Tuesday 26th February 2013

Tuesday 26^th February 2013

In rehearsals today we went over act 3 again, there have been some people absent from rehearsals so we needed to update them on changes and teach them routines and/or blocking so that they were aware of what has been going on. It was really important that they attend rehearsals as Elle has been working really hard to make Act 3 really good, but it is difficult for her to choreograph when people are missing from rehearsals.

Following this, we performed our play to Luna Russell and Luna Keefe who are from the National Theatre. They were there to check on our progress and give some outside feedback to us before we performed in the theatre.


We got feedback and were able to judge ourselves, how todays performance went. The things that I felt went well are:

Lines – The majority of use had learnt all of our lines and where there were those who slipped up or messed up a little, enough of us knew the script well enough to cover, so I think that we did really well. An example of this is where a member of the cast forgot a line, another cast member jumped in a said the line and because the decision was made quickly, the audience would not have been aware of the minor error. This meant that we were still able to keep up the pace, which is really important as the script relies on speedy and snappy responses and delivery. Lines, despite being incredibly important are easy to manipulate when mistakes are made, and unfortunately are one of the most likely things to mess up as nerves and adrenaline can often impact on memory, cause actors to make mistakes. That’s why it’s great working with a cast of people who know the script so well, if one person makes a mistake, someone else could remember and cover up.

Character Development:

I think that I have been able to maintain an obvious character. However, I did not really change much of my personality or voice etc, as I feel that as a teenager, and with knowledge of what it is like to be part of a large friendship group who may at times seem intimidating, I already, kind of, fit the part.

Self Evaluation:

I think that in order to give my best in our next performance, I need to revise my lines and learn my cues with a lot more confidence so that I know exctly what is going on and what to listen out for. I also need to pay close attention to what I am doing whilst I am speaking as it has been pointed out to us that when the gang are moving around the stage, it can be distracting from the people who are speaking at that time.

25th February 2013

25^th February 2013

Today in rehearsals, we again began with Act 3 as it is the part of the show which has had the least focus. We got feedback from Rachel:

She was really impressed with the changes which Elle had made to the clown dance and the adaptions to the animal routines.

We were also told that our line delivery needed work and that some cast members needed to learn the rest of their lines as it affects the pace of the play.

We needed to fix transitions to be much faster and look cleaner so that the audience is not pulled out of the play whilst sitting and waiting for the next act to begin.

Finally, we were told that the chatter whilst the gang are not speaking needs to be minimal and much quieter as it can distract the audience from the scripted dialogue.

13th February 2013

13^th February 2013

In rehearsals today, we began with Act 3 as Rachel had not seen act 3 all the way through yet and wanted to see how it was going.

Elle, Danielle, Dylan and Ben began by performing their clown routine which is a comical mime preformed to Ben playing piano. Rachel Felt that the routine was very ‘Dance Heavy’ and needed more comical content and more of a story. They discussed some options and Elle decided to work out a way to extend the routine and include more mime and more of a narrative.

We then performed the animal routine to her. I think that she enjoyed it over all but said that we needed to have much more energy and that there were some parts we needed to re-visit such as our characterisation of animals.

We needed to be more animal like, maybe by adding animal noises, more animalistic gestures and perhaps a costume or prop that makes it more obvious to the audience that we are animals.

Rachel also decided that she would like Lauren, Maisie, Amber and I to perform the song ‘Clown’ by Emelie Sande, at the beginning of Act 3, as a way of opening the act and changing the pace so that the audience were ready for the change in mood.

Thursday 7th February 2013

Thursday 7^th February:

Today in our singing lesson, we decided to take the time to finish the dances for act 3.

Elle lead the choreography but we all had some input and ideas as to what to do. In the end we managed to create a dance routine that we were very proud of. We took some suggestions from dance routines and circus tricks that we had watched on YouTube, to inspire us to create an interesting routine.

6th February 2013

6^th February 2013

Today, as Rachel was not here to lead our rehearsal, We decided as a class to do a run of what we have so far.

We worked on some blocking that we thought was not quite as up to scratch as other parts:

We decided that act 2 looked a bit messy, so we chose positions for us to all be seated/standing in so that the stage picture was nicer and more comfortable to look at from the audience.

We also did a table read of the entire play, with scripts only used as prompts. We chose to do this as line learning is the most important thing in a play like this one, which relies on everyone being completely on the ball and responsive.

Having a rehearsal without a director was actually really good for us as we proved to ourselves that we can work responsibly, and not waste time when not under supervision.  We got quite a lot done within the time, and were really good at respecting each other, not talking over each other and letting everyone have their input on decisions made. We were also really respectful and tactful when disagreeing with an idea that a fellow cast mate had, which is a really valuable skill. So I was incredibly grateful for this lesson.

Monday 4th January 2013

Monday 4^th January 2013

Today in dance we worked on act 3.

Same began choreographing some of the animal and animal taming routine which we then continued on our own.

The dance begins with Josh M, doing a simple routine, whilst we, the animals, were misbehaving behind him. Eventually, the animals began to join in with this routine to symbolise that we were being tamed. Similar to snake charmers taming snakes with music, we were tamed b dance.

On our own, with the help of Elle, who has a lot of dance experience, we began to choreograph the animal routine. I chose the music for this dance, and selected ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ as I thought that it was a really catchy song and one that will be recognisable and enjoyable for the audience. It is also quite comical in some ways which really suits our play.

We decided that we would have Ben and Josh M doing tricks with hoops in the intro of the song, eventually all of the animals would come on stage doing their tricks and lead into a routine. We then decided that the clowns should come on and disrupt the animals, disrupting them, which would help us lead into the animal taming routine.

I looked on youtube and found a remix of ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ which I thought would be really good for when the clowns come on as it shows the disruption and is a more pacey and upbeat version of the song.

The lesson ended before we could finish the dance, so we decided to finish it in a break on another day.

31st January 2013

31^st January 2013

Today in College plus time, we created ties for our costumes for DFTA. We used a material that is able to be painted and then washed and re-used so that we are able to use it again another time and/or for another production.

We made our own ties so that we could make them comically oversized. We chose to do this as some school kids make their ties really short and fat because they think that It looks “cool”.

Doing this was also a cost effective way of making sure that everyone had the same tie, which meant that we all looked like we came from the same school.

Having a realistic looking costume is really important for the audience to believe in our performance and therefore enjoy it more. It also allows us to get into character easier as we will look the part, which, again, makes for a more realistic performance for the audience.

However, My tie cracked after the paint dried, I think that I may have used too much paint. This meant that it looked messy and tacky and not realistic at all. So I had a look on google and amazon to try to find a purple and black tie, and fortunately found one for a low price. This meant that I could buy this tie and then fit in with the other cast members.

24th January 2013

24^th January 2013

Today we discussed options for Act:3, The circus performance scene. We were split up into people who would be performing the Clown routine, The Animal Taming routine and the Animal Routine.

Elle, Dylan and Danielle are going to be performing the clown routine. They have been looking at some physical theatre, such as chair duets, as well as some physical comedy sketches, such as the famous ‘Laurel and Hardy’ sketches. They also discussed mime work and have been considering using Ben’s piano skills to their advantage by thinking about possibly asking him to play piano live for their act.

The animal routine and the animal taming routine have been allocated to the remaining members of the cast. We will be working on these routines soon, and have had some really good ideas such as:

Luminous costume
Animal Masks
UV Paints
Basic Circus Skills
Dance
Physical theatre
etc.

We are really looking forward to this part of the play as it is the part which the whole play has been building up to. It is here that we see the Gang pulling together to create a performance, that is of course, obviously amateur, but that is also really entertaining, fun and a chance for the group to finally be part of something creative and productive that makes a difference to their community, and other communities near to them.

23rd January 2013

23^rd January 2013

Today, we just spent the lesson running lines and going over sections of the play which we needed to work on the most. Lauren, Maisie, Amber and I decided to work on our scenes because we needed to learn our cue lines as this play relies on snappy responses and maintaining the pace, for it to be effective and enjoyable. This is because the script is built up of lots of smaller lines from different characters rather than main chunks of text, so it is important to maintain a good pace so that the scenes to not lose energy and are not uncomfortable for the audience to watch.

Elle and Mel worked with Tim, who will be playing the drums for our performance. They worked out the drum beats for various points of the play such as Angels drum beat, the drum rolls for our tricks and the Gang’s Rap in the second act. This meant that we could start working with the drums early in rehearsal, and Tim was aware of what was going on, early in the process, so we could make sure that everything fit.

Character Profile

Character Profile:

Age: 17
Living Situation: Lives at home with parents, unhappy but has no means of any other accommodation and also too wrapped up in socialising and causing trouble to work for herself to make changes.
Family: One Brother, One Sister
Hobbies: Socialising, Partying, Being with friends, Video Games

Costume:
Leggins, Casual shoes (e.g Converse, Vans), school shirt, Balck Hoodie, Messy Tie.

 

I made these choices for my character as I think that they are a good representation of a mixture of people that may find themselves in a gang/friendship group like the one in this play. I think that my character would fit in to a crowd of people as diverse as the gang in ‘don’t Feed the Animals’ so am happy with my decisions.

16th January 2013

16^th January 2013

What is Circus?
“The modern circus owes its name, but fortunately not its regular program of events, to the amusements of ancient times. The Latin word circus, which comes from the Greek word kirkos, "circle, ring," referred to a circular or oval area enclosed by rows of seats for spectators. In the center ring, so to speak, was held a variety of events, including chariot races and gladiatorial combats, spectacles in which bloodshed and brutality were not uncommon. The first use of circus recorded in English, in a work by Chaucer written around 1380, probably refers to the Circus Maximus in Rome. Our modern circus, which dates to the end of the 18th century, was originally an equestrian spectacle as well, but the trick riders were soon joined in the ring by such performers as ropedancers, acrobats, and jugglers. Even though the circular shape of the arena and the equestrian nature of some of the performances are carried over from its Roman namesake, the modern circus has little connection with its brutal namesake of long ago

a. A public entertainment consisting typically of a variety of performances by acrobats, clowns, and trained animals.

b. A traveling company that performs such entertainments.

c. A circular arena, surrounded by tiers of seats and often covered by a tent, in which such shows are performed”

 

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/circus

Ultimately, a circus is “A traveling company of acrobats, trained animals, and clowns that gives performances, typically in a large tent, in a series of different places”

Circus’ have been around since the Ancient Roman times and in the lat 18^th century, became a place of acrobatics, performances, clowns and many other types of performance and performance art. Contemporary Circus ( or Cirque Nouveau) is the style of circus that we see today. It was originated in the late 1970’s and involved contortion artists, extreme acrobatics etc. whilst also having some sort of theatrical storyline and still maintaining some of the typical/original circus acts (e.g. clowns, animal taming etc.).

Having a knowledge of the circus before we begin this performance and working on the circus acts is really important. We will be able to get a real idea of what it is that the circus gives to an audience, which is the excitement but also the fear as well as good old fashioned entertainment. Hopefully when we work on our circus acts, we will be able to, at least, symbolise some of the important elements of the circus that everyone recognises and enjoys, so that we get a really great reaction from the audience.

Wednesday 9th January 2013 part 2

Wednesday 9^th January 2013
Tableaux and speed runs:

Today we received our scripts and quickly flicked trhough them to get an idea of the script and the storyline. From this, we created a sped up version of the play. We selected the most important parts of the play: E.g. The death of the clown, the arguing between the circus people and the school kids, the creating of ‘the people’s circus’ and the ending. We put this into a very fast version of the play so that we got familiarised with the script, the intentions of the characters and the overall point, and narrative of the play. We did this in groups so that we were able to watch other groups perform their speed runs. Doing this allowed us to acknowledge the points that each group were getting across, especially if they were something which we had missed, which meant that we were gaining even more from this exercise.

We were then asked questions about our characters;

What does your character say about other characters (in the script):
My character says that The character ‘Charlie’ is a loner, and calls Amy’s character ‘Missy’ a ‘bitch’.
I think that this does shed some light on my character, as a member of the gang, as they seem quite negative to anyone who isn’t in their ‘Clique’, which is probably relateable to some friendship groups around the same ages of the characters.

What does your character say about themselves;
My character doesn’t really talk about herself, but she does mention the group as a collective when discussing their ‘rights’
“The Right To Bunk Off” “The Right to Let off steam”
I think this another representation of the ‘pack mentality’ in that they are all for one, defend eachother, won’t do anything without each other etc.

We were then told to get into groups and discuss a time when we may have felt like part of a gang, or aware of anyone in  a ‘gang-like’ set-up with their friends. I told my story to my group which was:

One day at college, my friends and I were really hyper and in crazy moods, so we raided the prop cupboard, dressed up silly and went for a weird walk round college. We were being loud, and interacting with other students, who we didn’t know, which could have made them feel really uncomfortable or intimidated, which we hadn’t even really considered, because to us, we were just having a laugh.

Questions such as this, allow us to get into our characters a little bit easier. We are able to identify with the characters more which means that we can relate and understand more when it comes to rehearsals and the actual performance.

The final part of the lesson, we were told to walk around the space and join groups depending on the answers to the questions she asked about our characters personal lives:

Below are the questions asked, and my answers/choices:
Does your character have a good relationship with their parents?
I chose that my character had an average relationship with parents, in that, she was more interested in going out with friends, hanging out and having fun instead of being home. But, that when she was at home, there was no real drama or trouble, it was just very mild and normal. I made this choice as I felt that a lot of people always assume that kids in large groups who like to cause a little bit of harmless trouble, often have really bad backgrounds or are brought up so strict that they want to rebel. But I know many people from normal, happy homes who like to get up to some things that may be seen as bad by some people.

We were next asked if our characters were leaders, followers or negotiators:
I chose for my character to be a negotiator as I feel that she is really laid back and chilled, and can’t really be bothered with getting uptight about certain things, but was strong enough in her own mind that she didn’t need to follow around a “leader”.

These decisions that I have made, thanks to today’s task, mean that I have a base for my character so that I can make movement, posture and reaction decisions a bit easier. This means that my character will be more realistic, believable and more interesting to watch as an audience member, which will add to the overall performance.

Wednesday 9th January 2013

Wednesday 9^th January 2013:
Skills audit

Singing: My strongest skill is probably singing. I feel that when I’m singing I am no longer self-conscious and I gain a lot of confidence that I find hard to achieve from any other performance aspect. I am very comfortable singing

Acting: Acting is probably close first with singing as I am quite comfortable getting into character (depending on the depth).

Dance: Dance is my weakest of the three. I think that this is because I don’t have very much experience in dance and am not very technically advanced. However, I do have good rhythm and have a movement memory that is good enough for me to remember a number of routines for performances.

 

My Character in Don’t Feed The Animals:

My character in DFTA ‘Gang Member 2’. This character is very simple and part of group of four Gang members, played by Maisie, Lauren and Amber. I am really happy with this part as it is nice to be part of an ensemble rather than having leading/principle roles with more “responsibility” as we all have, more-or-less, equal amounts of dialogue. I think it’s going to be really fun having a cast who are all really equally involved in the play, as we are not used to that. I’m also really looking forward to this as the script seems really snappy and funny, and I think that it’s going to be a really enjoyable performance for both the audience and us. However, I do think that rehearsals are really important as we are all going to have to make sure that we don’t lose energy and that the scenes all flow.

We also found out today that the year 12’s are going to be working on our costumes as part of their production role grade. I am really excited to see what they come up with as I think that the costumes for this play, especially the clowns, are going to be really funny and a lot of fun to creat and use.

I am imagining my character having very simple costume; Such as leggings, a school shirt and tie, and a hoodie of some kind, as we are supposed to be “rebellious” school kids.