Evaluation On Final Performance

Personally I thought it was our best run through. We nailed it. We were all motivated and focused throughout the whole performance. Even when we weren't on stage we were still in role as our characters. You could clearly see it was well rehearsed show. I felt everyone was with it and knew what they had to say and do next which is why the play flowed so well. 

What went well for me?

My two scenes went extremely well. The pace of the scenes, kept the audience drawn in. I felt both the scenes were effective because of there simplicity. 

What also went well was the repetition of the word "Oh" which I did find quite challenging. 

I thought about what I would be thinking when saying each individual "Oh" in response to Marks "Yeah". 

I felt I stayed in role throughout the performance, even when not on stage. I made interaction with other characters near to me.

One actor that impressed me was Alex. I loved the way she played Danny, when she spoke I always wanted to hear more from her. The way she approached her character drew me in. I noticed she was constantly reacting to the situation and instantly made the scene become more alive and up-beat. The way she said her lines were humorous but extremely effective. Overall I was really impressed and she most defiantly stuck out to me.   

Our whole performance was effective. I think the music in our opening scene- "Pumped up kicks" made it effective from the start. The music is up beat and quite ideal for a teenager to listen to, which makes sense as all the characters are teenagers. The set was quite bare- a swing hanging downstage left and a bench sitting upstage right. Interesting the set never changed.  

The green ties we all wore over are white shirts made it clear that we where all school kids. Each prop was simple but symbolic which meant the audience could have a lot more focus on the actors themselves. Key pieces of clothing like "Jans" bright orange jacket or "Marks" grey hoddie helped the audience into understand that each key piece represented the same character.

Characterization was one of our main strengths. We were pretty much always in character, on stage or offstage. The timings were on point and everyone knew when to say their lines. Lines were remembered and were effective as we all emphasized our words clearly and loudly in the style of our characters.
Everyone was focused which was why the whole performance flowed so nicely. As a group we had a lot of energy which helped us stay in role. Our pace was good and most scenes withheld it nicely.
Overall we all did brilliantly and created a very moving and effective piece.

Even though we all did withhold a nice pace during the performance I still felt some scenes lacked it. We could of developed the change-overs between scenes. We all could of done the change overs with more energy. Everyone did interact with each-other but not constantly, this could of been developed further.

Final run through

This week everyone knew their lines and we were all in costume. We tweaked the opening scene's and changeovers, which made the performance look sleeker.
The whole performance is coming together. Everyone puts focus and energy into their characters, which have an impact on the performance as a whole.

As I am playing "Jan" I have to think who I'm talking to and why. In my scene's I'm talking to Mark. I feel confused as I can't seem to realize that Leah is gone and Adam is dead. I keep persisting Mark, until I do eventually understand. All my character wants from the scene is justification from Mark. Jan thinks and questions to much and that makes Mark feel frustrated. She's thinking about all the details of the situation.

Text message

  
In class we came up with a text message for our character to be played as a slide show behind the opening introduction. As a group me and the other Jan's came up with a text message that would portray the relationship of Jan and Mark, for example- "Meet me in the usual place" but also the importance of the situation and how serious it is. (Jan in blue).

3 targets for next week

• Complete the subtext for my lines

• Develop the tone of repeating the same word over again. 

        For example-

         Jan- "Oh"

         Mark- "Yeah"

         Jan- "Oh"

         Mark- "Yeah"

         Jan- "Oh"

• Know lines, without having to think about saying them. 

Another run through focusing on change overs

We had another staggered run-thorough, including our opening sequences. 

Within this we thought about the movements of a change over. With each Jan, we use the same jacket but just did a slick changeover in-front of the audience, so they will understand it's Jan but another actor playing her.

This will be even more clear to the audience as the jacket is so bright meaning it's instantly recognisable. The change over with the Jacket is shown in our opening sequence, so the audience will become familiar with the jacket representing Jan. 

All day run through.

We rehearsed the opening sequence of the performance. Me, Ursula, Marley and Sonia all play the character of "Jan". Together we agreed that we should each do a different set of moments to portray the different sides of Jan. This was really effective, as Jan is constantly changing depending on who she's with, being her most comfortable with Mark, but most nervous around John Tate.

Our aim is to bring in a bright orange Adidas jacket, that will be thrown over Jan's plain black clothing. In the opening sequence each "Jan" has a few seconds to do their movements while the others freeze. This leads the first Jan to come in wearing the Jacket and do their little scene, showing the side of Jan they portray. They then come into the middle to do a slick change over with the next Jan, that will repeat this. When it get's to me, I do everything else but instead of leaving the stage, I go to the back of it and wait to start my scene after the "Marks" have finished.

The Jacket will be worn by every Jan, in all of their scene's. Making it even clearer to the audience that it's Jan. 

When rehearsing me scene, my understanding of my character had improved. I learnt that I was comfortable with "Mark" and not afraid to ask things. To improve my character further, I need to know my lines more than well. Up to the point when I don't even have to think about saying them. I need to know the cues of my lines before they're even said. Stage direction in my scene's, when do I have to move, stand etc.  I want to work out the subtext of my lines so I can understand them on a deeper level, why am I saying them? etc.

SELF Observation Sheet

PEER Observation Sheet

 Here is the PEER Observation Sheet- 

Physical Theatre- A day in the life

In the day in the life of our characters, I selected "Leah". She did everything quite slowly but wisely. We had to show the characters daily routine from when they woke up to when the went back to sleep. I found it a challenge doing Leah, as you never see her alone during the play, so I had to use the information I knew about her and imply it to her daily life.

She was often wondering with no-where to go, and would usually sit by a big oak tree and wait for Phil, constantly checking her phone for messages but never reviving any. She'd read under the tree and drink Oreo milkshakes, still waiting. Eventually Leah's realization came to action that Phil wasn't going to come and walked home in a dreamy like manner.

Thrust Staging

Thrust Staging is the type of staging we will be using for "DNA"

An advantage of using this type of stage space is the 3D- effect and the different perspectives each audience member will receive. The audience will instantly feel more involved in the play as the communication between the actors and audience is less distance.

An disadvantage of using this type of stage is the actors at constancy moving to different sides, so you won't always see the front of them. 

  

As an actor the challenges would be using the space, not just facing one direction the whole time, facing the three sides during the performance. 

ers we would play. We observed our class mates read lines from the dialogue of the characters they had chosen. We would then decide who played their selected character the best and write a  points why.

Workshop

For our up-coming performance "DNA" we participated in a workshop to determine which characters we would play. We observed our class mates read lines from the dialogue of the characters they had chosen. We would then decide who played their selected character the best and write a  points why.

It was a pleasant experience participating in the workshop purely because it was such a relaxed environment to be in. I read in for Jan, who was a character that interested me. Before my reading I studied her lines and felt I could do a lot with her. I included a sense of innocent within her character and also confusion. I wanted to play her because I enjoyed her witty personalty and the fact she couldn't quite get to the reality of Adam's death. The character Mark manages to preserve with Jan and get her to face the reality which she often refuses to belief.  

Observing the workshop was entertaining and captivating for me. From observing my class mates I learnt how I could improve my overall performance (voice projection, facial expressions, body language etc). 

I particular focused on the girls going for the same part as me so I could create a similar but different way of playing Jan. It was fascinating how every girl going for Jan created almost another Jan in the way they delivered their short scene. 

I was impressed by Daniel because he adapted well to all the parts he read for. He was an all rounder which defiantly shone throughout the workshop. He suited many of the characters within DNA. He was emotional and powerful particularly with scene of Adam's. His body language and voice projection where clear. Sonia also impressed me. She delivered Jan well. Her facial expressions were shown clearly. She put her own twist to Jan which was effective. 

Stanislavski- Fact file

Stanislavski- Fact file

Born- January the 17th-1863

Died- August the 7th- 1938 

Bit of extra information.

He was a Russian actor and theater director. 

He was best known for developing what is called the "Stanislavski method" which is famously known for today as a theatre gender (Naturalism). He was the founder of Moscow Art Theatre. He also wrote 7 books which are still read today. 

Subtext

Q- What is subtext?

Subtext is the thoughts and feelings behind the dialogue spoken. What the character is really saying beneath what is actually said. Subtext is a way of getting a clearer insight into how the character thinks and feels beyond the words. How the words spoken may say something completely to what they actually mean. Subtext is experienced by the audience and the actors. Subtext can be communicated by tone of voice and body language.  

This is a "Monologue" spoken by Leah , which my partner and I analyzed and created a subtext for-  

Non-verbal communication

Q-What is Non-verbal communication?

Non-verbal communication is communication without using any form of speech. It includes body language and facial expressions. Non-verbal communication is often more powerful than words. Words are shown through your face and body language. 

Q-What scene did you create using non-verbal communication and who did you work with?

Me and my partner Ella created an emotional scene about out-breaking to someone that a close family member had died. It was a simple scene which was extremely moving. It seemed even more powerful using non-verbal communication. Body language and Facial expressions created the scene. Eye contact and pauses made it more emotional. 

What made our scene more truthful was the music played while we performed. From the music I started to believe it was real that I was out-breaking to someone that a close family member had died. This was the song-                                                          

I don't believe you

I selected Skye who took part in the game "I don't believe you" The situation was just discovering he had been diagnosed with cancer. This was a challenge as he would have to make it as realistic as possible, if someone didn't believe him they would shout out "I don't believe you" we played this game to look into the further truth of a character, to really see whether they're believable to the audience.Skye was able to show the truth well. He walked in slowly and just sat in silence. The silence was what showed truth within his character. Non-verbal communication was used particular well by him, which made me feel emotionally attached to how he must of been feeling. He was extremely successful to creating a truthful performance because of his facial expressions and body language. He looked down at the floor to show he was distraught and shocked. 

Truth on stage

By creating truth on stage the audience becomes more emotionally connected to the characters and the story. Once they are emotionally connected they are more likely to be interested in what the characters are saying. In this way truth on stage causes the audience to connect with the emotional and intellectual levels. If we create truth in our production it will be so much more believable for us and the audience. For actors truth on stage can help them develop their character more deeply, but really gets them absorbed into the characters ways of thinking,feeling and responding.

A significant character

A significant character in DNA is the postman. Important and key to the play. All part of a plan. The “group” decide to blame Adams death, on a man that doesn't exist. 

“A postman with bad breath, large and brown teeth”. 

"The group" terrified of getting caught report this to the police. A man is found of this description. A innocent postman being arrested for a murder he never did. How would the postman feel about this? What about his family? His children? These where questions about this character I asked to my-self. The postman's respect he had would be lost. How would he prove it wasn't him? Would anyone ever believe him?

Some characters in DNA feel guilt towards the postman, while others take no pity. All in all "The gang" brush it to the back of their minds and just get on with life.

I feel distress and misery for this hopeless character who is totally innocent but accused anyway. The postman never says a single line in the DNA but is extremely key within it. Visualizing how confused and distraught this man must feel is upsetting. I take pity on him and am effected by hearing what position he must be in: innocent but not able to prove it. How must that feel?

Roll-on-wall and Brians backstory

We created Roll-on-the-walls to develop a clearer understanding of our characters. Our group came out with a clearer understanding of Brian. We studied Brian's lines, and tried to look for characteristics within them. What feelings he showed when he spoke the lines? We copied down quotes of Brian's and linked them with feelings. Throughout doing this activity, I defiantly learnt more about Brian as a character. How he is even taken advantage of by his peers but just laughs about it.

Click the link for the link for the video- 

http://year10actingup.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/lesson-2-15th-november-2012.html

For Brian we linked his emptiness and madness into a snapshot of his world. Our ideas where thrown together. We particular focused on the relationship of Brian and his father. The neglect he received and responsibility he was expected. Brian was treated as an out cast and bullied by the rest of his siblings. We showed how Brian's nurture effected him as a person. He traits are clearly the opposite of what his father wanted him to be. What draws me to Brian is how remarkably interesting he is. How he approaches things and deals with certain situations. He advertises himself as childish and naive. A dreamer that doesn't seem quite with it."D'you ever feel like the trees are watching you?" from this quote I feel he's slightly mad, what Brian says can be out of the blue and confusing. Brian will always keep the audience questioning. 

A group that particular kept me intrigued was the backstory of "Leah"  

The group was effective, cause they showed different stages of Leah being ignored by her family and friends. This created sympathy towards her and lead the audience to question why her family and friends payed no attention to her? The neglect she received and love she never got. There piece showed emotion and frustration within Leah. It stood out to me and caused me to dwell on how her nurture impacted her nature, making her insecure about herself.

Brian's song

This song is emotional and strange. Two things that I feel resemble Brian. The song is also quite cold and doesn't have a clear message within. It's puzzling and you want to know why the words in it are being said. 

This song is deep and slightly creepy in a strange sense. But overall I feel this song gives similar messages to what I thought of Brian.

First Response

We read a play called DNA by Dennis Kelly. From the first view words of the play I was immediately drawn in. Dennis kept me questioning throughout the play, keeping me on edge the entire time. The play kicks in with the word "Dead”, short but extremely effective. Later on we start to un-ravel the mystery of Dennis's play.

Dennis's informal writing style kept me focused because I relate to the language used. I understood the story-line and the charters in it. In the play we discover one of the characters "Adam" who has been harassed and teased by a young group of teen-agers. We find out that Adam has supposedly fell down a grille after the teenagers had been tormenting him. We realize that Adam was taken advantage of and he was just used to be laughed at.

I was attracted to certain charters more than others. On in particular was Leah, she appealed to me because of how desperate she was, which made her character effective and stand out. I felt sympathy for her because of the attention she craved but never got from Phil. Leah rambled on to Phil, getting nowhere and beginning to make herself feel frustrated and ramble on further. Phil starts to agitate and annoy the audience by saying nothing. Phil particularly intrigues me. His character is puzzling and you want to know the reasoning to why he takes no notice of Leah's attempts to get his attention. Phil is not a character that appeals to me because of his unsettling personality. 

We do eventually discover that Adam has survived and has been living in the woods surviving on leaves. At the very end of the play Dennis creates a cliff hanger that leaves your mind spinning. Overall Dennis is an extremely talented play writer that has written a play using characters that are a similar age to us.