Friday 18th September (Rent Character Work/Production Roles)

In this lesson we began by going through our cast list which we had just seen, I have been casted as Mimi, the character I really wanted. We talked about how it might be a vhallenge for me as I have not played a character like this before but I feel confident and prepared enough for the role. After this we looked at a high schools production of Rent to see what ours might be like and point out things we liked or didnt like.

After watching some important parts of this we talked about our production roles, I chose to take part in lighting, set and props. I chose lighting because I feel it is anaspect of theeatre that I lack experience in and i chose set and props becaause I know I am good at this and I feel it is an important aspect of our performance and needs a lot of people to take part in it. I have been chosen to be head of props, this is a lot of responsibility and for this I will go through my script taking notes on what props we need and when. I will then organise who is bring what or whether or not we needto make props and start to set up props tables around the performance spaces. I have also been chosen to be the lighting liason for the first act of the show, meaning I will discuss with Kim what lighting we think we should have before the shows.

After this we started some character work, such as doing a role on the wall sheet to give our characters back stories and more detail, we then filmed each other explaining them:

Role On The Wall Explanation Video

HIV and AIDS

The main difference between HIV and AIDS is that HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a virus that can infect and attack the immune system, making it less efficient and stopping it from defeating the virus. There is no medication to stop HIV yet, but some can help control it. AIDS is the condition that HIV can lead to, but you can have HIV without getting AIDS. AIDS stands for Aquired Immunedeficiency Syndrome and the symptoms for it can vary and change depending on the person. 

Main Causes Of Homelessness

There are many different causes of homelessness that all fit into two categories; personal and structural. Personal reasons include lack of qualifications for a job, lack of social skllls and support, debt, bad mental or physical health, family or relationship breakdown, different types of abuse or crime from a young age, parents wirh alcohol or drug problems, family history with homelessness and having been in care, prison or in the armed forces. Structural causes are more general. such as unemployment, poverty, lack of affordable housing or requirements for benefits. Some of the most common reasons for homelessness are relatives or friends no longer able to accomodate and orovide for them, relationship breakdown and domestic abuse.

'Starving Artist'

A starving artist is someone who gives everything they can to achieve their artistic aspiratrions, usually in film, visual arts or theatre. They are usually on minimum wage and barely get any more, if they do they spend it trying to 'make it' in their industry.