Thursday was the first day where we ran the whole play, piecing all the scenes together.
It turned out to work OK, however I feel there is a lack of emotion that has been forgotten about. This may be down to the fact that we still have not really focused on any true emotions in relation to the characters in this play or to this hard hitting subject. We have mainly been focusing on the action rather than a deeper feeling. We discussed the line up of the play, seating arrangements for the audience and set design. The last week few days have been working towards finishing off the scenes, each day we have been working on warm ups, such as plastics, which on reflection I feel has been a little bit of wasted time in relation to this subject.
We worked on our torture scenes again, me being partnered with Liza on this one, we had to dismiss the chair we used and work away from using any large props, a rope is what we will use to add to this scene. We also rehearsed our individual dialogues where Rosie, Christina and myself are grouped together. This dialogue scene that we are performing will be at the the scene before the end scene. As we say our lines the others will be performing a death sequence, where they will perform their repetitive deaths. It will start off a silent and slow death and gradually grow faster and faster and more intense with the progression of moans and groans.
Soon myself and Christina will join this death sequence. During this rehearsal I took myself out of the scene and looked at what was being performed, through this I found myself slightly irritated as I felt this scene was not that great. I made this quite clear to Jon, and suggested to perhaps change this scene, suggesting that maybe we could be getting ready to go into the gas chambers, and someone saying "It's just a shower", I felt this would have created a greater tension, as in relation to this unfortunate time, the camp prisoners had no idea that they we're going to be gassed, the prisoners did actually think it was just a shower. I feel this would of created a deeper emotion, as now the audience know the truth of what really was going to happen. I feel this would be far more hard hitting to an audience rather than just recreating a death scene, which to be honest is very average and the easy way out for creating a scene. It just feels a little unthoughtful and surfaced to an audience. My point wasn't taken too well, and it seemed to unsettle Jon, as he took me out the room to say that I said this in bad timing. I think he feels a little uneasy as there is a lot of work to do, but my argument is, if we hadn't waisted so much time on learning a song that will now not even be in the show, and doing these plastic warm ups that have no purpose towards the subject, we might of had more time to create deeper emotional rooted scenes, that project this seriously intense subject.
On a lighter note it does seem that we will have a play to perform Monday at the Arts Depot. Everybody has learnt their stage directions, lines and individual scenes, I just feel a disheartened that the emotion is missing, and that the directors forgot all about this. It seems a little strange as I though that's what is the most important thing about art, to reach a deeper emotion in relation to a subject that is being presented.
Friday, 24 February 2012
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Day 4- Further , devising small sequences ...
Today we started the morning with a warm up, this included working on forward and backward rolls, also practicing to hold each others weight with flow movement , another exercise was for everyone to lie on the floor - sardines as Jon would say, then for us to roll at the same time, on top would lie a person and we would roll, soon the person would have moved from one end to the next.. It was fun!
'Sardine Roll'
We also worked on Grotowskis plastics for a short time, focusing on our elbows. This is very challenging and needs lots of practice to master. After a break we worked on placing ourselves in a pile to represent a pile of bodies, this is a very strong image that is recognized in the holocaust camps.
Original photo of a pile of bodies in the Holocaust camps
As we worked on this I began to smell people which wasn't all that pleasant , however it gave me a better feeling of discomfort to add to my emotion , I could never compare it as to what actually happened in these camps as these bodies where rotting and naked in a way I would rather not describe.
Soon after we had to come to life after Being thrown on a pile, holding hands and working on rising in a tight group. In pairs We had to devise a sequence of how this would work and create a style of movement , a kind of dance ish sequence , imagining we were stuck behind walls trying to get out. I did this with Dominique and shakira.
A picture of Liza's group performing their short sequence.
Soon we had worked on how Cassy and James would drag us into a pile of bodies , for they are the guards in the play. After we adapted our small devised structures to rise and move together, trying to escape the walls.
After lunch we rehearsed the song, Shakira and myself have been given the task to arrange the song as to who will sing each part.
Later in pairs we devised a small torture scene. I did this with Liza , working from images that we sourced through the Internet it allowed us to grow our scenes into further tortured sketch. We included whipping with belts, using a chair to be tied up on, and moving towards the floor for a further tortured positions.
Below is Dominique, James and Cassey rehearsing their torture sketch.
We ended the session with performing each sketch to each other. Jon has instructed us to devise a thirty second repetitive death sequence , this will be performed whist Rosie, Christina and myself will be performing our scripted words.
We also to source plain white pyjamas for Lauren, our wardrobe/stage/ prop manager to create a stripy pyjama look costume.
Here are a couple of original photos of Holocaust victims in their clothes 'pyjama clothes'
'Sardine Roll'
We also worked on Grotowskis plastics for a short time, focusing on our elbows. This is very challenging and needs lots of practice to master. After a break we worked on placing ourselves in a pile to represent a pile of bodies, this is a very strong image that is recognized in the holocaust camps.
Original photo of a pile of bodies in the Holocaust camps
As we worked on this I began to smell people which wasn't all that pleasant , however it gave me a better feeling of discomfort to add to my emotion , I could never compare it as to what actually happened in these camps as these bodies where rotting and naked in a way I would rather not describe.
Soon after we had to come to life after Being thrown on a pile, holding hands and working on rising in a tight group. In pairs We had to devise a sequence of how this would work and create a style of movement , a kind of dance ish sequence , imagining we were stuck behind walls trying to get out. I did this with Dominique and shakira.
A picture of Liza's group performing their short sequence.
Soon we had worked on how Cassy and James would drag us into a pile of bodies , for they are the guards in the play. After we adapted our small devised structures to rise and move together, trying to escape the walls.
After lunch we rehearsed the song, Shakira and myself have been given the task to arrange the song as to who will sing each part.
Later in pairs we devised a small torture scene. I did this with Liza , working from images that we sourced through the Internet it allowed us to grow our scenes into further tortured sketch. We included whipping with belts, using a chair to be tied up on, and moving towards the floor for a further tortured positions.
Below is Dominique, James and Cassey rehearsing their torture sketch.
We ended the session with performing each sketch to each other. Jon has instructed us to devise a thirty second repetitive death sequence , this will be performed whist Rosie, Christina and myself will be performing our scripted words.
We also to source plain white pyjamas for Lauren, our wardrobe/stage/ prop manager to create a stripy pyjama look costume.
Here are a couple of original photos of Holocaust victims in their clothes 'pyjama clothes'
Monday, 6 February 2012
Rehersals and growth in day 3 of professional drama practice.
We started the day with a morning active session, warming up and working on our usual yoga form positions. We also worked on our slow motion, finding emotion and meaning to our movements which still can be challenging on a Monday morning ;0)
However the session went well and towards the end of the session we practiced six potions that represent anguish, which had been previously worked on last week whilst Makeda, Shakira and myself were learning the Patriot song. Rosie taught us the six positions and after as a whole group we performed them and experimented with the flow of each position to the next. After a break we returned to the last session of scenes we had worked on and rehearsed, and slightly changed a few scenes. We discussed a few different idea's as to what else should be included during the work camp and guard scenes. I had remembered from a film I watched about the Holocaust, there was scene of camp victims running round in a circle naked so that the guards would see who was fit and who was not and would therefor be removed from the camp by a shotgun. Through this we decided to recreate a similar scene and placed ourselves in a circle running whilst James and Cassy who are now to be the official 'guards' in the play would shout and scream at us whilst running,I become a victim of near to death when I fall and James shoots me in the shoulder. Soon after an almost dream like slow motion occurs, all the camp victims gather strength to kill the guards - 'the uprising scene'.
After a lunch break we worked on the scripted text, we have now been split into 6 different groups, with each group portraying a different emotion, one group would almost be robotic another may be mad, another would be tortured... This represents different side effects to anguish and depression from a horrific event, in this case the Holocaust. My scene along with Rosie and Christina is as if we are in the electric chair, not wanting to speak but are made to by the electric shocks.
At first I found this difficult, but as we watched all the other groups act out their scenes it soon became clear of what my role is a about. I had the idea for my scene to be the three of us sitting in chairs with the electric helmets on there to be three electric chairs with each chair on a projector to give it a further visual effect, to compliment that with strobe lighting.
My research for character building work will be to find out about the electric chair, to Google on YouTube people in the electric chair, to study their reactions. Also to watch a film based on the Holocaust that will allow me to connect with a character on film, through emotional struggles and individual journeys.
However the session went well and towards the end of the session we practiced six potions that represent anguish, which had been previously worked on last week whilst Makeda, Shakira and myself were learning the Patriot song. Rosie taught us the six positions and after as a whole group we performed them and experimented with the flow of each position to the next. After a break we returned to the last session of scenes we had worked on and rehearsed, and slightly changed a few scenes. We discussed a few different idea's as to what else should be included during the work camp and guard scenes. I had remembered from a film I watched about the Holocaust, there was scene of camp victims running round in a circle naked so that the guards would see who was fit and who was not and would therefor be removed from the camp by a shotgun. Through this we decided to recreate a similar scene and placed ourselves in a circle running whilst James and Cassy who are now to be the official 'guards' in the play would shout and scream at us whilst running,I become a victim of near to death when I fall and James shoots me in the shoulder. Soon after an almost dream like slow motion occurs, all the camp victims gather strength to kill the guards - 'the uprising scene'.
After a lunch break we worked on the scripted text, we have now been split into 6 different groups, with each group portraying a different emotion, one group would almost be robotic another may be mad, another would be tortured... This represents different side effects to anguish and depression from a horrific event, in this case the Holocaust. My scene along with Rosie and Christina is as if we are in the electric chair, not wanting to speak but are made to by the electric shocks.
At first I found this difficult, but as we watched all the other groups act out their scenes it soon became clear of what my role is a about. I had the idea for my scene to be the three of us sitting in chairs with the electric helmets on there to be three electric chairs with each chair on a projector to give it a further visual effect, to compliment that with strobe lighting.
My research for character building work will be to find out about the electric chair, to Google on YouTube people in the electric chair, to study their reactions. Also to watch a film based on the Holocaust that will allow me to connect with a character on film, through emotional struggles and individual journeys.
Friday, 3 February 2012
Professional Drama Practice- A new project.
We have started a new project which will be lead and directed by an outside director called Jonathan Grieve - we call him Jon.
The Monday morning started with warm ups and icebreakers to get us in a creative space, soon after the session was led with discussions about varied social issues, and how important these social issues were, how relevant they are to us and what we thought of them, how we regard ourselves related to these social issues. For example, how important is music to you, on a scale from 1-10 10 being the highest, how religious are you? Are you an atheist or regard yourself as spiritual? Do you feel woman and men should be equal, or does each person have certain roles?
Through this exercise It was interesting to see how every person has different views on these social subjects and has individual personal views.
We also ran a series of still imaged frames, using the space, one person would have to pose in a certain way, whilst another would add to this pose to create a scenario. It was amusing of what might come out of nothing into something.
We also tried a few other specific scenarios, such as the recent riots, each person took on a character to create a freeze frame, shortly in slow motion we had to act out the next five seconds, then the freeze, then the next five seconds, then rewinding back ten seconds.
During these exercises it's important to be controlled with the slow motion so that the viewer gets the full effect. This can be challenging as an actor and therefore needs to practice to achieve this effect.
Later that day Michael and Jon handed out the stimulus script and text for the play that we will be performing on February 27Th. The idea is focused on The Holocaust and Jews that fought for Hitler. (Sounds controversial I know). The scripts consists of a series of scenarios, scripted text of a scene being placed in a court room with a judge , several witnesses and various other characters. There is also a poem by Samuel Beckett. Shortly after reading the script together, Jon taught us a song called Patriot which is a kind of chant, army song.
The next day, we warmed up with some games and some challenging yoga positions, following that we started practising our slow motion movements, using desperate emotions to reach a ball that was laid on the ground further away from us, the aim was to move towards this ball as if it were terribly important to us, to find meaning for our movements was the key aim in this exercise.
The next part of the session was mostly focused on creating the similar freeze framed and slow motion scenarios that we where introduced to us on the first day. This time these scenarios were based on the script, the scene was set to be at a work place of a Holocaust camp. We had to take on the characters of guards and work victims, soon we had to change the scenario by switching work camp victims in becoming aggressive and soon there was to be a revaluation, this was acted in slow motion, back and forward using the same movements to distinguish each part of the scene.
Later that day Shakira, Mackeda and myself had the task of learning the the full Patriot song and teaching it to the class, the song is a little challenging to learn for the timings are not of western rhythm nor flow. Before learning the song I led a vocal warm up which was fun!
The Monday morning started with warm ups and icebreakers to get us in a creative space, soon after the session was led with discussions about varied social issues, and how important these social issues were, how relevant they are to us and what we thought of them, how we regard ourselves related to these social issues. For example, how important is music to you, on a scale from 1-10 10 being the highest, how religious are you? Are you an atheist or regard yourself as spiritual? Do you feel woman and men should be equal, or does each person have certain roles?
Through this exercise It was interesting to see how every person has different views on these social subjects and has individual personal views.
We also ran a series of still imaged frames, using the space, one person would have to pose in a certain way, whilst another would add to this pose to create a scenario. It was amusing of what might come out of nothing into something.
We also tried a few other specific scenarios, such as the recent riots, each person took on a character to create a freeze frame, shortly in slow motion we had to act out the next five seconds, then the freeze, then the next five seconds, then rewinding back ten seconds.
During these exercises it's important to be controlled with the slow motion so that the viewer gets the full effect. This can be challenging as an actor and therefore needs to practice to achieve this effect.
Later that day Michael and Jon handed out the stimulus script and text for the play that we will be performing on February 27Th. The idea is focused on The Holocaust and Jews that fought for Hitler. (Sounds controversial I know). The scripts consists of a series of scenarios, scripted text of a scene being placed in a court room with a judge , several witnesses and various other characters. There is also a poem by Samuel Beckett. Shortly after reading the script together, Jon taught us a song called Patriot which is a kind of chant, army song.
The next day, we warmed up with some games and some challenging yoga positions, following that we started practising our slow motion movements, using desperate emotions to reach a ball that was laid on the ground further away from us, the aim was to move towards this ball as if it were terribly important to us, to find meaning for our movements was the key aim in this exercise.
The next part of the session was mostly focused on creating the similar freeze framed and slow motion scenarios that we where introduced to us on the first day. This time these scenarios were based on the script, the scene was set to be at a work place of a Holocaust camp. We had to take on the characters of guards and work victims, soon we had to change the scenario by switching work camp victims in becoming aggressive and soon there was to be a revaluation, this was acted in slow motion, back and forward using the same movements to distinguish each part of the scene.
Later that day Shakira, Mackeda and myself had the task of learning the the full Patriot song and teaching it to the class, the song is a little challenging to learn for the timings are not of western rhythm nor flow. Before learning the song I led a vocal warm up which was fun!
The Performance... It's Show Time!
There were two performances, the first for me was in my opinion was a better overall performance, I think that the nerves were in the right place and the energy was high but controlled within the right focus.The 'Grid' at the start was very much enjoyable and I totally through myself into it, I lost all fears and immersed myself fully, laughing, crying, screaming, all these emotions truly took place within the space and my space too... I feel that Liza and I connected during this time on stage which was inspiring. There was also a great energy between all the actors on stage, the downfall was that unfortunately some of the group members were missing due to illnesses, however we pulled through. It seemed like it went by so fast, which means that I was totally in the zone and focused.
The second performance was a little more difficult, more people were missing for the second night which gave a kind of, lets get this over with kind of feeling. Rather than fully enjoying an immersing myself into the show, I found myself thinking of what I was doing rather than just doing and being in the moment. There was also a couple of stage direction changes and an extra scene put in about an hour before the show, which in a way without realising threw me a little. In this case, a distraction on my acting which I let get hold of me. However the show was finally over and I do believe that I was totally committed for the first night. On reflection, I think it would be beneficial to find sometime alone to build an energy for myself to help my focus.
The second performance was a little more difficult, more people were missing for the second night which gave a kind of, lets get this over with kind of feeling. Rather than fully enjoying an immersing myself into the show, I found myself thinking of what I was doing rather than just doing and being in the moment. There was also a couple of stage direction changes and an extra scene put in about an hour before the show, which in a way without realising threw me a little. In this case, a distraction on my acting which I let get hold of me. However the show was finally over and I do believe that I was totally committed for the first night. On reflection, I think it would be beneficial to find sometime alone to build an energy for myself to help my focus.
Preparations before the show
A lot of hard work is needed for a show and due to the fact that the show was performed at the Bull Theatre in Barnet, the frame that we built needed to be disassembled, transferred to the Bull Theatre from the Arts Depot and reassembled there. It was important to work as a team and to arrive at 8:30am for a full days work prior the permanences. Together we worked to achieve the target, Rosie and myself also had the job of stitching some of the holes in the frame a little smaller as they had stretched quite a lot during rehearsals and therefore needed to be adjusted for the perfect effect.
By around 4pm however we were still due a technical run and an extra rehearsal. The tech run ran smoothly, Rosie was working with Michael and Grant (a first year student) with the lights and effects. However as a group of performers we did not really put our all into this run, and Nick was getting angry as the show was not looking great. He made a point of how we as performers were selfish and not giving enough to an audience. I have to agree with all these comments, it's vital that an actor/performer gives %100 at all times, for if he/she doesn't then the result will be false, which is the complete negative to true acting and a true performance. This did result in me reflecting on my performance and my aim as a whole performer in general, to bring truth is completely important to me, it's kind of a spiritual goal for me and is one of my strongest morals in life. Through this conversation, Nick had inspired me to work harder on my focus in order to get my very much purpose result. As Grotowski would say... 'The result is freedom'
My answer to this 'I will only feel free once the truth is released'
Below is a picture of Shakira playing Shakalaka in a red cape, this shot was taken from the light and sound technical desk.
By around 4pm however we were still due a technical run and an extra rehearsal. The tech run ran smoothly, Rosie was working with Michael and Grant (a first year student) with the lights and effects. However as a group of performers we did not really put our all into this run, and Nick was getting angry as the show was not looking great. He made a point of how we as performers were selfish and not giving enough to an audience. I have to agree with all these comments, it's vital that an actor/performer gives %100 at all times, for if he/she doesn't then the result will be false, which is the complete negative to true acting and a true performance. This did result in me reflecting on my performance and my aim as a whole performer in general, to bring truth is completely important to me, it's kind of a spiritual goal for me and is one of my strongest morals in life. Through this conversation, Nick had inspired me to work harder on my focus in order to get my very much purpose result. As Grotowski would say... 'The result is freedom'
My answer to this 'I will only feel free once the truth is released'
Below is a picture of Shakira playing Shakalaka in a red cape, this shot was taken from the light and sound technical desk.
A well deserved rewrite!
We are coming so close to the performance date, it seems crazy to rewrite the script, however after performing the original play to Nick and Michael, it became clear that a lot was missing, therefore things must change. At the beginning of the play a form called 'The Grid' will be performed for ten minutes, this will be rehearsed and partly improvised, the rehearsals will develop our skills of improvisation for the 'The Grid', total focus is essential within this piece and every movement must have purpose and reason and must not be false in any way. This can be challenging when all you have are is a grid to walk and play with in a sense, however feeling off others can improve an energy and a vibe.
Another major change to the play was to instead of basing the show around everyone and how everyone is feeling, it has been decided to base the play on three main characters, which will played by Rosie, Mario and Chris, they start by being out side the play 'Frame' whilst everyone else is inside the play playing 'their' mind, with each different character and phrase, mine being unsettled,others being useless, animated, unreliable, detached and so on... However the three main characters still adopt their phrases which are bitchy for Rosie, afraid for Mario and semi-detached for Chris. This enables the 'frame' to pick on these words and to create question and answers. For instance, my line would be to Rosie, "Are you unsettled?" or To Mario, "Maybe your unsettled, that's why your afraid?"
All these sentences put together from each person in the 'frame' to the three characters on stage creates a self analytical scene that confronts and disturbs one self.
The song that was sang originally by everyone on stage is sang in the frame by 'The Frame' characters, until guided out by a character called 'Shakalaka' played by Shakira, who is to be some kind of mystic fortune teller, prediction queen in a sense, a guide of some sort, a controlling force in the play. She leads us to the stage into a trance and speaks the words of "words, thoughts, people," until we start loosing ourselves in one place, as she continues with her chants, we start hallucinating, going mad for our thoughts might misguide us and send us crazy. This scene is called 'The Ritual', when this is finished we leave and the audience find Rosie, Mario and Chris in the 'Frame' scared, confused and alarmed, like they are in their own minds, a scene plays.
To continue with the changes, Chris and Rosie end up being the perfect people dummies for the 'Labelling Scene' rather than James and Lucy who were the original characters. Whilst this 'labelling' commences, Mario stays in the 'Frame' and watches with confusion, frustration and is 'afraid' which is his phrase. The rest of the 'Frame' characters arrive on stage with a cover over their heads, typing on phones at the back in a line. Soon 'Shakalaka' presents the perfect people and leads the original 'Frame ' characters back into the frame joining Mario, soon each person end the show with a sentence in a robotic voice, for example "I'm not unsettled, my name is Jones" and like dominoes each phrase follows. Mario ends with "My name is Mario"
The show is till only thirty minutes long, however it does have more purpose and focus to it.
Below is an image reheating the "Labelling scene'.
Another major change to the play was to instead of basing the show around everyone and how everyone is feeling, it has been decided to base the play on three main characters, which will played by Rosie, Mario and Chris, they start by being out side the play 'Frame' whilst everyone else is inside the play playing 'their' mind, with each different character and phrase, mine being unsettled,others being useless, animated, unreliable, detached and so on... However the three main characters still adopt their phrases which are bitchy for Rosie, afraid for Mario and semi-detached for Chris. This enables the 'frame' to pick on these words and to create question and answers. For instance, my line would be to Rosie, "Are you unsettled?" or To Mario, "Maybe your unsettled, that's why your afraid?"
All these sentences put together from each person in the 'frame' to the three characters on stage creates a self analytical scene that confronts and disturbs one self.
The song that was sang originally by everyone on stage is sang in the frame by 'The Frame' characters, until guided out by a character called 'Shakalaka' played by Shakira, who is to be some kind of mystic fortune teller, prediction queen in a sense, a guide of some sort, a controlling force in the play. She leads us to the stage into a trance and speaks the words of "words, thoughts, people," until we start loosing ourselves in one place, as she continues with her chants, we start hallucinating, going mad for our thoughts might misguide us and send us crazy. This scene is called 'The Ritual', when this is finished we leave and the audience find Rosie, Mario and Chris in the 'Frame' scared, confused and alarmed, like they are in their own minds, a scene plays.
To continue with the changes, Chris and Rosie end up being the perfect people dummies for the 'Labelling Scene' rather than James and Lucy who were the original characters. Whilst this 'labelling' commences, Mario stays in the 'Frame' and watches with confusion, frustration and is 'afraid' which is his phrase. The rest of the 'Frame' characters arrive on stage with a cover over their heads, typing on phones at the back in a line. Soon 'Shakalaka' presents the perfect people and leads the original 'Frame ' characters back into the frame joining Mario, soon each person end the show with a sentence in a robotic voice, for example "I'm not unsettled, my name is Jones" and like dominoes each phrase follows. Mario ends with "My name is Mario"
The show is till only thirty minutes long, however it does have more purpose and focus to it.
Below is an image reheating the "Labelling scene'.
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