Single - Applying Acting Styles - Blog 29 - 19/12/16

Below is my evaluation for how each scene went:

People, Places and Things

• My entrance was loud, impactful and noticeable catching the audience's attention immediately.
• Throughout my entire section, I got most of my lines right. The parts where I didn't were because I couldn't remember them but I did very well to improvise and say something that matches what my character, Paul, is already saying.
• When standing on the table my movement was very good as it wasn't very controlled and I threw pens at Ollie as the script indicates.
• When I wasn't onstage as Paul, all of the scene changes went smoothly as I organised everyone beforehand in the other room while the rest of the scene was carrying on.

Advice For The Young At Heart

• My first part with Rob took a while to start as Rob took a while to enter but besides this the scene went somewhat well. Our characterisation was good and but again we jumped around the script a bit. Luckily our audience wouldn't know this unless they knew the script.
• My next section with Hope went very well, we displayed our characters' relationships very well and we both had great chemistry onstage bouncing off of each other.
• The next section between Rob and I didn't go as well as we'd hoped or rehearsed as Rob had forgotten a line which resulted in us going back a bit and re-doing a tiny bit which not only confused us but I feel that this would've confused the audience too. With this confusion, we skipped forward to the fight scene which actually went very well.
• To finish, I got my line wrong which ended the piece there as I said the ending line. This confused Hope a lot and meant we skipped 3-4 lines. Although this wasn't major, it's still not how the scene is mean to go.

Single - Applying Acting Styles - Blog 28 - 16/12/16

As this is our final lesson before our performance date, we decided to focus on our Advice For The Young At Heart scene as this needs a lot more work than People Places and Things. Rob, Hope and I decided that we should just runthrough the entire scene and pick out what we need to fix. Of course with Rob's injury, we couldn't risk choreographing stage combat in case Rob were to actually get hurt during rehearsals or the actual performance so we came up with a method to show the fight scene but remaining very Brecht:

• We'd perform the dialogue before the fight and I would lunge towards Rob. He would turn and grab me by my throat just in time.
• We would then have a blackout and by the time the lights turn back on (about 2 seconds max) I would be lying on my back on the floor and Rob would be on top of me holding me down. Hope would be to the side of us and the dialogue would continue.

This method not only ensures Rob and I don't get hurt through error, but it reinforces our focus on Epic Theatre.

These are the notes we covered on our runthrough:

• For the first section, Rob needs to be more sure on his lines but besides this the beginning section between Rob and I has a lot of energy and expresses the relationship between the pair.
• The section between Hope and I went very well, probably the best it's ever gone but we still need to work on our movement a bit more, ensuring we still show a troubled relationship but also keeping in mind how Brecht wouldn't want the audience to become attached to our characters.
• With the second section between Rob and I, we really need to make sure we know what order each talking point is in as we got all of our lines right but we jumped around the script a bit. Besides this, we performed this scene very well. The fight section was also very believable too and I reckon the audience will be very chilled the way it's been done.

Double - Auditions for Actors - Blog 26 - 16/12/16

Below is my evaluation of both of my monologues:

Syme - 1984

I feel that I characterised myself very well as Syme with not only my body language but my accent as well. I wanted Syme's voice to be as draining as what he's speaking about which I feel works wonders for this monologue. My gestures throughout were very effective alongside the points I'm trying to prove and based on feedback the gestures help people understand what my character is trying to get across a lot more. I did well to not slur my words too much like I have done before in rehearsals and kept very clear, pronouncing every syllable with clear articulation.

Bottom - A Midsummer Night's Dream

I feel that this monologue had a lot to live up to after my Syme monologue but I still think it did very well. My entire characterisation was great showing that I had a clear understanding of my character. From my voice, to my gestures, to my body language it was clear I was Bottom. I feel, however, that my fall of the seats was still quite awkward but this didn't last long as the section after felt a lot more funny. Performing a comedy is difficult, especially when the class sees the same thing and slowly find it less and less funny, but I still feel that this monologue was incredibly amusing from the character himself to the content of the monologue. 

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 26 - 14/12/16

Today in Rent, we blocked our movement for Without You. Typically, Without You is a song solely based on the downfall of the group where relationships break down. Joanne and Maureen have broken up, as well as Mimi and Roger and in our version, this is the song where Angel's life is tragically taken. We wanted to portray the breakdown of the group through this one song, displaying each relationship ending.

We start off the scene with the simple yet effective dialogue before the song between Mimi and Roger and then Roger exits leaving Mimi on her own on the blocks. I, Collins, enters with Owen, Angel, in my arms in severe pain and I place him on the table in the centre. I cover him with my jacket to keep him warm and stand with him comforting him. Partway through the song, Maureen walks in but as Joanne walks in a bit later, Maureen leaves almost immediately which shows the conflict between this pair. Tyler and Warren also walk in as individuals to mourn over Angel's illness.

We wanted to take this opportunity to show Benny's good side in this song as throughout he's shown to be an outcast and corrupted. However, throughout the story a lot of Benny's actions are taken for granted and unless you read between the lines, you never truly understand how much he does for the group. Will walks in and stops at a distance as he knows he probably won't be welcome there. However, upon Owen looking over at Will, Owen smiles and Will comes over. He walks over to me as I smile and we embrace in a friendly hug, symbolising the support Benny gives the group. For the rest of the song, Will and I stay with Owen until he dies, where I lower his hand down onto the table. Benny and Collins exit, Benny's arm around Collin's shoulder for comfort. Mimi then steps down and says goodbye to Angel.

We decided to go on from this and block I'll Cover You (Reprise) as well as it's the song that follows immediately. The way we have staged this is by leaving the table in the center from Without You, place a stage block behind the table which Owen sits on behind me and everyone stand in a semicircle around the table which is now representing Angel's coffin. Cameron, Taylor and Alice speak their dialogue and when the music starts, everyone turns inwards as I begin to sing. When the chorus section starts, everyone turns back the way they were and sing and Owen steps onto the block and sings the same part as me. 

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 25 - 08/12/16

changing will i - santa/cover notes

Today we attempted a full runthrough of every number in the show so that we can change anything that seems weak or resolve any other issues. However, due to major tweaks being made, we only got up to I'll Cover You. Below is how each section I was in went:

• Opening (Tune Up #1, Voicemail #1, Tune Up #2, Rent): This scene went extremely well as everyone knew their lines and timing, everyone acted out all of their parts with enthusiasm and it showed that everyone had worked on their individual sections at home. The only thing I'd say we can improve on in this respect is Alice making her voicemail as Mark's Mother more over the top however she still performed it very well!
• Today 4 U/You'll See: During Today 4 U, there was a lot more energy at the beginning between Collins, Mark and Roger and we did well to show the relationship between the group within the short amount of time available. However, despite Angel's entrance being the best it's ever been, during her whole storytelling section of the death of Akita, the rest of us still seem very static and just seem to watching her. I feel that Angel really needs to interact with the group during this song as she's not only telling the audience but she's also supposed to be telling the group too!
  
  You'll See was brilliant again and does well to show how much of an outcast Benny's become after leaving the group. Our interactions with Benny are great, Will's change between singing and speak singing is seamless and Collins and Angel on the side doesn't look unnatural as it did before.

For Life Support, some of us had major issues with timing ruined the flow of the song and thus didn't lead well into the next song. Luckily, I was very familiar with this song as I've listened to this musical countless times in preparation for this show so I was able to step in and assist the others who had timing issues. However, the biggest issue wasn't Life Support, it was Will I? Despite us all going home and learning the songs, we were very poor in this song due to the confusing overlapping and difficult timing on the last line of the repeated verse ("From...this...nightmare"). After a couple of singthroughs, we realised that this wasn't going to work so we tried something different:

• On the final lines of Life Support ("No other road, no other way, no day but today"), we all exit excluding Henri, who stays seated on the table centre stage, Lorna, who freezes and stays in her place from Life Support, Taylor, who walks into Roger's apartment and into Another Day, and Lewis (me), frozen mid walk exiting the stage.
• We all perform Another Day where we end with Henri and Taylor interacting with one another, Lorna and I frozen onstage and singing in the ensemble sections and everyone else in the wings singing the ensemble sections also.
• For Will I?, Mimi ends sitting on the edge of the stage, Henri sitting on the table centre stage and Lorna and I remain frozen. Lorna sings the first verse alone, Henri sings with her from the second verse in unison, Taylor does the same on the third and I do the same on the fourth. On the fifth verse, only Lorna sings and Henri and I exit. Finally, on the sixth, Lorna exits while Taylor stands and sings the final verse on her own.

I then felt it would be more fitting if Owen (Angel) took my place as it foreshadows later events to come. Not only the inevitable end of Mimi and Roger's relationship (which ends up being permanent in our version) but the death of the chirpy embodiment of Bohemia, Angel. We tried this again and not only did it make more sense for Angel to sing but Owen's light tone of voice worked better in this number than my heavier alternative.

For the rest of the lesson, we ran Santa Fe followed by I'll Cover You; two of my most important songs. I feel that Santa Fe went very well; the four of us, Cameron, Henri, Owen and I, interacted very well throughout, we all knew our lines and sang them with meaning and all of our movement was purposeful. I'll Cover You was also very good as we both had plenty of energy and interacted well with each other but the issue is our singing. Although we sound fine apart, our harmonies are very clashy; to prevent this, we'll both go see the school's singing teacher, Mr Quinn.

Double - Auditions for Actors - Blog 24 - 07/12/16

Today in Double, we worked on our contemporary monologues again but I then went on to work on my classical monologue.

At first I performed my Syme monologue from 1984, but after one performance, I felt confident enough in my performance that it's ready for assessment. I decided that it would be more useful if I worked on my classical monologue, Bottom's monologue from A Midsummer Night's Dream more today as it needed a lot more work done to it rather than Syme's monologue.

I began by quickly running through it to get myself familiar with the character again. I then performed it again to Ollie and asked him to give me notes on how to improve. He said he felt that as I hadn't performed this monologue in while that the energy was lacking. I totally agreed with this and I hammed up the energy a lot more in my other runthroughs. After running through it a few times, I received the following notes:

• Slow down some of the lines. Speaking too fast can lose some of the meaning
• Remember that your character cares for no one but himself, be more arrogant.
• Stop furrowing your brow or you look too confused.

To combat this, I've slowed down my section when I describe my dream and used more shocked facial expressions rather than a confused furrowed brow. I've also become more self obsessed as my character and showing how amazed Bottom is with his own ability to act. Next lesson, we will be performing our monologues to be filmed and assessed.

Single - Applying Acting Styles - Blog 27 - 06/12/16

Today, I worked a considerable amount with Rob on our sections from Advice For The Young At Heart, especially on the fight scene. Rob wanted to make sure that although we want to establish the key relationship between Sam and Kenny, we didn't want the audience to become too attached to this as we're playing this scene in the style of Epic Theatre. 

Despite us performing this scene with Brecht in mind, I'd feel it's fair to say that Hope, Rob and I are very naturalistic actors which makes this scene very difficult to keep Brecht. However, to make our acting more Brechtian, we'll be more distant from each other to show a contrast to some of the heated discussions we have, speak out to the audience a great deal to further enforce the Verfremdungseffekt (defamiliarisation) and use placards within the performance.

With mine and Rob's sections, I feel for our very first few runthroughs we were quite good but these are the things I want to work on next lesson:

• I feel that, although I want our scene to remain Brechtian, mine and Rob's characters' relationship needs to be established better in the beginning for the fight scene at the end to be all that more impactful.
• We could either approach this note in two different ways:
• Make sure our acting in this scene is very Brechtian macthes the style of acting we're wishing to portray.
• Or, we don't worry too much about how Brechtian/Nauralistic/Absurd etc our actual acting and focus more on the stagecraft to fully showcase the conventions of Brecht.

Although it would be simpler to rely on stagecraft, I felt that this wouldn't do the style of Epic Theatre any justice so I feel we should stay traditional to the styles of Brecht and display Epic Theatre fully.

To be sure of what acting and characterisation techniques Brecht favoured, I referred back to my research from my Special Subject Investigation and looked at the techniques I studied (http://lewisfisherra.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/triple-special-subject-investigation_6.html) ; these included:

• Mix of forceful and graceful movement
• Over exaggerative gestures
• Simplified and stereotyped characters (including accents)
• Direct audience address
• Representational props/placards

Reviewing these different conventions will aid me in my task to make our scene more Brechtian.

Double - Auditions for Actors - Blog 23 - 05/12/16

Today, we worked on our contemporary monologues once again keeping in mind the idea of elements as well as our notes from last lesson. We were asked to disperse into two groups (Ollie, James and Lorna/Rob and I) and showcase our monologues, giving feedback after every runthrough.

With Rob's monologue, I felt that he remained quite static throughout so some movement would do him well. After adding this his performance was much better. Due to his absence, he didn't know about elements so I also discussed this with him, making it clear that there aren't exact definitions for each element.

When performing Syme's monologue from 1984, I was very confident as I had performed it a lot before and I had taken a lot of comments on from before.

Below is the feedback I received after performing my monologue to the class at the end:

• Very good facial expressions throughout which represents your character as Water very well.
• Your gestures were relevant to your speech which works very well with this monologue.
• The voice is working incredibly well at creating an authentic and memorable character but your diction still needs some work. Try to accentuate some of the words you have issues with like "vocabulary" and "bad".

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 24 - 05/12/16

Today in Rent, we had some major changes to our tracklist in order to better prepared for the show date and to put our own spin on the famous musical.

Below is our new tracklist:

• Act One
• Tune Up #1
• Voicemail #1
• Tune Up #2
• Rent
• Tune Up #3
• One Song Glory
• Light My Candle
• Voicemail #2
• Today 4 U
• You'll See
• Tango Maureen
• Life Support
• Another Day
• Will I?
• Santa Fe
• I'll Cover You
• We're Okay
• Over The Moon
• Act Two
• La Vie Boheme
• Voicemail #3
• Happy New Year B
• Take Me or Leave Me
• Without You
• Voicemail #4
• I'll Cover You (Reprise)
• Goodbye Love
• Seasons of Love

With our new tracklist, we've covered a lot more of it having only a few songs left to look at.

We started off today by going through I'll Cover You (Reprise) focusing on the chorus parts. When singing this song, I struggled to find the right pitch from the beginning as I didn't want to start too high which would mean I need to change key to get lower if I get too high. Besides this issue, I feel comfortable performing this song and it sounds even better now that the chorus has been added.

We then followed onto the end of our version of RENT and began Goodbye Love. This song is very conversation at the opening and evokes a lot of emotions out of the characters. Although Maureen and Joanne get back together, Mimi and Roger go their separate ways, Collins' is mourning the death of Angel and Mark's life is now empty considering most of his friends are upset.

With this song it's all about conveying the emotion through voice as well as our movement so today we focused on our voice. I struggled, initially, with knowing which of my parts were spoken in rhythm and which are sung but after listening to the original track multiple times and practicing at home, I feel that I've got it right.

Next lesson, we will work on adding movement to Goodbye Love.

Single - Applying Acting Styles - Blog 26 - 01/12/16

Today, Hope and I continued with our scene and focused on our movement, working towards making it more Brecht! We did this by looking at the audience more and we changed some of our lines to be aimed at the audience (e.g. "you never listened" went to "she never listened").

We preformed this scene to the rest of the class and received the following notes:

• Very good dialect suiting the setting.
• Make sure the movement suits the brecht style you're going for.