Run through of Act 1 and 2

Today we did a run through of Act 1 through to the end of Act 2. I felt this went very well. Throughout the run I understood my characters more and I understood what they were trying to say and why. We are all starting to understand the story more and what happens within it.

I feel like the Alpha Course scene needs to be worked on a bit more. We all need to have bigger voices and I think we all need to understand the relevance of that scene within the plot of the narrative. I am starting to really understand my character, Terry, in this scene but I want to work on the relationships with the other members of the Alpha Course.

I know that I need to familiarise myself with the scene changes and what needs to be done, as it will make the transitions smoother. To be able to do the changes with a confidence and accuracy behind it would really help the play run smoother and look slicker.

I fully understand what my character feels within the Sir Christopher scene and I understand what my character is saying and why. I can afford to use my voice more within this scene and I would like to work on my relationship with the Sir Christopher’s. I think this scene has really progressed from when we first explored it but I feel as if we could all afford to increase the pressure within the scene and realise what the scene is actually about, and play that.

So far I think we are all at great level of performance. I think we work really well as an ensemble and are all starting to understand the play at a deeper level and how each of our characters fit into it. I want to go back to my script and work on the inner messages of my character and find the pressure that pushes my characters to do what they do.

New Theatre run through

Today we did a full run through in the theatre. I think that we have performed at a higher level than the level we performed at. From this rehearsal we now know what we need to work on.

We need to keep the pressure up on stage. The play has a lot of high pressure scenes and we need to work harder to keep this underlying pressure up throughout the play. We also all need to be louder, as it is easy to get lost in that space. We need to close the gaps in between the scenes, by making the transitions overlap.  By doing this it will create a bigger impact on the audience as they won’t have the chance to dowse off during the performance, we will keep them on their toes. We also need to directly interact with each other and talk into each other a lot more. This means that the scenes will have a whole other dimension to them and will bring each scene to life.

From this rehearsal we found out that the play is about blinding ourselves from the truth of life and how we are all trying to find happiness. Now we know this, we need to show it at a deeper level and relate this to the inner workings of our characters. This run through was very useful as we now know what we need to work on, and we are more used to the space. I feel like in this run through I lost the inner workings of my characters a bit as I was not used to the space. Next time we run the play I think we will have a deeper understanding of the play and now we can start to play around and explore 13.

Full run through of 13

Today we did a complete run through of 13. It went very well, everyone knew what they were doing and I think we have a great piece. There are some details that we need to work on, for example, the riot scene at the end and certain scenes. But overall I think it is a great piece. I think we all portray the themes of the play and we have made the message very clear for the audience. I think it will affect the audience in a very strong and poignant way and I cannot wait to really get it on its feet.

I feel like I am starting to click more with my character Leah and I understand who she is and what she thinks like a lot more.

Act 4 and 5

Today we blocked the end of the play, from the beginning of Act 4. Seeing this last section was interesting as through reading the play the ending seemed very emotional but I wasn’t sure how we would make it work on stage. But from seeing it be played out it does work. The scene before the ending is the riot scene so the quick change in pace looks great. It goes from being panicked and quick to calm. It creates more emotional emphasis.

We also blocked Act 4, Scene 8, which is the scene between Steph, Ruth and John. We tried many different ideas for how the rest of us stand during the scene; looking up at the three of them, mingling. But the idea that worked was the rest of us looking out and up at the audience. We’re looking up as if we’re trying to find the answers. When Ruth says “even for you” we start to sing “Be one of the technological age” and “De-de-de-de fences-fences de-de fences against – nature, nature, nature”. This created a great atmosphere and added an extra detail to the scene.

Seeing this last half of our play has made me excited for the performance. What we have is really strong and I feel it has good strong messages and themes behind it.

Run through from beginning

Today we did a run through of the play from the beginning, including all the physical sections we created. It has started to feel more like a full play now. I think this is because we are all starting to learn our lines more and the physical scenes really help to create the flow that we have been missing throughout the rehearsals.

We need to keep the pressure up throughout the play. The way to do this is to figure out our own personal pressures. More pressure and urgency is needed in the Alpha Course scene, Act 1, Scene 12, and the Sir Christopher scene, Act 2, Scene 7.

We worked well today and I think we are starting to get this show up on its feet. It’s starting to come together and I feel like it is going to work really well. I feel as if we are starting to show the main themes of the play across.

Physical Theatre sections

Today we created our physical theatre pieces within the play.

We started off by creating the dream sequence. We moved around the space exploring our whole bodies. We then started to push our hand away whenever we touched a part of our body. We then all had different ideas in our heads. My one was the fear of closing your eyes and not being able to distinguish between what was a dream and was reality. With this idea in our heads we carried on exploring our bodies. It was very interesting doing this as it felt like a very spiritual thing and it was very interesting to explore.

The 12 then carried on doing this dotted around the space. Watching it from the sides was fascinating. It visually looks very impressive and poignant. The movements of the 12 naturally had some kind of journey that they created. There were moments when certain people would move at the same time, or someone would bend down as someone else on the opposite side would stand up. All of this was very effective and the atmosphere that was created really did feel like they were trapped in a nightmare. I noticed that it looked even more effective when they were all faced in different directions.

We then created the party scene at the end of Act 1. The idea behind this was that it was a student street party; we had all found a place to party after the protest. A group of us come on and start the party then the 12 come on and join in. The 12 have this idea that they are remembering a time in the past where they were at a party like this. The combination of us dancing and the 12 wondering around remembering makes the scene look visually very interesting. To me this scene feels more poignant then I thought it would be. It feels quite chaotic and at some moments it almost feels as if we are inside the nightmare.

The next piece we devised was the riot scene at the end of Act 4. At first the idea we explored was that the people around us were the windows we were smashing etc. So we would do these movements at someone and they would carry that ‘injury’ for a while. When we explored it, it didn’t feel like a riot.

The next thing we explored was having 5 different actions. These were:

1. Escaping from something or someone
2. Punching someone
3. Kneeing someone
4. Jumping up and down, shouting
5. Stand still staring at a burning building

We would then explore these movements within the space. Doing this it felt more like a riot then what we had previously explored, but I felt as if we could do a lot more with it. The idea of having a set list of actions to explore worked really well, but I feel we could make the whole section more atmospheric and poignant for the audience.

I think we worked really well today and we have got a lot of great, visually interesting and exciting material. It was a lot of fun creating these sections and I feel it has got us all excited to start running everything together.

Evaluation and grade of myself in rehearsal and evaluation of rehearsals

I would give myself a Merit so far in rehearsals.

This is because I didn't know my lines for a lot of the rehearsals and my focus was not entirely there. I do think that I bring energy when I am on stage, but the energy drops as soon as I leave the stage and I do not give as much focus to my peers as I could. I commit to all my separate characters fully but I don’t feel 100% confident in the physicality of my character Liam/Leah. I have done enough research on what she does and why, I just need to apply it when I am on stage. I feel like I need to work at a deeper level with my objectives, and apply them to the scene at a stronger level. I need to stop switching my energy and focus off when I leave the stage and apply this energy and focus to others to help them and give them offers they can use.

So far in rehearsals I feel as if we could all apply more focus and energy on and off stage. We also need to practice running the whole play more as it still feels like lots of little scenes. We work well as an ensemble when we put our minds to it. We have a strong dynamic as an ensemble we just need to use it more.

Run through of Act 1 and some of Act 2

Today we ran through the whole of Act 1 and part of Act 2. We had a simple version of the box that we were using for our set, which consisted of three wooden beams hinged together. It was quite difficult to get used to this as we are used to being able to use the whole space. It was challenging to have to manoeuvre around the box and to remember that it is there. It was confusing as there are so many changes with the box that I found it difficult to remember what was what. However having the box there was useful as it got as used to having a box in the middle of our space.

We reworked a couple of my scenes. With the Alpha course scene the setting of the chairs has changed so that they are in a V shape, with everyone facing the front. We looked out to the audience as if they were part of the course. This visually looks interesting and also engages the audience within the scene. The scene felt much more natural doing it today, which was weird as the staging of it is so abstract. I felt more natural as I knew my lines better and I felt more confident in my character.

Another scene that was reworked was the scene with the Sir Christopher’s. The scene now takes place within Ruth’s office on the scaffolding. As soon as we took the scene up there it flowed, it was a lot more natural and it felt right. It also opened it up, whereas before, having it in the box made it feel quite closed off and more of a private type of scene. I found myself more comfortable in my character within that scene, as sitting down in a chair felt like a very natural thing for my character to do. The proxemics of me, Rachel and Katie (Leah, Martha and Carol) to Nora, Sacha, Jack and Phoebe (Sir Christopher’s, Dennis and Ruth) created a deeper story. It clearly showed the hierarchy within the meeting, as me, Rachel and Katie were sitting on stage left and the others were sitting or standing on stage right.

Running through the scenes today made the play look a lot more dynamic and I could see more of a narrative occurring. Before it was just a lot of little scenes, now it seems like one narrative with interlinking scenes. I feel a lot more confident about the play after today’s rehearsal as I can see the basis for a great performance. 

Review of 13 Rehersals

I feel that the rehearsals so far are going well, in that we are getting through a lot of scenes. But at the moment I don’t feel like there is enough detail within the scenes. Also lines are an issue, and I feel like everyone, including myself, needs to know their lines and cues better. The focus could be higher, but I feel like as an ensemble we are working well together and that we are all equally as excited for the play and its meanings. At the moment the play does not flow, it feels like a lot of little scenes put together, so this is something we need to work on. Now that we have got through all of the scenes we can start to put in the little details and practice the whole play (so we can get a better, more thorough understanding of 13).

The set looks very impressive and mirrors our interpretation of the play well, but I am worried about how complicated it may be. With practice I think the set will support us well with conveying the themes and meanings within 13.

The costumes mix with 13 perfectly; they are all very simple and natural looking. This means they won’t detract any attention away from the play but will add something to it.

So far I feel that rehearsals are good but they could be better. We have a great base for our play and I think we will all add in our own little details to make it better. I am very excited to see where we take this production next.

My movements throughout 13 so far

Act 1

Scene 1:

Scene 2:

1. No props
2. Outside an airport
3. Jeans and a t-shirt
4. An aeroplane from Turkey
5. Going home
6. To leave
7. I am searching
8. Entrance from D, exit C

Scene 3:

Scene 4:

1. Clipboard, paper and pen
2. Ruth’s office
3. Suit
4. Come from a meeting
5. Going to Ruth’s office
6. To finish working
7. To work
8. NOT KNOWN YET

Scene 5:

Scene 6:

Scene 7:

Scene 8:

Scene 9:

Scene 10:

Scene 11:

Scene 12:

1. No props
2. Church hall, chairs in a semi circle
3. Jeans and a jumper
4. I came from my house
5. After alpha course I am going to Tesco
6. To learn
7. To listen
8. NOT KNOWN YET

Scene 13

Scene 14

Scene 15

Scene 16

Scene 17

Scene 18

Act 2

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4

Scene 5

Scene 6:

1. Mobile phone
2. A park
3. Suit
4. Come from my lunch break
5. Going back to work
6. To go back to work
7. To listen
8. Enter from A, exit D

Scene 7:

1. Clipboard and pen
2. Meeting room
3. Suit
4. Come from my office
5. Going to the meeting
6. To advise Ruth
7. To listen and take notes
8. Enter from C and put down flaps of box and enter through box door, put flaps of box back up and exit through box then C

Scene 8

Scene 9

Scene 10

Scene 11:

1. No props
2. A park
3. Jeans and a t-shirt
4. I’ve come from my house
5. Going to work
6. To understand John’s opinion
7. To listen
8. Enter from A, exit B

Scene 12

Scene 13

Act 3

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4:

1. No props
2. A park
3. Jeans and a t-shirt
4. Come from my house
5. Going back home
6. To watch John
7. To listen
8. Enter from B, exit B

Scene 5

Scene 6

Scene 7

Scene 8

Act 4

The Brown Noise

We listened to a recording named the brown noise. It's purpose is to access the subconscious. At first I found it hard not to laugh but as it continued I started to relax and my face went numb and I felt like I was about to faint. It's an atavistic sound, a coersion technique. It could play during the nightmare, whenever the man dressed in black appears to enhance particular moments. When we woke up we couldn't remember what had happened during.

We invited some year 12's to come in and listen to the brown noise with the song "Someone else's dream" by Laurie Anderson (the song used within the play). They all said they felt numb, sacred and paranoid. This is what we want from the audience and this how we all felt. We got the same reaction from a different group of people. Their heart beat sped up, they felt fear and anxious.

Listening to the brown noise has given me a bigger insight into what 13 is trying to do to the audience. 

Audience's subconscious

To heighten the feeling of the unknown shown throughout the play we thought of ways we could access the audience's subconscious, to make them open to everything and for them to not know what was about to happen.

Having a man in all black appearing throught the play would make the audience think about the meanings behind the play in more depth and put them out of their comfort zone. Other suggestions were to have the audience write down their biggest fear on a peice if paper and have to someone read these out. 

A suggestion of a certain movement or a twitch throughout the play is a good idea to represent our idea that the whole play is the nightmare. Using darkness within the nightmare scene could also heighten the dark atmosphere.

All the ideas suggested today would be effective as long as we all commit to them.

Meisner within a scene

With the people in scene 4 we did the Meisner method within a scene. We realised how crucial the hoover is to the scene. We asked someone to create the sound of a hoove. Doing this created more urgency within the scene, and helped us with our relationships with each other. We started to develop our relationships with each other. For example when Ruth says "I'd get some coffee" Katie and I backed up her up and we ganged up on Rachel. 

I also found out things about my character. For example with my line "Haven't we all?" when Ruth says "They've started early" I found myself saying it in a sarcastic manner. This was a really helpful exercise as I found myself unconsciously releasing myself into my character. The hoover is a metaphor for the politicians not listening to each other.

I think something that would help me in the future would be to have some kind of costume with me, to help me get into character. 

We started to talk about the nightmare and what we perceive the truisms of nightmare to be:

1. Danger

2. Isolation

3. Fear of loss

4. Elements of reality

5. Real people

6. Darkness

7. Potential for death

All these things we could include throughout the play and have an element of them all in our performances.

My feelings on the play so far are that it will be more of an experience than a performance, the audience will talk about it when they leave and they will relate it to their own lives. We will take the audience on their own personal emotional journey. One thing we need to do is to keep the audience's focus, especially with the political heavy scenes. We also need to portray the sense of the unknown and the sense of an "other" throughout the play. 

Sanford Meisner

The Meisner method is designed to help you get into character and to have an unconscious release of character. You have to say what you can see and accept what your partner says, breathing in what they say and allowing yourself to have intense emotions. You have to work with your instinct for this method to work. It allows you to establish deep connections with others. To do this method well you need to have:

1. Trust
2. Honesty
3. Intelligence
4. Body
5. Voice
6. Flexibility

The Meisner method involves you and your partner sitting opposite each other keeping eye contact. You breathe in and comment on what you can see, the partner breathes in this line and repeats back. This carries on with the comments switching seamlessly between each person in the pair. An example is:

"You have blue eyes"

"I have blue eyes"

As you get used to it you start to put opinions to what you're saying:

"You're closed off"

"I am closed off"

"You like to be alone"

The Meisner method brings the actor back to their instincts and works them through the instinctual emotional journey. The goal of this method is to "eliminate the actor on stage, leaving a character that exists completely on stage"

Using Meisner within a scene was interesting  It was helpful as it expands your emotional and physical capacity within the scene, prepared you for every situation, develops relationships with characters, brings lines to life, freshens the text and opens up possibilities for where the scene could go.

I found this method useful as it gets rid of stale acting, helps to develop relationships and releases the natural energy of the lines, makes a scene more realistic, helps you to not waste a line, or waste a line if that's needed, and it fills out any silences within the scene and makes them natural. However I did find it challenging as I found it difficult to get into, and I felt very vulnerable. I also feel you could easily overwork a scene.

Some quotes from Meisner that heightens his thoughts on theatre making:

"There's no such thing as doing nothing on stage"

"Silence has a myriad of meaning. In theatre silence is an absence of words but never an absence of meaning"

First rehearsal

1,2,3 exercise:

• In partners we had to count to three together, as in one person says "one" then the other says "two" etc, and keep on repeating it

• Whilst doing this we walked around the room with our posture like this:

• This posture meant that everyone in the audience was getting something (your face or your body)
• After we were comfortable with that we changed the counting to "Tell me" and "No"
• The people around the edges of the space put up their hands if they were not satisfied with what they could see and the pair in the middle had to respond to this and change it
• It worked when the pair let what they were saying bounce of each other, as it flowed, and when they played they're objectives, as a story started to emerge
• This was a useful exercise to help us to work the whole stage and how we can satisfy the audience

We devised from Scene 2 to Scene 9 today. 

The scene that stood out for me the most today was the first scene. It's set in an airport. To create the atmosphere of an airport some of us walk on stage and simply play an objective. I play the objective to search, Nora and Jack play the objective to wait, this means that our objectives cross paths, and the situation turned into Nora and Jack waiting for me to give them their car back. The division of the first scene ran smoothly because everyone involved knew their lines. Watching the scene be created made me realise how important objectives are, because if the actors were simply playing their objectives the whole scene looked more believable. I've also realised that asking questions helps you to get deeper into your character.

Scene 4 is my first speaking scene. Whilst this scene is taking place the protest carries on silently. This creates an obvious link between the two scenes, help the audience to understand the situation and is visually interesting and effective. During the scene I tried to remember the three sides. Getting the scene up on it's feet helped me to understand my character more. For example seeing Katie's natural reaction to my line "Haven't we all?" showed me how our characters may have a deeper relationship than I thought. The fact that the whole scene is on a block made the dynamics of the scene feel more closed in and also helped to enhance the feeling of being inside an office. Finding something to use as prop helped to get me into the character and, again, to understand what my character is like. I found myself writing in a notebook. This showed that my character is hard working and knows how to do their job. I found it difficult to remember the 3 sides of the stage whilst doing my scene, and this is something that I need to work on.

We worked hard this lesson and we have a good starting base for the rest of the rehearsal process. Everyone needs to do more character work. We all need to explore our characters and find out what their:

1. Status
2. Objective
3. Energy level
4. Voice
5. Physicality

There needs to be higher stakes throughout and we need to listen to each other and be more aware of one another more. We need to find a balance with the pace of the piece and find the different paces throughout the play. The energy need to be sustained and we all need to do research on the play and each of our characters

Actors Process and Breakdown of Acts

We started off by discussing our actors process with each other. Discussing it with Rachel was helpful as we gave each other some tips that we hadn’t thought of using before, and it was useful to see what her acting process was like and how different it was from mine.

We created a whole class Acting Process, which was useful as we'll all be at the same level and we'll know what we’re doing and when:

1. Initial Research
2. Learn Lines
3. Given Circumstances
4. Facts and Opinions with page numbers
5. Research: Internet, Books, Articles, Interview real people
6. Approaching Script: Preliminary Objectives, Super objectives, Text rides on the action, Tactics, Metaphor
7. Text Defamiliarsation
8. Laban efforts
9. Preparing of rehearsal
10. Making offers
11. Coming with ideas
12. Rehearsal
13. Warm up
14. Costume

We went on to look at the script itself. We worked out the location, time of day, props, scenery and any opportunities for the scene for every scene of 13. This was useful as I got a better understanding of the whole play and what is involved throughout.

This is what we've got so far:

First read through of 13

We started off our 13 rehearsal with a read through. To do a good read through you have to remember to:

• Listen to each other; when you listen to each other you start to get a deeper understanding of the narrative, the relationships between everyone and yourself and the play starts to come to life from an early stage
• Be confident in first character choices; doing this will ensure that you can get into your character early on and, again, you get an understanding of the play and what it is about
• Clear voice; this helps your cast members to understand you
• Pump life into it, eg. talk to each other; this creates relationships and helps you to connect to the text and what you are saying, and also helps you to get an understanding of the scene and where you are in it

The read through of 13 showed us that there will be a lot of ensemble work involved. We made a list of things we believe make a good ensemble:

• Trust each other; this way you can try new things without being wary of your safety or others
• Listen to each other; this creates a good atmosphere, shows respect, can help with your safety and the safety of others and could also give you idea for 13 and your character
• Be emotionally available; forget everything else, connect with your breathe, stretch before class, this gets you ready to work hard and focus and makes the process easier
• Focus; energy and concentration, makes the process easier and helps to create good, interesting, inventive work
• Respect one another; again, makes the process easier and ensures that everyone is happy
• Look after each other; emotionally and physically, creates a good atmosphere and helps everyone trust one another

The thing that struck me the most about 13 was how dark it was. I think that the darkness stems from the conflicts between each character and the fact that the questions that are asked within the play are still asked in today's society. It left you quite confused as nothing was solved completely, it was very thought provoking and made you think about it when it was finished, it had a lasting impression, which I thought was brilliant. It was very engaging play, it draws you in and makes you want to know more, why these people are asking these questions or how they are in that situation. It’s a very political play and the fact that the political views are contemporary really excited me, as we can relate to it more during the performance and rehearsal and the audience can relate to it more as well. There are a lot of diverse characters and they all represent different views of society, I found this really interesting and exciting to explore. It's also a very realistic play, which I think is what makes it so hard hitting, because you can imagine yourself in those situations or you've seen those situations play put before. The politicians within 13 are "powerfully inept", they talk about doing great things but they are never done, which I feel is a reflection of the politicians in our society now. The play is a comment on how we live our own personal lives. As a class we came up with a sentence that we felt summed up 13, The play is the nightmare.