Theatre Company Names
Character Development:
Friday 4th September 2019:
In today's lesson, we presented our proposals for the modernized version of greek mythology. Each of us one by one went up onto the stage and presented what we had prepared. After this, we came together as a collective and discussed the ideas that we had all come up with.
Monday 9th September 2019:
During today's lesson we performed the audition pieces that we had been preparing for, mine was a monologue from the perspective of the Greek goddess Persephone. The feedback that I received on my audition was that it was a really nice modernization that came from a different perspective that had not been explored before. However, in order to improve, I was told that I need to slow down my pace and have longer pauses to create emphasis. If I was going to re-do my audition I would take the advice I was given and slow down. I think because I was nervous I sped through my monologue, so to make sure this does not happen again, next time I am going to take some time to my self and do some basic breath capacity exercises beforehand. This should help me calm down and not rush the words that I am saying to much.
Tuesday 10th September 2019:
In today's lesson, we created a mind map of our initial ideas -
We then proceeded to develop some of these initial ideas for performance. My group decided to work with the idea of Persephone and Hades and giving an introduction to to the underworld and the contrast of mount Olympus. We decided to make three tableaux that showed the three main parts of the story:
In this freeze-frame, you can see that in the background is Aaliyah and I creating mount Olympus, then Ella as Demeter, Daisy as Persephone, they are both watering a flower that is played by Aliyah. The flower was symbolic of the emotion and mood in each tableau, in this one she is tall and flourishing, everything is well.
In this tableaux, you can see that Hades is kidnapping Persephone, Demeter is reaching out for her daughter and I am reaching out looking distressed. The flower in this freeze frame is meant to be wilting and not looking as tall and proud as it once did, this is symbolic of Demeter sending the world into winter and famine when Persephone was taken.
In this freeze-frame, you can see that flower is completely wilted and dead, the world is in full winter as Demeter's rage persists, I am trying to calm her down. On the other half of the image, Hades towers over Persephone. This use of levels displays that Hades has much more power of Persephone at this time. After we finished these tableaux, we experimented with creating a soundscape, but we realized after attempting to create one that we did not have enough people in our small group to make it sound dramatic and effective. A smart target for next lesson is to develop a scene rather than just a freeze-frame, I would like to choose one of the key moments and develop it further adding speech, movement, and physical theatre.
After we shared our ideas we decided to create a short piece of drama using various techniques. There were three prostitutes who were meant to be Hades Furies, theses were played by Abigale, Shante and I, we open the scene with all of us sitting around discussing the days work. To show Hades power and influence when he enters and when he walks past us we all move and hesitate to make eye contact. The furies act as a chorus by saying things and moving in synchrony, they also divulge their subtext through the use of thought tracking and essence machine.
INSERT REHEARSAL VIDEO HERE
The feedback that we received as a group for this performance was:
The first name I propose for our company is CCTC, this would stand for Coulsdon College Theatre Company. It is short, simple and straight to the point, it explains what we are without much effort. Moreover, abbreviations are usually fairly easy to brand and create an eye-catching logo with, something that is bold and easily recognizable as our theater company.
The second name that I have come up with for our theater company is UNIQUE. I chose this because it demonstrates our theater company's best qualities, we are all so different and have such a variety of talents to bring to the table. Furthermore, we all have the ability to create unique and thought-provoking pieces of theater.
The final name proposal that I have come up with is Drama Queens. I picked this because I thought it was light-heated and funny. It also describes our theater company perfectly, we are just a big group of drama queens. Furthermore, it reflects the hard-working and dedicated attitude that we all have towards performing arts.
ZooCo
The theatre company ZooCo was established in 2013 and is currently working on and or performing three different productions; Messy, Sirens and The Girl Who Fell In Love With The Moon. Since the theatre company's creation, they have put together 3 critically acclaimed productions, and 2 site-specific shows. They have toured to over 30 venues across the UK as well as internationally. They are a Supported Company at Greenwich Theatre, part of the Emerging Companies Programme with New Diorama, and a resident theatre company at Bridgehouse Theatre and Caterham ArtsHouse. The name ZooCo came from the idea of studying humans as if they are animals. It also helps bring a playful nature to how they approach a production, e.g. they have to create work that is fully energized, by working with a pack mentality and doing what comes naturally. They make them selfs feel silly, outrageous and even vulnerable in order to create an immersive piece. The name was originally inspired by a podcast which spoke about the study of humans as if they were on a nature program, it looks at pack mentality, herd-like behavior, and how humans behave in groups. They think that the conversations that are had with there audiences about there pieces of work are of the same importance as the show its self.
The production Messy is a visual story that is filled with original music puppets, tap dancing and
a trip to the moon. It is Performed by a Deaf and hearing cast with Sign Supported English, this has been done in order to create shows that are enjoyable for all types of people. Messy has been created with the ADHD Foundation and all performances are Relaxed Performances, which means if an audience member needs to stand up, sit down, leave or come back in, that’s completely fine. The production of Sirens is a combination of the old and the new, Greek mythology placed in the modern-day setting of hastings beach. Once more using visual storytelling as well as projections, it will defy gender expectations. The final production that ZooCo is currently working on is The Girl Who Fell In Love With The Moon, it is a combination of puppetry, poetry, movement, and live music
ZooCo not only create amazing inclusive shows but they also hold workshops and theatre on the highstreet.
Proposal
The theatre company ZooCo was established in 2013 and is currently working on and or performing three different productions; Messy, Sirens and The Girl Who Fell In Love With The Moon. Since the theatre company's creation, they have put together 3 critically acclaimed productions, and 2 site-specific shows. They have toured to over 30 venues across the UK as well as internationally. They are a Supported Company at Greenwich Theatre, part of the Emerging Companies Programme with New Diorama, and a resident theatre company at Bridgehouse Theatre and Caterham ArtsHouse. The name ZooCo came from the idea of studying humans as if they are animals. It also helps bring a playful nature to how they approach a production, e.g. they have to create work that is fully energized, by working with a pack mentality and doing what comes naturally. They make them selfs feel silly, outrageous and even vulnerable in order to create an immersive piece. The name was originally inspired by a podcast which spoke about the study of humans as if they were on a nature program, it looks at pack mentality, herd-like behavior, and how humans behave in groups. They think that the conversations that are had with there audiences about there pieces of work are of the same importance as the show its self.
The production Messy is a visual story that is filled with original music puppets, tap dancing and
a trip to the moon. It is Performed by a Deaf and hearing cast with Sign Supported English, this has been done in order to create shows that are enjoyable for all types of people. Messy has been created with the ADHD Foundation and all performances are Relaxed Performances, which means if an audience member needs to stand up, sit down, leave or come back in, that’s completely fine. The production of Sirens is a combination of the old and the new, Greek mythology placed in the modern-day setting of hastings beach. Once more using visual storytelling as well as projections, it will defy gender expectations. The final production that ZooCo is currently working on is The Girl Who Fell In Love With The Moon, it is a combination of puppetry, poetry, movement, and live music
ZooCo not only create amazing inclusive shows but they also hold workshops and theatre on the highstreet.
Proposal
Monologue For Audition:
At home, we lived a simple life. It was just me and mum, my dad wasn't around much. He always had something else to do. Whether that be work or one of his other famous excuses. Even though he never really made much effort with me he always thought he had an input. It didn't matter if my mother didn't agree with it, what he says goes. And what he said was "Persephone dear, you're not going to make a living for your self staying helping your mother on the farm. Move to a city, find yourself a job and a husband to look after you". I mean the last bit was slightly condescending, but it's not the worst idea he's ever had. My mother would hate the idea of this, shes protective you see. However, like I said before she doesn't really have much say. So off I went. It was completely and utterly different from what I knew. Big signs, neon lights, buildings that touched the stars. Menacing. It had an ominous feeling from the start, I wasn't sure why but it felt as if there were eyes on you at all times, never truly felt alone. I persevered tho, got a tiny apartment right, so small you could barely fit in a single bed. And of course, the rent was so high I could have bought my self a new car with the money I spent on it. It worked, I never had much anyway so I was sort of used to it. You think it's going to be so easy. My dad made it sound like you can just swan off to the big city. Find yourself a groundbreaking job that could pay your rent but double, after that, you settle down to find a husband, you have a beautiful wedding and everything is just perfect. My dad has never been so wrong. In a blink of an eye, your behind two months, deep in dept probably addiction and the corruption of this new town is only just beginning to seep in. Before you've even started your new life is over, your just another one of those bottom feeders who has nothing to show for them selfs. You get sucked into this beautiful world, of money, drugs, parties and before you can ever see it coming it chews you up and spits you out.
Health & Safety
Health & Safety
Character Development:
My full name is Desire.My name desire is originally derived from the Latin "to wish or long for". I believe that it is appropriate for my character because my main objective throughout, is to corrupt Persephone bringing her to the "Underworld". I use desire to try and tempt Persephone multiple times in the production. Furthermore, I did not want to have a normal name as I was playing A mythical being. It is symbolic of how different people portray themselves online, how they put up a facade.
I am one of the goddesses of vengeance and retribution who punished men for crimes against the natural order. The goddesses were also servants of Hades and Persephone in the underworld where they would torture criminals who lived in the Dungeons of the Damned. This means that I was born in the underworld in 370 BC. My character is an Aries, this means I am passionate and adaptable. This suits my character as she has to develop throughout the production to become more alluring to Persephone, so she uses her passion and impulsivity to help her achieve her objective. This may also be one of my character's flaws as she does not always think before she acts as well as being impatient. This is demonstrated when I am trying to convince Persephone onto the pedestal, I use desire and physical attraction to try to tempt her but when I am refused I quickly become impatient and walk off the stage.
I am excited by social media, my character is completely engulfed in the "underworld", I am purley driven by the validation I get from the amounts of likes I get on a post. I portray myself very differently online to what I am in reality. You can see this in Furies part 2, the grotesque movement is showing the dramatic contrast using mime and gestures. My character posts promiscuous pictures and is thought of as confident but in reality, she is extremely self-conscious and hates her body. My deepest fear is to post something online and it gets no likes and negative comments, that would destroy any of the confidence desire seems to have.
People think that I am confident and overly promiscuous, they envy me online. Hades thinks nothing of me, he strings the Furies along with like pawns in a game of chess, he uses and abuses us for his own personal gratification. I found it difficult to develop my character as she is not human. I saw her as something symbolic of how today's society feels as if they need to put up a fake persona online.
LogBook:Friday 4th September 2019:
In today's lesson, we presented our proposals for the modernized version of greek mythology. Each of us one by one went up onto the stage and presented what we had prepared. After this, we came together as a collective and discussed the ideas that we had all come up with.
Monday 9th September 2019:
During today's lesson we performed the audition pieces that we had been preparing for, mine was a monologue from the perspective of the Greek goddess Persephone. The feedback that I received on my audition was that it was a really nice modernization that came from a different perspective that had not been explored before. However, in order to improve, I was told that I need to slow down my pace and have longer pauses to create emphasis. If I was going to re-do my audition I would take the advice I was given and slow down. I think because I was nervous I sped through my monologue, so to make sure this does not happen again, next time I am going to take some time to my self and do some basic breath capacity exercises beforehand. This should help me calm down and not rush the words that I am saying to much.
Tuesday 10th September 2019:
In today's lesson, we created a mind map of our initial ideas -
We then proceeded to develop some of these initial ideas for performance. My group decided to work with the idea of Persephone and Hades and giving an introduction to to the underworld and the contrast of mount Olympus. We decided to make three tableaux that showed the three main parts of the story:
Before Hades stole Persephone-
In this freeze-frame, you can see that in the background is Aaliyah and I creating mount Olympus, then Ella as Demeter, Daisy as Persephone, they are both watering a flower that is played by Aliyah. The flower was symbolic of the emotion and mood in each tableau, in this one she is tall and flourishing, everything is well.
While he steals Persephone-
In this tableaux, you can see that Hades is kidnapping Persephone, Demeter is reaching out for her daughter and I am reaching out looking distressed. The flower in this freeze frame is meant to be wilting and not looking as tall and proud as it once did, this is symbolic of Demeter sending the world into winter and famine when Persephone was taken.
After he has kidnapped her.
In this freeze-frame, you can see that flower is completely wilted and dead, the world is in full winter as Demeter's rage persists, I am trying to calm her down. On the other half of the image, Hades towers over Persephone. This use of levels displays that Hades has much more power of Persephone at this time. After we finished these tableaux, we experimented with creating a soundscape, but we realized after attempting to create one that we did not have enough people in our small group to make it sound dramatic and effective. A smart target for next lesson is to develop a scene rather than just a freeze-frame, I would like to choose one of the key moments and develop it further adding speech, movement, and physical theatre.
Wednesday 11th September 2019
In today's lesson, we split up into three groups and had to create a short scene that experimented with ideas, had narration, stylized movement, and choral speech. We were given the second part of the story in which Hades decides that Persephone is going to be his wife. The first thing we did to explore our ideas was to create a mindmap:
INSERT REHEARSAL VIDEO HERE
The feedback that we received as a group for this performance was:
- We had really good ideas.
- A nice interpretation.
- Good characterization.
- Shows good status.
- Once we listened to Helen's advice and removed the chairs from the scene it was much better.
- Good choral elements.
- Improve the staging and blocking.
- Our reactions were great. 7
Thursday 12th September 2019
In today's lesson, we started to work with proxemics, specifically working with smaller spaces. We started off by making big scenarios in small spaces. The first activity we did was that everyone gathered together in the center of the room shoulder to shoulder we were given three different situations which we had to go straight into and create. The situations were:
- Everyone is stuck in an elevator and they can not get out.
- Everyone is on a boat, and it is sinking. There is a tiny dingy on the other side of the room and you are all trying to get on it.
- It is the end of term and we are all on our way to a party, the issue is there is only one car we all have to get in the car.
When creating the peice it was very chaotic and loud, due to everyone being so tightly packed together. What went well in this exercise was that we did manage to get a story together, however, it would have been even better if we had managed to let one person take the lead and were able to follow one storyline. I found that this exercise could have potentially been a health and safety risk, this is because we were all so close together someone could have easily fallen over and hurt themselves, to negate this issue for next time everyone should try and be less chaotic, take there time when moving and people should think before jumping into something. For the second activity, we marked out a stage space and then for each new situation we had to perform, the stage space got smaller. The situations we had to perform were:
- Police chasing an armed robber through a bank - there are hostages.
- A Zumba class.
- We are all stuck in a small room, there is no windows, no doors and no way out.
This time around we attempted to let someone lead and just follow them, but everyone in this group is far too strong-headed. This means that we start to let someone take control before we all go off on our own little stories. This makes it confusing and messy to watch. Because of this, my smart target for next time is to let someone leed and follow it. Hopefully, it will ensure for a much neater and easier to follow the scene. The third activity that we did was, we all got a stick of bamboo, we had to hold it at all times 10cm above the ground. While we walked around the room we were given different tasks we must complete without moving the bamboo from 10 cm above the ground. After this, we got into pairs, we had to get one bamboo stick between us and each to take an end on our fingertip. Once again we had to walk around while being given instructions, you must not drop the stick. What I learned from this was how to gain focus and control, I had to to be completely aware of all of my movements as well as the movements of the people around me. When we worked in a pair it helped me improve my teamwork as you have to work together in order to complete this activity successfully. The final activity we did was all of us standing shoulder to shoulder, we are a school of fish. We had to all walk together and follow whoever was at the front, someone would randomly call out, right or left and without talking we all had to turn in that direction and follow the new front. As a group, we were awful at this. I personally think it is due to our inability to listen and be quiet. That is why my smart target from this activity is that as a group we all need to learn when to be quiet and to listen. if we do not learn theses skills now it is going to be very hard to progress in the performing arts industry. Not only is it frustrating but it could be a health and safety risk, this is because if everyone is talking and not listening we could miss some key information and someone could get badly hurt. Our feedback from our teacher was that we were all working at different levels of commitment, we could not be quiet and that we all looked a bit uncomfortable being that closes to one another. This is something that will hinder us because we need to be able to work closely with one another and we are only as strong as our weaker cast member.
Friday 13th September 2019
On Fridays we have two lessons at different periods of the day, this means on Fridays we have two different times to rehearse and develop. I am going to split them into Part 1 & Part 2.
Part 1: In today's lesson we wanted to develop the piece we created on Wednesday even further. The points that we want to work on are:
Monday 16th September 2019
Today we started off by doing a warm-up, we stretched which helps us warm up physically, then we sang 1,2,1 going up the different scales and "my mother" which helps us warm up our voices while improving our vocal range. Then we got into pairs and started developing more ideas for the story of Hades and Persephone. I worked with Ella and we had the idea of creating a very short duologue between the forbidden lovers. we wanted to work with proxemics and have the stage split into the two realms; the underworld and mount Olympus, Hades can not cross onto Persephones world and vice versa. It shows that Persephone is Hade's forbidden fruit. We also would like elements of choral work that snap in and out from formal and serious to chaotic and unorganized. Hopefully, this contrast will help emphasize the difference between the two main characters for the audience. We started off by collecting famous quotes from different plays that have themes of forbidden love. Part 1: In today's lesson we wanted to develop the piece we created on Wednesday even further. The points that we want to work on are:
- More levels.
- Staging.
- Use of space.
- Language.
- Add Aaliyah in as she was not here in the last lesson.
How we developed this piece was by spacing out the Furies and putting them on blocks. When using blocks, it can create a health and safety risk, this is because you are now raised off the floor so there is a possibility you could fall off and hurt yourself. This means that we must rehearse all the movement on the block multiple times to ensure that we can do it safely. If we were using blocks like this in a professional industry we would probably fix the blocks to the floor so that there is no chance of them slipping or moving. We also added in the character of a younger Persephone in order to give Aaliyah a role. We made sure that Persephone was on the highest block in order to show that she has the most power and beauty over all of them. We also developed the language so that it was slightly more sophisticated and had more of a conversational structure. This was important to me because the audience must be able to follow it in order to understand and enjoy the show. we also changed the ending slightly rather than all gathering behind Neilson (who was blocking us), we stay on our stage block so that the audience can still see our facial expressions and added far more emphasis into our movements to make it obvious to the audience what we are doing. I want to convey my character as desperate and jealous and the audience will not be able to see this if im behind someone and my actions are not obvious.
Part 2: In today's second lesson, we continued developing our pieces of drama we had created previously. We sat down and decided a solid set, this was because we kept on getting stuck on the same thing again and again. We then realized that it was probably due to the lack of set, we had no idea what location we were in so we couldn't develop our characters further. After we decided we were going to set it on a street corner, we were able to work on simpler stuff such as putting in more expression and body movement. We also decided to cut out any unnecessary scenes and lines that were stopping it from flowing.
After we performed it we got some feedback which was:
After we performed it we got some feedback which was:
- People need to learn their ques.
- Good use of levels.
- Good use of space.
- Good technique.
- Nice use of choral work.
Because of this feedback, our smart target for next lesson is to learn all our ques and to stay in character if we mess up on any lines. If you make a mistake when you are on stage it is key to stay in character due to the fact if you do not it will ruin the immersive effect for the audience.
- "A pair of star crossed lovers take their lifes"
- "The course of true love never did run smooth"
- "It is a difficult matter to keep love imprisioned"
- "We always long for the forbidden and desire what is denied us"
We used these quotes to create a piece of stylized movement that used mirroring, synchronization, and elements of the chorus. this inspired us to create an idea for an opening scene. It starts with Hades and Persephone centerstage, one by one from each side of the stage and creates a circle around them. The levels of people in the circle are staggered so everyone can be seen. The reason I wanted to do this was that greek theatre is usually done in around |I wanted to mimic that on a proscenium arch stage. The chorus then proceeds to say the quotes over and over again creating a soundscape while the movement takes place in the middle of the circle. After the final quote is said someone from the chorus is going to step out and read the definition of forbidden. This sparks a huge debate breaking out of the circle and changing into a courtroom environment. we decided to play with the idea of forbidden love because in the traditional Myth it is an incestuous relationship. Quickly formality is regained and the chorus exits stage leaving Hades and Persephone. When we performed this a small audience I switched round two of my lines which is important as the movement links to the quote, so for next time, I must learn all my ques and lines in order for smooth production.
In today's lesson, we sat as a group and discussed our collective ideas, as we had already created three separate pieces we decided that we could use those three scenes and linking them together using flashbacks and choral work. This works well for a non-linear structure, meaning that it will not be in chronological order, this allows for a much more abstract and visual interpretation that is more appropriate for an accessible audience. We want the play to open with a movement piece that incorporates physical theatre and choral work, this is because we want to draw the audience in. If we start with something that goes straight into the action it will spark the audiences interest from the outset. Within the chorus, we want to make sure we have sign language, this is not only to make it more accessible but it is something we can make into synchronized stylized movements. The final thing to do with the plot that we discussed was creating a soundscape for the scene in which Persephone gets kidnapped. However, instead of just using our voices we could use beats, chants, and hum. After this, we started to discuss the set. We decided that to show the contrast between the underworld and Mount Olympus the lighting as well a the tone needs to be completely different. This means that not only should the lighting change but everyone's posture and facial expression should change. We wanted the underworld to be similar to a redlight district.
Wednesday 18th September 2019
Today we were introduced to ZooCo the drama company for the first time. We started off with learning some British sign language. This is key for our rehearsal process as we must create a piece of theatre that is accessible to a deaf audience. We started off by learning the sign alphabet as well as how to sign spells. We then proceeded to learn simple greetings and phrases that we can use in the performance. After we had learned some basic sign that enabled us to be able to communicate with the deaf cast and audience members, we discussed our initial ideas, we also had to perform them. In the five minutes we were given to reherse we added in some sign language. I think that it is important to implement new techniques as soon as you learn them. This is because in a professional environment you would be expected to learn a new skill and apply it instantly. It is important to be able to develop constantly and adapt to new skills. Once we had performed our initial pieces to Flo she gave us some feedback:
While I was off sick, I was cast a the furie who fulfills Hades' sexual desires. The other three furies fulfill his financial needs, emotional needs and his sense of curiosity. To make it more relatible we changed their characters from being prostitutes to people who display themselves differently on social media to what they are in real life. After we discussed the structure of our play, I moved onto developing some movement that shows my furies characteristics. It lasts for two counts of eight. Each furie presents them selfs in a fake way on social media and this movement will show that. My character demonstrates desire, so her first count of eight I am taking provocative pictures. I hold my head up high to show that I want to portray myself as confident, my hands will be placed of my hips as I bend over to take a picture. The next eight counts show what I am really like behind my hone screen. My head will drop and I will start grabbing at my body in disgust, criticizing every inch of my self. This will demonstrate the reality of my character. She is un-confident and uses likes on social media for self-validation. We repeat these counts four times getting bigger and more grotesque each time. It will be completely exaggerated and unrealistic by the end of the movement. After that, all the furies will come together into the downstage center, we will then all sign in unision " We are the furies, come to the underworld and you will never leave".
Thursday 3rd October 2019
In today's lesson, we started off with polishing and refining the opening movement scene, we ensured that we were all using the same counts of eight so we were on time. We began by all standing in a circle facing one another we slowed the tutting right down and did it all together. Each time we did the movement we sped it up slightly. This helped us speed up the movement at the same time as helping us all be in synchronization. After this, we moved into the opening positions for the show and we kept on practicing the opening sequence adding in the movement we created to highlight Persephone. I personally think that this added in movement is very effective, this is because it not only introduces the main protagonist but it also acts as a prologue showing key moments and themes of the show. My smart target for the next lesson is to make my movements more grotesque, this is because I did not get a chance to work on it this lesson.
Friday 4th October 2019
For today's rehearsal, we began by working on our Furie poses for Furies part two. We wanted to make them far more grotesque. We started off by giving our walk onto stage some more characterization. My Furie represents a desire so I walked onto the stage with my shoulders back, my head held high and my hips swaying. This is how my character presents her self online, whereas, in reality, she is very self-conscious. To show this as I walk on stage despite my strong and sexual physicality my eyes will be darting around nervously.
The feedback that I received was:
Tuesday 8th October 2019
At lunchtime, we all came together and started off with doing a warm-up. We began by stretching so that we do not hurt or injure our muscles during a movement routine and then we followed this up by doing the opening tutting routine to energize us and get us up and moving. We then started off by practicing the scene in which Persephone is manipulated onto the pedestal as well as other scenes but because so little of the cast turned up it was very difficult. Unless we schedule a mandatory rehearsal that is going to be filmed and has staff supervising it usually less then half the cast will show up. This makes it extremely difficult to rehearse as we are limited in numbers. I find this aggravating and frustrating because if we were working in a professional environment and people were acting like this they would be fired and kicked out of the show. As well as this they probably would not be hired to be in a show again, this is because everyone in the acting industry is very tight-knit, if a director is going to cast someone in a show or play they will phone up previous directors who have worked with the actors and ask them about there work ethic and if it is worth casting them. When the lesson started and people actually showed up we decided to do a full run. My personal feedback was:
We then proceeded to do a full run this was to show Flo what we had developed and to show Roz our show in general because she has not seen it yet. The feedback that we received was:
Tuesday 14th October 2019
Today Neive and I started off the lesson by discussing the tech for the show. We did this because we were delegated the role of making the tech sheet and discussing with each group what lighting and sound they want. Even though we were made aware by Flo that Fair Feild Halls would not be able to accommodate complicated lighting, Neive and I still wanted to create a detailed tech sheet as that is what would have had to be done within a professional environment.
Initially, our tech sheet was far more detailed with colored gels, different gobo projections and different types of spotlights. However, we had to make it far simpler due to the time and equipment constructions. After we finalized our decisions for tech we did a full run. We decided to add in some more choral elements throughout the performance. The reason we did this is that we wanted to raise the intensity of the piece and seeing as the whole cast is on the side of the stage throughout the whole production adding in small parts of ensemble work helps to make it more visual as well as fill the space of the stage. For example, I suggested that in the origins scene when the actors on stage are playing rock paper scissors as children, we all join in on the gesture. Once we tried it out we thought that it was really effective and helped build the scene. After we completed the full run we pinpointed the scene in which Persephone and her true love are being pulled apart from one another, I personally find this scene messy and chaotic. We need to work together to make the routine clean and clear. They did this by adding in a clear beat rather than girly whooping and hollering, this alone made it much easier to follow as there were no audible distractions, the movement spoke to itself and helped create a clearer story. They also added in levels so key characters such as Persephone are not blocked, her facial expressions are really key to following what is happening in the scene and it helps to demonstrate how her emotions escalate throughout.
Wednesday 15th October
Today we had a workshop performance in which we performed our production to the lower 6th performing arts and music students. We did this in order to gain feedback from an uninvolved and unbiased audience, so we as a group know what does not have the correct impact or what had a really good effect and we did not need to change. The feedback that we received after the workshop performance was:
We started today's rehearsal with doing a big group exercise that helped to raise the energy as well as give us the chance to introduce ourselves to the members of the cast from other colleges and drama companies. It was a focus exercise that included mimicking the actions of each other and keeping up the same pace as one another. We then went into doing as many full runs as we could, in the time we had the rehearsal space rented out for. I think that rehearsing in a venue outside of college was very helpful as it gives us some insight into what it's like working in a professional environment. It showed me how much more pressure there is on you as well as high how the expectations are. Because people are spending a lot of money on not a lot of time, you must work to the highest standard as efficiently as you can. The feedback we received for the full runs are:
The first moment in the rehearsal process where I felt as if we were making progress was on the 11th of September, we decided to create a short piece of drama using various techniques. There were three prostitutes who were meant to be Hades Furies, theses were played by Abigail, Shante and I, we open the scene with all of us sitting around discussing the day's work. To show Hades power and influence when he enters and when he walks past us we all move and hesitate to make eye contact. The furies act as a chorus by saying things and moving in synchrony, they also divulge their subtext through the use of thought tracking and essence machine. This was the first time I devised a scene that could of been (and was) developed into a storyline for the show. My character was first developed in this lesson as a prostitute who was working for Hades, this sparked the idea of having Hades be a figure of male power who was manipulative and uses the Furies for his own gratification. The next moment in the rehearsal process in which I thought we made a lot of progress was when we decided to make the furies more relatable for the audience, this was a moment in which I felt as if my character developed from our initial prostitute idea into the fake online persona. On this day we also added in a fourth male Furies to add in some diversity and character depth, it shows that it is not only women who get abused online. This helped to make our piece more inclusive and feel as if we are showing it from different perspectives. The next moment in which I thought we made a good amount of progress in was on the 9th of October, in this lesson we performed a full run to a high-quality standard, the feedback we revived was positive but we must improve our energy. Our class has a slight habit of not giving 100% energy during rehearsals and relying on the fact that they can pull it out the bag on the day of the show, although this has worked for us in the past we can not attempt to do this every time. This is a lesson in which I think that the majority of the class realized that we must give 100% effort at all times, a performance is only as strong as its weakest cast member. The final point in which I thought we made a good amount of progress happened at the lesson after our workshop performance. The feedback we received was good apart from the fact they did not feel as if it had a very conclusive ending. So we decided to make a whole new scene to close the show with, we added in the use of phone flashes to emphasis the social media themes in the production. The phone light is not only symbolic of the picture of Hades and Persephone but how Persephone falls into social media (the underworld). We also used cannon to demonstrate how the picture of them travels and gets to Demeter (Persephone's mum). We each turned on our phones one after the other to illuminate our faces it created a tense atmosphere. The ending was left ambiguous to try and challenge our audience. The show now feels as if there is a satisfying ending rather than being left on a cliff hanger that the audience did not realize was the end.
In contrast, the activities that helped us make progress there were some activities that I did not find helpful. An example of this was the warm-up we would play called "pass the clap" it is a simple game but due to my class's lack of ability to stay focused it never was effective and I just found it frustrating. The point of the exercise was to help us get some energy and to stay focused, but it always seemed to have the other effect. Instead of this, I think that it would be more effective if before the lesson we all took ten minutes to do a personal warm-up that we find effective for our self's. The next activity that I did not find particularly effective was when we were learning about working with different proxemics, we were working with acting in a small and confined space. The activity was supposed to get us to work together and communicate clearly. However, everyone would speak over one another trying to get there idea across without listening to any one else. One of the main thing our class struggles with is communicating and listing to one another, it makes it increasingly difficult to create a collaborative idea. Something that would be more effective would be if we spent a day working on how we can use different proxemics with in the production rather than random scenarios.
The way my character moved was elegantly and seductively, she walked with her hands on her hips and her head held high. As she walks her eyes are flitting around looking up and down judging the other furies. This demonstrates to the audience that although my character seems overly confident she actually has many insecurities which is shown through her lack of ability to maintain eye contact. She speaks with a strong and powerful voice, I made sure to project my voice and enunciate all of my words so that the audience no I have a position of influence.
I felt happy to perform this production the rehearsal after the workshop performance. This is because I felt as if we had a whole piece at this point, it had an ending that I thought was conclusive and had an interesting perspective on the traditional Greek myth. As well, I believe that at this point is when people started upping the energy, this meant that bigger characters and more developed movements were taking place. However, a moment that was making me nervous to show it to an audience was the scene in which Persephone is pulled from her true love, I know it has the potential to be chaotic and overly stimulating. This means that it may be confusing to a deaf audience and as we are making an inclusive piece of theater we can not let that happen.
I think that the audience responded well to my character and some of the younger members may have been able to resonate with her. This is because many young people are exposed to the pressures of social media at the moment, and many people find validation from weather there post gets likes or not. It may not be in such an extreme way but many young people are obsessed with there phones and how other people perceive them. Also many young girls and boys have issues with there body image and self esteem this means that they will be able to relate to my character as she puts up a facade of confidence when on this inside she hates her self.
Overall I think our final performance went really well, it was accessible for all audiences. The feedback that I revived was that the British sign language was really clear and accurate. The non-nuro-diverse audience could understand what was going on even when there were scenes with just sign language and movement. This meant that our narrative was clear and all our movements had clear symbolism that was understandable for all types of audiences.
Bibliography
Wednesday 18th September 2019
Today we were introduced to ZooCo the drama company for the first time. We started off with learning some British sign language. This is key for our rehearsal process as we must create a piece of theatre that is accessible to a deaf audience. We started off by learning the sign alphabet as well as how to sign spells. We then proceeded to learn simple greetings and phrases that we can use in the performance. After we had learned some basic sign that enabled us to be able to communicate with the deaf cast and audience members, we discussed our initial ideas, we also had to perform them. In the five minutes we were given to reherse we added in some sign language. I think that it is important to implement new techniques as soon as you learn them. This is because in a professional environment you would be expected to learn a new skill and apply it instantly. It is important to be able to develop constantly and adapt to new skills. Once we had performed our initial pieces to Flo she gave us some feedback:
- There was a great relationship between all of the characters.
- It was very visual which is good for a deaf audience.
- The use of sign language was nice.
- The body language and facial expression demonstrate good characterization.
- Flo loved the idea that the furies were already victimized by Hades.
My smart target for the next lesson is to make the furies more relatable to my own life. In order to do this, we may change the furies characters from being prostitutes to people that are personally victimized by Hades online. This helps to make their story more relatable to the contemporary audience.
Thursday 19th and Friday 20th September 2019
For the next two days, I was off college sick with food poisoning. However, the changes that were made to the production were text messaged to me in the performing arts group chat:
In the lessons that I missed it seems as if not much practical work was done while I was gone, it was more idea and discussion-based. I liked the ideas that were discussed and think that having a male furie, brings in some queer diversity as well as a male perspective on something that is thought to be fairly female-dominated. This is also something that helps us achieve the smart target of making this piece more relatable, by making the furies social media-obsessed it brings in the idea of how our perspective on social media is far different to what we see in real life. I think that what went well in this lesson is that many really good ideas were brainstormed. However, it would be even better if they could have got up and started working on something practical so that they could have had something to develop over the weekend.
Monday 23rd September 2019
To start the lesson we cleared the space of any chairs, drinks and any props. This is to minimalize the chance of any health and safety risk. Then we started developing a movement that we could use for the opening scene. It had to:
Thursday 19th and Friday 20th September 2019
For the next two days, I was off college sick with food poisoning. However, the changes that were made to the production were text messaged to me in the performing arts group chat:
In the lessons that I missed it seems as if not much practical work was done while I was gone, it was more idea and discussion-based. I liked the ideas that were discussed and think that having a male furie, brings in some queer diversity as well as a male perspective on something that is thought to be fairly female-dominated. This is also something that helps us achieve the smart target of making this piece more relatable, by making the furies social media-obsessed it brings in the idea of how our perspective on social media is far different to what we see in real life. I think that what went well in this lesson is that many really good ideas were brainstormed. However, it would be even better if they could have got up and started working on something practical so that they could have had something to develop over the weekend.Monday 23rd September 2019
To start the lesson we cleared the space of any chairs, drinks and any props. This is to minimalize the chance of any health and safety risk. Then we started developing a movement that we could use for the opening scene. It had to:
- use choral sign.
- start in unison.
- develop into a piece of movement.
We started off by sign spelling the word forbidden and then we transitioned into a style of accessible dance called tutting. We created a piece of gestural movement that started off in a line. As it progresses it becomes more exaggerated and moves into a triangle formation. We also added in some stomping to not only increase the intensity of the scene, but it will create vibrations that will make it more immersive for a deaf audience. The final thing we added in was levels to make it more visually appealing as well as to give the piece some contrast. We were able to come together quickly and create an effective movement sequence. What I need to do for the next lesson is to learn the sign spelling as well as the tutting routine so as a group we can work on getting it in perfect unison.
Tuesday 24th September 2019
In today's lesson, we showed the class what we created yesterday. After that, we began to collaborate ideas and develop it so that the whole cast can be involved in the opening scene. When we eventually came together as a team, we created a piece of good movement. My group was able to teach all the 120 credits the tutting routine. We also experimented with moving while we are doing the tutting routine, however, due to multiple reasons we decided that while we move into our positions we will not complete the whole tutting routine but a simplified hand movement. The first reason is that it just looked messy but the second and more important reason is for health and safety. Because we were very close together while moving there was a big risk of hitting or falling over each other resulting in an injury that could stop us from performing. If we were in a professional environment we could not risk this as it would be putting your job and all the benefits that come along with it on the line. For the next lesson, we need to be able to come together much quicker so that we can get more work done as well as we need to now teach the 60 credits this routine. We must ensure that it is sharp and in sync.
Wednesday 25th September 2015
Today we began with showing Flo from ZooCo our movement pieces, her feedback was:
In today's lesson, we showed the class what we created yesterday. After that, we began to collaborate ideas and develop it so that the whole cast can be involved in the opening scene. When we eventually came together as a team, we created a piece of good movement. My group was able to teach all the 120 credits the tutting routine. We also experimented with moving while we are doing the tutting routine, however, due to multiple reasons we decided that while we move into our positions we will not complete the whole tutting routine but a simplified hand movement. The first reason is that it just looked messy but the second and more important reason is for health and safety. Because we were very close together while moving there was a big risk of hitting or falling over each other resulting in an injury that could stop us from performing. If we were in a professional environment we could not risk this as it would be putting your job and all the benefits that come along with it on the line. For the next lesson, we need to be able to come together much quicker so that we can get more work done as well as we need to now teach the 60 credits this routine. We must ensure that it is sharp and in sync.
Wednesday 25th September 2015
Today we began with showing Flo from ZooCo our movement pieces, her feedback was:
- Add in the sign word for forbidden love, this should help clarify what is going on for a deaf audience.
- We need to develop it into more sign and movement.
We then all sat down together and discussed the structure of the production.
While I was off sick, I was cast a the furie who fulfills Hades' sexual desires. The other three furies fulfill his financial needs, emotional needs and his sense of curiosity. To make it more relatible we changed their characters from being prostitutes to people who display themselves differently on social media to what they are in real life. After we discussed the structure of our play, I moved onto developing some movement that shows my furies characteristics. It lasts for two counts of eight. Each furie presents them selfs in a fake way on social media and this movement will show that. My character demonstrates desire, so her first count of eight I am taking provocative pictures. I hold my head up high to show that I want to portray myself as confident, my hands will be placed of my hips as I bend over to take a picture. The next eight counts show what I am really like behind my hone screen. My head will drop and I will start grabbing at my body in disgust, criticizing every inch of my self. This will demonstrate the reality of my character. She is un-confident and uses likes on social media for self-validation. We repeat these counts four times getting bigger and more grotesque each time. It will be completely exaggerated and unrealistic by the end of the movement. After that, all the furies will come together into the downstage center, we will then all sign in unision " We are the furies, come to the underworld and you will never leave".
To involve the rest of the cast in this scene, we want to work on creating a soundscape that has an ominous to it. This also helps to incorporate more choral elements into the play. The final thing that we worked on today was the scene in which Persephone's innocence is ripped from her. We added to the movement that the 60 credits had already created. After there movement I enter upstage right with a pedestal. Getting Persephone onto the pedestal is symbolic of her corruption and her entering the underworld. We as the furies one at a time had to try and convince her to get on the pedestal, using our characteristics, all of our attempts will fail. However, Hade's attempt will be the only one that succeeds, this shows the power that he has over her. We will all be surrounding her as this happens reaching up showing the sign we are using for Persephone's name, as Hades takes her hand we will all fall to the floor. This whole scene is symbolic of her innocence being taken from her and her submitting to Hades. My smart targets for the next lesson are to learn all of the sign languages for the furies scene and to improve my grotesque movements.
Thursday 26th September 2019
For today's lesson, I was very frustrated, this is because for some reason we can not come together and work quickly. We need to start working on this as whole play weather then as small separate bits and we need to the whole cast to be 100 percent committed. This is because if we have people who are not showing up to rehearsals we will not be able to progress any further. When people eventually got round to doing some work we taught Abigale the furies movement that we came up with yesterday. We then proceeded to polish this scene while also teaching the rest of the cast how we are going to create the soundscape, we used techniques such as essence machines to build the tension. For the next lesson, we need to be able to finish and develop the opening scene and the scene in which Persephone's innocence is taken fro her.
Friday 27th September 2019
We started today off with practicing furies part 1, I think that it was effective but we can all still work on making our movements more grotesque and unnatural. This is because I want it to be clear how toxic social media is for self-confidence, physically and mentally, I want to be able to express this through verbal and non-verbal communication, which is why our facial expressions and body language needs to be clear. After this, we began working on furies part 2. They showed me what they did with it while I was off sick. They hadn't actually developed much practical work but they had a good structure for a scene. Using cannon, chorus and, exaggerated movements we developed a scene in which it shows how easy it is to find out information online as well as how stressed it can make you. For our second lesson we had today, we did a full run of what we have so far. The feedback that we received was:
- We need to slow down and not rush through it.
- Timings need to be improved.
- People need to stop talking so that they can focus and not distract each other.
- Furies part one was really good but we need to remain focused so that we are actually still in our freeze frames.
- The transitions need to be cleaned up.
These are all very basic things that I know we can improve on, as a whole class we need to remember basic respectful rules such as not speaking when we are on stage and focussing on a blank space in order for us to maintain our freeze frames. Finally, in this lesson we taught the opening movement to the 60 credits, it was not perfect or in time but at least everyone knows the routine now. My smart target for next lesson is to work on making my whole body grotesque, I need to focus and not worry about what other people think so that I can let go and throw myself into it.
Monday 30th September 2019
We started off by doing a quick and simple warm-up witch included stretching and vocal exercises. The reason we stretch before going into a rehearsal is that not only does it warm up your body so you do not injure yourself during a performance but it will also help you focus and clear your mind before coming on stage, I find that I always perform to a higher standard if I am relaxed and focussed. I did vocal warm-ups in order to prepare myself for projecting my voice without damaging it. After this I started with practicing Furies part 1, the thing that I believe we need to do is to first sort out the stage, this means clearing chairs, taping down wires and removing any hazards. this is because we want to make sure the environment we are working in is risk-free and safe. For the actual performance, I am going to address the last smart target I set my self: to work on making my whole body grotesque, I need to focus and not worry about what other people think so that I can let go and throw myself into it. This also relates to my characterization, when I am being a furie the grotesque over the top tableaux's and gestures is what builds my character. Without that who my Furie is will not come across to the audience. While practicing the scene I pushed my movements bigger each time and contorted my face more and more, I felt as if my movement had improved. The feedback that we received for this piece was:- It was visually great.
- Make sure that the blocking is corrected so everyone is visible.
- When we reach for hades make it bigger so that everyone in the audience can see.
To ensure that the blocking is correct, we changed the order of entry for the furies. Rather than the two furies on the front blocks entering first one of them will go first and then someone from the back blocks will enter, this allows for everyone to do there opening tableaux without being blocked by another character. The next issue I am going to address is the reach for hades, we should make it bigger because this is for an accessible audience you want everyone to be visually stimulated not just the people at the front. After this, we rehearsed Furies part 2 as we were practicing I felt like it looked good but could use some more intensity. This is meant to be a dark and ominous scene that builds tension, in order to do this we got the chorus to use levels and experiment with pitch and tone when creating the soundscape. This made the effect far more intense, the other things that I believe could make this scene more interesting to watch are for the chorus to use more grotesque facial expressions, so they can really tell that there in the underworld before we tell them. The idea of the furies has been developed from the initial research that I did on the story of Hades and Persephone. I originally wanted the furies to be a whole chorus with almost half the cast in it, I am very happy that we decided to cut it down to four people because not only does that relate to the original myth more accurately but I think the gestures and motif positions we have come up with have a far better impact and could have had the potential to look messy if we had done it with more people. Finally, I sat and watched the Persephone origins scene, the feedback that I gave was that everyone needs to learn their line as having phones on stage is not practical at all, the movement needs to be rehearsed more as it is very mechanical and not flowing as it should.
Tuesday 1st October 2019
In today's lesson, we started off with Persephone's origin scene, the group decided to extend the movement as well as adding in more lines. After doing this, it really helped the scene flow this is because they added in more mime and tableaux it help give the scene more context. Rather than it just being a short movement piece it is now a whole scene that has an obvious plot and it relates back to the original story we are trying to tell. Furthermore, I think that without this context being added in the audience could have been left potentially confused and unsure of what they are watching. Something I wanted to consider for this scene is health and safety. Because Sian is being lifted into the air by her group they all need to make sure that her weight is distributed evenly, there are at least two people holding her and that they all have a good grip that she is comfortable with. The reason this is important is that in a professional environment they would have a movement director that is able to tell actors whether something they are doing is too dangerous to do or they would help them pull off the lift/stunt safely.
Wednesday 2nd October 2019
We started off by playing pass the clap to warm up. This helped us focus and get the energy levels higher meaning we were ready to head straight into rehearsals. We began by choreographing how the furies were going to lead Persephone onto the pedestal. Once again we created two counts of eight in which we moved towards Persephone and each one of us used our specific characteristic (mine is desire) to tempt her to the pedestal. I was told that my movement was the most defined but it still needed work, so in order to improve it I swayed my hips more and make direct eye contact with Persephone to show I am fixated on her. Because my character uses her sexuality to intimidate people the way I hold my body is very important. We ran through this multiple times making it tighter and the movements sharper each time. After this we went onto working on the opening scene, we decided that we wanted a key moment that highlighted and introduced the four Persephone's. To do this we changed the formation of the triangle we end up in after the tutting, I moved in front of Donny instead of standing behind him. This is because Donny is much taller than me so he would be blocking me. This simple change helps makes it easier to get in the position for the short piece of movement. We used physical theatre that included simple arm gestures and hyperextension of the body to highlight Persephone. We all showed back what each group had created and coated them together, we perform them one after the other, this is because we did not want the movement to be confusing and unappealing to watch. Next, we moved onto showing Flo Furies part one as we performed it she helped us correct our sign language. This is a very important part of the rehearsal process because it is a piece of accessible theatre, the elements that make it accessible to a deaf audience need to be correct and clear. The other feedback that we received was:Tuesday 1st October 2019
In today's lesson, we started off with Persephone's origin scene, the group decided to extend the movement as well as adding in more lines. After doing this, it really helped the scene flow this is because they added in more mime and tableaux it help give the scene more context. Rather than it just being a short movement piece it is now a whole scene that has an obvious plot and it relates back to the original story we are trying to tell. Furthermore, I think that without this context being added in the audience could have been left potentially confused and unsure of what they are watching. Something I wanted to consider for this scene is health and safety. Because Sian is being lifted into the air by her group they all need to make sure that her weight is distributed evenly, there are at least two people holding her and that they all have a good grip that she is comfortable with. The reason this is important is that in a professional environment they would have a movement director that is able to tell actors whether something they are doing is too dangerous to do or they would help them pull off the lift/stunt safely.
Wednesday 2nd October 2019
- It has developed so much since she last saw it.
- Persephone needs to be more reluctant to take the photo with Hades, this will show how he manipulated her to come with him to the underworld.
- The characterization and physical theatre are clear.
Thursday 3rd October 2019
In today's lesson, we started off with polishing and refining the opening movement scene, we ensured that we were all using the same counts of eight so we were on time. We began by all standing in a circle facing one another we slowed the tutting right down and did it all together. Each time we did the movement we sped it up slightly. This helped us speed up the movement at the same time as helping us all be in synchronization. After this, we moved into the opening positions for the show and we kept on practicing the opening sequence adding in the movement we created to highlight Persephone. I personally think that this added in movement is very effective, this is because it not only introduces the main protagonist but it also acts as a prologue showing key moments and themes of the show. My smart target for the next lesson is to make my movements more grotesque, this is because I did not get a chance to work on it this lesson.
Friday 4th October 2019
For today's rehearsal, we began by working on our Furie poses for Furies part two. We wanted to make them far more grotesque. We started off by giving our walk onto stage some more characterization. My Furie represents a desire so I walked onto the stage with my shoulders back, my head held high and my hips swaying. This is how my character presents her self online, whereas, in reality, she is very self-conscious. To show this as I walk on stage despite my strong and sexual physicality my eyes will be darting around nervously.
The feedback that I received was:
- It looks way better.
- We must maintain our facial expressions throughout the whole scene to keep the audience believing the character.
During the lunchtime rehearsal, we taught the sped-up version of the opening scene to the 60 credits, we first ran through it slowly and sped it up every time we repeated the sequence. After that, we ran through the whole of the opening scene including the newly developed highlighting Persephone moment. After this Abbey has a short monologue that introduces the play, as she does this we added in some choral sign to help emphasize and show the significance of what Abbey is saying. We also discussed the idea of creating a tableau that demonstrates the contrast of the underworld and how Persephone's life was at the beginning. When we got back into lesson time we did a full top and tails run, we did this so that we could put in smooth transitions as well as put in the tableaux at the end of the opening scene. The tableau we created was simple one side a happy Persephone with no social media influences and on the other side a distraught Persephone surrounded by people filming her and engulfed by there phones. The feedback that we received for the full top and tails run was:
- It took far longer then it should of.
- We need to be quiet and focus.
- Do not talk over one another.
This feedback is embarrassing to receive. It is all stuff that we know and should be doing from the start anyway. Because of how long this too and tails took us, we did not get a chance to do a full run which meant that I could not practice my grotesque movement. This means that I could not fulfill my smart target from the last lesson so that I can still improve my movements I will go home and practice them in front of my mirror building them up each time. This is so that I can see my movements and physically pick at them until they are perfect.
Tuesday 8th October 2019
At lunchtime, we all came together and started off with doing a warm-up. We began by stretching so that we do not hurt or injure our muscles during a movement routine and then we followed this up by doing the opening tutting routine to energize us and get us up and moving. We then started off by practicing the scene in which Persephone is manipulated onto the pedestal as well as other scenes but because so little of the cast turned up it was very difficult. Unless we schedule a mandatory rehearsal that is going to be filmed and has staff supervising it usually less then half the cast will show up. This makes it extremely difficult to rehearse as we are limited in numbers. I find this aggravating and frustrating because if we were working in a professional environment and people were acting like this they would be fired and kicked out of the show. As well as this they probably would not be hired to be in a show again, this is because everyone in the acting industry is very tight-knit, if a director is going to cast someone in a show or play they will phone up previous directors who have worked with the actors and ask them about there work ethic and if it is worth casting them. When the lesson started and people actually showed up we decided to do a full run. My personal feedback was:
- It looked messy and unorganized.
- It was very low energy.
- People need to stop speaking over one another.
Rebecca's feedback was:
- The opening was better it just needs more practice to get it perfect.
- Furies part one was clean and effective.
- The origins scene needs more characterization fro Persephone. They need to all work together so that they can have the same mannerisms.
After the full run, we decided to clean up and polish the scene of the origin as well as work on all four of the Persephone's characterization. Because I am not in this scene Shante and I went into the smaller studio to help Abigale with her grotesque movements. We started off by looking at the movement she already had. We then practiced doing them really small and in an understated way. This is so that it is easier to make it grotesque if the first position is the complete opposite of grotesque it makes it far easier to exaggerate it as you know what it definitely should not be. Each time we ran it we built it up bigger and more exaggerated each time.
Wednesday 9th October 2019
At the start of the rehearsal today, we began with speaking to Flo and Roz about how the professional acting world is different from the college acting world. This is what was said: In a ZooCo rehearsal they work full time on a project for six weeks. For the first week of rehearsal, it is purely research and development, this is when you spend a whole week researching the pice you are going to create. It allows for any facts and storylines to be smoothed out and created. You could be hired as an actor for research and development but not be cast as an actor in the show. This helped me to realize that there are other acting jobs within a professional environment that are more to do with the production rather than performing, it opens up more doorways of experiences within the performing arts industry. To relate this back to the devised project that we created, we all did research on greek myths which we then narrowed down to two options and collated into a proposal. These initial ideas helped to create the main characters and themes for the production. For example, in my proposal, I discussed the idea of telling the story of Persephone and Hades and using choral work to demonstrate this. This helped build the main structure of our piece, the majority of our scenes were made up of abstract movements and ensemble work. This demonstrated to me how helpful research and development is as well as how it can push your piece forward in a specific direction. The next thing that Flo spoke about was how in a professional environment (a ZooCo rehearsal) the expectations are very high, to help themselves reach this standard, at the beginning of all rehearsals they always set an intention. This will help set targets as well as provide a professional attitude towards the show you are creating. I believe this would be something helpful for my classmates to implement, this is because we always struggle to gain focus at the beginning of the lesson. I think that if we have a set target that we must achieve it will make it easier for our class to get going and remain focused throughout. Another thing that distracts our rehearsals is unnecessary feedback and not trying out all ideas. If we were to work more practically and tried to create something with every idea it probably would not take us as long to come up with a final plan because even if the ideas we try do not work they can be used as inspiration. Other things we were told to keep in mind about working in a professional environment is that we should constantly be expanding our repertoire, as an actor you are replaceable and there will be hundreds of people going for the same role as you. If you are adding training and different skills to your C.V., it shows directors how diverse you can be as well as how easy it is for you to pick up new skills and techniques. Always show up to rehearsals 10 minutes early, this is so you can warm up and prepare your body for rehearsals. This is key because not only do you need to physically warm-up but you need to focus and prepare your mind for the challenges the day might present you with. This is something I can see my class benefiting from this because there are always people late to our lesson which then puts the rest of the class behind as you are only as strong as your weakest performer. We need to always come prepared so that we can move into rehearsing as quickly as possible. Renting a rehearsal space is extremely expensive so you want to take advantage of the time you have and get practicing straight away, there is no time plan in the rehearsal itself. In regards to health and safety in a professional environment, if you were performing a piece such as the origins scene, which has lots of complex movements and lifts you would always have a movement director to check everything is being done safely and correctly, this helps reduce people getting injured. After this discussion was finished, we moved onto a quick game of pass the clap to raise the energy levels and help bring everyone's focus back.We then proceeded to do a full run this was to show Flo what we had developed and to show Roz our show in general because she has not seen it yet. The feedback that we received was:
- The opening was incredible, it was really clean and tight. The sign language was really clear which adds emphasis.
- Furies part one was really good it just needs a bit of tightening. To do this we are going to clarify all the sign language to make sure it is correct and once we know that, we can work on making the dynamics more obvious as well as each movement crisp and eye-catching. The way I am going to ensure that this happens is by repeating the movements making it quicker each time I practice it as well making the contrast in each position very obvious.
- Furies part two also looked really good but needs a slight change in counts to make it look more rhythmic. The signing was really synchronized which made the scene really strong.
- Persephone's origin scene looked great but it needs some sign language and more lines added in to fill the silence.
- When we lead Persephone into the underworld in the penultimate scene it needs to be much tighter as well as the tension needing to be built. We could use the idea of king making, this is where everyone else on the stage needs to be on the edge of the stage anticipating Persephone's demise.
After the full run, we worked out some smoother transitions and movements for the Hades pick Persephone scene this is because as a class we all decided it was chaotic and messy. We added in levels and physical theatre to make it more visually appealing. Persephone is sat on the side of the stage to mimic her sitting in the audience, we did this because this scene is going to mimic a cheesy date show. This allows for some comedic relief and well as breaking the fourth wall which helps audiences to feel immersed and involved. There are the other contestants in a semicircle around center stage, each girl is in a tableau that demonstrates what her interests are. Hades and Hermes enter upstage left walking downstairs until Hermes is pushed center stage to present the dating show. While this was being finalized the furies went to work on our movements sequence. We played around with the timings and counts to see if adjusting that would help the piece look more fluid. First, we cut down the counts from eight to four, after this we quickly realized that this count was way to fast so we decided to cut down our opening pose counts from four to two. This really helped to pick the pace up of the scene improving its rhythm and fluidity. We also worked on our grotesque movement. To do this I not only exaggerated my body language but my facial expression as well, by the end of this my face will be contorted into a ridiculous pout and my eyes will be scrunched shut. This will contrast our initial understated facial expressions.
Thursday 10th October 2019
In today's lessons, we discussed the costume for the production. We decided that the furies are going to wear a red top with black bottoms. In my proposal, this is the colors I had suggested at the beginning of the year for the furies costumes because red is symbolic of lust, blood, fear, love, and violence, these are all things I think the furies should emulate. I also wanted them to match Hades's color scheme which was a black suit with a red tie, once again red is symbolic of flames which connotes ideas of hell (the underworld) so I thought it would be suitable. My idea for Hades costume was also used due to its simplicity, and the status it gives him in comparison to everyone else on stage. We decided that each Persephone was going to wear a different shade depending on how much they were corrupted e.g. the most innocent Persephone will wear white and the least and eldest will wear black. Finally, we discussed the chorus they are going to wear blue tops with black bottoms the blue will represent the sky and the overworld and the trousers will symbolize the darkness of the underworld. After this, the four Persephone's worked on their transitions and how they were going to make it clear that Persephone is a changing character throughout. This was something important for us to do, this is because the audience may be confused as we have multiple actors playing the role of Persephone. We needed a specific moment that demonstrated that the old actor playing Persephone has passed over that duty to the new actor.Thursday 10th October 2019
Tuesday 14th October 2019
Today Neive and I started off the lesson by discussing the tech for the show. We did this because we were delegated the role of making the tech sheet and discussing with each group what lighting and sound they want. Even though we were made aware by Flo that Fair Feild Halls would not be able to accommodate complicated lighting, Neive and I still wanted to create a detailed tech sheet as that is what would have had to be done within a professional environment.
Scene
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Action
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Time
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Lighting
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Sound / Other
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1
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OPENING MOVEMENT
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PlAIN WHITE LIGHT THROUGHOUT
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||
2
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FURY’S PT 1
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WHITE LIGHT AND IF POSSIBLE RED SPOTLIGHT ON EACH FURY
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||
3
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ORIGINS
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WHITE LIGHT WITH GREEN/BLUE HUE
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||
4
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PERSEPHONE & LOVER BREAKUP
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FALL WHITE FADE TO BLACKOUT
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||
5
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DATE SHOW
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WHEN GIRL COMES FORWARD WHITE
SPOTLIGHT WHICH TURNS RED WHEN NILSON SAYS NO
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SOUND: TAKE ME OUT THEME TUNE
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|
6
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FURY’S PT 2
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WHITE LIGHT AND IF POSSIBLE RED SPOTLIGHT ON EACH FURY
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SOUND: FREE- XXXTENTACION BEAT HEAVY
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7
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INNOCENCE TAKEN
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DIMMED LIGHT THEN WHEN FURYS COME ON LIGHTING SAME AS THEIR SCENE
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||
8
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PERSEPHONE MOVEMENT
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DIMMED WASH THAT GOES TO BLACKOUT
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||
Wednesday 15th October
Today we had a workshop performance in which we performed our production to the lower 6th performing arts and music students. We did this in order to gain feedback from an uninvolved and unbiased audience, so we as a group know what does not have the correct impact or what had a really good effect and we did not need to change. The feedback that we received after the workshop performance was:
- We became more confident as we went through, but it needs to be consistent throughout the whole production.
- The narrative was clear.
- Good synchronization and unison.
- Our actions and reactions were very good.
- Nice relationships, dynamics, and space.
- More facial expressions are needed.
- We were timid at the start of the show.
- The ending was not conclusive.
- Fantastic sign language.
- The breaking of the 4th wall worked really well.
Based on this constructive feedback my smart target for today's lesson is to create a more conclusive end scene as well as bring up the confidence so that my character has the emphasis that is needed. In a professional environment, they will do runs with people playing different types of audiences. This is so the actors can learn how to respond to different types of audience members, rather than having a negative response and freezing up on stage. For the final scene we added in the use of phone flashes to emphasise the social media themes in the production. The phone light is not only symbolic of the picture of Hades and Persephone but how Persephone falls into social media (the underworld). We also used cannon to demonstrate how the picture of them travels and gets to Demeter (Persephone's mum). The reason we are adding in a more definitive ending is because the work shop audience told us that is could have been more clear. It ends with Persephone being taken from her mother back to the underworld. We also added in in some ensemble work, this is because the show needed to have the sense that everyone doesn't want the story to end this way. It is an old story that has repeated so many times throughout the years weather that be in the style of a myth or a personal experience that happened to someone in the audience.
We also added in some powerful dialogue to sum up our message. After attempting this, we thought that it sounded to cheesy and preachy, we wanted to challenge our audience and let them decide what it meant to them. Our whole show is ambiguous so we so we left the ending open to interpretation using ensemble, gesture and movement. After we finalised the last scene we did a full run the feedback we received was:
Saturday 19th October 2019We also added in some powerful dialogue to sum up our message. After attempting this, we thought that it sounded to cheesy and preachy, we wanted to challenge our audience and let them decide what it meant to them. Our whole show is ambiguous so we so we left the ending open to interpretation using ensemble, gesture and movement. After we finalised the last scene we did a full run the feedback we received was:
- The show is to quiet and it needs a track or an underscore beneath it.
- We need more energy.
- I need better eye line to connect with the audience.
- The gestures for the Furies have become stronger and clearer.
- The Furies need to incorporate their phones into the scenes.
- Practice the new ending.
- It needs better pace.
Thursday 17th October 2019
My smart target for this lesson is to incorporate the phones into the furies scene and to make my movement bigger especially my facial expressions. We started off by working together as a group to incorporate are phones into the scenes. We found this easy as we just went from miming to using a prop. I think that it helps bro clarify what is going on in the scene. We then worked on making our facial expressions and making them suit our character. I am desire so I squint my eyes and smile with the corner of my mouth. This gives a smug and alluring expression with I believe helped emphasise my character and make it more obvious to the audience what I represent. We then polished the last scene we first walked it through so we knew our questions and what was happening in the scene. We then kept on running it through trying to build the energy because Flo told us that we are only working at 35% energy and it is impossible to go from 35% to 100% on the day of performance. This is why we need to start building it up now. At lunch time we worked on incorperating Hermes into the origins scene. He needs to be close to Persephone so that it is clear they are close childhood friends, it needed to be added into clarify the ending where Hermes is hurt from Persephone's actions. Their close relationship is going to be shown through symbolic gestures that him and Persephone mimic.
Friday 18th October 2019
In our first lesson today we found music that goes with furies part 2, this is because when we performed it to the workshop audience it seemed way to quiet. We found a song that had a harsh droning beat and tried to it. After we tried the movement with the accompliment we decided it fitted with our counts of eight, looked really good as well as. filling the space. Although it needs to be accessible to the deaf audience it also needs to be engaging for the hearing audience.During lunch and into our second lesson we continued practicing furies part two with the new music. I think that it looks far more professional with the accompaniment, this is because it helps us stay in beat as well as get into character. The music has an ominous tone that emulates what my character represents, it makes it easier to walk and talk like a Furie. The feedback that we received was:
Friday 18th October 2019
In our first lesson today we found music that goes with furies part 2, this is because when we performed it to the workshop audience it seemed way to quiet. We found a song that had a harsh droning beat and tried to it. After we tried the movement with the accompliment we decided it fitted with our counts of eight, looked really good as well as. filling the space. Although it needs to be accessible to the deaf audience it also needs to be engaging for the hearing audience.During lunch and into our second lesson we continued practicing furies part two with the new music. I think that it looks far more professional with the accompaniment, this is because it helps us stay in beat as well as get into character. The music has an ominous tone that emulates what my character represents, it makes it easier to walk and talk like a Furie. The feedback that we received was:
- The moment is much better. It is more exaggerated and bigger.
- Our facial expression are better but could be stronger.
- I personally need to make more eye contact so that I can connect with the audience, but its better and almost there.
We then moved onto practicing the last scene, we went through it quickly as half of the cast was rehearsing there other scenes.
We started today's rehearsal with doing a big group exercise that helped to raise the energy as well as give us the chance to introduce ourselves to the members of the cast from other colleges and drama companies. It was a focus exercise that included mimicking the actions of each other and keeping up the same pace as one another. We then went into doing as many full runs as we could, in the time we had the rehearsal space rented out for. I think that rehearsing in a venue outside of college was very helpful as it gives us some insight into what it's like working in a professional environment. It showed me how much more pressure there is on you as well as high how the expectations are. Because people are spending a lot of money on not a lot of time, you must work to the highest standard as efficiently as you can. The feedback we received for the full runs are:
- The improvement is unreal
- the peace has been completely uplifted
- The energy has doubled
- The ambiguous nature is really nice, it’s a similar style as the drama company gecko
- Really strong
- For clarity say “call Shante” instead of add, this is so the bsl matches the spoken word.
- We still need music for the scene in which Persephone and her true love are being separated. It looks much better but an upbeat pop song that contrasts Persephone’s mood will be appropriate for this scene.
- Great character work that drove all the scenes.
- Add the BSL clap for the dating scene to increase the accessibility.
- For the furies Donny and I need to be further upstage
- Furies part 2 has improved massively
- My hypertension of my body and the eye line was so much better. It makes the movement far more exaggerated and visually entertaining.
- The furies as a group are now scary and intimidating.
- The movements are at the levels of grotesque that the need to be.
I think that the feedback we received for this full run was really good, it shows how as a class we have developed the show from the workshop performance. The energy levels were much better as well as the focus, this enables us to push our piece forwards without anyone getting distracted. However there are still things we could improve on such as, for clarity say I need to say “call Shante” instead of "add Shante", this is so the British sign language matches the spoken word.
Second full run applying feedback:
- familiarize our self with the opening music
- Push the opening movement.
- My group looks really slick and sharp
- Be careful on how loud we shout that bitch
- Push the exhalation of breath in the furies scene
I believe that once again our performance has improved everything was much sharper and more refined, there are only now small details that need to be improved upon just to push us to an even higher standard, such as playing with the idea of pitch and breath control. Subtle changes to those elements can massively change the tone and intensity. We are proceeding to do a full run with William next, this is because as a deaf actor he can help ensure that all are british sign language is understandable and accessible.
3rd full run with William:
- signing is really clear but there’s a few things that need to be cleaned up
- Everything was really clear
Next we’re going to look at the lifts with a movement specialist to see if we can do it without a block. This is key because if we were working in a professional environment, we would have a movement specialist to analyse any key bit of movement to ensure it is safe and being done properly. It also helped give more insight to what it's like working in a professional environment as we followed the same protocol that they would of.
4th full run in front of all the other casts:
- I messed up some of my counts for the grotesque movement as the music cut out halfway through. The way I overcame this was just to continue going through my movement in order to maintain professionalism.
Overall I am happy with what we have to be performed tomorrow, there are still small elements that can be cleaned up, but overall I am confident.
Final Evaluation:
The first moment in the rehearsal process where I felt as if we were making progress was on the 11th of September, we decided to create a short piece of drama using various techniques. There were three prostitutes who were meant to be Hades Furies, theses were played by Abigail, Shante and I, we open the scene with all of us sitting around discussing the day's work. To show Hades power and influence when he enters and when he walks past us we all move and hesitate to make eye contact. The furies act as a chorus by saying things and moving in synchrony, they also divulge their subtext through the use of thought tracking and essence machine. This was the first time I devised a scene that could of been (and was) developed into a storyline for the show. My character was first developed in this lesson as a prostitute who was working for Hades, this sparked the idea of having Hades be a figure of male power who was manipulative and uses the Furies for his own gratification. The next moment in the rehearsal process in which I thought we made a lot of progress was when we decided to make the furies more relatable for the audience, this was a moment in which I felt as if my character developed from our initial prostitute idea into the fake online persona. On this day we also added in a fourth male Furies to add in some diversity and character depth, it shows that it is not only women who get abused online. This helped to make our piece more inclusive and feel as if we are showing it from different perspectives. The next moment in which I thought we made a good amount of progress in was on the 9th of October, in this lesson we performed a full run to a high-quality standard, the feedback we revived was positive but we must improve our energy. Our class has a slight habit of not giving 100% energy during rehearsals and relying on the fact that they can pull it out the bag on the day of the show, although this has worked for us in the past we can not attempt to do this every time. This is a lesson in which I think that the majority of the class realized that we must give 100% effort at all times, a performance is only as strong as its weakest cast member. The final point in which I thought we made a good amount of progress happened at the lesson after our workshop performance. The feedback we received was good apart from the fact they did not feel as if it had a very conclusive ending. So we decided to make a whole new scene to close the show with, we added in the use of phone flashes to emphasis the social media themes in the production. The phone light is not only symbolic of the picture of Hades and Persephone but how Persephone falls into social media (the underworld). We also used cannon to demonstrate how the picture of them travels and gets to Demeter (Persephone's mum). We each turned on our phones one after the other to illuminate our faces it created a tense atmosphere. The ending was left ambiguous to try and challenge our audience. The show now feels as if there is a satisfying ending rather than being left on a cliff hanger that the audience did not realize was the end.
In contrast, the activities that helped us make progress there were some activities that I did not find helpful. An example of this was the warm-up we would play called "pass the clap" it is a simple game but due to my class's lack of ability to stay focused it never was effective and I just found it frustrating. The point of the exercise was to help us get some energy and to stay focused, but it always seemed to have the other effect. Instead of this, I think that it would be more effective if before the lesson we all took ten minutes to do a personal warm-up that we find effective for our self's. The next activity that I did not find particularly effective was when we were learning about working with different proxemics, we were working with acting in a small and confined space. The activity was supposed to get us to work together and communicate clearly. However, everyone would speak over one another trying to get there idea across without listening to any one else. One of the main thing our class struggles with is communicating and listing to one another, it makes it increasingly difficult to create a collaborative idea. Something that would be more effective would be if we spent a day working on how we can use different proxemics with in the production rather than random scenarios.
The way my character moved was elegantly and seductively, she walked with her hands on her hips and her head held high. As she walks her eyes are flitting around looking up and down judging the other furies. This demonstrates to the audience that although my character seems overly confident she actually has many insecurities which is shown through her lack of ability to maintain eye contact. She speaks with a strong and powerful voice, I made sure to project my voice and enunciate all of my words so that the audience no I have a position of influence.
I felt happy to perform this production the rehearsal after the workshop performance. This is because I felt as if we had a whole piece at this point, it had an ending that I thought was conclusive and had an interesting perspective on the traditional Greek myth. As well, I believe that at this point is when people started upping the energy, this meant that bigger characters and more developed movements were taking place. However, a moment that was making me nervous to show it to an audience was the scene in which Persephone is pulled from her true love, I know it has the potential to be chaotic and overly stimulating. This means that it may be confusing to a deaf audience and as we are making an inclusive piece of theater we can not let that happen.
I think that the audience responded well to my character and some of the younger members may have been able to resonate with her. This is because many young people are exposed to the pressures of social media at the moment, and many people find validation from weather there post gets likes or not. It may not be in such an extreme way but many young people are obsessed with there phones and how other people perceive them. Also many young girls and boys have issues with there body image and self esteem this means that they will be able to relate to my character as she puts up a facade of confidence when on this inside she hates her self.
Overall I think our final performance went really well, it was accessible for all audiences. The feedback that I revived was that the British sign language was really clear and accurate. The non-nuro-diverse audience could understand what was going on even when there were scenes with just sign language and movement. This meant that our narrative was clear and all our movements had clear symbolism that was understandable for all types of audiences.
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