Performance

First performance:

This performance went extremely well. Throughout the performance we were all listening to each other completely. We were playing our objectives to their fullest, allowing us to experiment with our characters. We were all confident in what we were doing and why we were doing it.

It really felt like I was living in the moment and that I was open to change. I was a lot more comfortable with the different elements of the play, taking them into consideration when I was performing.

We all had fun performing this which is why I think it went so well. I found out new things about my character during the performance. For example, I found out that Leah is a lot more frustrated with Ruth than I first thought.

We all found a freedom within the show to live in the moment and respond to the energy that was available. We were all keeping up the energy throughout and the pressure cooker was on high throughout.

Having an audience there changed the performance entirely. We had more energy to feed off, we had a unification of energy between each other, backstage, front of house, the audience, every element of the performance.

I really enjoyed this performance of 13. I knew what I was doing and why and we all tapped into the energy radiating from the theatre. 

Second performance:

This performance did not go as well as the first performance. I personally felt like I was repeating all of my lines and I like I wasn't living in the moment throughout the play. The audience still enjoyed it. I think this is because it is such an interesting to play to watch. We lost the energy and the pressure that is needed for 13.

I wasn't playing my objectives to their fullest. For me this was because we had not refreshed our memory of the play and we had come straight from a rehearsal for something else. I wasn't living in the moment and being open to my peers.

Some technical elements went wrong, for example, Shannon’s hoover was not working in our first scene which threw us a little bit as we had not been given a reason to play the action of not being able to hear what anyone was saying. The box was also very squeaky when it was moved which ruined a lot of the scenes and threw us all of.

I feel as if we all still enjoyed performing 13 but just went throwing ourselves into it like we had been in the first performance. Now that we have had a difficult performance of it we all know what we need to work on and we all want to do better next time.

Final performance

This was one of the best performances we have done of 13. There was a united energy throughout the whole piece between us, TTA and the audience. The fact that it was the last time we were going to perform 13 together was a factor of this. Some technical things went wrong within the show, the box broke, but we all carried on regardless.

Personally I felt the closest with my characters on the first performance but even in this performance I understood my characters completely and was able to fulfil their objectives to the fullest. Throughout this performance I was constantly listening to my peers on stage and trying to give back when necessary. I felt this most in the Alpha Course scene. I found myself intently listening to Sally, Moyo, and wanting her to carry on talking. This made me realise that Terry actually wants to learn about Christianity and this also gave me the motivation to be annoyed at Holly, Liyah, for interrupting.

What I found interesting was that in the Sir Christopher scene, Ruth, Phoebe, spoke her line “Leah read the file” differently. It was more fed up and matter of fact. From this I found myself trying to hide my annoyance. This made our relationship stronger and how Leah does not believe in everything Ruth says or does.

In this final performance I think we all pulled together and put on a great show. Throughout this process we have learned at least one new thing to help us in our future lives. I learned that simply listening to your peers on stage makes it more free and natural to perform and watch. I have enjoyed this process of 13 as we have all bonded through Meisner, listening to each other and just existing on stage.

Act 1, Scene 18
The Party Scene