Actor’s Diary
Term 1
28/8/2014
We began our performance workshop by doing simple exercises to acquaint ourselves with our peers. Doing these fun exercises helped us to lessen our nerves and to focus on the next task. We got into small groups and began to discuss our thoughts on Chekhov’s ‘The Cherry Orchard’. As a class we talked about the themes in the play:
- Memory
- Change
- Social Class
- Justice
- Freedom
Discussing this as a class helped me develop my own ideas by linking them to other people’s observations of the text. After discussing this further, our tutor told us to close our eyes and imagine we were in the cherry orchard. We were asked about all the details; what sounds could you hear, what the trees were like etc. This exercise helps provoke emotion memory so we can develop a closer attachment to the play. We then had to imagine our own most beautiful place. I imagined a garden in France. We had to physically paint out the image with our finger’s. Our tutor came round and tapped our shoulder’s upon which we had to start describing the place. The descriptions overlapped and the overall effect was very calming. This exercise is good practice to start effectively imagining situations that character’s go through to further develop our sense of ‘I am’ because we now know what questions to ask when we are imagining a place.
After this, we discussed the connection between a place and a memory. The connection is very strong as physical places embody our memories and can trigger them. We looked to ‘The Cherry Orchard’ to find quotes where the characters talked about a memory in a place. I found a quote from Charlotta; “When I was a little girl, Mama and my father used to go round all the fairs giving shows”. I think that connecting the memory of your character to a place helps you to trigger your emotional memory so that you can achieve a deeper sense of ‘I am’ with your character.
As a class, we discussed ideas of how we could dramatize the place-memory connection. One girl said that when we remember a memory, we are actually remembering the last time we remembered it. This is what my group chose to explore. In our piece there were six people all playing the same person. One by one we would come up to the front and tell the same story, but as it went on, we would forget more and more of the original story. This is because you remember something slightly differently each time and over the years, your memory starts to fade and gradually the entire memory has been warped. To emphasize this, after each person has said their story they continue to mumble quietly and at the end, all our mumblings get louder and louder until we are all shouting, as if all the facts we remembered have become illegible and finally we say in chorus; “I don’t really remember”.
All the groups then performed their pieces. The other groups did not use words, instead they played music. The three other groups based their pieces on a tree. In one piece, the group members acted out memories and then became a part of the tree. This was effective because it showed how the memories that were made in that place will be forever held there through the tree, because of the connection between place and memory. We then merged all the pieces together. My group’s piece came last because it had the most dialogue. The collective piece was put to Daughter’s music and the piece was very effective as it captured the fundamental idea of the connection between place and memory in a delicate and beautiful way. To conclude the piece, everyone morphs into a tree as if to show that our performance has now become a memory connected to the room we were in. Gradually, everyone begins to move around and say ‘The most beautiful place in the world’ and after a while, phase in the quotes we found from ‘The Cherry Orchard’. This shows the memory as being collective and relates the performance to the text.
29/8/2014
We began the session by running through our piece again to make sure it went smoothly. To finally finish the piece, we had to take two people from the audience and ask them to close their eyes and paint with their finger’s whilst we described to them our own most beautiful place in the world. This will further enforce our skill at imagining situations in a text because when you are describing a personal place to strangers, you pay much more attention to detail so that they can have an accurate view of the place.
We then watched the other tutor group performances. They focused on the themes freedom and changes in social class. The changes in social class group used levels effectively as there was a box in the middle of the stage and whoever was standing on the box showed which social class was in power. There was a poignant moment when the upper class were standing on the box and the lower class came to take over. They were ruthless and aggressive until the upper class fell from the box. This showed how gruesome the revolution in Russia really was.
2/9/2014
Before Stanislavsky revolutionised theatre, the stage was dominated by ‘Melodrama’ - ‘a sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions’. Firstly, we were introduced to a few typical characters that would be found in a Melodrama play - a damsel in distress, a hero, a villain, a prince, a mother and a henchmen.
We all made scenes in a melodramatic form. In my scene we used all the characters we were first introduced to except for the mother. All the characters were cliched and one dimensional which, naturally, made the performances funny. The characters and story lines were so ridiculous that it was hilarious to watch. However, it would not be enjoyable if it was the only form of drama available as the characters would become tedious to watch. This is because it is obviously fake which seriously limits the amount of themes that melodrama pieces can explore. Stanislavsky hated melodrama and strived for realistic action on stage, which is what we next explored.
Whereas in Melodrama where actors must face the audience and the scene needs an obvious ending, naturalistic scenes are a style based on the accurate depiction of realistic detail. We all got into groups and created a short naturalistic scene. A few were performed and we then discussed them. Many people found themselves relating to the scenes because they were a slice of real life, talking would overlap and every detail was acted out. However, although this made the scenes look real, they became boring as there was a lot of action that was not necessarily relevant to the main events of the scene.
We were asked to revisit our scenes and cut everything unnecessary so the performance would last a much shorter time. I found doing this to my scene was tricky as we were at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, so there was no stand out event that happened that we could shape our scene around. Instead, we pared down everything we said to the basic points we made. A group who performed their piece before performed it again, but now with the cuts. The scene instantly became less boring but still appeared to be real, even without the little details. This is Realism, using the same idea as Naturalism but only including the important points. Realism is effective as the scenes will still be realistic, but the storyline can move along swiftly. Stanislavsky said “Cut ninety percent!” so that is what we must do.
We now had to link Realism to ‘The Cherry Orchard’ by acting out a summary of the main points in the play. This was difficult to do as the most important points in the play happen outside of it’s action e.g. the auction. We decided to show the family arriving, Lopakhin suggesting the orchard should be sold and destroyed, Lyuba and Gayev refusing, Anya comforting her mother, Lopakhin reminding Lyuba of her debt, Lyuba putting it off, Lopakhin revealing he has bought the orchard, Lyuba running off crying and Firs being left alone. The performances of these summaries did slightly differ and if I could do the exercise again, I would cut down on the amount of people on stage as we were crowded and it was not clear what character everyone was. What this exercise showed us was what are the most important parts in the play so those are the major themes that should be explored.
9/9/2014
Todays lesson was focused on exploring Stanislavsky's system. We began with a relaxation task, laying in semi-supine. Stanislavksy encouraged actors to be relaxed because then you are able to control and concentrate your emotions. You cannot do 'inner work' if you are tense physically, so being relaxed will strengthen your psycho-physical connection. Semi-supine also aids your alignment which is an important part of relaxing your muscles to make sure there is no unnecessary tension.
After this exercise we had to think of someone we saw on the way to school that morning. I chose a drunk, homeless woman I saw walking out side of Kings Cross St Pancras. We then had to embody the people we thought of physically. Although we could not look the same as those people, we took on their physicality - where they shifted their weight, which part of the body they led with, where they looked when they walked. We went around the room as our characters. I walked with my weight shifted forward to the right, my arms hanged loosely by my sides, my feet dragged slowly across the floor and my head was directed down to the ground. We were then given a few MAGIC IFS to respond to. Firstly we were asked; “What if you found a £20 note on the floor?”. I thought my character would slowly bend down to the ground because she was very stiff and then pick up the note warily. She then looked around slyly and and slipped it into her pocket, looking rather pleased with herself. I think she would have done this firstly because she was in need of money and because she was not sober enough to think about other people. Next, we were told “What if you stood in dog poo?”. My character let out a low, frustrated sound and then proceeded to wipe her shoe on the floor and on the walls because she has no respect for her surroundings as she is intoxicated. Then we were asked “What if you had a cup of coffee spilt over you?”. I believed my character would at first not notice because she was not looking up and was wearing a large coat so would not be able to feel it, and then wildly swing her arms about in anger and self-defense because as a homeless person, you are very unsafe so protecting yourself is much more important. Our final MAGIC IF was “What if you had lost your wallet?”. Because money is so vital for the homeless, I thought that my character would be absolutely terrified that she had lost it so she would hastily check all her pockets and then proceed to check on the ground and under objects e.g. benches.
Stanislavsky did not think that an actor could believe in the reality of the events on stage, but could believe in the possibility of the events. Thus he developed the MAGIC IF. This enables the actors to transform the character’s aims into their own aims, allowing the actors to live the part. If is a powerful stimulus for imagination as you can choose for yourself how a character reacts. There is so much more freedom as the ‘if’ does not imply anything that the character does. The ‘if’ is the most direct and natural way to arouse true feelings as it incites the actors to feel emotions and create actions. This is how I felt when doing the exercise. I instantly felt like doing something to react to the stimulus because I am not being told to do, I am given the opportunity to decide for myself.
Using our same characters we got into pairs and had to create a short scene where the two people would logically exist together. I was paired with a character that had to hand out free water at a train station. We decided that we would be outside the station and I would be sleeping near the entrance. We paused and introduced given circumstances to the scene. When? Where? Who? Our ‘when’ was in the morning rush hour, our ‘where’ was a train station and our who was, obviously, the homeless woman and the man giving out water. Knowing where and when you are contributes immensely to a performance as it affects the decisions of, not only the actors, but set designers, lighting designers, directors etc. Understanding these facts, as an actor, gave me enough to get my imagination flowing and to connect my character to a surrounding, but characters with depth cannot be produced truthfully from only the place and time.
To make our performances more truthful we applied WANT > DO > FEEL. The logic behind this is that the character wants something. Therefore they will do something to achieve what they want. Consequently, the character will feel something about what they did. OBJECTIVE is what you want to do. ACTION is what you do. EMOTION is how you feel about it. My character’s objective was to sleep, her action was to scare away the man handing out water and her emotion was frustration. The man handing out water had the objective to finish his shift, his do was to hand out water to as many people as possible and his emotion was boredom. Knowing your objective greatly develops your scene because it gives your character a purpose. Everyone naturally has objectives otherwise they have no reason to be anywhere. Exploring your objective brings truthfulness into the scene. The DO gives the character a way to achieve their objective so the homeless woman wanted to scare the man away because he was disrupting her sleep. The man gave out as much water as he could so that he could finish his shift. The actions helped move the scene forward and enables the actors to act out their character’s objectives. Actioning the words is important to add subtext to the scene. Actioning is what impact you want to have on the other person in the scene so the homeless woman’s was to scare and the working man’s was to tempt. This once again develops and adds depth to the characters.
Following this, we looked at a mini script:
We were then given our parts in ‘The Cherry Orchard’. We then discussed our scene. I was given the part of Ranyevskaya in the last scene of the play.
WHAT YOU SAY ABOUT YOURSELF:
We then focused on creating a short opening to the play. We had to create the entrance for our characters in our character groups and incorporate a physical motif. For Ranyevskaya we decided that, because her super-objective is to find love, she should hold her hand upon her heart. We talked about how we think she would walk and we decided that she would walk slowly because she is the upper class and it is uncivilised to run. She moves with ease and has her head tilted up on a slight axis but looks down her nose. This is because she is filled with pride.
For the opening, character groups came on to the stage and did certain actions that were representative of their character. Character groups came on one after the other so it was clear who was playing who. To make the opening more truthful, we all need to do more character research to refine our character’s physicality. This is where we could apply what we learnt about Laban to developing our characters.
23/9/2014
I added units, unit objectives and actioned my lines:
REHEARSAL SELF OBSERVATION SHEET
30/9/2014
Response to the Directed Session of 'The Cherry Orchard'.
We began by blocking our scene. Blocking the text will make future rehearsals much easier because now we know the basics of where to stand, when to enter, when to exit etc. We are prepared to build on it in future rehearsals. Blocking the text has helped me understand the logistics of the scene and offered an insight into the other characters. For example, Lopakhin is standing near an exit for most of the performance, showing that he wants to leave. Ranyevskaya (the part I am playing) is generally in the middle, showing how she wants to stay. She does not move a lot in the scene, she exits once and then stays until the end, just before Firs has his final speech. Blocking the scene allowed me to discover more about my character because I was able to try out new actions that I could not do before as we were only reading through. I have started to develop my relationship with Gayev on stage because I think she needs someone to cling to as she is losing her 'life..youth..[and] happiness'.
Now what we all need to do is make sure our lines are learnt. When someone forgot their lines is slowed the rehearsal pace down drastically and meant we couldn't run the scene properly.
We ran through all of the scenes and took notes of who we thought did well and who struggled. I particularly liked Sophie's performance of Anya. I felt she had a good variation of tempo and fluctuations in the voice. The rhythm was natural and flowed well. She moved with ease and look comfortable on stage. She forgot her lines once or twice but it for a practice performance I felt she did very well. Michael played Gayev and when he did his scene I struggled to hear what he was saying. My advice to him is to work on projecting his voice and articulating his words. I think he needs to go back to the text and work on where the emphasis on words needs to be placed so that he can understand why he is saying what he is. He did remember his lines and moved with ease on the stage so now he just needs to work on his voice and objectives. Overall, everyone needs to solidify their lines because many were forgotten and it really slows down the rehearsal process.
7/9/2014
Today we worked on the party scene. The song that we are using is Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghb6eDopW8I
This song works well because it is modern and more fun to listen and sing along to. The audience will find it more entertaining because they will most likely know the song too.
We were given the lyrics to the song and had to sing along to it. Singing along to the song will make the party seem more realistic. When the song plays everyone comes up from the sides of the stage and dances with each other and sings. We need to work on filling the space and making sure we are moving about enough to bring the party to life.
After this we ran through the scenes again but many people had forgotten their lines again so the rehearsal did not run smoothly. We had a half hour break to continue learning lines so that when we came back we would be able to carry on. After the break we continued to run the scenes and make sure we know where we had to be at what times.
We then got into our character groups again talked about what we would wear for the performance. We decided that Ranyevskaya would wear a pencil skirt, a blouse and a fur coat or wrap. We wanted to look smart and sophisticated so that we looked like we were from the upper class. We wanted to wear modern clothes so that we can bring 'The Cherry Orchard' into modern times. The play is timeless and can be applied to the past as well as the present. Making it modern will make the play more approachable to the audience.
THE CHERRY ORCHARD PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
I felt my performance went well and I achieved a 7 in my Brit Grade. I felt I did well in creating my character's physicality which is tense and with a good posture. I had researched my character in depth so I tried to apply what I had learned to my acting. I need to work on my diction and annunciation so that you can clearly hear everything I say. I felt that some of my words were lost because I was not loud enough so next time I will develop how I use my voice. I used what I had learnt about Naturalism and Stanislavsky's technique and applied it to my performance as actioned my lines so I had different emotions for each unit in my scene. I felt I had good variation in my delivery of the lines because of this. I need to now refine my performances so that the emotions I am portraying are realistic and natural. Next time I will look deeper into my character's objectives, I had her super objective and an overall objective for the scene but I need to refine the objectives and justify them so I know that they are correct. I felt that Beau's performance was very effective because he had created the voice of the character imaginatively and delivered it consistently. His physicality was very effective and looked right for the character. It was obvious that he had researched his character in depth and his performance was very entertaining. The only issue is that because his voice had such a heavy accent, a few words were lost but this is also typical of the character so it may have been part of his characterisation.
9/9/2014
As a class, we then discussed the key components of a truthful performance. We drew upon our own experiences of watching theatre and when it was effective for us. For me, the most truthful performance I saw was the adaptation of the Michael Morpurgo book ‘War Horse’. The actors were focused and in the moment. Other classmates think that for a truthful performance actors must be vulnerable on stage, I agree with this because if they are not vulnerable, then they are holding back which will limit the truthfulness of their performance. Pushkin asks of the actor that he possesses a "sincerity of emotions, feelings that seem true in given circumstances," otherwise the performance will not be believable.
We explored this idea of a truthful performance in the exercise ‘I Don’t Believe You!”. One person was given a situation and they then had to act it out. If anyone in the audience did not believe them then they could say “I don’t believe you!” and the volunteer would have to start again until their performance was believable. This exercise is effective as it makes the actor focus more on themselves and making their performance more truthful, instead of just trying to impress an audience. The first volunteer had been told she had just come back from the hospital and she was pregnant. She was also an unmarried, muslim teenager. All she did was walk slowly into the room with a grave look on her face and everyone believed her. This is because she did not over act and the simplicity of her actions enforced the character’s helplessness.
We got into pairs and applied what we learnt in the day to the script. In my pair we decided the scene was in a classroom, just before a GCSE exam was scheduled to happen and A and B were students about to take the exam. A’s objective is to do well in the exam (get to it on time). B’s objective is to not take the exam. B does not want to take the exam because they did not study enough to do well, we show this because before the talking starts, B is sitting on the floor miming reciting facts but not being able to do it. We then actioned all the sentences. A says hello to alarm because the exam is about to start and B is not ready yet. B then simply answers. A questions B because B has not reacted to their ‘Hello’ hastily. B then avoids explaining himself to A out of embarrassment. A worries because if he does not come then he will fail the exam. The pause is awkward and A is questioning because they want to know why B is not coming, whilst B is still avoiding. B breaks the silence by trying to rouse A to leave because he does not want A there. A warily accepts what B says because they still do not understand B’s intentions. B finishes the scene by dismissing A, now in frustration because A will not leave him alone.
We watched everyone perform their scenes and it was very interesting how they all varied, yet all used the same words. One of the pieces was very effective as the objectives of each character were so clear through the delivery of their lines and their physicality. A did not want to talk to B, but B wanted to talk to A. A would avoid eye contact and shift awkwardly whilst B had bigger movements and a cheerful tone to her voice. This produced a very amusing scene because of the conflicting objectives.
We repeated the exercise we did before but now with a new script:
Upon the first read, this script is boring, but by being creative and using objectives and actions, the scene can become entertaining. In my pair, we decided the scene would take place in Mcdonalds at lunch time and the two were friends. A’s objective is to win over B, to do this they tell B that they love them and they feel nervous. B”s action in this scene is only to react to what A is saying and sadly, B does not feel the same way. In the scene, A’s confidence steadily declines as all of his hopes are crushed. B has to approach the situation as humorous because of how awkward it is.
After this we were given the first act of ‘The Cherry Orchard’. Firstly, we determined the objectives for each of the character’s; Dunyasha’s was to prepare for the arrival of the family and Lopakhin’s was to greet the family. To achieve overall objectives, character’s must complete sub-objectives before their final goal is completed. This is where ‘Units of Action’ come in.
Units of action were created by Stanislavsky. They split up a scene in order to determine a character’s sub-objective’s and actions that help them to achieve their super objective. By determining units, the mechanics of a scene become much clearer as you know what your character wants at every point. Units will typically end when the conversation changes topic, mood or movement, or are indicated by entrances, exits of characters. We had to apply units of actions to the scene from The Cherry Orchard. The first unit is Dunyasha and Lopakhin talking about the train finally arriving, their objectives in this scene is only to prepare for the family arriving. This unit ends at the first pause because Lopakhin begins talking about a different topic. In this next unit, Lopakhin’s objective is to remember his childhood and more specifically, the kindness that Lyuba showed him. I think this unit ends at the second pause because this is where he is reminding himself that he is still a peasant. The last unit starts after the third pause because we have snapped back into the character’s waiting for the family.
16/9/2014
We began today’s performance workshop by briefly exploring the eight Laban Efforts:
Direct, strong, sudden = punch
Indirect, strong, sudden = slash
Direct, strong, sustained = push
Indirect, strong, sustained = wring
Direct, light, sudden = dab
Indirect, light, sudden = flick
Direct, light, sustained = glide
Indirect, light, sustained = float
Using these efforts gives you a good base for a character. The efforts first give you a chance to explore the extremes and then you can tone them down to apply them to a realistic character. They work effectively because they help you think more deeply about the way a character moves. By following the efforts your character’s physicality becomes truer because of the depth they add to your movements. The efforts can also be applied to your character’s voice. A character’s voice usually matches the way they move for example, a person who is direct, strong and sudden, will not have a light and indirect voice. Therefore, by conjoining your physicality to your voice by using the efforts, you character will be truthful. We were then given our parts in ‘The Cherry Orchard’. We then discussed our scene. I was given the part of Ranyevskaya in the last scene of the play.
KEY MOMENTS
· Lopakhin and Varya’s conversation
· Ranyevskaya and Gayev saying goodbye to the house
· Firs being forgotten
The conversation is important because it is the last opportunity that Lopakhin has to propose to Varya, but he still does not do it. This reveals a lot about his character because it means that he has no intention of marrying Varya, I think this is because he wants to cut all his ties to the past because he does not want to be a peasant anymore. He has succeeded in tearing down the orchard and the house so it would be ridiculous for him to marry into the family that enslaved his ancestors. There is also the question over whether he is actually in love with Ranyevskaya because in Act one he says “The only thing I want is ... to see your amazing, heart-breaking eyes looking at me the way they used to”. Ranyevskaya saying goodbye to the house is important because it is the pinnacle moment of change. It is symbolic of when the upper class fell and the lower class rose up against them. It is referring to the upper class finally saying goodbye to the past as the revolution draws close to change Russia drastically. It is also important that Firs is forgotten because it is the last moment of the play and it leaves us feeling deflated because he was the most loyal to the family and he was left. It is incredibly tragic and is symbolic of Russia’s past being forgotten as the new force of Communism sweeps over the country.
We then got into character groups and discussed the role of Ranyevskaya.
SUPER-OBJECTIVE: TO FIND LOVE
We decided on this super-objective because Ranyevskaya is governed by her emotions. She gives money away to too many people because subconsciously she wants to be loved by them. She considers going back to her Parisian lover even though he stole all her money and caused her to attempt suicide, all because he says he loves her and she wants to be loved. She comes back to her home in Russia because she associates it with her idyllic childhood when she was loved by her family. We also discussed that Ranyevskaya wants to retain her present because she is happily in her mansion, desperately clinging to her happy past as a child. She does not things to lose the orchard because she has too much pride. But she also wants to escape the bad bits of her past – her son drowning, her attempted suicide. This is part of the reason she came back to Russia so that she can escape into a time when she was happy.
WHAT OTHER PEOPLE SAY ABOUT YOU
LOPAKHIN: “She’s a fine woman. Easy, straightforward.” – “You’re still as magnificent as ever” – “I love you ... more than my own flesh and blood”
ANYA: “I felt so sorry for Mama” – “She’s nothing left...And Mama doesn’t understand” – “We should warn Mama – Petya’s here” – “She escaped – fled without so much as a backward glance”
FIRS: “My lady has come home! I waited for her! I can die happy”
WHAT YOU SAY ABOUT OTHERS:
“And Varya’s just the same as before – she looks like a nun” – nasty undertone, showing she looks down the lower class.
[To Anya] “My beloved child”
[To Firs] “I’m so glad to find you still alive”
“And now I’m like a little girl again” – she is back to the start, she has returned to her past
“I don’t think I shall ever manage to come down to earth”
23/9/2014
I added units, unit objectives and actioned my lines:
REHEARSAL SELF OBSERVATION SHEET
Response to the Directed Session of 'The Cherry Orchard'.
We began by blocking our scene. Blocking the text will make future rehearsals much easier because now we know the basics of where to stand, when to enter, when to exit etc. We are prepared to build on it in future rehearsals. Blocking the text has helped me understand the logistics of the scene and offered an insight into the other characters. For example, Lopakhin is standing near an exit for most of the performance, showing that he wants to leave. Ranyevskaya (the part I am playing) is generally in the middle, showing how she wants to stay. She does not move a lot in the scene, she exits once and then stays until the end, just before Firs has his final speech. Blocking the scene allowed me to discover more about my character because I was able to try out new actions that I could not do before as we were only reading through. I have started to develop my relationship with Gayev on stage because I think she needs someone to cling to as she is losing her 'life..youth..[and] happiness'.
Now what we all need to do is make sure our lines are learnt. When someone forgot their lines is slowed the rehearsal pace down drastically and meant we couldn't run the scene properly.
We ran through all of the scenes and took notes of who we thought did well and who struggled. I particularly liked Sophie's performance of Anya. I felt she had a good variation of tempo and fluctuations in the voice. The rhythm was natural and flowed well. She moved with ease and look comfortable on stage. She forgot her lines once or twice but it for a practice performance I felt she did very well. Michael played Gayev and when he did his scene I struggled to hear what he was saying. My advice to him is to work on projecting his voice and articulating his words. I think he needs to go back to the text and work on where the emphasis on words needs to be placed so that he can understand why he is saying what he is. He did remember his lines and moved with ease on the stage so now he just needs to work on his voice and objectives. Overall, everyone needs to solidify their lines because many were forgotten and it really slows down the rehearsal process.
7/9/2014
Today we worked on the party scene. The song that we are using is Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghb6eDopW8I
This song works well because it is modern and more fun to listen and sing along to. The audience will find it more entertaining because they will most likely know the song too.
We were given the lyrics to the song and had to sing along to it. Singing along to the song will make the party seem more realistic. When the song plays everyone comes up from the sides of the stage and dances with each other and sings. We need to work on filling the space and making sure we are moving about enough to bring the party to life.
After this we ran through the scenes again but many people had forgotten their lines again so the rehearsal did not run smoothly. We had a half hour break to continue learning lines so that when we came back we would be able to carry on. After the break we continued to run the scenes and make sure we know where we had to be at what times.
We then got into our character groups again talked about what we would wear for the performance. We decided that Ranyevskaya would wear a pencil skirt, a blouse and a fur coat or wrap. We wanted to look smart and sophisticated so that we looked like we were from the upper class. We wanted to wear modern clothes so that we can bring 'The Cherry Orchard' into modern times. The play is timeless and can be applied to the past as well as the present. Making it modern will make the play more approachable to the audience.
THE CHERRY ORCHARD PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
I felt my performance went well and I achieved a 7 in my Brit Grade. I felt I did well in creating my character's physicality which is tense and with a good posture. I had researched my character in depth so I tried to apply what I had learned to my acting. I need to work on my diction and annunciation so that you can clearly hear everything I say. I felt that some of my words were lost because I was not loud enough so next time I will develop how I use my voice. I used what I had learnt about Naturalism and Stanislavsky's technique and applied it to my performance as actioned my lines so I had different emotions for each unit in my scene. I felt I had good variation in my delivery of the lines because of this. I need to now refine my performances so that the emotions I am portraying are realistic and natural. Next time I will look deeper into my character's objectives, I had her super objective and an overall objective for the scene but I need to refine the objectives and justify them so I know that they are correct. I felt that Beau's performance was very effective because he had created the voice of the character imaginatively and delivered it consistently. His physicality was very effective and looked right for the character. It was obvious that he had researched his character in depth and his performance was very entertaining. The only issue is that because his voice had such a heavy accent, a few words were lost but this is also typical of the character so it may have been part of his characterisation.
