturalism... Bare Your Soul.
I took my search further, I looked up naked women 1800 art, that's how I came across my choice of image.
Using the technology was challenging, I did have an idea for ghostly images which was when I had to delve further with photoshop, it did take several times to develop my piece but after experimenting over all I was extremely happy with the results.
Friday, 5 November 2010
How you Look at me by Cloud Meranda & The Paraguayan Harp
How you Look at me by Cloud Meranda & The Paraguayan Harp
I wrote this song a while back- I feel it relates to Nina....
I wrote this song a while back- I feel it relates to Nina....
Thursday, 4 November 2010
Final Poster!
The main message for my poster is 'Bare your Soul'
I do feel naturalism can make the actor feel vulnerable, the naked lady symbolises this vulnerability, however she is baring herself, showing all she is, you can see her, she has nothing to hide. I do feel in naturalism there is such a fine line of believing or not believing what the actor has to say.
The actor has to believe every word, the actor has to tap into it's own experiences to reach a true emotion, if the actor does so the audience will believe the actor, the actor has to dig deep, even if it's hard, that's the challenge of acting, to be true to yourself to reach a true emotion, therefor to ' Bare Your Soul'.
The inspirations for this piece comes from the ghostly images in the top left corner of the poster, Chekhov, Ibsen and Churchill.
I do feel naturalism can make the actor feel vulnerable, the naked lady symbolises this vulnerability, however she is baring herself, showing all she is, you can see her, she has nothing to hide. I do feel in naturalism there is such a fine line of believing or not believing what the actor has to say.
The actor has to believe every word, the actor has to tap into it's own experiences to reach a true emotion, if the actor does so the audience will believe the actor, the actor has to dig deep, even if it's hard, that's the challenge of acting, to be true to yourself to reach a true emotion, therefor to ' Bare Your Soul'.
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
Hot Seating.
This was a great exercise and really allowed me to be free within my character, it was challenging to answer some of the questions, and I found myself relating my own emotions with what Nina is going through in scene 4.
Having to project a nervous, heart broken and slightly delirious character was interesting, with all the questions being thrown at me, I found myself getting emotional and felt a little on edge, however I kept my strength and my truth alive, I believe Nina would of done the same.
Nina is the future within this play which shows a huge sense of strength here.
Forced Entertainement- The Thrill Of It All! Eeeeek!
This performance was sadly disappointing, it felt like a children's party show, after hearing good things about FE I was very excited for this new production, however I did not enjoy it.
Searching blindly for gags and trying without apology to make a ridiculous concept seem meaningful. Indeed the only thrill here is leaving after two long hours.
The stage is bare only filled with fake palm trees and a collection of sparkly jackets on a rale in a corner- giving off the impression that there will be a costume change- well there wasn’t!
The show starts with a dance routine that is full of energy but very shabby; not very charismatic.
This sloppy performance never seems to end; dance routine after dance routine projected like they had run out of creative ideas to fill the empty space and time.
From time to time they would break into random speeches using microphones that had been dubbed with a squirrel like voice effect for the girls which makes them all sound the same and for the boys a sound that bores with low tones of depression. I can see the idea here, however it did not add any dynamics to the performance, if anything it became boring and I found myself falling asleep.
I found the show production transparent and not very clever.
Searching blindly for gags and trying without apology to make a ridiculous concept seem meaningful. Indeed the only thrill here is leaving after two long hours.
The stage is bare only filled with fake palm trees and a collection of sparkly jackets on a rale in a corner- giving off the impression that there will be a costume change- well there wasn’t!
The show starts with a dance routine that is full of energy but very shabby; not very charismatic.
This sloppy performance never seems to end; dance routine after dance routine projected like they had run out of creative ideas to fill the empty space and time.
From time to time they would break into random speeches using microphones that had been dubbed with a squirrel like voice effect for the girls which makes them all sound the same and for the boys a sound that bores with low tones of depression. I can see the idea here, however it did not add any dynamics to the performance, if anything it became boring and I found myself falling asleep.
I found the show production transparent and not very clever.
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
Meeting Thelma Schoonmaker!
It was a great pleasure meeting Thelma Schoonmaker; she is such a respected woman with so much influence on film today as we know it.
She was born on 3rd January 1940 in Algiers, Algeria to American expatriates and raised in various countries, including on the Dutch-Caribbean island of Aruba.
She lived inAmerica
She initially wanted to get into politics and then switched her learning towards primitive art, during her studies she answered to an advert in The New York Times 'assistant film editor', landed the job and began her career in film. She took up a brief 6 week course in filmmaking at (NYU), where she came into contact with Martin Scorsese who now is a huge legacy in film. Editing his works such as, Gangs inNew York
She married Director Michael Powell from 19 May 1984 till his death in 1990, since his death she has continued preserving his films and honoring the legacy of her husband, who directed films such as the Red shoes, Black Narcissus and the film viewed on the day of meeting Schoonmaker, A Matter of Life and Death, all these films are known to be seminal films.
The importances of these works are a backbone within filmmaking and film studies.
Schoonmaker has won several Academy Award awards and won over 3 BAFTA awards not mentioning over 20 nominations during her career.
After meeting her, it seems so rare to come across a lady of this kind, she seems just as motivated as she has ever been; she looks amazing, so full of colour and passion. I believe it to of been a blessing to meet such a legend in film.
She was born on 3rd January 1940 in Algiers, Algeria to American expatriates and raised in various countries, including on the Dutch-Caribbean island of Aruba.
She lived in
She initially wanted to get into politics and then switched her learning towards primitive art, during her studies she answered to an advert in The New York Times 'assistant film editor', landed the job and began her career in film. She took up a brief 6 week course in filmmaking at (NYU), where she came into contact with Martin Scorsese who now is a huge legacy in film. Editing his works such as, Gangs in
She married Director Michael Powell from 19 May 1984 till his death in 1990, since his death she has continued preserving his films and honoring the legacy of her husband, who directed films such as the Red shoes, Black Narcissus and the film viewed on the day of meeting Schoonmaker, A Matter of Life and Death, all these films are known to be seminal films.
The importances of these works are a backbone within filmmaking and film studies.
Schoonmaker has won several Academy Award awards and won over 3 BAFTA awards not mentioning over 20 nominations during her career.
After meeting her, it seems so rare to come across a lady of this kind, she seems just as motivated as she has ever been; she looks amazing, so full of colour and passion. I believe it to of been a blessing to meet such a legend in film.
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Bringing On The Emotion...
Today was an interesting day... During our morning session with Nick we worked with some practical games. These games focus mostly on our raw emotions. We had to sit on a chair, close our eyes, and then state silently what emotion our characters are feeling within their scene. "I am heart broken"
Well Nina is heart broken in this scene I am playing, she is nervous of seeing the one she loves, however she is also heart broken over her best friend Kostya, she is broken that he loves her and she doesn't love him back.
She feels everything for him, she feels his pain as this is what she is going through too, and unfortunately she is in love with someone else.
Nick asked me whether I had been heart broken myself in my life, I replied I had.
I do believe that I can connect with Nina on a level; it’s just about channeling my emotions towards any pain I might have suffered in my own life.
After many rehearsals I do feel I am growing closer towards the character. I am learning how to control my emotions, how to go back, to go deep into any pain I have been through in my life.
It's difficult... It's hard to get deep sometimes, peel off the layers. The funny thing is, here I am trying to be an actress , it's really hard, emotionally draining infact, I mean thinking about really going back to something that hurt me, something that made me feel such pain, something that really brings me to tears, as Nina says... "It's a rough trade, life".
Well Nina is heart broken in this scene I am playing, she is nervous of seeing the one she loves, however she is also heart broken over her best friend Kostya, she is broken that he loves her and she doesn't love him back.
She feels everything for him, she feels his pain as this is what she is going through too, and unfortunately she is in love with someone else.
Nick asked me whether I had been heart broken myself in my life, I replied I had.
I do believe that I can connect with Nina on a level; it’s just about channeling my emotions towards any pain I might have suffered in my own life.
After many rehearsals I do feel I am growing closer towards the character. I am learning how to control my emotions, how to go back, to go deep into any pain I have been through in my life.
It's difficult... It's hard to get deep sometimes, peel off the layers. The funny thing is, here I am trying to be an actress , it's really hard, emotionally draining infact, I mean thinking about really going back to something that hurt me, something that made me feel such pain, something that really brings me to tears, as Nina says... "It's a rough trade, life".
Thursday, 7 October 2010
Designing Our Poster's For The Big Show!
We have started a project ... To design a poster for our show on the 15th November.
This poster will be used to promote our show, there will only be one or at the most two posters used for this, so whoever designs the most interesting and eye catching poster will be the winner.
How am I finding the task... Well it is fun to be creative, I have chosen for my main image a naked lady, this image is from the 1800's , it's beautiful. My choice for this image is purely for the fact that it's natural, my first initial thought was ' Bare your soul' with this sentence in my mind I though it represented naturalistic acting, as when we are natural, we have nothing to hide, hence the naked lady!
I have also added the writers images, Chekhov, Ibsen and Churchill.
This poster will be used to promote our show, there will only be one or at the most two posters used for this, so whoever designs the most interesting and eye catching poster will be the winner.
How am I finding the task... Well it is fun to be creative, I have chosen for my main image a naked lady, this image is from the 1800's , it's beautiful. My choice for this image is purely for the fact that it's natural, my first initial thought was ' Bare your soul' with this sentence in my mind I though it represented naturalistic acting, as when we are natural, we have nothing to hide, hence the naked lady!
I have also added the writers images, Chekhov, Ibsen and Churchill.
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Starting The Rehearsals
Our session began in the theatre, it was exciting be in such a space. We started with a Stanislavski’s concentration warm up to help us get into a neutral position and to help us focus towards our character.
A vocal warm up followed which was called Tenjeuwah- which means Welcome.
Our next exercise was to close our eyes, stay in one place, and using our imagination to visualize our characters clothing in a mirror, starting from the feet working our way upwards to the head.
After this we would speak out loud of our visions. This was called the full length mirror process.
Using a sentence from our script we would repeat it in different ways with our vision fixed in our minds.
My sentence was “I am the seagull, no that’s not right”
I did find this exercise useful and I would surly use it to help me focus towards any character I play in the future.
After these focused exercises we all introduced to each other what we we’re wearing, this helped us to develop further towards our character. The last session lead us to introduce the room that our scene was set in. I decided to go take the empty space at once as I felt I was totally in the zone.
I do believe I gave a strong descriptive performance.
In The Here In The Now- Inspiration from The Seagull.
We have these ideas of who we are, who we're going to be, it's hard to look at everything in the Here and the Now. We look at the future, hope for the best, continue living as if it already exists, but what are we supposed to do? Live in fear? I'm not sure I do, I'm not sure it's the right way, but maybe if we did live in fear would we drive further? Live more truthfully? But for those people who do live in fear do they enjoy their lives? Do they listen to the Here and Now? Do they breathe the current air? Either way if the Here and Now is here, do we take it? Or do we see past it? Are we scared to take it? Do we abuse it, the Here and Now...?
I love the Here and Now, I hate the Here and Now, I am the Here and Now, and I am not the Here and Now.
Like Anton said 'All life is Life'... We're here and then we're not.
I love the Here and Now, I hate the Here and Now, I am the Here and Now, and I am not the Here and Now.
Like Anton said 'All life is Life'... We're here and then we're not.
Thursday, 23 September 2010
The Seagull By Anton Chekhov.
Today was the day... Yes indeed, we we're each given our scripts for our first performance that will be held at the Art Depot Monday 15th November 2010 !
I've been given the part of Nina, Act 4.
My first reaction was- Wow I have many lines to learn, monologue after monologue, having very little experience as an actress I can’t deny it being a little daunting, but at the same time I am very excited to be given the challenge of this character. My first initial thoughts about Nina in scene 4 is that she is very self aware of her goals and realistic at the same time, when she was younger she wanted the fame, the glory, but now she has come to understand that it’s not as glamorous as she thought, however this does not disappoint, it actually inspires her and brings out a trueness within her. She feels even more connected to her soul.
I am yet to read the full play, I look forward to it.
I've been given the part of Nina, Act 4.
My first reaction was- Wow I have many lines to learn, monologue after monologue, having very little experience as an actress I can’t deny it being a little daunting, but at the same time I am very excited to be given the challenge of this character. My first initial thoughts about Nina in scene 4 is that she is very self aware of her goals and realistic at the same time, when she was younger she wanted the fame, the glory, but now she has come to understand that it’s not as glamorous as she thought, however this does not disappoint, it actually inspires her and brings out a trueness within her. She feels even more connected to her soul.
I am yet to read the full play, I look forward to it.
The Process Towards A Naturalistic Performance.
On Tuesday we learnt about ‘The Process’- A set routine; steps we take towards a naturalistic performance.
- Read the script
- Read it again
- Analyse the script.
- Annotate.
- Ask the questions-
- Who am I?
- Where am I?
- Where am I going?
All these questions lead us to think about Historical, Cultural and Social context. What is our social identity? Do we have a relationship with ourselves, are we self aware? What is our motivation?
Answering these questions will allow us to understand a character on a deeper level. It’s a way of connecting with the character.
- Timeline- this helps to understand the characters past, present and future. Starting from childhood, through to teens and finally adulthood. What are the characters interest, family and relationships?
- Emotional chart- To understand the relationships between Parents, relationships between male and females and finally the characters specifically.
- Rehearsing and Learning lines.
My Intorduction to Stanislavski's 10 Points System.
On Monday I was introduced to Stanislavski’s ten points system.
In order to feel relaxed and neutral we started with a practical warm up; ty chi, the stroking of the bear breathing counts of 6.
A vocal warm up followed. After feeling a little more relaxed we lied on the ground, closed eyes, concentrating on each part of the body, starting with our feet and working upwards we tensed each part separately accompanying with breathing counts of 6.
Then we followed with a concentration exercise, counting the sounds outside the room for at least one minute; bringing our concentration back into the room we counted the sounds within our space.
Raising to a neutral standing position our next steps towards the ten points introduced us to an exercise; emotive words- working with imagination and feeling, we focused with the words, revenge, love and fear.
We continued with a silent ‘bad news letter’ exercise, observing each other through performances allowed us to draw up a conclusion as to what the letter was about.
In pairs we improvised and worked on dialogue for a farewell situation. Each group performed it to the class, we were not allowed to use the dialogue within our performance, the challenge was to be as natural as possible, by using eye contact and complete focus throughout.
We finished our day with some script reading, my group was set to discover Ibsen’s, A Dolls House, act three. Playing Mrs.Linde seemed intense through out this scene.
I came to an understanding of the fourth wall and how naturalistic plays would never break the forth wall, to interact with the audience would defeat the whole idea of naturalism.
Life As A Student
I have started a foundation degree in performing arts, meeting new people is exciting and the teachers are all fantastic. At the moment we are studying naturalism, I am very much enjoying this, understanding Stanislavski's methods is surly helping me to focus as an actor.
We are working towards a performance which will commence Monday 15th November, the day after my sister's wedding- aaaaahhhh!
All in all things are great, I believe to be going in the right direction and with all that I am learning I am feeling inspired to delve deeper by discussing my new knowledge with like minded people.
We are working towards a performance which will commence Monday 15th November, the day after my sister's wedding- aaaaahhhh!
All in all things are great, I believe to be going in the right direction and with all that I am learning I am feeling inspired to delve deeper by discussing my new knowledge with like minded people.
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