Documentary

For theater class we were assigned to do a documentary on a traditional dance, since that was the unit we were covering, I was partners with Su and Amal and we decided to do a documentary on the Bhangra which is a type of Indian folk dance. Before we could start we needed to do some research, we divided it and I did research on the instruments and dance steps, Su did research about the history and Amal did about costumes and the characteristics of the Bhangra, we decided to make a Google doc and that way each of us could read what the other person has put down. When I learned about the instruments I learned that the Bhangra consists of many instruments and each is used for a different genera in the Bhangra. I didn't know that there were different sub generas I thought the Bhangra was just one dance, however I learned there were many different types like the Daankara is a dance with sticks, the Gatka is a dance performed with swords and daggers, the dance and dancers are very ambitious. Bhangra used a lot of string and drum instruments to give the dance a rhythm. Whilst researching I learned that the Sarangi and Ektar are stringed instruments which almost look like a violin and the Dhol and Dhad are commonly used drums, they normally combine the string and drum instruments together. I never knew that the Bhangra originated in the Punjab region in Pakistan and that workers who worked in the fields celebrated the harvesting season and cherish the last seasons fruit bearing. I somewhat knew that this traditional dance would be celebrated at weddings or festive events as I've seen a couple of Indian dances before on the television, the one thing I loved about the dance was all the vibrant colors associated with the costumes, it brings so much life to the dance, I learned that there was a certain traditional dress that both women and men had to follow,the men had to wear a Chaadra which looks similiar to a Turban and the women had to be dressed in a dress called the Ghagra. Interestingly also the lyrics in the Bhangra deals with social issues such as marriage and love which I didn't know about. I really loved doing this documentary, my partners and I worked great as a team, at first I was hesitant that it wasn't going to be fun but a lot of work and stress, however it turned out the opposite, it was an amazing experience, I always love learning about other cultures and so this is one thing I can keep in mind. Also the most fun part of it all was actually getting to learn how to Bhangra, we searched for some YouTube tutorials and we watched a couple of moves and created our own combination of moves, but wow it was so tiring like a workout but I enjoyed it a lot, I think also the reason why doing this type of dance was fun is because it is very vivacious and I never got bored of watching people dancing the Bhangra since there's so many moves. We asked a couple of people on UN day if they could come do the Bhangra, mostly people from Pakistan and India came to help as they were familiar with it, we showed them the dance moves but wow I was so mesmerized by how much they loved doing this dance, they never got tired and they also incorporated their own moves, I could see they genuinely had fun and loved doing it.  And I have to thank Amal for putting together such an amazing video, as I wasn't good with technology but overall we really thought out the process and what to include such as voice overs and a step by step dance for a person to easily follow, we kept that in mind. The other two groups in our class did their documentaries on Gum Boot dancing and the Maori. Gum boot dancing originated from South Africa, since I am from South Africa, I remember as a kid always watching people perform it on the streets and it used to be so appealing to me but I never really understood the meaning behind it, until now. I learned that Gum boot dancing originated in the mines where black people would work, however their boss who is a white man would tell them that they can't communicate, and so they would tap their boots they used to wear, certain taps meant certain words or they would chant words, usually it would be about their frustrations and issues, the boss and the conditions they used to live in, however the boss did say that they could perform these dances as a way to vent outside the mines. They would drink and dance and just chant about their issues, this dance became so popular not only in South Africa but in Namibia and Zimbabwe, also it is currently being shown on broad way, I think it is such a powerful dance with so much meaning and emotions, the miners would also use beer caps and wire and tie it around their boots to make a jingle noise for it to be more effective. I also learned some steps from the group, it was quite fun and I think the dance looks really amazing when it's done fast. Another dance I learned about was the Maori a dance that originated from New Zealand. I knew about this dance before since I always used to see it during Rugby when the All Black would perform it before a match, the dance would always look so intimidating and I'd think to myself.. what is the other team thinking? Moreover the dance is the Haka, I always thought that the dance could be only done by men however, mixed groups or women were allowed. This dance was originally performed by warriors, I learned the dance includes facial contortions such as showing the whites of the eyes and the poking out of the tongue, and a wide variety of vigorous body actions such as slapping the hands against the body and stamping of the feet. As well as chanting, a variety of cries and grunts are used. It's very entertaining to watch they use their hands, arms, legs, feet, voice, eyes, tongue and the body as a whole combine to express courage, annoyance, joy or other feelings relevant to the purpose of the occasion. It was really fun learning this dance however I get quite shy I think because it's like no other dance I've ever done or am used to. I'd be embarrassed because of all the facial expressions used, however it is a forceful and might dance. For Arsenic and Old Lace Su Min and I did Travis's makeup the first time we did it we had no clue what to do with his face however has we practiced, we became more experienced and got better, it developed my skills to make his face look realistic as possible with the wax especially, our job was to make him look ugly, however it does take time if the person is good looking,however the end results we could not be more happy about, we really focused on the wax to blend it into his face and make it brown to really enhance it for the audience to see, it was challenging but worth it.

Curl Up And Dye

 Recently we started a new unit South African Plays; we read a play called Curl Up and Dye By Susan Pam Grant which also explores Workshop theatre.  The play was set after the apartheid had occurred in South Africa, where black, white and colored people started to live together, as the setting of this play Curl Up and Dye was set in Johannesburg in Joubert Park, where originally it was a white area and started to become a grey area, the main reason being is that people from Soweto had to drive all the way to Joburg to work for the white people in order to make money and provide for their families, however all their money was being spent on transport, so they moved closer to their workplaces. The focal theme in this place is racism/discrimination since it is set in a grey area and in a salon where there is a lot of tension between the races, how they interact and their status. Susan Grant and her colleagues would collaborate and try to brainstorm ideas on social issues that they could portray and put on script and they would also use props. When Asceal and I were performing our formative, she was playing the character of Rolene and I was Mrs. Dubois and Max was our director. Max really took this play seriously and he did not allow us to waste a minute, we had to practice until it satisfied Max, he was really good at coming up with ideas that may be suit the plays intentions, the stage directions and blocking.  Rolen who Asceal is playing is a very sassy and tacky girl and who is also the owner of the Salon, she lives with an abusive husband which is why she always takes out her frustrations in the salon and especially at Miriam who is her assistant because she is black she is always discriminated against by Rolene and Mrs. Dubois who are white people. We started the first scene of the play where Rolene and Mrs. Dubois met outside the Salon and couldn’t get in since Miriam is not there yet. Rolene starts complaining to Mrs.Dubois about how horrible the black people are, Mrs Dubois who is in her mid 50’s couldn’t care less, she just wants to get into the salon and get her hair done, and she acts very higher class and demanding when really she is poor, she is selfish and whenever someone is actually trying to vent to her, she either walks away or pays her attention to someone else. Eventually Rolene finds the keys and enters the Salon, Mrs. Dubois critics the salon and how filthy it is and how Miriam must come clean, Rolene is angered to see her salon being such a pigsty, she complains about how she doesn’t want to be the sweeping girl. Eventually Mrs. Dubois just leaves to give in her lucky numbers her Six Picks. Rolene get’s constant phone calls from Denzil, and every time the phone rings Rolene gets excited thinking it’s a customer, when it’s just her abusive husband. The area is very poor, and so the salon does not get very many customers, the only customer might be Mrs.Dubois just because she likes to hear Gossip. After we performed our formative the class said that our blocking and atmosphere was really good, the mood of the scene, however our characterizations needed some improvement, Rolene who is Asceal could have been more dirty, tacky and girly but not too the point where she is a teenager, for example look in the mirror fiddle with her hair a lot, and chew gum and my character Mrs.Dubois to act more her age, my tone of voice and her gestures. We took their advice into consideration and rehearsed again. For the summative, we made improvements and it was a lot better than the first time we performed. My character though Mrs. Dubois still did not seem her age and as an old auntie. I don’t know I seem to find it difficult to play older characters; playing younger characters are much more easier and comfortable. For me though in my mind it seemed as though my gestures and tone of voice was better however that didn’t seem to portray to the class. Maybe I should have asked my mother for advice on how to be an old tannie, I mean I have aunties, I just don’t see them very  often, so I lack some of my south african culture as in how to act as a stereo typical grandma or auntie. Also whilst we were reading the play it was funny to hear other english speakers speak in Afrikaans, at times I couldn't stop laughing and also with the way the pronounce the swear words, it was hilarious.

I am also doing the makeup for Arsenic and Old Lace, the first time I did makeup, things were really hectic and I didn’t know what character to do but then I saw Travis who is an Einstein and I started to click, I knew his face had to be full of scars and he had to look ugly. It was a challenge though, finding his foundation was easy but making his face ugly was pretty hard since he is very attractive haha. Morcom helped me draw a line through his eye and make a line across his nose as if it were broken, and then I asked Amal whether she has gummy scar things we can maybe stick on his face to make it seem as if he has plastic surgery, which we found, however it was really hard to stick on his face.. in the end though the results were great, he looked very ugly, scars, a bit of blood, brown patches and brown lips, now I know what to do for him next time.  

Workshopping

Personally I really enjoyed the unit we did on work shopping, specifically Poor Theater because as we studied it more in depth I never knew that people are able to use minimal props to put on performances especially for social issues. I honestly always thought the directors had to spend millions of money to create a production, when in Poor Theater the opposite has to be done and use as little props as possible in order to convey the issue through the play, I never knew a small prop could make such a huge difference for example using a pen for a syringe in a case of drug abuse.I learned that it's not so much about what prop you use, it's how the character chooses to use it and how well they demonstrate their actions using the prop, that's why I learned gestures have to be exaggerated so do facial expressions, because that's what the audience pays most attention to when watching, so if the gestures and facial expressions are evident then the audience won't have any trouble trying to figure out what the character is trying to depict. I think with Poor Theater one can get very creative and it challenges your thinking abilities and also helps people develop skills to work in an ensemble, it allows for people's imaginations to first expand and brainstorm various concepts but afterwards the group has to collaborate and choose only one topic that would be the most important and to make the audience more aware of. With me, Mrs. Morris made us work and draw ideas from a stimulus which in this case was a picture of a fetus. The process of work shopping I realized does take quite some patience in putting together a play the theory and practical aspects, things won't simply come together by themselves I really have to sit down with my group and think things through before performing it, making sure the information that we brainstormed doesn't overwhelm our play and draws away from the actual social issue that we are trying to convey, we had to think about ways to portray good evident transitions for the audience and to make the play episodic, also in poor theater because they did not have many people acting we would switch between characters for example in my group we were only three people but two of the three characters played different roles and genders, my group and I always found ourselves making adjustments to the play mainly working towards what could we do to make it better and more realistic. The social issue we strongly believed how unsafe sex is bad,alcohol and drug abuse and abortion, we thought this was perfect since all three were in some way associated with one another and it's a major situation that occurs during teenage years. Our play was about a irresponsible girl who decides one day to party all night and have unsafe sex with a male and getting drunk. A few weeks later her attitude alters completely and she was not as innocent as she once was and becomes a whole different person by using drugs, her friends confront her of how much she changed and she did not want to accept it. Later she gets pregnant and her mother and her fight but later go to the doctor for an abortion. The doctor insinuates that it is not a good idea and after talking with her mother they both agree to keep the baby however once they return the doctor says that too much alcohol and drugs have been used and the baby is gone. I really genuinely loved doing this topic since it's very educational for people our age not to have unsafe sex whenever and wherever they want to and how  it can lead to being pregnant and because of all the stress of being so young and having a baby, stress kicks in and drugs become involved and in the end it teaches people how unsafe sex sometimes leads to abortion depending on the ethics of the person which can kill a person but at the same time because of the use of so much toxins the baby dies. I feel like the audience really feels for this girl getting pregnant at such a young age and would teach their children or even themselves not to ever do that. When it was time to perform the formative we were all nervous but at the same time we were keen to show what we produced. At the end of the formative, we got really good constructive feedback on what we can really improve on and make better, which we always appreciate. What we had to work on the most were transitions, to us the transitions seemed clear but to the audience it weren't as much and we had to respect that, the characterization of some characters were not realistic and the conversation that they were having sometimes, Mrs Morris told us that if one character did not have any lines to say they could hold up signs to describe the emotions in that moment for example if the mother and daughter were fighting one character would hold up a sign saying disappointment or despair which is an alienation device and adds more visuals, also the audience told us that our sound effects were good like when time was passing other characters would say tick tock tick tock in whispers to add suspense and build up tension to reach a climax.We took all the feedback into consideration and transformed our play a thousand times better than it was the first time round, the feedback from our peers really made a huge impact on the play and by the end of it we could really differentiate between good and great. Our summative went much better than we expected and I think it's because we practiced so many times that we got attached to our characters emotionally and physically, we were all in that state of mind. I can speak for myself because at first it was honestly really difficult trying to play a girl who had unsafe sex got pregnant used drugs and wanted an abortion, because I know I would never be that type of girl it was out of my league but trying to prove a very essential point I had to do it, I had to face challenges outside my comfort zone and by the end of it, I was more than happy that I did it because the whole experience was life changing in a way, I got so attached to this person that I felt her emotions in my gut, it was as if in the moment I was actually this person for a few minutes and playing along with the character also hits me in the stomach of what really could happen if I were pregnant, it ruins relationships and lives especially at a young age, it taught me a good lesson. We made sure our transitions were more clearer, by using music as a source of passing time and also the switching on and off of the lights gave a great effect, the second time I could sense that we were more prepared for our characters, we knew what was expected of us and to be honest we did an amazing job I would not have performed it any other way, we really did do it to the best of our abilities, we might have had a few faults here and there like rushing, blocking etc. but it was really good and at the end of it, I was so soaked into this character of mine that I even began crying when the moment was right and that was when I lost the baby because of my lifestyle by doing drugs and also I thought of how this girl is going to have scars for life, the memory will always be with her and for such a young person to live with such pain is just dreadful so I really put myself in her position and how I would react to the situation and even though this never happend to me before I think overall I did a great job trying. At first I could say we were not as serious minded about the play but as we progressed into our characters and practiced more we really did take it seriously, because if we were not serious then the audience would not take it seriously as well. We used minimal props such as for the syringe we used a pen, for chairs we used black boxes not many props were incorporated or even had to be used to send out such a powerful message, it was all about the acting. What would have been interesting and I wish I would have done is maybe interviewed someone or looked on the internet as to how people felt especially teenagers when they get pregnant, it would have given me even more to think about and take into consideration however I did watch a program called sixteen and pregnant and I was just shocked at how hard life really is for them especially finance and some boys are not even supportive so it's just the mother alone who has to go through all the pain which is really heartbreaking.

Absurd Theatre

After we performed our Comedia De'll Arte play for the next two weeks we focused on absurd theater and started to read the play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett which included two men called Vladimir and Estragon who reveal they are waiting for a man named Godot. However they are stumbled by the thought of if they are waiting in the correct spot for Godot by the tree or if it's even the right day. Personally when I first started to read the play it was very peculiar and when things are strange to me, or something I'm not use to reading then sooner or later I'd find it boring, which I did. The thought of trying to understand why they are doing certain things in a certain why or saying them is frustrating when the answer is not right in front of you. It required me to analyze the characters, I realized that Vladimir was more of the dominant character who would take the lead in actions or dialogue. Just like at the start of the book the two characters repeat lines from one another and does so throughout the play, which I think is some type of general aspect they habitually do with one another. It is also evident from reading the play that Estragon is dependent on Vladimir, he always wants to be close to him. They have a very strong bond and embrace each other a lot and almost act as a married couple which gives the impression they might be gay. At first when I read the title the name 'Godot' in my mind created a connection between him and God since they do sound similar, Estragon and Vladimir do look up to Godot as being a religious type of figure. One important repetitiveness that struck me was how Estragon wanted to leave, but Vladimir refused to do so and told him they could not go because they are waiting for Godot. With the same lines being repeated reinforces the idea that the same actions are occurring over and over again. What we did in class though to make it more entertaining and lively is that we created accents for the characters and acted out their parts really well to get a sense of what they are like as characters, they were boring individuals when I look at their conversations but the actual gestures and stage directions, there are really a lot of active moment taking place. We also discussed the idea of existentialism which I never even knew about until we talked about it, I learned it is a philosophical movement which emphasizes on individual existence freedom and choice, meaning man can wander between choice and freedom. Existentialism is seen as determining our existence, which leads to the concept of choice making between bad or good is what defines ourselves, without confirmation of our acts we would not know what is right to choose from. The conclusion I found quite good, the play finally reached a point where Estragon and Vladimir realizes that Godot will not come and that they were both just living their lives on repeat and also because Godot never arrives by the tree gives me the impression that Godot might not be a real person and that maybe he is God, maybe he was there with them all along just not literally. I was not very fond of this type of theatre it did not really grab my attention or interest although it challenges your thinking skills and analyzation of things. 

We had to perform a scene from the play Waiting for Godot and I worked with Morcom who played Vladimir and I played Estragon, we decided to do a scene from the start of the play to show the significance of the characters relationship between Estragon and Vladimir since it portrays how dependent Estragon is on Vladimir. Even at the very beginning there is the concept of repititiveness that's reocurrng when Vladimir says And they didn't beat you? and afterwards Estragon says Beat me? Certainly they beat me (2)
Vladimir then says The same lot as usual? right after Estragon says The same? I don't know (2)
This to me depicts as though this is the way they have been communicating in general for most of their life time, this seemed strange to me at since since we normally don't speak that way to one another, but rather give a direct answer instead of repeating. In this scene in particular Vladimir plays the role of a 'bum' someone who acts as though he has been drinking since the saying 'a drunken mind speaks sober thoughts' applies here when Vladimir tells Estragon When I think of it... all these years..but for me.. where would you be, you'd be nothing more than a little heap of bones. (3) Vladimir belittles Estragon without Estragon having to realize it or it might be that he is already use to what he says and doesn't mind it since I expected Estragon to say something back at him for saying such a cruel thing. Morcom did a good job on playing the character of Vladimir he performed his role really well as a 'bum' and sometimes even mummbled when Vladimir was just blabbering things that didn't make sense. It was quite hard playing Estragon since I come to find him to be such an innocent character compared to Vladimir who's so demanding and 'a know it all' it seems as though whatever Estragon attempts to do will never be enough for Vladimirs satisfaction. Estragon says Taking off my boot, has that ever happend to you?(3) Vladimir then says Boots must be taken off everyday, I'm tired of telling you that! Why don't you listen to me? In this scene though however sometimes I did not understand what messages the characters were trying to convery, it felt as if they were just talking about random things all over the place. There was not much action taking place in this scene but rather focuses on clearly establishing the connection between the two with their dialogue. It was difficult for me to be Estragon as to not knowing what he was saying half the time sometimes I couldn't make sense of it. I did though try and maintain my character from being so aggresive towards Vladimir especially in this scene and the things he says to Estragon, I did not want to overpower the character and to let the audience percieve Vladimir as the superior one. One thing I could have improved on was the tone of my voice and the gestures. All the sentences are mostly all short, so when I would say something it would go by quicker than I anticipated and it all just felt like such a rush and despite that there were not many gestures, when there was I think I could have exagerated them a bit more since this aspect of absurd theatre has a connection with Comedia De'll Arte in expressing their gestures in an entertaining way to have an ongoing of the audience's attention and also to reach a humour climax to make the audience laugh. In both cases the two types of theatres are different and similar, different in the way that the Comedia characters all have a stereotypical and recognizable character to portray in their scenario and also have to wear masks to help identify to the audience who they are, in abusrd theatre the audience doesn't know right away who the characters might be acting as in Waiting for Godot for example Estragon and Vladimir who when you come to know of them eventually the audience will realize they are two tramps that have repititive dialogue back and forth making this absurd and having no point. The two are similar in the way that the characters act as clowns through their physical movement and tone of voice to prevent losing the audience's attention. In Comedia the laazi and zaini who are servants or even Brighella and Arlechinno act as clowns and jump on eachothers backs, swing eachother in the air to make the audience look at something aswell rather than just listening to their dialogue. Estragon especially does peculiar things inorder to make the audience giggle, such as smelling his boot, airing it and nibbling on it which might be odd but exposes humour. Honestly I would not like being the audience of watching an Absurd theatre play when I realize that in the end, the story doesn't even get anywhere and that there was no point to begin with. If it wasn't for their gestures to keep me entertained I think I'd fall asleep.
 
During class we also played some improvisation games one was where we had to divide into two groups and stand in two lines opposite one another and the person had to ask a question to the person in the other group and that person has to also then answer with a question for example. Kyla: Have you heard the song Maria Maria? then Asceal would have to answer in a question form aswell and say Oh is that song from Carlos Santana? And once you hesitate you have to go to the back of the line. This was a fun but challenging game to do since you have to think of what your question is going to be right on the spot without producing it into a statement or just repeating the same question over again but having the answer but questioning it. This exercise really made you think, I enjoyed it, I could tell everyone was heavily drawn into it once you get the hang of it. We also played another similar game which was more easier than the previous. It was the same concept just that the teacher would announce a topic lets say Fruit and then the two rows have to name fruits without repeating what the other group said. It required a lot of thinking and listening at the same time, you had to listen to what the other group is saying but at the same time think of your answer. The game just continues until someone runs out of a fruit to say then they are out. For me this game went by a lot faster since while I was waiting in line I could think of a fruit to name and when it was my turn I wouldn't have to think as much, this game had more of an advantage to it than the other one. The other one you wouldn't know what type of question they would ask you.

Day With The Arts

When it was the day with the arts, I wasn't as nervous as I expected myself to be, I think it might have been because we practiced our Comedia De'll Arte play various times that I got so comfortable with the scenario and also got used to playing my character's role as being Colombine, who is a character that's very witty, fashionable, she has no bad attributes and she's very flirtatious, all the men admire her. I loved playing her character as she was the only girl and it was easier for me to relate to her, than all my peers who had guy characters. When it was time to perform as the audience were sitting down, I could sense back stage the nervousness and everyone including myself hesitated while getting into costume and putting on masks. Once you where your mask it's as if you transform into a whole new being, someone you normally don't see yourself as being. Overall I think we put on a great show and since it was our own creation we decided to incorporate a lot of humorous climaxes, to make the audience laugh, which was a good feeling. It gives you a sensation knowing that you are playing your character well. There's always room for improvement and I thought our expressions and vocals were excellent according to the characters we played, just maybe the gestures could have been more exaggerated, this aspect was difficult since we don't normally use such big gestures in our daily lives, so to portray it, is strange to us. But as long as we portrayed the stereo typical character we were assigned and that the audience could recognize what type of person you are straight away then that's very good. I even forgot some of my lines at the beginning and to make up time, I improvised. I really enjoyed this theater genre as it was very different, using masks and producing large gestures, there's a lot one can do and be creative with it. All you need is a scenario and an ensemble work to put on a humorous climax in the play. My parents really enjoyed the play, they were smiling the whole way through, as for my costume I tried to be as fashionable as I could more than the other characters. I thought in this unit Max was really committed towards his character of Arlecchino, it really showed a different side to him and that he could be a really comical character if he tries.

Commedia De'll Arte

Commedia De'll Arte meaing the comedy of the art, and this theatre genre began in the 16th century where it first began in Italy. This type of style required a strong sense of ensemble acting and to improvise around any given scenario. The actors wore masks and always had to respond to the other actors and to the audience, the actors represented stock characters meaning they were fixed social types. The point of the performances was to reach a humorous climax, the actors first started as street performers and then moved towards acting troupes, each actor was skilled in a specific stock character. This was Colins work shop to inform us what Comedia D'ell Arte was all about, which I think he did a very good job at, although he was a bit nervous but that's normal and later became more comfortable. Colin made us do an activity where one person exits the room and we all choose to play a stereo typical character, I played a 'flirt' and my fellow classmates played as a french tourist and an undercover spy etc. When the person entered the room again, he/she had to predict what characters we were playing by how well we acted it out, the point is to try not to make it too obvious straight away what you are, otherwise that spoils the fun. I went in as a flirt and started flirting with Morcom I could see he was getting uncomfortable and thought my character would be so easy to know what I was, however throughout the whole game I was trying my hardest to flirt with him and the french tourist trying to make it a bit obvious in the end yet he still couldn't get it, only after the game finished I told him my character. I don't know whether I wasn't playing my character well enough or he just had a hard time guessing since I wasn't a specific enough character like a cheerleader etc. I found this game to be a lot of fun and also a good warm up to become a stereo type. I liked this part of theatre a lot since Comedia is about exagoration, improvisation, speech and movements are what is important, as long as you know your character's characteristics etc it should be easy to do. However since we never played stereo typical characters I felt uncomfortable at first with all these big movements and expressions I had to do, but once you get into it, you just go with the flow and start to know your character well and become part of it. I always thought that in theatre seeing facial expressions on an actors face was the most important, but in Comedia they wore masks, which I now know helps the audience recognize the stereo types that occured during the 16th century. Every person had to stick to one character and become very fimiliar with it and play it as a professional. I think improvisation is an important role in Comedia since the actors had to work as an ensemle to reach the humorous climax. Sometimes using what is known as a lazzi which were stage tricks designed to evoke laughter from the audience by using the slapstick which one of the characters named Arlechinno used to slap on the side of his leg for more emphasis on a slapping sound. Wearing the masks I think makes it even harder for the character to portray to the audience how they feel, this is why they have to use big gestures that are exagerated and also the use of their speech and tone can show a lot. We were then assigned to play stereo types, I played Columbine who was a servant maid and very pretty, she was in love with Arlechinno, she flirts a lot and know that the men admire her but once she gets to close and finds herself in an uncomfortable position she slowly steps to the side getting further away from the person. Her speech is very gossipy and high and energetic. In this scenario Pierrot wrote me a letter in which he wanted to read to me but Scaramouche starts to critisize his writings and say it's no good, when he tells Pierrot to start again Scaramouche grabs the paper and reads it to me, this was the humuour climax. As Scaramouche read it to me, I would be swinging my arms and blushing with my face, since we did this without the masks and when I found myself too close I'd slowly move away, my speech would say one thing and my physical attributes another thing. I think I did a good job in doing what I had to, however Mrs Morris gave me constructive feedback on that I should make my movements more bigger since behind the mask they can't see my facial expressions, that I have to practice since I am so used to showing facial expressions.

Brecht Unit

Brecht's use of acting style is very different to other playwrights, I realized that since he uses epic theatre him and Stanislwaski's way of teaching were almost the same, however Brecht believed that gestures played a more important role in his performances whereas Stanislwaski was more about the facial expressions. I found it an interesting way of acting, I always thought acting was about trying to interact with the audience and make them feel emotionally attached, but when I learned about epic theatre it was not always the case. I did not know how an audience cannot get attached to the characters, but then I learned this was done for a reason, it was so that rather entertaining the audience, the play becomes an awareness and message and the gestures and actions happening on stage has a reason behind it and contributes to the overall theme of the play depending on what it is which was usually social issues being the division of social classes. I think it is an effective way to get the audience to think about what is occuring on stage and trying to figure out the message, in a way also participating in the act, by putting the puzzle pieces together and seeking to find a whole image or message in the end. I just kept thinking how can a audience sit there and not get engaged and emotionally attached? when I know I would. But then I learned about alienation devices, where actors use this to build a fourth wall between them and the audience which disables the audience not to get too attached to their characters yet still engaging with them. I also did not know how actors can't connect to their characters until I tried it myself.

At the beginning of the epic theatre unit, we were divided into two groups and were given pictures that symbolized an important point. In our group we had to look at these pictures and discuss what we thought they meant. There were two of the pictures that stood out to me, one was a picture of a mother and a daughter looking very sad and surrounding them was their home, by home I mean tents and houses made of carboard boxes and around them were piles of garabage that was polluting their environment. By looking at this pictures it made me realize the affect of the social classes the rich and the poor. There are so many poor people in the world yet people say they care but they don't do anything about this. To me actions speak louder than words, the only reason I would like to become rich is to give money to the poor and I don't need fancy cars, a house with 55 rooms to be happy in I just need the right and fair amount of money to keep a roof over my head and food on the table. That's what these people are asking for and it breaks my heart to see that there are so many of us that complain about how our lives are not good enough but it's nothing compared to what they go through. It's a pitty that there is even such a thing happening, it's evident that the rich does not care and will only give to the poor if they benefit from it I think, get a reward etc but isn't a reward seeing them smile and living a better life? that would be more than enough for me. Another picture that stood out was one where there was a vulture and a skinny african child on the floor crouching in the heat and the vulture just staring at him. This to me represented how the rich being the vulture is feeding on the poor and they don't realize how much they could help, but only realize and do so once it's too late. This picture really touched me, it just ashame what we let happen sometimes, it's unacceptable and everyday I hope that there's a solution to these kind of problems but the main one is for people to wake up, once they notice with their real eyes and realize what's happening maybe they will do something about it, however it's not always about seeing is believing, knowing that it's happening people should believe in it. Just the 'thought' of it even just makes me want to cry. Brecht's goal was to use social issues like this to portray to the audience what is really going on around them, since some people are just blinded by reality. He wants the audience to leave the theatre with that message in their heads knowing how it affects them and what they can do to make it better. After we looked at the photos we had to come up with a performance that demonstrated these problems, Asceal, Morcorm, Su yin and I came up with a scenario where there is a rich president and has a daughter that's also wealthy a poor shop keeper and a journalist. The president is interviewed by the journalist who is me, and asks questions about the economic crisis that the president just doesn't seem to care about. As the journalist it was a tough role to play, I think it was challenging to not get too attached to what I was doing and focus more on the point I was trying to prove which was that the rich people including the president does not care about the people and only himself. As an alienation device I would stand up and get out of character and narrate in third person about what the journalist thought about the president, it was a way of getting the audience to engage more and to not get too attached at the same time. His daughter goes shopping and meets a shop keeper and is very greedy to her since she is rich she thinks she can do anything, later they become friends and brings her home to the presidents house and realizes that there are so many poor people and that her dad the president has to do something about this problem. He first disagrees but later realizes that his people need him and solves the problem, depicting what people should really do and not just sit there and watch people die, everyone is born and because of that, they matter. I think we did a great job overall in trying to get the message across about the rich not caring about the poor. The difficulties I had would most probably be trying to get out of character quick enough to narrate, since I still found myself at times still being attached to who I was, as being the journalist. I also guess as a person it touches you and how sensitive you are to these things.

Another Brecht scene we had to do was from The Caucasian Chalk Circle where I played Grusha and Su yin played Simon. The Caucasian Circle was a play written by Brecht, it's two stories that come together in the end. Grusha, a kitchen maid, becomes engaged to a soldier named Simon. Soon thereafter, during the coup, she has Michael handed to her. She hides the child from the Fat Prince and his soldiers, thereby saving the child's life. In the caucasian circle the readers will notice that the characters names are very different and not what you would normally here nowadays, this was because some characters didn't even have proper names such as Fat Prince and was only named this way according to their rank and importance. People with more better names such as Grusha was most probably more important than the fat prince since she has an actual name instead of a description. We played the scene where Grusha has the baby and Simon finds out, we set the stage where I was on one side facing in a diagonal direction and the same for Simon on the other side, this way the audience will see we have no emotional connection and this to the audience would be obscure which is always a good thing, this way they would get more detached. Also while we were performing since we could not see eachother, we would portray how we felt through our gestures and also whenever we had to speak in third person we would walk up to the stage and narrate, since I was also the singer who was used to pass time and also sings the words as he narrates the story, whenever we narrated we would walk to the front and in the middle of the stage, to break character. I actually enjoyed doing this performance, it was easier for me to do than the first time, but at the same time there's always room for improvement and I think I could have memorized my lines more and made my gestures more bigger to show how I felt.

Brecht Quotes

IB THEATER QUOTES ON BRECHT & EPIC THEATER

BRECHT ON BEING A WRITER

“I am a playwright. I would actually like to have been a cabinetmaker, but of course you don’t earn enough doing that.”

Brecht is trying to imply that in the past he wanted to be a cabinetmaker, since maybe at the time they made more ‘money’ than I playwright did. However, now he realizes that because he is a playwright a cabinetmaker does not earn ‘enough’, materialistically in terms of money yes, but not in the case of being a playwright where you write and direct plays that make the audience question and think instead of it being an entertainment.

BRECHT ON THEATRE

"Human beings go to the theatre in order to be swept away, captivated, impressed, uplifted, horrified, moved, kept in suspense, released, diverted, set free, set going, transplanted from their own time, and supplied with illusions. It is not an art at all unless it does so." “There is nothing so interesting on stage as a man trying to get a knot out of his shoelaces.”

Brecht quotes that most humans go to theatre expecting to be entertained and be blown away by performances, but Brecht believes that this is not real art. He thinks that a lot comes from just a man trying to get a knot out of his shoelaces, meaning Brecht uses a different style than most playwrights who usually hope to make the audience engage and get emotionally attached with the actors, however in Brecht’s case this is not what he tries to accomplish. He wants people to question the actions of the actors on stage, why they do certain things a specific way etc, because behind every action it symbolizes an important message that Brecht tries to convey through his actors and usually what he despises or recent events that occurred during that time ex. Capitalism.

BRECHT ON EPIC THEATRE

“The epic theatre is chiefly interested in the attitudes which people adopt towards one another, wherever they are socio-historically significant. It works out scenes where people adopt attitudes of such a sort that the social laws under which they are acting spring into sight. The concern of the epic theatre is thus eminently practical."

Brecht states that epic theatre is highly about the actors working together to portray a significant message to the audience to make them realize an issue that’s taking place and how serious it is, who it affects and how it affects them and what they can do about it, without getting emotionally attached to the actors, but changing the audience attitudes towards things. Brecht’s goal was to make the audience leave the room with them still thinking about the significance of the play, the purpose most of the time were social issues and how they can contribute to make it better.

BRECHT ON EMPATHY

“If in art an appeal is made to the emotions it means reason has to be switched off.”

Since Brecht did epic theatre which was different to dramatic theatre, in epic theatre the actors were not allowed to get expressively attached to their characters otherwise this will then enable the audience to also feel emotions when watching the performance which then leads to entertainment, this Brecht did not want. This quote refers to the actors and how art is made to be seen and the emotions are still present but sometimes have to get detached and not get too involved by playing the character that’s assigned.

BRECHT ON ART

“Art is not a mirror with which to reflect reality, but a hammer with which to shape it.”

Brecht uses art to symbolize his directing of a play. The art being the performance which does not always reflect about reality but rather uses the hammer being the actors and act as an ensemble to demonstrate the matter that is ongoing, all the things on stage helps to depict and form the vital message across to the audience.

BRECHT ON ACTORS

“Epic Theatre is an extremely artistic affair hardly thinkable without artists of virtuosity, imagination, humor and fellow-feeling.”

In epic theatre actors are not allowed to play their character in great depth that they get attached to it, but rather have characters with intelligence and imagination that can take on the challenge of them being this character that they have to be drawn away from most of the time and using gestures to portray what they want to depict rather than facial expressions, the actors have to use alienation devices to make a fourth wall between them and the audience in order for them not to engage too much.

An Actors Encyclopedia

Most acting teachers will make students study and practice the ideas of Stanislavski since he was a great Russian director and acting teacher. The ideas and techniques he used will benefit students later on when acting or performing, it will give them more to think about when playing their characters. I think it was a good idea for Stanislavski to first let his actors observe and imitate other actors that worked on stage to comprehend of what is expected. He also created a book and recorded all his approaches to acting which I think is a great opportunity for actors to use and should take advantage of it and embrace new methods that will help them. What I realized about Stanislavski is that he is more focused on an actor's emotions since he believes that an actors ability to find emotional truth. He's attention towards his actors are their internal thoughts and feelings which bring them out to be real actors. Even though Stanislavski paid more attention to the emotional and mental aspect of acting, I appreciate him for also turning towards physical actions and vocal expression, which he considered reliable part in acting aswell. One of the directors called Lee Strasberg embraced Stanislavski's techniques and use it to work with actors and their emotional memory. I noticed members develop their own theories but at the same time continued to refer back to Stanislavski's techniques. I think it's important for directors to look for sources and ther things to benefit their actors on their improvement and help them with acting, to make it more believable for an audience. There are a list of terms which are commonly used today to help actors to acknowledge the term more and to get a better understanding of what it is and what is expected.

Acting: I agree with the statement that acting is the behaviour that is believable. In order for an audience to believe in what an actor is doing an actor must believe in themselves first. An audience will accept an act, if the actor knows what he is trying to accomplish or knows what he is doing to make it as believable as possible, an audience will believe anything aslong as the actor is portrayin it well with the right gestures and facial expressions. It's important for an actor to know their character well and get familiar with their surroundings inorder for them to carry out their role.

Actions: I think Actions are important they are a series of events that occur throughout a play, normally the significant events that happen for example a conflict. I believe it's important for an audience to have an understanding of the plot which is essential for an audience to follow an order so that they can keep up with the character. Following a characters characterization and analysing them is known as a journey, where the characters change from beginning to end by the look of their communication, physica actions and the way they respond and approach to certain situations. Actors should keep this term in mind, since it's vital for an audience to know when a character transitions from what they were into something different, so that it makes more sense and it will affect their surroundings aswell. When actors are acting on stage I suppose they should always have an objective in mind which reflect their needs and what their aim is, there should be bonds between actions and specific reasons as to why the actors are doing what they are assigned to do. Often in conflicts characters are trying to gain something from the other character. What I love about actions is the beauty of acting sometimes actors won't know what they are trying to pursue yet to the audience they create an illusion as if they know what they are doing.

Beginnings, middles and ends- When acting actors should follow a specific pattern to make the play more believeable. I think actors can differentiate a beginning from a middle and an end by for example having a freezing moment and then beginning the action or having an impulse to do the action, actors have to find the need to do something for a purpose. We all physically show what we are going to do and how we feel before speaking. An audience can always tell by physical movement what is expected to happen next.

Blocking- I consider this term to be one of the most important, since it can tell a lot about a character. When acting there are certain rules when playing characters. The audience has to be able to see the characters face, a character can turn at a 45 degree angle but not more than that, otherwise an audience would only have a view of a side profile which is not as powerful as seeing their actualy facial expressions. Whenever an actor turns their body immediately voice projection is lost. Physical action is also associated with blocking, it explains what type of person the character is like.

Character- I deem it's imperative for a person to know their characters inside and out. Internally by really focusing on the characters emotions and state of being, while externally portraying the characters with makeup and costume. Even if the actor is playing opposite to what they really are, it's important for them to research them or maybe even ask a person who has been in similar situations that your character is playing. With practice actors habitually inhabit their characters from head to toe, actors also have important choices to make when playing a character, asking questions like how would they feel if this happend etc.

Choices- I think this is a difficuly aspect to follow, for actors to constantly make choices for their character. In real life we make decisions for ourselves where as acting they have to make choices for how their character is like, their needs and wants. They need to make choices inorder to portray their character as best as possible for an audience to really get a feel of their character and can even maybe relate to them. Whenever I act, I always ask myself questions, which I think most actors do themselves too if they are unaware of what to do. Actors should be mostly influenced by positive choices.

Conflict- I believe conflicts always draw the attention of an audience towards the play more, the audience would too then get involved and also ask questions like what's going to happen next etc. They want to know more about what's going to happen next, they are asking for more. An audience is always interested in a climax or conflict between characters it garuntees them a play worth watching.

Emotional Memory/ Truth- I really love using this term in acting, because I do this myself and it really helps me. It's where when actors are not sure of the characters they are playing, they need to think or recall a memory of when they were for example sad or frustrated. It would bring back a lot of feelings and it would almost be as if you are reliving it all over again in the moment. But it's important not to just think about it emotionally but also how your body responded to the problem at that time. Actors have to find their emotions deep in themselves and it has to be honest and come from them and should be controlled through physical actions. It's tough for actors to focus on both physically and emotionally portraying their characters because usually we only think about the emotional state.

Gesture- Gestures are essential movements and I think are noteworthy for actors, every move they make it tells something about their character. It will confirm to the audience about a characters attitude and communications to other characters and also the surroundings they are placed in. With practice, gestures will become natural once your body inhabits the character, your body will just speak through gestures.

Given circumstances- Is significant because actors are always thrown with decisions and choices to make, which I think is a tough situation but as the actors progress into their characters it will just come naturally. There are different ways of saying or portraying certain actions for it to make sense. But with the help of the mood and setting it makes the choices much smaller.

The Magic If- I love this strategy of Stanislavski's technique. I always or try and do something similar to this. When an actor is having trouble knowing what their character will do next, they normally ask 'if' questions which I think is very clever and a suitable exercise. What would I do if I were to do this character in this situation. Actors always have to put themselves in someone elses shoes, to get what the character will do physically and emotionally. Also the magic if can help with making choices too.

Physical Actions- I believe physical actions say more about a character than vocal expression, because an audience can autmatically realize if something is wrong by the way the actor is expressing himself through thier body postures. It's always good to portray the action as best as you can, to make it clear to the audience what you're trying to do or say. Sometimes people exagorate the action but surely the actors will learn to control it.

Risk- Taking risks is what I think acting is all about, I believe it's a way of making acting more interesting yet challenging for actors. Some actors are left with big choices to decide upon. Watching a fascinating act will become more memorable to the audience and make them think more rather than just sitting and watching the entertainment. Actors have to do what's best for their character, even if they get stuck, they should improvise with other characters or their surroundings so it won't look awkward.

Sense Memory- I think it's essential to have a great imagination when acting on stage, because you never know what might be thrown at you. It's important to know your senses, taste, touch, smell and sight and you always have to be alert about when to use it on stage. Actors have to become very familiar with their senses inorder to expose what they're doing or feeling. For example cooking and smelling food, actors have to enhance the smell of deliciously cooked food. Rather than just making it up on the spot, it's better to use a personal memory of when you smelt, touched, heard or saw a certain things to make it easier on the actors, and a bold memory will certainly stick out. I think it's difficult for actors to try and communicate that to an audience and making it make sense at the same time.

Transition- This is where actors transition what they're doing from one thing to another and also how they feel from one emotion to another. I believe it's hard for actors to find the right moment to do so and also physicall transforming so it can be evident to the audience that it's taking place. Sometimes you really have to expand on the action inorder for the audience to see a transitional phrase happening. I think it's a great opportunity to show an audience who you were and what you're trying to become by expressing it through physical movement and emotionally. The rapid switch from one emotion to another sensation will also draw in the characters. I find this really hard to do, because I need to think about what my character will do next and actors just have to go with the flow and do it straight away without thinking about it too much, actors have to be part of their characters always, to make it easier on them to do certain things. The playwrights intentions should be well understood to adapt choice making skills.

Pitch

Taken from the music piece Mussorgsky, the section becomes more than just a sound to your ears but transforms and emerges into a “Tough Love” situation.  A state of affairs that examines between love, trust and betrayal, three very strong but diverse emotions.  These powerful sensations sometimes work against and from time to time toil together. “Tough Love” will certainly magnetize those who have encountered struggles involving trickery and despondency. The word ‘tough’ definitely applies to those who can take on a gripping journey.

Partakers in “Tough Love” should be ready to protect their fragile hearts and well-informed minds to fight against despair and hatred.  Participants must be prepared to face the challenges, when things are not as they appear to be sending emotions intertwining causing relationships to disrupt between loved and close ones. In pursuit of the piece of Othello by the one and only William Shakespeare, following the story’s outline and reoccurring themes of tragedy and jealousy, which occurs within a married couple and close friends.  One who’s sly will find a way to change another’s mind with the help of his engaging talk and fiddly strategies. The puppet master has his connections on his fingertips and has the potential to turn things from superior to dire, by just the adjustment of appearance, to alter things his way.

“Tough Love” is an example of the use of the natural world and how humans perceive things at times, which aren’t always true. With one poisoning and toying with bonds, the final result could be lethal and could remain having a taste their own medicine.

Directing scenes and being directed

The first play I was chosen to be in was Our Town directed by Morcom. Morcom explained my character to me, I was playing Mrs. Gibbs who was Emily's husbands mother. A person who suggests the importance of seizing the opportunities life presents, rather than waiting for things to happen. Mostly all the characters present in this play were dead. Morcom set out the stage the way he wants it to be and placed us in our positions, he explained to all of us how our expression has to be lifeless in order t represent the dead so that the audience can understand. We all sat on chairs being our graves and infront of us were our gravestones. When Morcom set us out that way, I could see what he was trying to accomplish. We did a run through and he pointed out some mistakes, he told us really what he was looking for in each character, it was the most play we had to run through to get all the little details right. What was really hard to maintain was the tone and facial expressions, since we are so used to smiling and really feeling our character, but with this it was different, all our emotions had to be something we weren't used to, very gentle and still. We had to keep our body postures straight as well and not move, losing character will ruin everything for the audience and they won't know what we are suppose to be. Except for some parts either I or Nour being Emily said, he would tell us to emphasis it or vary our tone since some parts had importance that needed to stand out, even Emily at some stages could get up and talk. I got over the difficulties by just practicing and kept my composure and got myself into this serious mood, which aloud me to not be as energetic as I usually am.


I was also chosen for Mamma Mia directed by Asceal and Nour. I was a character named Donna who was the main character Sophie's mother. This character was very much opposite to Mrs. Gibbs with her being lifeless now I have to be very lively and full of energy, which is someone that I am like so I was very excited to play this character. Nour and Asceal had a lot of ideas on what to do for the play, they told us our positions. I could see they were thrilled about this play. They told us what to do for each character, Donna being the main character in this scene, she sings and dances. When I heard that I had to sing at first I thought oh no, I'm not a good singer but then I just lip sang for the formative because at the time I was not very confident with my singing, but then when it came down to the summative I got so into it and loosened up and actually sang the song, I thought I could do this since I did Annie, I rather enjoyed myself more than I thought I would. I loved playing her character, even though she was a mother she still acted like a teenager in the sense that she is always hyped up and goes crazy when meeting her friends she hasn't seen for a long time, just like teenagers would. She is doing everything she can to make Sophie's wedding spectacular. There wasn't any specific choreography, we just danced on our own and in our own ways. The directors told me while the piano is playing I should sit with my legs crossed on the piano all sexy like, which I thought was a smart concept and I also enjoyed doing it. Overall, I think I could have improved my dancing more, I don't really like dancing infront of people unless I know what I'm doing and I have the final product ready.


The last play I was asked to be in was Twelve Angry Men directed by Max. Since it's about jurors who are in a jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. It's a case that soon becomes dramatic and turns into a mini drama due to each of the jurors preconceptions about the trial. I was chosen to be juror number 2, he is a quiet and meek character who finds it difficult to maintain an independent opinion. He always contributes to the discussions and states side comments which become useful to the other jurors. I did not like playing this character because he was very shy and did not speak a lot, which I am the opposite of and I wasn't used to it. I overlooked this issue by just reacting to what other jurors were saying with my facial expressions. Max set up the stage as if we were in a courtroom and I got that feel straight away after there was tension between certain jurors. I could see he did not take a lot of time to think about this play, however he seemed very interested. He did not comment a lot on how we looked like with facial expression but told specific jurors on what to do if they had a part to get up, walk or fight with each other. At the end I was just reacting to what the jurors were arguing about. I wasn't as comfortable, but I wouldn't mind doing it again.

Lauren and I directed Look Homeward Angel, we chose the scene where Bens death occured since it was the most active and chaotic. There is a lot of actions and emotions involved which we thought would be an advantage for the people playing the different characters. We set up the stage so that on the right side is where Bens bedroom is and on the left side there's a porch, an illusion we created to make 2 different locations come together and still tell a story. We chose Max to play Ben because we thought he'd suit the character, he didn't have to do much besides acting sick and weak. Asceal played Bens Mom who was the very dramatic person in the situation always wondering and worrying about Ben. Nour played his sister who was always panicing about Ben as well making sure he is okay and doing what she can to help. Amal was the doctor her character was very calming and queit, we assigned Colin to be the dad since we know he has a loud voice and big character and knew he would do this part well. Morcom played Bens brother, he nurtured his mother and makes sure she is always okay and comforting her. Su yin played Fatty who was currently in a relationship with Ben and was by his side. Yashoda had the role of playing Bens sister. Outside the porch there were chairs where the family would sit down and wait for the doctor to finish up with Ben who was just lying down all sick. We told the characters their role and how they should react and where they should go at what time, the most occuring problem was the blocking, because at certain times the characters would just stand and look awkward, we told them to loosen up and imagine they are in a state where a close relative was about to die how would they react. Because at first they were not reacting enough to what was going on, we gave them some advice and encouraged them to be sad and mad and find it in themselves to imagine what they would feel like. Directing is not as hard as I thought, you just have to give orders to the characters and say what you want from them because you want them to play the character well. It get's frustrated when the characters don't play up to your expectations, you have to push them sometimes but not in a mean way just helping them. Make sure everyone is doing what you told them to do to make the scene just the way you want it to be.

Doll House Scene

I did a Doll's house scene with Max and Suyin, we chose the scene where Mrs. Linde was paying Nora a visit at her home with the presence of Dr. Rank. I chose to play the character of Mrs. Linde because I knew she was a sophisticated person and I like playing mature people. At the beginning of this scene Nora and Mrs. Linde talk about Krogstad and Mrs. Linde seems very intereseted in him and what's going on in his life.In this scene mainly Dr. Rank and Nora are discussing eachothers perception about society that are very different from one another. Half of the time, Mrs. Linde is just listening in to what both of them have to say and see if anything unusual or interesting is said, she takes notes of everything. Playing Mrs. Linde was queit an easy characte to play since the genre of the play is realism it gives us an advantage to just play normal people and it's not anything bizarre. For Mrs. Lindes character I had to act her age very grown up, mature and classy. I also had to adjust my tone to make it sound more of an adult rather than a teenager but also have variations because we don't say everything the same way at the same time. While Dr. Rank and Nora were having a conversation, I let them talk and only had little to say especially when it came to something shocking. Majority of the time I just reacted with my facial expressions and was always being really kind to Dr. Rank since I needed someone to help me find a job. At first for the formative we didn't use any props on stage, then for the summative we used them and it made a huge difference, it brought the scene more to life and made it look more realistic, we all felt more comfortable too and it brought out our characters more like Max having cruches for Dr. Rank. What I thought I could have improved would be the projection of my voice like Mrs. Morris mentioned, since Dr. Ranks voice was so weak and soft, Nora and myself could have sounded much louder, so that the audience can tell the difference about how healthy we are and how sick Dr. Rank is.

Annie Production

On December 6th and 7th it was time to perform Annie.We got dressed had our makeup and hair done, I think putting on costumes is one of the fun things to enjoy and embrace in a production. I liked the feeling of getting pampered. I was not as nervous but while we were getting dressed and putting on makeup I felt butterflies in my stomach, I was just thinking whether this was a good thing or not. Then after everyone got dressed and had their hair and makeup done we had a group meeting. Luckily Mrs. Morris told us that we should be nervous, because everything you've been working so hard for is being performed infront of an audience for the first time, when you're nervous all your energy comes out and everything you say and do is projected better. Before the performance I went up to my group the mansion chorus and just told them all the little tips not to forget, such as smiling and facial expressions work together as a team etc just to give some encouragement. As the show began I just tried my best to be positive and just knew that we didn't just do all this work for nothing and now it's time to show the audience what we are made of and what a spectacular show we are going to put on. I was up in scene one, going behind the curtains I could see how many people there were I started to get scared but I didn't want to dissapoint myself and everyone just because I was nervous. My newspaper character was up first, I waited for Yashoda to finish her lines and then I went on and did mine, with so many people I tried to project my voice as loud as possible and was smiling my biggest. I then saw my parents and wanted to do them proud so I held my head up high and did my part. I strolled through the audience offering newspapers, at times it was awkward when people looked at me and didn't know whether to take it or not, but I just did my best and smiled. Afterwards I had to change quickly into my second costume which was the dress for the mansion chorus. I waited for the curtains to close, and because I had a sense of how big the audience was I was not as shy anymore. I stood behind the curtain frozen, as it opened I had my note book and wrote down some notes since I was a busy bee, Drake and Mrs. Pugh we were all close discussing things for Warbucks arrival. I wore a floral dress with an apron and black ballet shoes and my hair was in a bun. When it came to the dancing we were all synchronized and on time, I was more positive I think we did a great job since before we were always practicing in our groups trying to revise the moves making it right. What I thought was thought-provoking was to remember all the little details that I had to do such as turning on the pillar lights when it's Christmas, setting up the table, getting the presents and bring on the champagne glasses. The scene I liked most was the Christmas scene because I liked how everyone was full of joy and very cheerful, it even felt so realistic that it seemed like Christmas already. At first the Christmas scene was the hardest for the mansion chorus to do since we had problems with bringing on the Christmas tree it kept leaning or the decorations kept falling off. But in the actual production we pulled through and the most important part was working as a team, because when preparing an even things will go wrong and the audience would think it's part of the act for the servants to quickly fix things. In this scene I was standing with all my friend servants at a cocktail table improvising, while Annie's parents came to visit, it was tough improvising and not spectating the play. But we had to act as if we were busy talking with each other so we won't get distracted. The first day of the production the audience was much more lively and there were more adults meaning they laughed more and got the small jokes, which made us feel good. However the second day I thought our energy was not as good since the audience people this time were mostly children with adults, so they didn't laugh as much, but Mrs. Morris said we looked more natural and that to her it was perceived better. To me it felt like since we already had one performance the second time we would know what to expect. I enjoyed how the play ended with a song, it's a memorable moment for the audience to remember us by, when singing or dancing. I strived to keep my facial expressions bouncy and energetic. I was really proud of everyone and we made a big success. After the productions I just kept on getting good compliments from people and teachers which was a great sign and made me feel incredible. I learned a lot from this experience and hope to do it again in the future.

Annie Notes

I tried out for the Annie because I thought it would be an impeccable opportunity to experience onstage acting. I love to act but I've never done so on stage infront of a crow or audience so I knew this would be a great chance to. When it came to the auditions I originally tried out for an orphan and I also sang which was so nerve wrecking because I did not have a good voice. Overall I did not get that part I wanted however I did get a lead in the mansion chorus which I was very happy and surprised about. I felt so joyful just to be in the musical and felt honored. Reherseals started and at first we would just stay from 3 to 4 going through lines, memorizing songs and getting to know the people who we will be working with. I recognized a couple of people who were staring in the play, but I was not very close to them. After a couple of weeks from staying afterschool we got the songs memorized and practiced them with Mr. Winograd, we then started to run through the lines with some movement. That took us about a month and then we stayed afterschool from 3 to 5 practicing Act 1 with the scenes but only the main characters. By this time we were already on stage going through the scenes. My character was Mrs. Greer one of the main servants in the mansion chorus, she's a rather old lady who nurtures Annie and loves her like she's her child. And so when she hears that Annie's parents have come for her, she starts crying. She has a very bubbly character and is always prompt when Miss Grace or Mr. Warbucks calls. She cleans the mansion making sure it's spik and span and is in charge of all the other servants and having them do duties too. She loves her job and working for Mr. Warbucks, she's always happy and smiling. Being her character was simple and hard at the same time. I can relate to her character since I am a smiling happy person most of the time, but being in character as a servant was difficult. I always had to move around with my duster or notepad and pen joting down notes and collaborating with my close friend Mrs. Pugh who was in charge of cooking and confirm with head assistant Drake if everything is alright. It was hard at first getting into mode, I'm always up for a challenge I like doing things outside my comfort zone, I had to pu my mind to the aim as if I was working for someone famous and I want to do a good job. Sometimes even if I wasn't in the mood to practice it's all about acting, you have to pretend you are having fun and having a good time, that way the audience will believe your character by the way you're acting it out. I loved playing her character, I think I suited her well and enjoyed being her. The one thing that was also a difficult was that when we had to change scenes and get our props ready. We had to make sure they are in place inorder for us to get them in time. Dancing was also involved which I love, but the choreography we learnt was more of a ballet style that I also found hard at first, the moves were very fast and elegant, I'm more of a hip hop dancer girl but. But practice makes perfect so eventually I got the hang of it and started to enjoy it and make the best out of it, I think the dance suited the servants good since we are quick and choppy yet graceful which I liked. As an ensemble we sometimes had difficulties with some people who were behind or couldn't get the steps right, we made sure everyone caught up and worked well as a group. The singing was the one thing I was having most trouble with, since I knew I was not a very good singer, however with an ensemble, I was more confident. And because we practiced so much with the singing and always had good vocal warm ups it, I started realizing that I'm not as bad as a singer than I thought I was. Just with the right amount of practice, I managed to pull myself through and also the people who I was singing with I got really close with, which made me feel comfortable. The only problem with singing was that we really had to project our voices since the walls and all the audience absorbs our voices making us sing much louder. Another role I played was a newspaper person, I did not like playing this character as much as I liked Mrs. Greer because I could relate to her personality more. It was hard to imagine myself as being a newspaper person, with the way I dressed, all brown and beige with a cap which I wasn't used to at all, so it took me some time to adjust, with Mrs. Greer atleast she had a bit of style and colour. I kept thinking of how awkward my character is because I go on stage with my apple selling friend and just shout newspapers, newspaper, wallstreet journal new york times for sale 10 cents each. I kept thinking what am I doing, this is not me. But then again it's all about acting, as long as I believe in myself the audience will too. I never hated the part I played, I can never, acting is all about facing your fears. There’s never a time where one is not active and involved in the process of performing. There must always be a purpose for one to be on stage, whether it’s to act, for movement or even filling up space. By practicing my character more and more I started to get more confident in myself. I overcame being doubtful by really seeing the audience as being part of New York, with the help of the buildings on the side and lights I imagened walking the streets of New York and because I had an apple selling partner it made things easier for me and felt more realistic, we communicated and were close friends since our jobs were selling things. At the end of the two month practice I thought we improved a lot from when we first started as a cast, we stayed after from 3 to 6 and on Thursdays, however Mrs. Morris and Miss Denley still seemed frustrated somehow. I mean we memorized all the songs and lines, but then I realized they were just stressed and was just pushing us to do our best and get us to act at our best ability. I could understand from their point of view that they just didn't want to embaress us infront of an audience if we are not capable of doing our best. I'm so happy that they forced all these long hours of practice because when it was a week away from the performance I thought we were a million times better than we ever were and knew we were ready to perform, there is always room for improvement. I've never been in a play or musical before so I was certainly surprised by the amount of hours and effort you really had to commit too. They are such good directors and wouldn't have had it any other way.

Stanislavski Prac Work

One of Stanislavski's methods to train his actors was called 'emotional recall' it's based on the concept of emotional memory for which an actor focuses internally to portray a character's emotions onstage. It requires actors to call on personal memories of situations similar to those of their characters, to get the sense of what their character's would feel like not only emotionally but how it affects their body physically. For this exercise I decided to be a character who is frustrated, an emotion I do not show as much to the public but comes out when I'm alone. To accomplish being frustrated I took myself back in time to a situation where I was really upset, confused and sad, all mixed emotions. What triggered my mind was when my grandpa passed away when I was young around 11 years old. What frustrated me the most was how I knew my grandpa was sick but not dying. My family did not confess to me that he was on his way to be with God, instead they acted normal around me, I was confused and did not know what was going on. The memory came to me so vividly it was like I relived that moment again, I used to go visit my grandpa in the hospital by just looking at him through the window doors, he knew I was there. He was situated in a special room for very sick people and children were prohibited in the room and could not enter. I remember so clearly I was just standing there thinking how am I suppose to tell him I love him, can't I just hold his hand for a bit? All these thoughts started running through my mind, I just knew I had to see him even if it was  for the last time. I caught myself in a dilemma, I started contemplating whether I should just run in there and hug him or not go inside and feel sorry for myself and live with regret. Staring through the window I checked if anyone was around, it seemed clear, so I made a run for it. I just ran inside, held his hand remembering it was ice cold, he looked down at me and smiled. I had maybe 10 seconds to spare until I saw a nurse shouting at me and running towards me, so I quickly kissed him on the cheek and said I love you. Not long later, two nurses came and struggled to get me out of the room with all my shouting and crying and shrugging. At first this exercise was really hard to do, firstly everyone just straight away started emotionally warming up, I heard from other peers screaming, excitement and anger. I did the same, slowly but surely recalled the memory and started to emotionally feel mad and sad which was the more easier part, but one thing that was a challenge for me was to also act physically with body movement. I had to keep on practicing them both, because I'd find myself doing one but not the other. Eventually after maybe 10-15 minutes I felt the frustration really building up in me, so I started from the bottom. I crouched down on my knees, and put my head down and really thought about it and just let my body speak. Afterwards my hands started to thump on the floor and I slowly rose up stomping my feet and looking down, I found myself jumping up and down with anger, my hands turned into fists and bit by bit, I started to sense my feelings overpowering me. I continued to stomp my feet and make noises with my mouth closed and just my teeth showing almost like a growling sound, I just heard it getting louder and louder. I really felt myself getting goosebumps and turning red, not long after it just poured out everything I held in I just shouted out really loudly, with that came tears which led to crying. After the exercise I felt so relieved and good, I was still tearing though, but I don't mind crying I love it, I think it's really great way to drench your body with all the
emotions sticking inside a person. Screaming is not normally my way of getting my feelings across I usually write poems but physically and emotionally this exercise felt amazing to just empty yourself and dispose of all the negative feelings that's jared up to just let go. I had overcome my difficulties by just really giving deep thought about how I felt that time and place since I remember it so clearly and I just let my mind wonder and my body speak. This exercise was very helpful for me and gave me a lot of tips and tricks on how you can achieve a character you're not usually like. I admire Stanislavski for using this technique to help his actors because it really helped me too. This will certainly be useful for upcoming acting. Another method Stanislavski used was to place his actors on chairs and make them look down at first and to also think about and recall a memory and how it made them feel like at the time then look up and hold your emotion. I did not practice this exercise however my peer Colin showed us his emotional recall. By sitting in a chair face down, he thought of a memory in the past or even recently and not long after held up his head, froze and held his emotion. We were all trying to guess what he felt like, most of us thought he was frustrated or mad because his face was so red but all of a sudden he started to tear and that was a sign of sadness. At the end he was sad because he had a tragic loss of a loved one who passed away. I can relate to his feelings, since a similar situation happend to myself. The exercise looked even harder than the previous one because this time you had to hold in your emotion,inorder for the audience to understand how and what you're feeling in that moment. This method will be really hard for me because I'm all about letting everything out just to feel better already. Both of his methods are really good guiding techniques on how to characterize the character you aren't fimiliar with or are the opposite of.

Quotes

1.           This quote refers to an actor and how there’s never a time where one is not active and involved in the process of performing. There must always be a purpose for one to be on stage, whether it’s to act, for movement or even filling up space.

2.            This quote states that all the actions that occur on stage must be done with reason, there has to be an explanation as to why the actor is doing it. The action has to have a cause and motive. The actor acts like a driving force to complete the action with purpose. The actions occurring must contain logic in order to follow a specific pattern so that the audience can still believe the act through the imaginary belief that the actor portrays. Being coherent is associated with being logical. An action should include logical, justification and coherent to be able to achieve the act the actor is trying to accomplish.

3.            This quote mentions that actors have to commit to their thinking ability and rely mostly on their visual encouragement in order for them to improve and develop the skill of imagination; actors should go through a visualized flashback, to connect with their thoughts.

4.            This quote discusses how actors need to practice methods to allow their bodies to rest in order for their imagination to grow and so that they can realize their inner selves when acting. This could help actors build a more powerful imagination when playing a character. Actors should learn to hold their emotions and believe in them, to put on a more realistic act. Also if an actor is playing a character they don’t normally act like, actors could ask a person who has been in a similar situation and ask them how it feels like, so that actors can get a clear idea on how to act it out.

 

5.             This quote I think is saying how when actors try and be as real as the character they’re playing, they are not acting in the moment. I think the use of their emotional memory can’t make you act, but only make you live what you once felt. Instead of acting ‘real’ actors actually talk from the heart and what they’ve been through, that way they can connect more with their emotions and yet play the character. Instead of playing the character’s feeling, the actors play their own it’s important to know how they felt at the time.

 

6.             This quote deliberates how actors may be able to distinguish the rhythms of their roles  and themselves, but in most cases is that actors working together will fall into another actor’s rhythm, often the slowest, and this makes for a dull performance.  He draws attention to the strength of stillness, which in itself is a tempo-rhythm, and how that can be contrasted with rapid movement by other characters in the same scene. Different rhythms can indicate huge insights and differences into the characters and their make-up.