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.