Double - Doctor Faustus - Blog 19 (Evaluation) - 15/07/16

What went well:

• Everyone remembered most of their actions in physical theatre sections.
• Ollie and I remembered the vast majority of our lines which meant the performance was consistently smooth throughout.
• All the props were in their right places.
• All PT sections were amazingly performed, included meaningful movement and were all performed in time with the music.
• After discussion with the audience afterwards, it seemed they mostly understood the idea we were going for with Faustus being a computer geek and Mephistopheles being Faustus' idea of perfect; a better version of himself.
• I feel my body language throughout the piece was very effective at portraying my characters emotions which helped a lot due to my lack of PT in this piece.

What didn't go so well:

• At times when characters forgot their lines I had to try to recover them which went well but there was a slight pause and I feel that this was obvious to the audience.
• Sadly due to an issue with tech and wiring, we weren't able to use the projection which Charlie created. Although this was a shame as the projection was impressive, the projection may have distracted the audience from the actual movement.

Ways we could improve:

• Make sure we all learn our lines leading up to the performance and practise without scripts more often.
• Invest in a longer cable to attach the projector to a laptop.

Single - Contemporary Theatre Unit (1984) - Blog 26 (Evaluation) - 13/07/16

What went well:

My costume for Syme in 1984

• Everyone learned all of their lines and there were very few noticeable mistakes, if any.
• I felt we all maintained our characters throughout. For those of us who had multiple characters like me and James, I felt we all had brilliant characterisation which clearly displayed that we had different characters. I made my characters distinctively different by varying my posture and tone of voice. For Man, I was very slouched and used my regular voice, as we wanted book club to be very modern and casual, whereas, for Syme, I sat up straight, due to being in a work environment and that my character is more mature than Man, and my voice was very nasally and boring as I wanted to make Syme the comic relief of 1984.
• All of our physical theatre sections were on point every time with every lift being safe and impressive, all of actions were expressive and had purpose instead of being used to, "wow," the audience and everyone was where they were meant to be.
• Whenever an issue occurred, we covered each other very well, for example when a chair was left on stage when it wasn't meant to be, someone onstage sat in it as opposed to on the floor so it looked like the chair was left there on purpose.
• One of my favourite scenes was the torture section where in Room 101, Rob has his teeth pulled out and his finger tips torn off. When the blackout occurred for the teeth removal, Charlie opened Rob's mouth and gave him the blood capsule for him to chew on before the lights came up. When the lighting was restored, Rob spits out some of the blood and lets some blood drip around his mouth to show how gruesome his torture is. For his fingertips, I walk over to him in the blackout and Rob puts his hands in his mouth covering his fingers in the red liquid.
• Our set was very impressive with posters of the Big Brother propaganda. Despite being simplistic, it displayed to the audience how controlling the government was of that era.
• I believe that all of our costumes were impressive and matched the 1940's fashion which were going for.
• Our lighting and sound was mostly on time and even when it wasn't, it wasn't a big deal.

What didn't go too well:

• Many transitions didn't go well as some of us were unsure who was moving props/set; however, some mess ups were well covered.
• Not everyone wore a jacket or coat over their 1940's clothes because they either forgot, or felt uncomfortable with the coat on.
• Props like the chocolate which Julia brings Winston were forgotten and not brought on stage due to not ever rehearsing with props.
• After taking full responsibility of taking the table on and off stage, I didn't take it offstage when I was meant to once when we transitioned from book club to a scene between Mrs Parsons/Mother, Child and Winston. However, I believe this wasn't too much of an issue with this scene as this scene would take place in homely environment which would include a table.
• Our posters kept falling down as we only gaffer taped them to the curtains. We then pinned them in also as throughout the course of the day they kept falling down but we should've taken the tape off before pinning them to the curtains as this resulted in the posters sticking to our feet in later scenes.
• Some of our scenes were very scary and gruesome for younger audience members.
• Some of our audience were unsure of the plot until the very end and felt that the change in setting needed to be clearer.

Ways we could improve:

• Run through the entire piece more in rehearsals, focusing on transitions, set, costume and props.
• Pin the posters instead of taping them (or both).
• Warn the audience beforehand that some scenes may not be suggested for younger or squeamish members of the audience.
• To make setting changes more obvious, we should have a sign saying something like, "Book Club: This week's book 1984." This would make the transition into book club more obvious.

Single - Contemporary Theatre Unit (1984) - Blog 25 - 12/07/16

Today we ran from the beginning up to page 60! When doing this we kept a note of any issues however there were very few of them:

• Where some cast members didn't know their lines, there were very frequent pauses and prompts needed. This ruined the flow of the runthrough and left the rest of class very bored as they were waiting for their scene. We will ensure that everyone knows their lines in time for the performance.
• In the beginning book club scene, although everyone knew their lines for this bit, there was confusion of what order each line was said in which resorted in repeated lines, missed out lines and awkward pauses paired with confused expressions.

Double - Doctor Faustus - Blog 18 - 11/07/16

Today, our plan was to perform all of Act Two sorting out any issues we had along the way.

However as we learned that the hall was free, we collected together all of our set and arranged how we planned on having it for the performance. We encountered issues but here is how we over came them:

• We were originally going to have Faustus' office on the stage but we felt it was too far away from the audience. We felt that this would make the character very distant from the audience which we don't want; this is Faustus' journey and we want the audience to be interested in every moment.
• When arranging our set, we knew we wanted 4 wooden flats: one on either side of the opposite steel decking and one either side of the aisle. However, when setting up, we learnt we only had two plain black flats and we didn't have enough time to source paint and recolour other flats. Instead we decided that we will make do without the flats in the aisles which means Lorna and James' section in the prologue needs to be redirected to those flats which works very well anyway.
• Originally, there was debate on how many steel decking we'd have on each side as we only had 6 altogether. We started with the idea of 2 for the office and 4 for the other side; this was so Rob and Charlie could perform their fight scene during Wrath up there with no risk of falling as there was plenty of room. But after realising the office was too small and Rob and Charlie not feeling safe on doing that scene on the decking, we decided to dedicate more decking to the office; Rob and Charlie fight sequence was then moved to the floor just in front of it. We then allocated 3 to each side but thought it looked rather odd the way we had to arrange them to be wide and long enough so we decided to have two at the opposite end and split the office in half having two together on each side longways and have the steps in the centre leading up to the stage so that we can make use of the height.

Below is how we finally had our set:

We then began running Act Two. Below are our issues, changes and newly devised movement sections which we came across in this runthrough:

• When I mention the scroll, I used to click my fingers and a chorus member would roll on with it; I repeated this gesture throughout the show. We have now changed it to a simple hand gesture as the click is very cliché and draws away from the atmosphere. I also have the contract on me at all times instead of having someone roll on as it would ruin the simplicity of the scene.
• The group had listened to my edited version of the sins scene narration (so that everything, music and narration was all on one track) but we all felt that the narration we had recorded lacked emotion and some areas were very quiet. Tomorrow we will rerecord the narration and I will reedit the sins track.
• We created a movement sequence for the section involving Hitler, Bin Laden and Pilate! This involved members on the chorus mimicking actions of these leaders one by one followed by the rest of the chorus responding to them whilst Ollie is saying his lines over the top. I feel this scene works extremely well at conveying how powerful Faustus has become.
• In the script in indicated that there was a "dance of the devils" but we felt that, despite this being a physical theatre piece, there would be too much movement. So instead of this we have a blackout, those on stage move to a different position, to show that time has passed, and when the lights come back on they react to the delights they had just seen but the audience didn't see.
• There is a chorus line which says, "Faustus you fool," but we realised that the entire cast besides Lorna is onstage. We thought if it were just Lorna shouting it then people would confuse this chorus line for a Murdock line which would make no sense as Murdock left. Then I thought that it would be very effective if Mephistopheles said this line. Faustus reacts to this line very sourly and Valdes tries to calm Faustus down and say that there's no one there who called him a fool. As only Faustus can see and hear Mephistopheles, this works perfectly.
• For the final scene, we were going to have the chorus rush in at Faustus, freeze, blackout, all exit, lights up, the only thing left is the pocket watch and Murdock enters looking around and very scared. She picks up the pocket watch, studies it, looks around and blackout.

Keeping all of these key notes in mind, tonight I will go home and make all notes in the lighting and sound scripts ready for our tech members.

Double - Doctor Faustus - Blog 17 - 08/07/16

Today, we split off into two off into two groups, Ollie and I went through our lines for Act Two and the others continued finishing the sins scene. We felt this would be more beneficial to the group as although we're involved in the sins scene, we're not essential and only react to the movement of the others. Also, Ollie and I aren't as confident with Act Two as we are with Act One so taking time to look at this will boost our confidence in the production.

We then went on to devise the scene where Faustus wakes up from his "coma," our own rendition to the play (as in explained in an earlier blog post). We felt this scene needed to be abstract to subliminally tell the audience that the transition from coma to "reality" may or may not have been successful. Below is the movement:

• Ollie collapses on the table from the last scene. Blackout. James and Rob remove the centre red block and move another smaller one into the middle. The lights come up and Ollie is lying on a hospital bed.
• Faustus lies there for a moment whilst weird noises arise. When the music turns happy, we start walking in as Doctors in lab coats.
• James lift's Ollie up and fluffs a pillow. Whilst Ollie is sat up, I move his head which leads to him spinning his head without me touching it as I've walked off; at this point, James stops him and lowers him down.
• Lorna walks towards Ollie with a syringe, she places it in her mouth, hand stands over him, pricks him with it, then lands and walks off.
• Charlie stands over Ollie, Ollie lifts his leg up, Charlie leans his body on Ollie's foot and Ollie bends his leg slowly bringing Charlie closer then straightens and Charlie continues walking.
• Rob mimics pulling Ollie up with rope and then pulls him across so that he's sitting up on the edge of his bed. James and I then sit either side of him, lift his legs up, whilst Ollie is then leaning back and laying across the other block, and pretend to knock his knees with medical instruments. We then get up.
• Rob tests Ollie's pulse three time and each time Ollie pulses his body. On the third, more violent, pulse, we all exit besides Ollie. I however go to his desk as I later reveal myself as Mephistopheles.

When running through the following scenes, Ollie and I came up with an idea. When Faustus hands over the contract, Mephistopheles will hand him a pocket-watch which, supposedly, counts down from 24 years, representing how Faustus' time is running out. However, when I reveal myself as Mephistopheles after being a Doctor, I say "look at the clock." I've changed this line to "look at your pocket-watch." Faustus then looks for it in his pockets but can't seem to find it. I then pull it out saying the next line ("you have but twelve hours left"). He then snatches the watch off of me and continues on. I feel although this adds nothing to the plot, the addition of the pocket-watch gives the play a symbolical token and also allows Ollie to interact something personally as his character.

Double - F(l)ight - Blog 9 - 08/07/16

Today we finally performed Fight or Flight for real.

What went well:

• The chairs were moved quietly
• All timing was correct
• All the lifts were very successful and safe
• We displayed our characters emotions effectively through body language and facial expressions.
• All transitions were very smooth

What didn't go well:

• Lorna and Rhiannon lifted Rob up way too early so this left us standing for about 7 seconds without movement which looked very odd.

I feel this piece conveyed the messages which we wanted it to and appealed more to our more mature audience.

Single - Contemporary Theatre Unit (1984) - Blog 24 - 08/07/16

Today, we discussed costume and spoke about how we'd adapt the drama room into our 1984 environment!

We decided for the play we'd be dressed in 1940's styled clothing which was generally smartwear such as suits and dresses. This was because we believed that George Orwell, despite predicting future inventions such as telescreens (more known as CCTV in present day) wouldn't have predicted the fashion of 1984. When browsing the clothes we already had in the costume cupboard, I found the perfect outfit for Syme. As my character is in his late 40's and is generally very dull, I feel he would dress in very bland colours like browns and greys. The items I found in the cupboard were a grey v-neck jumper and burgundy boat shoes:

I feel that these items will suit my character very well! Added to this will be black trousers, a plain white long sleeved shirt and a burgundy/dark red tie.

For book club, we'd wear the same clothes but have zip-up and pullover hoodies on over the top. This shows how the characters are completely different and distinguishes the difference in time eras as Syme is from 1984 whilst my book club character (Man) could be from as early as 2084, as it's stated in book club that the events of 1984 were at least 100 years before the era of book club.

When discussing how we'd like to adapt our acting space to the world of 1984, we thought it would look very cool to stick hundred of posters of Big Brother propaganda across the three walls surrounding our space. This would be accompanied by very few Goldstein posters to represent the rebellion; we could also have a few posters scrunched up on the floor too. Below are the three main posters we're using:

Single - Contemporary Theatre Unit (1984) - Blog 23 - 07/07/16

Today we ran through everything from pg 22, the first appearance of Charrington, up to pg 44, Winston and Julia in the backroom of the Antique Shop.

When performing my Syme section without a script, I felt my characterisation was much much better. As I had learnt my lines I could focus more on how I'd say things rather than what I'd say. Also, not having a script in my hands allowed me to use gestures more often. We decided that I will have a noisy food like a packet of crisps to eat while Parsons is talking about his daughter. We discussed how my character is very comedic and is a sort of comic relief in this very dark play we've chosen. Eating a loud food will relieve the audience from what has been a dark plot for the past 26 pages.

After this scene we continued running the play up to pg 44 as we had run out of time. I feel that we would've gotten through a lot more of the play if everyone knew their lines but we still have 6 days to cram in line learning.

Next lesson, we will discuss costume and Rob and Ollie will have sorted their interrogation scene section.

After lesson, I created an event on Facebook to advertise our production:

Double - F(l)ight - Blog 8 - 06/07/16

Today, we performed our piece to Year 8's in the hope of recording it and having it as our final performance. After performing it, we realised there were a few issues so we decided to have this performance as a tech run to work out any issues and we decided that we would perform it for real in our Single lesson on Friday to the rest of the class and Ashley. We decided to perform it to a more mature and older audience as they would understand the more adult theme of domestic abuse and discrimination then a younger audience would. Also, they would instinctively take a further interest into the piece and look deeper into the meanings of things.

Issues and need for improvement:

• There were gaps between each scene where the music lagged
• The wrong song came on during Charlie's scene due to technical difficulties

We also have added projection to our performance with questions for the audience to ponder on. This allows the audience to think more deeply about what their watching.

Single - Contemporary Theatre Unit (1984) - Blog 22 - 05/07/16

Today in single we blocked a physical theatre section where Winston leaves Room 101 and ends up back in the café. Below is the movement we planned:

• Winston starts on the chair with the box on his head, "Dig" - Mudvayne starts and O'Brien takes the box off his head and exits. The chorus, still in the surrounding formation from the interrogation take four lunged steps towards Winston, one per bar, as if we were to attack/grab Winston.
• On the fourth beat Lorna, James, Hope and I grab a leg from his chair and lift him up with Charlie supporting the back of the chair. We tilt the chair back and Lorna and Hope go to the back with Ollie and Kat and help them support Rob's body. James and I pull the chair out from beneath Rob and we slam it down in the position it needs to be for the next scene in the café. James and I stand behind the chair ready for the next section.
• Everyone else lifts up Rob and turns him around. They then place him in front of the chair and push him into it. Rhiannon fetches the table while they bring him to the chair and places it in front of him.
• James mimics breaking his neck and fetches his chair for book club.
• I smash his head on the table and fetch my chair for book club.
• Ollie M and Kat mimic breaking his fingers and fetch their chairs for book club.
• Charlie pulls the tablecloth over his face and suffocates him then lays it out across the table. He then fetches his chair for book club.
• Lorna almost smashes his head on the table but then pulls him up ready for the waitress scene; she then fetches her chair for book club.
• Hope walks on with a vase of flowers and by the time she places it on the table, everyone will be back in book club.

We then ran everything from the opening to the end and resolved any issues we had. We got up to the beginning of pg 22, the first scene featuring Charrington. The one issue we had, besides people not knowing their lines, was confusion at the end of the Prologue. When we walk off in our lines, we were originally weren't sure where to grab a chair from and where to go with it as the two lines weren't in order of how we sat in book club. After a quick bit of organisation, we sorted this out so that when we exit we all walk off to the side we sit in book club, we grab a chair then we sit in book club and wait until everyone is seated until we begin.

Next lesson, we will continue to run the play as much as we can.

Double - Doctor Faustus - Blog 16 - 04/07/16

Today in Double, we discussed the possibility of adding a new physical section, we devised movement with the, "Showcasing the Heavens," scene and worked on the section afterwards.

We began by simply running Act Two and dealing with any physical theatre which needs to be blocked when we came to it. However, as soon as we got started and Mephistopheles starts describing the tortures and torments of Hell, we discussed whether we could/should add a physical theatre sequence here. Before we started Faustus, we were given this paragraph by Meph to use as narration for a physical theatre section. We thought seeing as we already have ideas for this section, why waste them? Although we were eager to make this section physical, we agreed it was best for us to finish blocking the physical theatre we had already planned on doing then add in more if we have time.

Before we continued, we learnt the hall was free so we decided to arrange our set up there so that we get a feel for what it feels like to perform in the space in which our real performance will be in. We also blocked where we wanted our set too:

• Faustus' desk will be on the stage with steps leading up to it.
• His armchair will be to the side of the steps
• Instead of our original idea of having only one block in the centre, during the interval, we'd set out 5 blocks (one taller block in the centre and shorter blocks beside each of side of the central block). This allows a lot more space for the use of the blocks and allows us to incorporate levels into our physical sections to represent power, status and control. Also, this means we no longer have to bring on blocks for Faustus' hospital bed but merely rearrange the current ones.
• A stack of two blocks will be stacked at the opposite end of the traverse to Faustus' desk, accompanied with two chairs to be used as Valdes and Cornelius' office. The distance between the desks, along with the actors lack of eye contact, helps create the illusion that these two offices are in completely different places.

We then started blocking the scene where Meph showcases the pleasures of Heaven to Faustus. We not only wanted this scene to be majestic and mighty to represent the holiness of the heavens but have a great deal of travelling to represent the length of their travels and the amount of time they've spent on this journey. This allows the audience to believe Faustus' attachment to Meph a lot more when he fears of losing the allegiance he has with him.

Below is our movement:

• M pulls F onto the centre block. F looks around in disbelief and M pushes F backwards. F falls into the arms of Lorna and James. They push him back up.
• M stands down to the block below and allows to F to stand on the higher block and observe the beauty of Heaven. M steps down from the blocks. The chorus mime sword battles in partners across the traverse at a distance. They hand F they're swords and F admires the power he now has. M walks towards F's office and beckons F over to look at a projection of the cosmos. M pushes F back over his right shoulder.
• M brings F towards James where he bows. M faces F to Lorna where she stag leaps across the traverse to represent the beauty of nature and all creatures. M brings F to the blocks where F and Charlie clink glasses of rich tasting drinks.
• F gets turned by M to James who hugs F. M turns F to Lorna where they have a medieval courting dance. M turns F to Rob where they shake hands and leave each other by Round-By-Through. M brings F to Charlie and Lorna where they glide and turn across the traverse in a ballet style.
• F returns to the central block and turns, admiring the heavens. The chorus spin towards the blocks with material and rest in the corners of the blocks whilst still waving the material.

We then continued on up to the point where Lucifer comes in as we hadn't yet recorded his speech but we will get this done next lesson.

Single - Contemporary Theatre Unit (1984) - Blog 21 - 01/07/16

Today, we spent time moving on with the narrative of 1984 by leading on to where Winston and Julia form an alliance with O'Brien. We set this out by having O'Brien's apartment set out the same way as the canteen at Winston's workplace. This subliminally suggests to the audience that O'Brien is supportive of Big Brother's views, just like Syme and Parsons and this connection of similar setting is confirmed by the appearance of Martin.

We then went on to discuss our ideas for the Room 101 scene and added other members of the class into the sections of this scene which we'd already done. For example, when Parsons shouts, "Down with big brother," we all walk in together and surround the stage in a semi circle similar to the our original opening before we came up with the concept of book club. Next lesson, we shall continue blocking Room 101 scenes. 

Double - Doctor Faustus - Blog 15 - 01/07/16

Today we ran all of Act One in it's entirety and worked out any issues.

Due to the lack of Rhiannon, we thought it would be very effective for Charlie to take on the role of Good Angel as well as his current role as Evil Angel. We thought this would be very interesting as Charlie will have to change his characterisation constantly. As Good Angel, he will have to have a strong and innocent stature and voice whilst as Evil Angel, he would have a crouched, weak and evil stature and voice.

We also put into practise the sheet part during the section where Faustus learns the dark arts from Valdes and Cornelius. Charlie and Lorna are the ones who are beneath this sheet and this went down like a treat.

When Faustus successfully summons Mephistopheles, we reuse the same floor sheet technique and as Faustus demands for the demon to take another form the sheet gets tossed aside, the chorus surrounds the opposite blocks from Faustus' desk and Mephistopheles approaches through the crowd of demons and awaits Faustus' requests.

Throughout this run through of the first act I needed only two prompts which is much more than I thought I knew. Next lesson we should continue on and run Act Two.