Elizabeth Pursey said "without discipline you'll never find freedom". - I can link this quote to making sure I make myself commit to the work I do in order to be free within it. If I try to do what I want to do at first without any guidance, it is highly unlikely I'll have definite freedom to explore the wonderful things theatre has to offer.
Steven Berkoff says he wanted “to see how I could bring mime together with the spoken word as its opposite
partner, creating the form and structure of the piece” - I can link this to within the performance when we are searching for the tiger with only torches as our light source. We mime with our bodies to tell stories whilst using spoken word to elaborate on the story we're telling. This definitely creates the form and structure of our piece as it is a way to tell the audience what we are doing and to make sure they are fully engaged in what we do on stage.
Sunday, 20 July 2014
EVALUATION OF THE TIGER WHO CAME TO TEA PERFORMANCE
DISCUSS YOUR EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF TTWCTT TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION KEY FACTORS AND RELEVANT IDEAS AND INPUT YOU PUT TO THE PROCESS:
In week one in the process of creating TTWCTT, I looked at what children's theatre is and how I'd adapt an issue for delivery to a specific audience. I came up with the idea that children's theatre is using different elements of creative arts to bring together an eye-catching, exciting and vibrant piece for young people. Furthermore, I said that I'd adapt an issue (facts about tigers) for delivery in a specific audience by giving information about tigers in a way that is as exciting and engaging as possible. Examples of how we did this was through movement, voice and facial expressions to fully attract the audience. I discussed skills needed that a children's theatre performer would need e.g. by being a total artist by using your body as well as your voice.
Week 2 consisted of doing "I am a slimy frog" exercise whilst exploring the 7 states of tension by ourselves then later on in groups. This helped me to explore different tones of my voice, movement within my body to tell a story and exaggerating my voice and body at the same time. I bared these exercises in mind whilst being an explorer on stage looking for things that linked to tigers and when searching for it.
Within weeks 3, 4 and 5, I explored effective ideas in class such as building a group pyramid, material suitable for children e.g. involving them right at the beginning of the play and partaking in a dress rehearsal a week before the performance. I believe the group pyramid near the beginning of the piece was a good idea as it helps to engage the audience as much as possible to see what we're doing. Fenton asked the audience at the beginning if they had seen tigers anywhere and his luck, they responded! This is another factor that definitely allows the children to feel involved in the story being told.
The dress rehearsal didn't go particularly well as a class given that we lacked confidence when singing the song. Personally, I believe I didn't perform as well as I could have in the dress rehearsal as I myself lacked confidence when singing. Since I was a little child, I was very shy when it came to singing in front of an audience. I let my personal matters get in the way of performing to the best of my ability which hindered me performing well in the dress rehearsal. That taught me to make sure in the future I let myself come out of my comfort zone. If I believe in myself, that is all that matters! It'll come across to the audience and will make their experience of the performance enjoyable.
EVALUATE THE SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES USED IN REHEARSAL AND DISCUSS HOW YOU RESPONDED TO DIRECTION AND FEEDBACK TO DEVELOP WORK:
I believe that I have responded as best as I can to direction and feedback as everything Mr Rennison has said, I've tried to develop and take into consideration when rehearsing. For instance, my director (Mr Rennison) always says to use our body and voice effectively when singing "Tiger Tiger" by William Blake. In order to use my body effectively, I remembered previous exercises i have done in class e.g. 'I am a slimy frog' and '4 stages of tension'. These exercises involved me exploring different energy levels, doing different pitches with my voices and changing dynamics within my body. Therefore, with baring these exercises in mind, I've tried to adapt the skills I've learnt from the exercises and incorporate them in the rehearsals. Doing that successfully will make the performance as interesting as possible and will make me feel more confident when I'm on stage.
On performance day, I bared in mind what I had written above. When I first performed in the morning, I believe I performed to the best of my ability by moving my body in various motions, exaggerating my facial expressions and looking intently at the audience as it's crucial to engage with the audience when performing (all things that I learned during rehearsal time). When on stage, I made sure I had a high level of commitment in making sure the children had a great experience watching the performance. For instance, on stage we all had to say "A tiger! Who saw one?" in unison as an ensemble. When I said this line, I looked at my peers as well as looking at the audience to involve them in the scene. I believe what I did then clearly, confidently and effectively put my intentions across to the audience and made them get involved. Prior to the fact that the audience is of a younger age, it is important to involve them in the performance as much as possible to catch their attention.
Nonetheless, there was a moment within the first performance where I did feel myself not fully committing to the performance. This happened when at the end of our performance, I had to sing 'Tiger Tiger' by William Blake with my class in unison. Kitty was supposed to play the tune on the keyboard. However, the keyboard was not working and made me unsure of the tune. I knew the tune, but not well enough and was hoping to rely on Kitty. I tried my hardest to sing the tune I remembered as loud as possible hoping everyone would catch on. Unfortunately, my plan wasn't successful meaning I had to sing the same tune as everyone else was despite it not being the original tune. As I was singing it, I felt myself become detached from my character which made me lose confidence on stage. That moment made me realise that I have to be prepared to expect mistakes to happen on stage, adapt to it positively and not let it hinder the positive progress of the rest of my performance. If I let my character slide, the audience will lose focus from me and not enjoy the performance. In order to improve next time, I must make sure to not let a mistake ruin the rest of my performance. Just because something doesn't go to plan doesn't mean I should let it have a negative impact on the way I perform! Situations like these are bound to happen in the future. If I learn how to adapt to it now, I will save myself from negatively responding to mistakes that stop me from performing to my full potential. I must be professional, positive and confident at all times - even when something doesn't go exactly to plan.
Luckily, I had a second performance which was the very last performance of my full year at The BRIT School. I remember that just before I was about to go on stage, someone said to me "This is the last performance of year 10!". I remember replaying it over and over in my head. I refused to let my very last performance of my first academic year at the school that is helping me pursue my dreams to be something that I wasn't proud of! Therefore, I forgot about the mistake made at the end of the first performance and made sure this performance is as enjoyable as it should be for the children as well as it should be for me. I bared in mind to be clear of what my main objective was: to entertain (learned in term 1). The 4 states of consciousness, learning to work in unison by remembering skills learned in the catch a clap exercise in term 3 helped me to give the best performance I possibly could the audience. At the end of the day, that's the most important thing.
(1,546 words not including the quote said by the famous actor and the two subtitles)
In week one in the process of creating TTWCTT, I looked at what children's theatre is and how I'd adapt an issue for delivery to a specific audience. I came up with the idea that children's theatre is using different elements of creative arts to bring together an eye-catching, exciting and vibrant piece for young people. Furthermore, I said that I'd adapt an issue (facts about tigers) for delivery in a specific audience by giving information about tigers in a way that is as exciting and engaging as possible. Examples of how we did this was through movement, voice and facial expressions to fully attract the audience. I discussed skills needed that a children's theatre performer would need e.g. by being a total artist by using your body as well as your voice.
Week 2 consisted of doing "I am a slimy frog" exercise whilst exploring the 7 states of tension by ourselves then later on in groups. This helped me to explore different tones of my voice, movement within my body to tell a story and exaggerating my voice and body at the same time. I bared these exercises in mind whilst being an explorer on stage looking for things that linked to tigers and when searching for it.
Within weeks 3, 4 and 5, I explored effective ideas in class such as building a group pyramid, material suitable for children e.g. involving them right at the beginning of the play and partaking in a dress rehearsal a week before the performance. I believe the group pyramid near the beginning of the piece was a good idea as it helps to engage the audience as much as possible to see what we're doing. Fenton asked the audience at the beginning if they had seen tigers anywhere and his luck, they responded! This is another factor that definitely allows the children to feel involved in the story being told.
The dress rehearsal didn't go particularly well as a class given that we lacked confidence when singing the song. Personally, I believe I didn't perform as well as I could have in the dress rehearsal as I myself lacked confidence when singing. Since I was a little child, I was very shy when it came to singing in front of an audience. I let my personal matters get in the way of performing to the best of my ability which hindered me performing well in the dress rehearsal. That taught me to make sure in the future I let myself come out of my comfort zone. If I believe in myself, that is all that matters! It'll come across to the audience and will make their experience of the performance enjoyable.
EVALUATE THE SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES USED IN REHEARSAL AND DISCUSS HOW YOU RESPONDED TO DIRECTION AND FEEDBACK TO DEVELOP WORK:
I believe that I have responded as best as I can to direction and feedback as everything Mr Rennison has said, I've tried to develop and take into consideration when rehearsing. For instance, my director (Mr Rennison) always says to use our body and voice effectively when singing "Tiger Tiger" by William Blake. In order to use my body effectively, I remembered previous exercises i have done in class e.g. 'I am a slimy frog' and '4 stages of tension'. These exercises involved me exploring different energy levels, doing different pitches with my voices and changing dynamics within my body. Therefore, with baring these exercises in mind, I've tried to adapt the skills I've learnt from the exercises and incorporate them in the rehearsals. Doing that successfully will make the performance as interesting as possible and will make me feel more confident when I'm on stage.
On performance day, I bared in mind what I had written above. When I first performed in the morning, I believe I performed to the best of my ability by moving my body in various motions, exaggerating my facial expressions and looking intently at the audience as it's crucial to engage with the audience when performing (all things that I learned during rehearsal time). When on stage, I made sure I had a high level of commitment in making sure the children had a great experience watching the performance. For instance, on stage we all had to say "A tiger! Who saw one?" in unison as an ensemble. When I said this line, I looked at my peers as well as looking at the audience to involve them in the scene. I believe what I did then clearly, confidently and effectively put my intentions across to the audience and made them get involved. Prior to the fact that the audience is of a younger age, it is important to involve them in the performance as much as possible to catch their attention.
Nonetheless, there was a moment within the first performance where I did feel myself not fully committing to the performance. This happened when at the end of our performance, I had to sing 'Tiger Tiger' by William Blake with my class in unison. Kitty was supposed to play the tune on the keyboard. However, the keyboard was not working and made me unsure of the tune. I knew the tune, but not well enough and was hoping to rely on Kitty. I tried my hardest to sing the tune I remembered as loud as possible hoping everyone would catch on. Unfortunately, my plan wasn't successful meaning I had to sing the same tune as everyone else was despite it not being the original tune. As I was singing it, I felt myself become detached from my character which made me lose confidence on stage. That moment made me realise that I have to be prepared to expect mistakes to happen on stage, adapt to it positively and not let it hinder the positive progress of the rest of my performance. If I let my character slide, the audience will lose focus from me and not enjoy the performance. In order to improve next time, I must make sure to not let a mistake ruin the rest of my performance. Just because something doesn't go to plan doesn't mean I should let it have a negative impact on the way I perform! Situations like these are bound to happen in the future. If I learn how to adapt to it now, I will save myself from negatively responding to mistakes that stop me from performing to my full potential. I must be professional, positive and confident at all times - even when something doesn't go exactly to plan.
Luckily, I had a second performance which was the very last performance of my full year at The BRIT School. I remember that just before I was about to go on stage, someone said to me "This is the last performance of year 10!". I remember replaying it over and over in my head. I refused to let my very last performance of my first academic year at the school that is helping me pursue my dreams to be something that I wasn't proud of! Therefore, I forgot about the mistake made at the end of the first performance and made sure this performance is as enjoyable as it should be for the children as well as it should be for me. I bared in mind to be clear of what my main objective was: to entertain (learned in term 1). The 4 states of consciousness, learning to work in unison by remembering skills learned in the catch a clap exercise in term 3 helped me to give the best performance I possibly could the audience. At the end of the day, that's the most important thing.
Keeping the skills I've learnt from the exercises in mind and the direction and feedback the director has given me, this helps me to always try to develop the work of a performance by trying out different energy levels and dynamics with my body and voice to perform to the best of my ability. Mr Rennison always says to open up and to not hold back. One famous writer in the world of acting said in her book "We have our own modern way of speaking, but our born way of speaking doesn't always suit every character that we play ". As a performer, I have to realise that there are many characters I'll come across that aren't like me and I have to accept that! If I do this, I can have the potential to be the best performer I can possibly be.
To conclude, doing TTWCTT was an amazing experience as it was something completely different to what I have done throughout the year in theatre. It allowed me to explore a different method of acting to entertain children, work with different dynamics of my voice and use my body to tell a story. It made me realise that I shouldn't fully depend on others for my own performance to be a success (linking to the situation of when I relied on Kitty to play the keyboard). It made me learn that I have to be prepared for anything to happen at any situation when I least expect it. This last term has been such an exciting term for me; I believe that I have had an amazing time in theatre and have grown so much not only as an actress but as a person too. This year has been so exciting; I cannot wait to see what year 11 has in store for me!
To conclude, doing TTWCTT was an amazing experience as it was something completely different to what I have done throughout the year in theatre. It allowed me to explore a different method of acting to entertain children, work with different dynamics of my voice and use my body to tell a story. It made me realise that I shouldn't fully depend on others for my own performance to be a success (linking to the situation of when I relied on Kitty to play the keyboard). It made me learn that I have to be prepared for anything to happen at any situation when I least expect it. This last term has been such an exciting term for me; I believe that I have had an amazing time in theatre and have grown so much not only as an actress but as a person too. This year has been so exciting; I cannot wait to see what year 11 has in store for me!
(1,546 words not including the quote said by the famous actor and the two subtitles)
EVALUATION QUESTION NOTES
- Skills acquisition is using body and voice and acting through song - perform song as a monologue, focus, learning lines, using practical techniques,
- Devising and improvising our own lines, dinamics by working on different energy levels
- Move before you speak so you have a visual queue to make the audience look at you and engage body and voice to get attention
- Using our body so all three sides can see us
- " Here kitty kitty kitty *kiss kiss kiss kisss* " - said in unison so we all sound like one voice, we are an ensemble
- Point with the whole body
- This piece is all about clarity
Key factors (important things about performance) for evaluation question:
- bold movements
- it's children's theatre!
- working in unison
- excitement throughout
- staying engaged
- lose yourself within the performance
- forget who you are as a person, enjoy it to the fullest
- use not only words but your body to tell a story as body language is very important
- we're an ensemble
- we're performing to three sides so make sure a part of your body is showing to each sides of the audience
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