Sunday, 16 December 2012
performance space
Friday, 14 December 2012
Performance evaluation
As performance I feel it went well although it has shown me that our performance was audience responsive when comparing it to the previous mock performance.
Although when looking at the performance and the after response, told me that we had successfully grasped Brecht's techniques alienating the audience and making them think this is probably why we didn't get the same response from the audience as we did from the mock performance meaning I think we could have made an improvement to the grotesque out set and the start of the performance.
Therefore if the audience for me were more responsive and I wasn't so hesitant I think there would be more thought on the acting and not on the emotion as the performance would become to immersive creating belief not truth.
However I feel doing whole cast songs made the performance more grotesque creating and testing the alienation technique.
Also the performance showed us how to adapt if technology doesn't work, as one of the songs were cut short meaning it was a test to test our focus which I all thought we had to then perform and finish professionally teaching me the value of warm up exercises prior to the performance.
Another aspect of that performance was I found I responded well to the character exercise as this played a big part within my character thought process and development, this exercise has also helped me learn how to create and sustain a believable conversation structure alongside a grotesque character outlook.
In relation to my performance I feel the conversation structure was realistic and flowed, this is probably due to my understanding of the script and its sarcastic overview. This therefore presented our political subject across this technique was also present in every couple as the feelings of anger, love, passion and sarcasm are scattered across the text thus making an impact on the audience and there beliefs.
In conclusion I feel we as a group we gelled well together meaning we were able to adapt and create a meaningful and abstract performance that follows the Brechtian methods of the v-effect, the alienation technique, this term has also created a new found resect for Brechtian theatre which has inspired me to write and use techniques like Brecht's to create a performance that is different but also capturing.
Although when looking at the performance and the after response, told me that we had successfully grasped Brecht's techniques alienating the audience and making them think this is probably why we didn't get the same response from the audience as we did from the mock performance meaning I think we could have made an improvement to the grotesque out set and the start of the performance.
Therefore if the audience for me were more responsive and I wasn't so hesitant I think there would be more thought on the acting and not on the emotion as the performance would become to immersive creating belief not truth.
However I feel doing whole cast songs made the performance more grotesque creating and testing the alienation technique.
Also the performance showed us how to adapt if technology doesn't work, as one of the songs were cut short meaning it was a test to test our focus which I all thought we had to then perform and finish professionally teaching me the value of warm up exercises prior to the performance.
Another aspect of that performance was I found I responded well to the character exercise as this played a big part within my character thought process and development, this exercise has also helped me learn how to create and sustain a believable conversation structure alongside a grotesque character outlook.
In relation to my performance I feel the conversation structure was realistic and flowed, this is probably due to my understanding of the script and its sarcastic overview. This therefore presented our political subject across this technique was also present in every couple as the feelings of anger, love, passion and sarcasm are scattered across the text thus making an impact on the audience and there beliefs.
In conclusion I feel we as a group we gelled well together meaning we were able to adapt and create a meaningful and abstract performance that follows the Brechtian methods of the v-effect, the alienation technique, this term has also created a new found resect for Brechtian theatre which has inspired me to write and use techniques like Brecht's to create a performance that is different but also capturing.
11th December rehearsal 6 (final rehearsal)
Today was focusing on our responses from our previous rehearsal and doing individual section run throughs I felt I had improved from my last rehearsal as I found that analysing the script had helped me understand my character and the scene meaning the conversation structure was improved, thus meaning it prompted me to interact more with my surroundings on stage thus making the area look more believable and alienating the audience and reminding them they are watching a piece of theatre. Also my knowledge of the script prompted me to make my character more grotesque as in response to our character development exercise in previous classes.
We then looked at our interaction during songs mainly on "money, money money" we did this by using "camp" and stereotypical dance movements this therefor played with Brecht's alienation technique due to its obvious grotesque outset, this then led to us to develop or ending of the performance as we felt the script ended abruptly so we repeated "money, money, money" and gave the checkout girls balloons which looked like pregnancy bumps with money in them for them to burst and pick up the change to identify there wages and child costs. We then went into two lines facing the audience in traverse to do our bows, we then suddenly go into a freeze frame, the supermarket manager then does a final customer announcement and we then continue to leave singing. This ending I felt made the audience feel apart of the supermarket setting and as the cast leave them there it therefore again alienates them reminding the audience that they are watching a performance and prompting them to think about the political meanings behind the performance.
We then had to do a mock performance in front of the strand, this was the first time we had tried picking up the audience and taking them to the performance space. For this a group of us from the cast greeted the audience and handed out leaflets informing them about the price of raising a child, also groups of the cashier girls came outside and billed the audience for petty things like breathing indicating the cost of living. I felt this was successful as it was a unique way of introducing the audience to the performance, I also found the audience where responding positively to this making it easier to interact in character.
We then continued to our performance I felt afterwards that i was reacting and acting as I was inside a supermarket was easier as I felt out of place and also out of character if I just stood and watched the performance. Thus again alienating the audience as they feel out of place within the performance space.
In my own personal evaluation for tonight's performance I feel I can be more confident with my surrounding reactions to people within the shop and the audience, also when I'm not speaking i can pretend to compare prices and have arguments with other characters like I'm within the store.
We then looked at our interaction during songs mainly on "money, money money" we did this by using "camp" and stereotypical dance movements this therefor played with Brecht's alienation technique due to its obvious grotesque outset, this then led to us to develop or ending of the performance as we felt the script ended abruptly so we repeated "money, money, money" and gave the checkout girls balloons which looked like pregnancy bumps with money in them for them to burst and pick up the change to identify there wages and child costs. We then went into two lines facing the audience in traverse to do our bows, we then suddenly go into a freeze frame, the supermarket manager then does a final customer announcement and we then continue to leave singing. This ending I felt made the audience feel apart of the supermarket setting and as the cast leave them there it therefore again alienates them reminding the audience that they are watching a performance and prompting them to think about the political meanings behind the performance.
We then had to do a mock performance in front of the strand, this was the first time we had tried picking up the audience and taking them to the performance space. For this a group of us from the cast greeted the audience and handed out leaflets informing them about the price of raising a child, also groups of the cashier girls came outside and billed the audience for petty things like breathing indicating the cost of living. I felt this was successful as it was a unique way of introducing the audience to the performance, I also found the audience where responding positively to this making it easier to interact in character.
We then continued to our performance I felt afterwards that i was reacting and acting as I was inside a supermarket was easier as I felt out of place and also out of character if I just stood and watched the performance. Thus again alienating the audience as they feel out of place within the performance space.
In my own personal evaluation for tonight's performance I feel I can be more confident with my surrounding reactions to people within the shop and the audience, also when I'm not speaking i can pretend to compare prices and have arguments with other characters like I'm within the store.
10th December rehearsal 5
Today we looked at perfecting the man and women scenes focusing on the movement and positioning when performing these sections,
From looking at the script I have seen that my scene as man is a very fast paced and sarcastic section meaning a lot of the time I'm moving around quickly thus showing my characters thought process and attitudes and again following the rules of "Gestus". My feedback from this rehearsal was to familiarise myself with my lines and also to pinpoint the changes of conversation. To respond to my feed back I can analyse my script to find key conversation structure and also doing this will help me familiarise myself with the text.
From looking at the script I have seen that my scene as man is a very fast paced and sarcastic section meaning a lot of the time I'm moving around quickly thus showing my characters thought process and attitudes and again following the rules of "Gestus". My feedback from this rehearsal was to familiarise myself with my lines and also to pinpoint the changes of conversation. To respond to my feed back I can analyse my script to find key conversation structure and also doing this will help me familiarise myself with the text.
Thursday, 6 December 2012
4th December rehearsal 4
Today we did a full run through of our performance looking at the transitions between the man and women scenes.
To start we're ticked the beginning scene and songs looking at reaction and stage existence, for this I decided to compare shopping goods so I looked like an average shopper and thus creating the image of a supermarket for the audience.
We then looked at positioning of the space and direction of travel as the audience are positioned in traverse its important to address all areas of the stage to create a full bodied performance so to do this I made sure I traveled and faced either side during key reaction moments in my text so the audience can still follow the conversation and character techniques on stage.
My feed back for the next rehearsal was to familiarise myself with the text as I was skipping over some words making the story's meaning unclear, to improve on this I will have to work on my diction techniques and articulation practice to insure the audience can fully hear and understand the script and thus the performance.
To start we're ticked the beginning scene and songs looking at reaction and stage existence, for this I decided to compare shopping goods so I looked like an average shopper and thus creating the image of a supermarket for the audience.
We then looked at positioning of the space and direction of travel as the audience are positioned in traverse its important to address all areas of the stage to create a full bodied performance so to do this I made sure I traveled and faced either side during key reaction moments in my text so the audience can still follow the conversation and character techniques on stage.
My feed back for the next rehearsal was to familiarise myself with the text as I was skipping over some words making the story's meaning unclear, to improve on this I will have to work on my diction techniques and articulation practice to insure the audience can fully hear and understand the script and thus the performance.
Monday, 3 December 2012
3rd December rehearsal 3
Today we rehearsed the opening scene to our performance, this scene deals with the equality of child benefits and how others are paid more for less work. In the opening scene I play mr loader and stacker. Because the production is in a Brecht style I decided to really over play him so to show anger I folded my arms and made aggressive movements and then to play on Brecht's teachings to show my characters situation I over play sorrow by over acting the character crying holding my hand in my head.
Interns of the whole scene it will be performed outside the space alienating the characters and their story also it shakes the audience to pay attention to the themes of the performance.
During this scene we will be handing out baby advert leaflets to the audience that explain the average cost of a baby and again in the script underlining the benefits issues.
Interns of the whole scene it will be performed outside the space alienating the characters and their story also it shakes the audience to pay attention to the themes of the performance.
During this scene we will be handing out baby advert leaflets to the audience that explain the average cost of a baby and again in the script underlining the benefits issues.
Sunday, 25 November 2012
26th November rehearsal 2
Today we as looked at individual characters looking at physicality and our short sections.
Choices I made in this rehearsal were to experiment with characteristic and voice.
To get to my final choice I ran my section and changed different aspects of height, balance and speed and because of my knowledge of "Gestus" I know that the more obvious and clearer the characters movements the clearer the understanding of the text so I have made a decision to make my character move faster and have a quick change in mind to then contrast on my line "so you want him to fuck you?" Thus making the characters mind set easily understandable.
My second experiment was with voice where I explored pitch, accent and tone. As I'm playing a common man with money issues I decided to look at tone that was southern with southern accent features, this therefore presents the stereotypical situation of my character meaning the audience can understand my character before they know my situation thus again following the rules of "Gestus". In relation to my physicality I also change my voice from up beat and bubbly to serious on the same line meaning the audience understand the situation is wrong.
Choices I made in this rehearsal were to experiment with characteristic and voice.
To get to my final choice I ran my section and changed different aspects of height, balance and speed and because of my knowledge of "Gestus" I know that the more obvious and clearer the characters movements the clearer the understanding of the text so I have made a decision to make my character move faster and have a quick change in mind to then contrast on my line "so you want him to fuck you?" Thus making the characters mind set easily understandable.
My second experiment was with voice where I explored pitch, accent and tone. As I'm playing a common man with money issues I decided to look at tone that was southern with southern accent features, this therefore presents the stereotypical situation of my character meaning the audience can understand my character before they know my situation thus again following the rules of "Gestus". In relation to my physicality I also change my voice from up beat and bubbly to serious on the same line meaning the audience understand the situation is wrong.
20th November rehearsal 1
Today we looked at the script we were given last week "the price" and then assigned roles, to start we were grouped into "cashier ladies", "baby boy band", "shoppers" and "managers/assistants". After we then established the sections of the script we would be doing and the positioning of songs and extra written texts.
I was put into the shoppers section where we then paired up boy girl and follow the roles of "man" and "women" the original text was then divided into 5 sections, the section I was given was 2, this section looks at the man and women's outlook on discounts and price and how most of the time you will get "fucked" by the supermarket manager. From reading my section I have decided that for it to be affective I need to look back at pervious exercises such as 13th November when we looked at character and over playing it and guests which is all about making your characters opinions clear without text.
After establishing sections we then had little run throughs in our groups I found during this rehearsal I found I had to recognise myself with the positioning of props and when to interact with them physical or imaginary, also as the performance space is in traverse I have to make sure my position on stage is that so the audience can still see me and my facial expressions.
The next part of the rehearsal was to then do a gradual run through working out where the songs can fit into the performance and how we can do transitions from the man and women sections.
So to start the performance we as a group decided to open with the billing sequence where as the audience enter the room they are billed for breathing, scratching, talking e.c.t , to then lead into the manager and assistant scene that talks about how the cost of some prices can't be changed although its ridiculous, this then leads to the opening of the cashier ladies singing money money money with changed lyrics to relate to the play.
After that we then start with our first section of man and women to then lead to all the women singing a song about how their husbands don't care about price.
Which then swiftly after leads into man and women section 2, as a group during this section we came to the decision to have one of the baby boy band in our trolley so they can do their section next which breaks up the script again and keeps the performance alive meaning in Brecht terms the audience are shocked and listen and look at the information being presented through the alienation technique. Thus also breaking the 4th wall as the baby's address the audience.
I feel I have learnt a lot from this lesson and it has shown me that not all plays have to follow a script exactly and I've also learnt a lot about how Brecht's techniques can alert an audience keeping them interested through alienation.
I was put into the shoppers section where we then paired up boy girl and follow the roles of "man" and "women" the original text was then divided into 5 sections, the section I was given was 2, this section looks at the man and women's outlook on discounts and price and how most of the time you will get "fucked" by the supermarket manager. From reading my section I have decided that for it to be affective I need to look back at pervious exercises such as 13th November when we looked at character and over playing it and guests which is all about making your characters opinions clear without text.
After establishing sections we then had little run throughs in our groups I found during this rehearsal I found I had to recognise myself with the positioning of props and when to interact with them physical or imaginary, also as the performance space is in traverse I have to make sure my position on stage is that so the audience can still see me and my facial expressions.
The next part of the rehearsal was to then do a gradual run through working out where the songs can fit into the performance and how we can do transitions from the man and women sections.
So to start the performance we as a group decided to open with the billing sequence where as the audience enter the room they are billed for breathing, scratching, talking e.c.t , to then lead into the manager and assistant scene that talks about how the cost of some prices can't be changed although its ridiculous, this then leads to the opening of the cashier ladies singing money money money with changed lyrics to relate to the play.
After that we then start with our first section of man and women to then lead to all the women singing a song about how their husbands don't care about price.
Which then swiftly after leads into man and women section 2, as a group during this section we came to the decision to have one of the baby boy band in our trolley so they can do their section next which breaks up the script again and keeps the performance alive meaning in Brecht terms the audience are shocked and listen and look at the information being presented through the alienation technique. Thus also breaking the 4th wall as the baby's address the audience.
I feel I have learnt a lot from this lesson and it has shown me that not all plays have to follow a script exactly and I've also learnt a lot about how Brecht's techniques can alert an audience keeping them interested through alienation.
Wednesday, 14 November 2012
13th November lesson 2
Character
This exercise was all about character and getting used to being brave and just committing to create a stereotypical bold character that in Brecht terms is easily recognisable.
The character I was given was terry tedious and he worked in a bar, as this character (stated in the name) was tedious I decided to make him over explain things creating an atmosphere where no one wanted to be around him.
Step one: we started with walking round the room and thinking about the physical features of our given character to make the audience acknowledge who they were. The choices I made were hunching my back and leading with my nose to indicate that he always wants to be apart of the conversation and control it.
Step two: we then added a short line to enhance our choices, my line was,"you want a fosters, you know fosters comes from Australia, and I have an aunt from Australia" I chose to extend and go into detail about a certain subject that wouldn't apply to any other character thus making the character present himself as tedious and existing to his name.
Step three: consisted of performing what we had created, I felt from what I had adapted it was successful when I committed to the character as it became more obvious which has made me learn the techniques when looking at character and Brecht it has shown me how the alienation technique operates and also how to present characters within a Brechtian performance thus improving my knowledge and understanding.
Secondly this exercise has made me understand why Brecht presents these characters I'm such a away due to the fact of them not being normal and thus breaking the normal theatre conventions. Also this is shown the same within the presentation of characters names as they show the characters personality before you have even seen them thus giving the audience the opportunity to ask why.
This exercise was all about character and getting used to being brave and just committing to create a stereotypical bold character that in Brecht terms is easily recognisable.
The character I was given was terry tedious and he worked in a bar, as this character (stated in the name) was tedious I decided to make him over explain things creating an atmosphere where no one wanted to be around him.
Step one: we started with walking round the room and thinking about the physical features of our given character to make the audience acknowledge who they were. The choices I made were hunching my back and leading with my nose to indicate that he always wants to be apart of the conversation and control it.
Step two: we then added a short line to enhance our choices, my line was,"you want a fosters, you know fosters comes from Australia, and I have an aunt from Australia" I chose to extend and go into detail about a certain subject that wouldn't apply to any other character thus making the character present himself as tedious and existing to his name.
Step three: consisted of performing what we had created, I felt from what I had adapted it was successful when I committed to the character as it became more obvious which has made me learn the techniques when looking at character and Brecht it has shown me how the alienation technique operates and also how to present characters within a Brechtian performance thus improving my knowledge and understanding.
Secondly this exercise has made me understand why Brecht presents these characters I'm such a away due to the fact of them not being normal and thus breaking the normal theatre conventions. Also this is shown the same within the presentation of characters names as they show the characters personality before you have even seen them thus giving the audience the opportunity to ask why.
6th November lesson 1
Daily task
The final task of the lesson was called daily task which involved us individually to think and go through one of our step by step routines that we do everyday. The routine I chose consisted of me simple waking up and making a cup of coffee.
The first part of this exercise was to walk it through in a naturalistic style following the rules of practitioner Stanislavsky and being as detailed as possible; doing the exercise like this I found was challenging as it was harder to pinpoint less key moments of my routine as I didn't get a chance to fully process what I was doing, also from a audiences perspective it would be hard to understand as some actions that I was making weren't clear without explanation.
The second part of task was to adapt our original movement following practitioner Brecht's methods which consisted of breaking the 4th wall. Aspects that I included were: talking in 3rd person, explaining everything in detail e.g the colour of my milk cap, the direction I am walking in and time also i explored the process of multi tasking by turning my water heater on. Following this method I felt was successful as it took away the emphasis on the audience looking at how I made my coffee but why and the meanings behind it.
From doing this exercise it has shown me some of the benefits from breaking the 4th wall and his method of the "V-effect" making it clearer to me about how his style orientates and operates thus broadening my understanding of his work and also my appreciation for Brecht theatre.
The final task of the lesson was called daily task which involved us individually to think and go through one of our step by step routines that we do everyday. The routine I chose consisted of me simple waking up and making a cup of coffee.
The first part of this exercise was to walk it through in a naturalistic style following the rules of practitioner Stanislavsky and being as detailed as possible; doing the exercise like this I found was challenging as it was harder to pinpoint less key moments of my routine as I didn't get a chance to fully process what I was doing, also from a audiences perspective it would be hard to understand as some actions that I was making weren't clear without explanation.
The second part of task was to adapt our original movement following practitioner Brecht's methods which consisted of breaking the 4th wall. Aspects that I included were: talking in 3rd person, explaining everything in detail e.g the colour of my milk cap, the direction I am walking in and time also i explored the process of multi tasking by turning my water heater on. Following this method I felt was successful as it took away the emphasis on the audience looking at how I made my coffee but why and the meanings behind it.
From doing this exercise it has shown me some of the benefits from breaking the 4th wall and his method of the "V-effect" making it clearer to me about how his style orientates and operates thus broadening my understanding of his work and also my appreciation for Brecht theatre.
Sunday, 11 November 2012
6th November Lesson 1
Soap box
Our first exercise of the term was called the soap box which was all about freedom of expression and also in relation to the box within Hyde park, to start we walked around the room and at abolishing ourselves with everyone within the room to make us feel comfortable when expressing our views to the class. Wether after thought about our chosen subject sand then spoke it was quite apparent when listening people used very aggressive language with very anecdotal themes, this is probably due to any of us not knowing any physical facts. I felt for me I was very aggressive which is something I could improve on later for our protests in week four.
Moody objects
This exercise was all about taking on common objects and giving them emotions thus making you ask why that object is in that mood, thus presenting us to the methods of Brecht which is asking why not how within theatre.
The scenarios we were given: happy toilet, sexy calculator, moody motorbike, shy car.
To make a happy toilet we as a group of 3 decided to make the basic toilet features and then relate them to the emotion of happiness; using our faces we showed happiness through big smile.
I felt this was successful as it presented the ideas of happiness and a toilet, when looking at other groups work I found they were successful as they reflected happiness within their frozen moments so it wasn't just presented in their face.
The object that was most difficult to show I felt was a shy car, this is due to the fact of the emotion of being shy is very detailed and to look at someone and do that is challenging as the easiest way to show shyness is to look away from the audience and isolate yourselves as a group we decided to make a basic car shape and then slowly fall or sink down to the floor and soften our body shapes, one group that did this successfully decided to work of each other making their shapes and emotions clear . Item that they used was not interacting with each other and keeping emotions and eye lines to themselves this therefore shut them off from the group.
From this task alone I have learnt a lot about how Brecht uses everything interns of body's and objects to create emotion to then make the audience ask why the object may be in this situation or why the object has certain feelings and emotions. It also presents to me that Brecht may have used this tool to present items like time of day so for example a tired chair meaning that its either old or early in the morning helping the audience ask why to the situation.
Our first exercise of the term was called the soap box which was all about freedom of expression and also in relation to the box within Hyde park, to start we walked around the room and at abolishing ourselves with everyone within the room to make us feel comfortable when expressing our views to the class. Wether after thought about our chosen subject sand then spoke it was quite apparent when listening people used very aggressive language with very anecdotal themes, this is probably due to any of us not knowing any physical facts. I felt for me I was very aggressive which is something I could improve on later for our protests in week four.
Moody objects
This exercise was all about taking on common objects and giving them emotions thus making you ask why that object is in that mood, thus presenting us to the methods of Brecht which is asking why not how within theatre.
The scenarios we were given: happy toilet, sexy calculator, moody motorbike, shy car.
To make a happy toilet we as a group of 3 decided to make the basic toilet features and then relate them to the emotion of happiness; using our faces we showed happiness through big smile.
I felt this was successful as it presented the ideas of happiness and a toilet, when looking at other groups work I found they were successful as they reflected happiness within their frozen moments so it wasn't just presented in their face.
The object that was most difficult to show I felt was a shy car, this is due to the fact of the emotion of being shy is very detailed and to look at someone and do that is challenging as the easiest way to show shyness is to look away from the audience and isolate yourselves as a group we decided to make a basic car shape and then slowly fall or sink down to the floor and soften our body shapes, one group that did this successfully decided to work of each other making their shapes and emotions clear . Item that they used was not interacting with each other and keeping emotions and eye lines to themselves this therefore shut them off from the group.
From this task alone I have learnt a lot about how Brecht uses everything interns of body's and objects to create emotion to then make the audience ask why the object may be in this situation or why the object has certain feelings and emotions. It also presents to me that Brecht may have used this tool to present items like time of day so for example a tired chair meaning that its either old or early in the morning helping the audience ask why to the situation.
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