The Future Potential of the piece as a theatre product:
I feel there is potential for this piece to alter people's perception of politics. It draws on the conflict between one's personal and professional life and emphasises the fact that politicians are human beings and not just their professional persona.
By the audience being unsure of whether or not Amanda drowns, the audience is invited to consider this and hopefully the topics within the play further.
This play is short and focused and gets the message across clearly. There was a clear crescendo of events in the devised pieces building up to the final Amanda piece. Each devised piece explores a different politician grappling with politics with a big P and a small p. The content of the central ensemble piece of Amanda will remain pertinent when performed in the future as it deals with Amanda's human nature rather than specific issues related to this time period. The individual devised pieces contained current issues such as university fees. Future performers of this play could update the content to what is prominent at the time of performance, making this piece in some ways
Friday, 13 December 2013
Overall Evaluation of final performance
Overall evaluation of final performance (strengths and weaknesses)
Effectiveness of Group ensemble: I feel that the overall effectiveness of our piece varied greatly from our initial performance to our peers from the theatre department to our evening performance which was witnessed by invited guests, mostly consisting of parents. I feel the weaknesses of our first performance were most apparent in our finishing group ensemble piece of Amanda from Theatre Uncut itself. Our entire company took part in it and it was significantly weaker than our individual devised group performances beforehand which were spoken clearly, with an effective use of Gestus to communicate an unseen side of politicians and prompt the question “Do we become more right wing in hard times?”. In contrast, I feel our final group piece of Amanda lacked a sense of a strong ensemble and Brechtian technique as we were speaking our lines to one another but needed to create more contact between group members and the audience to further break down the fourth wall. Our lack of group ensemble was mainly due to uncertainty about cues and lines within the group which lead to uncomfortably long silences that felt quite dead and lacking in substance. Although, pauses were necessary in the performance as Amanda attempts to relax in the comfort of her own home with her thoughts milling around her, they did not create the dynamic moments intended. To try and improve our sense of group ensemble and pace, many performers, including me, found it appropriate to re-sequence the lines to try and adjust this mishap. This started the action and voice again but led to issues of sequence in the story. As a consequence some lines were unnecessarily repeated.
After practicing individually, we rehearsed with a clear focus on supporting and reacting to one another as an ensemble. This enabled us to heighten our use of Brechtian technique in our final performance to parents as our Gestus became clearer. Because everyone in the group was more secure with lines, we were enabled to relax and confidently carry out bold and interesting choices affecting the audience and one another. This enabled others to have something more significant to react to. The overall effect of this was we became more of a unit and this showed that we were all the contrasting thoughts of one person – Amanda.
Personal what went well: I am particularly pleased with how I performed the line as I implied clear actions and emphasised certain words to get my point across and used Gestus. I directed this harshly to Sophia who spoke the line before me, causing my outburst, other performers and members of the audience, bearing in mind a Brechtian style acting technique. I feel this was effective in reaching the audience which Brecht saw as desirable, building a sense of Amanda’s conflicting intense emotions and gave other performers something to react to.
Personal and even better if: I feel that I could have heightened my sense of Gestus throughout and perhaps travelled more. I felt I wanted to move more but this became problematic as too many people were positioned around the bath tub at once, making it hard to leave this area due to lack of space for movement. I moved around in response to other actors in a confined space which made interactions with one another more of a challenge. I found a good opportunity to move from the crowded area on the line “You’re not even supposed to be thinking of work Amanda so shut up” which was spoken with frustration as I moved. However, in hindsight, I feel I should have moved beforehand and was stationary by the bathtub for too long and was less liberated due to this.
“clean”
Performances that I particularly liked: Performances within our group that I particularly admire include Demi and Elliott. Demi approached the bathtub early on in the group ensemble piece of Amanda and remained there but did not become lazy or start to lose her clear sense of dynamic Gestus and she continued to react to others as she was always focused on the Gestus and physicality of the lines being spoken at the time. As a result of this, when one of my lines was spoken, she made clear precise eye contact with me, registering and reacting to what I had said and in turn spoke her individual lines in a confident, bold and stylised way which engaged the rest of us and the audience. Elliot equally offered his lines in a dynamic and interesting way to fellow performers and the audience with a strong sense of Gestus, showing the archetype of character he was trying to portray effectively. I particularly liked it when he stood up on a chair to say “A bloody Tory MP” whilst waving his hand about. I feel this choice in Gestus created a mocking tone and invited everyone to join in with his point of view and added energy to the performance which transferred onto other performers.
Performances that I particularly liked: Performances within our group that I particularly admire include Demi and Elliott. Demi approached the bathtub early on in the group ensemble piece of Amanda and remained there but did not become lazy or start to lose her clear sense of dynamic Gestus and she continued to react to others as she was always focused on the Gestus and physicality of the lines being spoken at the time. As a result of this, when one of my lines was spoken, she made clear precise eye contact with me, registering and reacting to what I had said and in turn spoke her individual lines in a confident, bold and stylised way which engaged the rest of us and the audience. Elliot equally offered his lines in a dynamic and interesting way to fellow performers and the audience with a strong sense of Gestus, showing the archetype of character he was trying to portray effectively. I particularly liked it when he stood up on a chair to say “A bloody Tory MP” whilst waving his hand about. I feel this choice in Gestus created a mocking tone and invited everyone to join in with his point of view and added energy to the performance which transferred onto other performers.
Final script for our Devised toilet piece
Michelle
Gove's Bathroom.
R K and S on as sinks.
R: Imagine.
K: Ok?
S: A bathroom.
RKS: Is it just like yours?
K and S off.
R: This is the bathroom of Michelle Give.
J and E enter on opposite sides. They both wash their hands and fix their hair then sit down.
K and S enter as toilet and toilet brush.
E: God that stinks!
S: What did she eat?
R: It was pasta I think.
E: Having a bad day are you? All that stress and pain is getting to you I can see it in your eyes. It's aging you slowly. As of lately you've turned so bitter. I saw you earlier...
J gets up and E follows her as she observes S who is busking.
E: You saw that poor boy begging for money, and you god damn well knew you had twenty quid in your pocket. But you were too selfish to fork out. That's the thing about you politicians, you're all selfish. The sooner you realize that the better.
J walks past S and circles E's chair to return to her own. R sits in in E's chair and E becomes sink.
R: I saw you this morning at the referendum, you were so eager to sign that policy for raising the grade boundaries. You never used to be like this.
K comes on. R and J sit up straighter.
K: Right. We are at the final stage of raising the UK's educational grade boundaries for core subjects for high school students. All those for?
S raises J's hand.
K: All those against? Thank you politicians the grade boundaries will rise this autumn.
E and K swap, K becomes sink. R becomes toilet. S sits in E's chair.
S: She doesn't look too good.
E: She had a bad day, she can't flush this away!
K: But she does deserve a good day doesn't she?
R: Yeah, this is meant to be relaxing, you're not really helping...
S: Do you remember me? Didn't think you would. I was 1 of 1000's. It's our lives that you're ruining, our futures! We are the future.
S K R E sound scape: We are the future.
S K R E surround J on chair shouting.
J: Stop! It's not my fault ok?
J gets up and washes her hands.
E: Listen, I know you've had a hard week. You're a politician and you have to be brave. You have to show the people you are in charge. So, keep your chin up, put a smile on that face, and lets take another day.
E and J circle E's chair. S R K bombard J as paparazzi.
S: Michelle! How do you feel about putting up the grade boundaries?
R: Michelle! Do you know you're ruining lives?
L: Michelle! Do you have anything to say?
All: Michelle michelle!
J: Leave me alone. I'm a human, just like you.
J and E exit.
R S K return to sink format.
R: Imagine.
S: Ok?
K: A bathroom.
RSK: Just like everyone else's.
R K and S on as sinks.
R: Imagine.
K: Ok?
S: A bathroom.
RKS: Is it just like yours?
K and S off.
R: This is the bathroom of Michelle Give.
J and E enter on opposite sides. They both wash their hands and fix their hair then sit down.
K and S enter as toilet and toilet brush.
E: God that stinks!
S: What did she eat?
R: It was pasta I think.
E: Having a bad day are you? All that stress and pain is getting to you I can see it in your eyes. It's aging you slowly. As of lately you've turned so bitter. I saw you earlier...
J gets up and E follows her as she observes S who is busking.
E: You saw that poor boy begging for money, and you god damn well knew you had twenty quid in your pocket. But you were too selfish to fork out. That's the thing about you politicians, you're all selfish. The sooner you realize that the better.
J walks past S and circles E's chair to return to her own. R sits in in E's chair and E becomes sink.
R: I saw you this morning at the referendum, you were so eager to sign that policy for raising the grade boundaries. You never used to be like this.
K comes on. R and J sit up straighter.
K: Right. We are at the final stage of raising the UK's educational grade boundaries for core subjects for high school students. All those for?
S raises J's hand.
K: All those against? Thank you politicians the grade boundaries will rise this autumn.
E and K swap, K becomes sink. R becomes toilet. S sits in E's chair.
S: She doesn't look too good.
E: She had a bad day, she can't flush this away!
K: But she does deserve a good day doesn't she?
R: Yeah, this is meant to be relaxing, you're not really helping...
S: Do you remember me? Didn't think you would. I was 1 of 1000's. It's our lives that you're ruining, our futures! We are the future.
S K R E sound scape: We are the future.
S K R E surround J on chair shouting.
J: Stop! It's not my fault ok?
J gets up and washes her hands.
E: Listen, I know you've had a hard week. You're a politician and you have to be brave. You have to show the people you are in charge. So, keep your chin up, put a smile on that face, and lets take another day.
E and J circle E's chair. S R K bombard J as paparazzi.
S: Michelle! How do you feel about putting up the grade boundaries?
R: Michelle! Do you know you're ruining lives?
L: Michelle! Do you have anything to say?
All: Michelle michelle!
J: Leave me alone. I'm a human, just like you.
J and E exit.
R S K return to sink format.
R: Imagine.
S: Ok?
K: A bathroom.
RSK: Just like everyone else's.
Wednesday, 11 December 2013
Language of theatre - Epic and Dramatic Theatre
Language of Theatre:
Today we learnt about two interesting and contrasting terms Epic theatre and dramatic theatre
Epic Theatre: (Brecht) narrative, turns the audience into an observer and "Amanda aims to do this. It also suggests an argument and in this case it is the argument that politicians are human which is posed by the question "Do we turn more right wing in hard times".
Dramatic Theatre: Opposing epic Theatre is Dramatic Theatre which is plotted, implicit.
Another way of explaining it is that "Epic Theatre" is alterable/being altered and "Dramatic Theatre" is unalterable.
Today we learnt about two interesting and contrasting terms Epic theatre and dramatic theatre
Epic Theatre: (Brecht) narrative, turns the audience into an observer and "Amanda aims to do this. It also suggests an argument and in this case it is the argument that politicians are human which is posed by the question "Do we turn more right wing in hard times".
Dramatic Theatre: Opposing epic Theatre is Dramatic Theatre which is plotted, implicit.
Another way of explaining it is that "Epic Theatre" is alterable/being altered and "Dramatic Theatre" is unalterable.
Tuesday, 10 December 2013
Rehearsing Amanda and own devised pieces
Rehearsing Amanda and own devised pieces:
AMANDA STAGING:
As we are performing our political piece of "Amanda" in a Brechtian style, our interpretation of this short play is going to have a stage layout to reflect this so that the audience are reminded that what they are watching is a performance. We are going to do this by arranging the audience seats so that they can see Amanda in the middle, the individual devised performances around the edge and other audience members from across the room - "Theatre in The Round Staging". I think seeing other audience members watching the performance will be intriguing and reflect the Brechtian technique we are studying effectively as the audience are aware of other audience members reminding them they are being influenced by a performance and it is clearly not real life. I think this is clever staging and feels quite episodic and each devised piece is very sectioned off from one another, showing the each politicians isolation from the rest of the world and other humans. It is only at the end with "Amanda" do all these over-whelming thoughts come colliding together and I think all of these aspects of this staging help making the audience a learning, observant, challenged and actively engaged audience. Additionally, as Brecht used signs in his theatre each of the devised pieces in every corner will also have a sign depicted where the politician is to reflect this.
Feedback for our group piece of Amanda:
- Our collective group ensemble piece of Amanda must have more energy as it is what the pieces beforehand build up to. Our energy is going into our words well but not travelling very far. I agree with this comment and think we all need to open up our voices more and connect them more with our physicality as we are studying Gestus and direct it more to others around us, across the room, who said the line before, to Amanda very directly if appropriate and in the spaces the audience is going to be. I feel I improved this sense of energy and Brechtian technique on two more of my lines where I am describing where Amanda is with my physicality and voice more effectively and when I become frustrated with others negativity and talk of work. Whilst I am much more pleased with these particular lines I need to do the same with all my lines and continuously react as this play has a lot of simplicity but will only retain an engaging energy if the performers that make it interesting, engaging and stop it from its simplistic nature from becoming slow-paced or dull.
Feedback and development for my individual group's devised piece:
- We need to base our politician on an actual person as although we know they work in education we are unsure of who exactly they are. Therefore, as a group we researched in the library and decided to base our political character on Michael Gove - Head of Education. Although this may seem like naturalism as we are researching a character it is not completely necessary to go to the extent of which Stanislavski would as Brecht did not intend for this to happen, however, it is useful to have a name and know a bit more about who we are portraying. As this is an abstract piece and our politician is being portrayed by a girl - Angelica - we are naming them Michelle Gove which may seem less familiar to the audience but this will help them to use their creativity and it is okay if it is not transparently clear who the politician is as "Amanda" herself has no exact identity either as it is irrelevant in the piece as the emphasis is more on the fact that she's human.
- We have created short flashback scenes played by the ensemble of the toilet and bathroom furniture which are performed in front of the toilet scene at the same time as they are being described to show brief scenarios of Michelle's life before merging back into toilet/bathroom furniture again. We feel this will enhance the vivid imagery going through Michelle's head, showing that past events feel really real and on-going to her as if it is happening right next to her in her own bathroom as she tries to block it all out. The scenes we have included are Seamus portraying a young homeless person playing the guitar as he has no more money or job due to the drastic change in education and he is ignored by Michelle. Rebecca described the scene in which she changes the law where I portray her doing so and other politicians pressured into agreeing with the new system due to the head of education (Michelle's) opinion. These scenes add pressure and guilt to Michelle's conscious as she is visabley uncomfortable hearing about hem and watching them back. As an ensemble all of us surround Angelica/Michelle chanting "WE ARE THE FUTURE" louder and louder until she has an outburst. Finally the last scene shows Michelle and her reflection deciding to "face another day" but are mobbed by reporters (Seamus, Rebecca and Me) with Michelle replying "STOP! I'm human just like you". I feel this has improved our piece immensely as we are challenging the audience and showing the multifaceted side to politicians far more than before. This is due to portraying her in her worst light, through these newly added scenes and flashbacks, confirming a typical "thoughtless politician" outlook causing the audience to them negatively but we also challenge this view as we show her stresses and her guilt and she says "I'm human". To emphasise our point we end our scene by the ensemble physically embodying sink and repeating the opening phrase but slightly differently. "Imagine. Okay. A toilet. Just like yours".
- Costume and props:
-
- A piece of clothing that provides a small hint to our character: as I am playing the politician in the flashback and a ensemble character I am going to have blazer that I wear and bring in.
- For our devised piece Seamus will bring in a guitar
AMANDA STAGING:
As we are performing our political piece of "Amanda" in a Brechtian style, our interpretation of this short play is going to have a stage layout to reflect this so that the audience are reminded that what they are watching is a performance. We are going to do this by arranging the audience seats so that they can see Amanda in the middle, the individual devised performances around the edge and other audience members from across the room - "Theatre in The Round Staging". I think seeing other audience members watching the performance will be intriguing and reflect the Brechtian technique we are studying effectively as the audience are aware of other audience members reminding them they are being influenced by a performance and it is clearly not real life. I think this is clever staging and feels quite episodic and each devised piece is very sectioned off from one another, showing the each politicians isolation from the rest of the world and other humans. It is only at the end with "Amanda" do all these over-whelming thoughts come colliding together and I think all of these aspects of this staging help making the audience a learning, observant, challenged and actively engaged audience. Additionally, as Brecht used signs in his theatre each of the devised pieces in every corner will also have a sign depicted where the politician is to reflect this.
Feedback for our group piece of Amanda:
- Our collective group ensemble piece of Amanda must have more energy as it is what the pieces beforehand build up to. Our energy is going into our words well but not travelling very far. I agree with this comment and think we all need to open up our voices more and connect them more with our physicality as we are studying Gestus and direct it more to others around us, across the room, who said the line before, to Amanda very directly if appropriate and in the spaces the audience is going to be. I feel I improved this sense of energy and Brechtian technique on two more of my lines where I am describing where Amanda is with my physicality and voice more effectively and when I become frustrated with others negativity and talk of work. Whilst I am much more pleased with these particular lines I need to do the same with all my lines and continuously react as this play has a lot of simplicity but will only retain an engaging energy if the performers that make it interesting, engaging and stop it from its simplistic nature from becoming slow-paced or dull.
Feedback and development for my individual group's devised piece:
- We need to base our politician on an actual person as although we know they work in education we are unsure of who exactly they are. Therefore, as a group we researched in the library and decided to base our political character on Michael Gove - Head of Education. Although this may seem like naturalism as we are researching a character it is not completely necessary to go to the extent of which Stanislavski would as Brecht did not intend for this to happen, however, it is useful to have a name and know a bit more about who we are portraying. As this is an abstract piece and our politician is being portrayed by a girl - Angelica - we are naming them Michelle Gove which may seem less familiar to the audience but this will help them to use their creativity and it is okay if it is not transparently clear who the politician is as "Amanda" herself has no exact identity either as it is irrelevant in the piece as the emphasis is more on the fact that she's human.
- Costume and props:
-
- A piece of clothing that provides a small hint to our character: as I am playing the politician in the flashback and a ensemble character I am going to have blazer that I wear and bring in.
- For our devised piece Seamus will bring in a guitar
On the day of the Protest
On the day of the Protest:
Unfortunately, on the day of the protest after our planning (see previous posts) and organisation we were unable to perform as all members of our three-piece team were so ill we were unable to do it. I feel I have a rough idea of how the protest would have gone as it had been rehearsed a lot and I think it would have gone well and been very enjoyable to perform as I am keen to protest against this subject that we're passionate about and tell people our message. However, unfortunately there is not was of knowing how it would have gone, only an indication by the work we had prepared. In previous posts I have analysed the process of our protest from initial ideas to how it developed, concepts, meaning, costumes, location, lines, facts, desired outcome, how to get our message across
and how I feel this will be effective for our protest.
Watching Amanda/Theatre Uncut at the Young vic Theatre
Watching Amanda/Theatre Uncut performances at the Young Vic theatre!
I saw Amanda performed on Thursday 21st November.
Watching Amanda among other Theatre Uncut performances at the Young Vic helped me enormously as I feel I really understood the simplicity of the piece far more than before. This is as the three performers only had three chairs and their voices - simple yet effective - and at times casually described what Amanda was doing in the bath tub and at other emotionally expressed her fears and anxieties and the piece had a lot of contrast. They interacted with the audience as they were breaking down the fourth wall and spoke directly to the audience. However, I feel when we perform our own version we will do this more as we are studying the Brechtian techniques including the v-effect and will go closer towards the audience. I also became aware that they did not just speak to the Amanda and the audience, but the two performers either side of her portraying her thoughts constantly interacted with one another which I thought was effective as it gave it a slight feel that it was even more surreal and brought the piece together. I feel seeing this performance will help me adapt what I am doing when I am in Amanda and the individual devised performance as I now understand the sense of group communion and ensemble of her thoughts which I think will be even more effective in our school piece as many people are taking on the role of Amanda's thoughts. The performers I saw said their words descriptively and with feeling as although it is not a naturalistic piece this still needs to be considered to create empathy for Amanda so the audience relate to her and only if this happens can we alter the general audience's perception of politicians. Lastly, I also feel we as a class need to take our time a bit more when performing Amanda and let the piece breathe and not rush unless necessary to portray heighten emotions as there are some points where silences and pauses are very effective as the radio plays and Amanda simply lies in her bath. I think these pauses will help the piece to “breathe” more where appropriate when we perform it and in these gaps of sound have an “energy” not just a silence as if the silences have energy the audience will use that time to compensate over what is happening, thinking more and being more engaged with the message.
Watching Amanda among other Theatre Uncut performances at the Young Vic helped me enormously as I feel I really understood the simplicity of the piece far more than before. This is as the three performers only had three chairs and their voices - simple yet effective - and at times casually described what Amanda was doing in the bath tub and at other emotionally expressed her fears and anxieties and the piece had a lot of contrast. They interacted with the audience as they were breaking down the fourth wall and spoke directly to the audience. However, I feel when we perform our own version we will do this more as we are studying the Brechtian techniques including the v-effect and will go closer towards the audience. I also became aware that they did not just speak to the Amanda and the audience, but the two performers either side of her portraying her thoughts constantly interacted with one another which I thought was effective as it gave it a slight feel that it was even more surreal and brought the piece together. I feel seeing this performance will help me adapt what I am doing when I am in Amanda and the individual devised performance as I now understand the sense of group communion and ensemble of her thoughts which I think will be even more effective in our school piece as many people are taking on the role of Amanda's thoughts. The performers I saw said their words descriptively and with feeling as although it is not a naturalistic piece this still needs to be considered to create empathy for Amanda so the audience relate to her and only if this happens can we alter the general audience's perception of politicians. Lastly, I also feel we as a class need to take our time a bit more when performing Amanda and let the piece breathe and not rush unless necessary to portray heighten emotions as there are some points where silences and pauses are very effective as the radio plays and Amanda simply lies in her bath. I think these pauses will help the piece to “breathe” more where appropriate when we perform it and in these gaps of sound have an “energy” not just a silence as if the silences have energy the audience will use that time to compensate over what is happening, thinking more and being more engaged with the message.
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