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.
Sunday, 25 November 2012
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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