Interpretation

Last class in IB theatre, Mrs. Morris gave us a sheet of paper with different categories: Relationship and love, wealth, spiritual health, education, travel and helpful people, caree and creativity. She told us to come up with a story involving one or more of these categories, which was pretty confusing at first, since I was just blank, but later on it hit me and I got an idea. My story was of a poor family that struggled to get money and material means. They lived in a shack, with no electricity, just candles. They had a little daughter, who would go to school for free and get education which she always wanted. she took acting classes and as she grew up she knew she wanted to become an actress, which later on was her career. She did really well as an actress and became famous with lots of money. Her parents health was in bad condition so ofcourse she'd help them. She bought them a nice house, clothes and food. But then she started to become distant with her parents which she was once close with, because all they do is call her and ask for money everyday. She would get frustrated, because she worked so hard to get there and it's not her fault her parents don't have a job. So a while after she made a very hard decision, she decided  she  had enough of their nonsense and to go on tour and travel the world and leave her parents behind with the last thing she gave them was money. The protagonist was her family and she was the antagonist. The conflict was between her parents and her because of the money. The turning point was when she decided to leave her family and travel the world.

Improvisation

In every theatre class we play some improvisation exercises,  that helps our ability to think and be creative. As a class we did a game called freeze, where one person puts two people in the front of the room and can assemble them however they want to. For example someone puts my partner and I in a position where it looks like we are playing a sport, like basketball. We have to act out the action and one of the audience members shout freeze. What they have to do is replace one of the people doing the actions and come up with a whole new scenario. So if someone shouts freeze and then the people hold their actions, one other person replaces them and continues the action to maybe being a cooking scene. This is ongoing until everyone has had a turn. Another exercise we do is that the teacher gives us a scenario for example a beach and then we have to act it out. People can become objects in that place or just be people, but it has to fit with the scene. So a beach, one person can lie down and be a towel, another person can become an umbrella etc, just all the things you can find in that place. I found the frist freeze exercise more challenging since you have to wait for the person to do a motion you would want to put yourself in so it can be easy to change the scene because you have to be quick. I'd wait until three or two people go first before I make an attempt. I found the scenario improvisation much easier, since the teacher just gives you a place more likely that you know of, and I just then think about things that I'd find there or what people do.

Lighting Designer

Caroline Chao is a lighting designer. She helps put up a production associated with lighting. Her role is to take care if all the details and it involves co-ordinatiing the schedule with the production manager. She has to keep track of the que lists and follow spots. There's a great degree of trust between the designer and associate, to be able to understand notes and meet the idea of the design with the lighting, how they're meant to look, what colours and the focus during a show. When deciding what should be done with the lights the designer stands infront of the stage and inspects it they do this since most designers have a design eye.One advantage of being a lighting designer is that once you have design eyes you can easily realize where the producer is going with this. In order for her to create what the producers want she has to attend meetings to sort out the proess, what needs to be seen and done. The lights need to be hit in a specific manner. She'll have draft paper to work out the lighting design. The lighting of a show is very colourful and reflects how it looks like in comic books. When someone flies during a show, she has to keep one of the spot lights on them. I think it's very challenging how they have ti change lighting for every new produciton. I think lighting is one of the most important aspects in a show since it draws the audience attention, it makes them feel part of it. It's an ongoing process thoughout a show. It makes their chatacters come to life and more realistic. Overall lighting is fantastic, you can be creative and so much with it.

Analyzing

Eukiah a short play by Lanford Wilson. Before we started reading the script of Eukiah we first had to read about the setting on the stage and how they layed it out. It gave us a glimpse of what the characters are like how Butch is charming yet menacing he is. Eukiah is just a boy. Even though the script was only 10 minutes long it still became to be a powerful outcome. Especially after we read the script, towards the end did I realize that the story has a twist to it. Butch is a menace, but when you read it, he doesn't seem as that big of a monster as he seems to be. He does call Eukiah names such as half wit, he's tone was aggresive toward Eukiah but soon after the tones changes, because he notices the only way to get Eukiah out of hiding is to be polite and sweet to him which is sort of a type of seduction. Sweet talking to lower him out. When he first started talking to Eukiah, he didn't make a sound to response to Butch but after a while he could hear Eukiah and knew where he was. Butch kept on repeating to Eukiah how they've to go to supper, eventually Eukiah came out of his hiding place, it's sort of like a trust bond grew between them. So that moment I had change of heart and turned Butch into a good person. But I thought wrong, as they were walking to get supper Butch puts his arms around Eukiahs neck like a buddy would do, but the script ended with Butch breaking Eukiahs neck. I was so shocked at that point I didn't know what to think. I think this story was very successful through it's imagery, tone and you know whether you have read a good story when you finish it and it leaves an impression on you or questions, I know I certainly thought about it. As I read through the script I honestly,didn't think of it being a play at all more like an image in my head of the actual barn on a farm instead of it being set on stage. He wrote it in such a way that we can relate to it, as being a great perception of imagery. The tone of the story brought about an important point, at the beginning I can feel the tension between Butch and Eukiah wasn't off to a good start it was anger and impatience. The way he uses his tone makes you think that he is a badhearted person. But then later on, he tried gaining trust with Eukiah by being sweet to him, so it made me give him a chance and I don't know what made me think that he could've changed so quick but it really didn't seem like 10 minutes. Then his bad side appeared again, I find it amazing how much the author used one character and did so much with his personality, he made him seem bad and furious, then talked his way to being friendly and trustworthy and then just turned into a criminal. A whole different side. You can tell he is two faced.

Costume Shop Manager

Carol Hammond is a costume shop manager. Her role as a manager is to work closely with the designer, to understand their designs. I realized that her role is very important since she has to supervise the costumes being made and make sure it fits, she is involved in the whole process. However her role doesn't include designing but having control over budgeting,hiring and organizes schedules for costume fittings. It's almost as if she is running a small business. Their priority to work with the designer is important but at the same time fun to do. They have to comprehend where the they're coming from, what their inspiration is, so that they can make it come to life. There's a great amount of collaboration between the designer and costumer manager. There is an alliance theatre which is a costume shop where the dressers work during night shows. The costume manager may not do all the work themselves but they've to plan it out so that all the pieces come together for the show. At the end of each show, it's her job to sort out what costumes to keep, and maybe redecorate for other shows or to throw them away. They have to make sure what they accomplish is done to th best of their ability. I never knew being a costume shop manager would be such a challenge, but it really is. I mean they have to work with the designers to make sure they get their perspective on how the costumes should look like and make sure it's done the way they want it to be. I mean it's not a piece you can go back and fix, that's why they have to put some thinking and creativity in it. Basically try and be in the designers shoes to try and see their vision with the costumes. I always thought that the manager makes the actual clothing but they don't. I think it't more stressful for them since they have to make schedules for fitting times. They have to make sure the designers are doing what they asked for. I never knew that the costume shop had so many different areas, like a wig area, craftshop and it's a huge space. I think there is a lot of pressure on making sure everything goes in order for the final show, but also I think you get more experienced and becomes a bit more easier and there's lots of creativity and imagination involved which is always fun.

First day of IB theatre.

On the first day of IB theatre, Mrs. Morris told us the exciting news of her being pregnant. I was so surprised but at the same time I was so happy fo her. I just had to say it, I couldn't resist. We then did a listening and thinking exercise where she gave us a song to listen to and we had to interpret what the song is about. While we were listening we had to note down some quick ideas that came to mind.So that in the end, we can look back at our notes and create a story out of the words. When I started listening to the song I heard drums which automatically reminded me of a tribe playing drums in Africa. Usually when drums are playing it anticipates that there is a ceremony about to take place. When I imagined a ceremony I pictured a wedding of 2 tribal people getting married in the jungle of Africa, with all the drums playing in the background gave it a good effect that the event must be exciting. As I continued to listen the drums got faster which I then thought of people getting happier and loving the celebration, so some tribesmen started dancing around a fire. The song also had an odd voice which was almost like indicating something. So I said that the voice gave a congratulations to the people for finally being married. Also an obscure sound was heard, it could have been anything but to me it sounded like an elephant noise. At the end when we had to all come together, it was so interesting to hear what everyone had to say. Some of us had similarities which was thinking of the drums as a ritual. Also when we compared ideas some people had the perception of the odd noise being an elephant. However there were also differences, some thought of the song as a game, others thought of it as being a celebration because the tribe went hunting and caught food. I really liked this activity since it makes you realize that no everyone thinks the same.