15/12/15
Today was our first time performing on the stage! We first familiarised ourselves with the wings and our entrance and exit points and then got down to some rehearsing!
We first performed the adults scene to get a feel for the space we had and we worked on our movement to increase fluidity and efficiency. During this rehearsal, the breakdown of Sarah Bennet was a train wreck to say the least. Focus disintegrated rapidly and everyone was more concentrated on getting all the right lines at the right time instead of saying anything which would lead to Sarah's breakdown a great deal faster. After much discussion, we decided that we would not focus on our actual lines and we'd just say things which linked to our lines. This would stop everyone focusing on when to say things because in a realistic situation like in this scene, people wouldn't wait for someone to stop speaking before they start, they'd speak over them.
After this we performed Act 1 Scene 1, with props and set! From this rehearsal, I decided that I needed to improve my body language to fully illustrate the relationship between Bradley and Marcus and show Marcus' fear/ Bradley's intimidation. I will do this by constantly moving my feet which shows someone's wish to leave a situation along with fearful facial expressions and a mixture of fast and slow movements.
16/12/15
Today was the day of our performance and we had a lot of rehearsing to be getting on with! We first set up the staging by building the Christmas tree, pinning up, tidying the wings and building our new platforms. These new platforms were placed upstage for they represented the home corner (along with a children's tent) and Miss Horrocks' special cupboard! We decided to use platforms as everyone having to come offstage for a short scene between Innkeeper and Star would be ludicrous as they would have to come back on a minute later! With the platform there, Star can make his way up then walk over to Innkeeper in the home corner and thus begins their scene.
After sorting the stage, we started rehearsing, we first started from the beginning and went through the entire show slowly to make sure everyone entered and exited where they should. After this we worked on the individual parts which needed improving! One of these was (surprise surprise) the breakdown of Sarah Bennet! Because everyone was focused on getting their lines right, whenever someone got their line wrong, the next person to speak would pick them up on their mistake, ruining the flow of the entire breakdown. We discussed this issue and decided that when performing this scene, to not worry too much about getting our lines spot on as when we do get every line correct, the whole breakdown sounds choreographed which isn't the effect that we're trying to have on the audience.
Another point brought up was those who aren't speaking as children need to do something whether it be drawing, playing, wondering around, anything! If we're all sitting still doing nothing at all, the whole piece would be dead and abandoned. Schools are very busy and hectic due to the high energy of children so if we're all just sat down waiting for our next lines, then the classroom will be boring.
Finally, we ran the entire show once more but this time in full costume! After this run through, I found that the thermal blanket I was wearing as Star was inconveniently loud! Any large movement produces a loud rustling noise which not only distracts the rest of the cast but also drowns out all other noises onstage which proves very difficult for the audience to hear everyone else onstage! This effect is just as strong when I'm in the wings too! From this I've learnt that I should restrict myself from large movements as much as possible when onstage and restrict myself from any movement at all when in the wings!
When I perform, "O Little Town Of Bethlehem," in the second act, everyone else has to get changed into their adult costumes! This ranged from Lorna only having to take a dress off and put jeans on to James having to take off a robe and put on a suit! After gaining knowledge of this, I decided that I'd try and long out this song as much as possible to give the rest of the cast enough time to get changed! When I tried that in this runthrough, I entered the wings to find James topless and Lorna with no shoes on. This meant they didn't have enough time to get changed so for next time, I'll have to perform the song even slower! This means I'll have to add in pauses and speak the words slower.
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