Unit 50 - Movement in Performance Assessment

Rent Audition Pieces Analysis/Preparation

Analysis-

The songs I have chosen to sing in my audition are 'Somewhere' from West Side Story, and 'Out Tonight' from Rent. I choose to sing 'Somewhere' because I have not sang a slow song like this with legato sounds throughout. I have chosen this over 'A Boy Like That' as there are some notes in the song that I need to belt, and with 'Out Tonight' having these also, I want to make sure I do not push my voice too far and ruin either one or both of my songs. 
I have chosen to sing 'Out Tonight' because it has an upbeat tempo which contrasts to 'Somewhere' as it is a lot slower and calmer. This way I am showing more skills and versatility in a short amount of time. I also picked 'Out Tonight' because one of the parts I would like to play sings it in the show. Both of these pieces reflect my singing skills but they both push my voice to improve, showing determination and an aspiration to get the role. Specifically I would most like to play Mimi in Rent. This is because I feel I can connect with the character in that she strives to be independent, I also have never played a character with a love interest, or played the love interest myself. Mimi and Roger have a very interesting relationship and the way it develops throughout the narrative intrigues me. Playing this role would improve my confidence and ability in performance hugely. I considered singing 'Light My Candle' from Rent, however this song lacks energy for an audition piece, and the range needed for this song is quite small, therefore not displaying much of my voice. One of my main weaknesses in my singing voice is if I am nervous, my voice can become weak. This will improve with confidence. However this is part of the reason I chose 'Out Tonight', as if I am successful in playing Mimi I can track my progress and the development in my signing voice. 

Three Weeks Before My Audition-

At this point in my preparation process I still have my options open about my choice of songs, I am settled on Somewhere from West Side Story, I am rehearsing daily to ensure I learn the lyrics in time. I have been singing it along side the track on YouTube. I have also been watching the film of West Side story to give myself a better understanding of the context of the play, and also the context in which the song is performed. This is developing my characterisation completely. I now know that Maria is singing this song to Tony, who are deeply in love at first sight. But this song is actually quite sad, as they are dreaming about being able to be together 'someday, somewhere'. I am using my facial expressions to show sadness, by frowning slightly, but as the longer notes come I imagine I am with Tony and smile as if I am day dreaming. 

For my Rent song, Out Tonight, I feel much more prepared. I am confident with the lyrics and have been singing the song with the backing track frequently. I have sang sections acapella to see if my voice is strong enough. Next week I aim to be singing both of my songs confidently accapella, with or without the lyrics to read. Much like West Side Story, I have been watching Rent ,the movie and the Broadway stage production. This is really interesting as they both show a different style of acting in Mimi's character. I also now know how i can create the atmosphere of a club alone on stage, through confidence and my eyeline. The Broadway Mimi's I have seen in videos always look up and out, but scan across the room to all of the audience. This creates a more intimate feeling even with just one person alone on stage, far away from the audience. I will do these in my audition to enhance my characterisation. 

Two Weeks Before My Audition- 

After rehearsing almost daily, for both songs I am much more confident and developed in my characterisation, voice and movement. I now regularly sing Out Tonight accapella and know the lyrics well. I would like to be more confident but considering my progress so far I will be able to achieve this before the day of my audition. I have practised my audition conduct, by filming myself as if I am walking in, and singing both songs as if it was real. Watching this back I have found that I need to use the space more, and that my voice sounds better than I expected. I am hitting the notes well, but I need to work  on my timing of breathing. To improve on this I have printed out the lyrics, and marked on the sheet where it is best for e to take breaths. I think I will struggle to remember this, and feel like I am going back on myself, after making progress, however the more I practise the better. 

Two Days Before My Audition-

At this point I am full prepared and feeling confident. I have rehearsed my song with the breaths I chose to take previously, and it has strengthened my voice massively. Although I struggle to remember sometimes, I can remain focused enough for it to not effect me too much. After performing my audition pieces in the mirror as if it was my audition, I have worked on my facial expressions and movement. I now use my gestures to exaggerate my lyrics and add to my characterisation. For example in Out Tonight, during the bridge in the sing, Mimi is in a reflective state, so I wrap my arms around myself slightly, but as this section comes to an end there is a big belting note, in which I slowly push my arms out with the note to show freedom and happiness. 

Overall I am happy and proud of the progress I have made and am confident I will get a good part in the piece, ie. Mimi or Joanne. 

Dance Devised Piece Evaluation

In my devised piece, Amber, Bryleah and I created a performance based on The Lion King, The Circle Of Life. We chose this because we wanted to base our dance on animalistic movements such as flexed feet and aggressive angles. I based my solo section on big cats, like lions, tigers and pumas. My starting position was on the floor, in a hunting style of pose. The rest of my solo included movements such as a plié into hitch kick, this showed the precision but also the stealth of my animal. Another example of our African inspired movements was a section all three of us did on the floor, we had our hands in fists and slammed them on the floor, then up and back down. We repeated this when standing on two other occasions throughout the piece. Using repetition in this way added to the dynamics of the piece, it is also relevant to the African tribal theme, in that is created a sense of chanting. We also used more graceful movements in unison, to represent other animals in the animal kingdom. I had the idea to create bird like movements, by moving our arms in a graceful manner, as if we were flying. This created a contrast between the types of movements in our piece, showing a range of dynamics. 
As for my contribution to the piece, I initially suggested we look at tribal dance videos for inspiration, below are some examples of this- 

Tribal Dance Inspiration Video 1
As shown in this clip the men each take a turn to do the jumping movement, which gave us the idea of the solo parts.
Tribal Dance Inspiration Video 2This second clip shows how effective fast simple movements, unison and slower paces sections can be although we don't have such a bit group.

I also suggested our formations, I wanted to make sure our dance had an interesting visual effect, as if we as a tribe were in tune with ourselves. Transitioning between formations shows this well. Using cannon also displays this, which we used at multiple times throughout. This was especially effective when performing in cannon, then doing one slow movement to catch up, which we did after a short unison floor motif. This floor routine was created as an ensemble, I feel it is important to use levels as much as possible as it allows us to showcase our skills in both travelling motifs and floor motifs. I also highlighted this in my solo section, by starting on the floor. I used techniques such as extension and I used a fish roll. The final section of our dance was mainly choreographed by myself, I used a grand arm movement into a high energy and dynamic plié into impressive floor work. Doing this arm movement on the line 'it's the circle of life' demonstrated the meaning of the song well, as it is also the title. It showed that life goes on and the world keeps going on in that circular formation, doing it in unison showed that we all have our own world but we all must keep at the same pace together in that. 
Throughout the piece I used my physical skills to demonstrate my characterisation as a tribal animalistic being. I used extension during the floor section of my solo motif to imply that my animal is stretching in a hunting fashion, as if I was a predator. My flexibility allowed my to create my starting position, on the floor with one leg stretched out behind my, with a tall strong posture in my back as if I was proud, also giving me more status. I focused on my co-ordination to develop my skills during the rehearsal process, I had difficulty perfecting the stag jump we do in unison, and my balance and posture helped me keep a strong core, so that i could use my flexibility and strength to perform this successfully in the final performance. 
Interpretive skills such as my eye line helped me to keep focused throughout the dance, this specific skill also kept my facial expression specific. I looked straight ahead, above my audience whilst performing. This helped me to visualise the animal I was portraying at each part of the dance, and my facial expression remained either angry, or concentrated, or weak. One for my Cat like predator character and the other when I played animals such as a stag, or bird, as these are more likely to be hunted. My physical projection helped me a lot to remember the dance itself, throughout rehearsal I made sure I was performing with full energy, this kept the routine in my head, as it made me feel like each run through was important. 
One weakness I noticed upon watching my piece back, was my first movement in my solo section, my left leg was not fully extended, meaning my had my knee bent when I performed my fish roll. This made my performance seem less skillful and under rehearsed. It also effected my momentum as I felt myself loose focus. To improve I will practice this move in front of a mirror, so I can specifically straighten my leg, and pin point where it is I am going wrong. To ensure I maintain my focus, I would run this section multiple times, whether I mess up or not, so that I know I will always continue. A strength or my piece was the second half of my solo section. This was my first time choreographing a solo dance and I had trouble coming up with ideas, and also remembering it. Videoing rehearsals helped with this, but in my final performance I remembered it well and performed it with confidence. These performance skills are important as it allowed me to remain professional throughout. I feel my solo section was innovative, using the floor travelling sequences and tricks throughout. Another weakness that I would work on was our transitions as a group, we choreographed the ending first, then our solos then the middle part, which made it quite bitty. I would like to have used our skills or a smoother method to bond these parts together, rather than having to merge in an unnatural way. Transitions such as rolls, leaps, complex hand motifs and stretches/reaches towards each other with contact work would've been mich more effective and fitted better with our stimuli, or African tribes and the animal kingdom. One more strength of my piece was the difference in pace we used, creating an unpredictable dynamic, a characteristic I took from animals. Specifically we used slow reaches throughout the piece, in parts upstage and downstage, showing a progression or confidence in our characters. It made our faster sections seem a lot more impressive and refined. 
To improve, I would refer back to our stimuli more, by including more African inspired movement. I found it difficult to combine tribal movements with contemporary dance, because I didn't have enough research for influences. For example I struggled to choreograph material, but if I had used traditional genuine tribal dances I could have taken inspiration from them. This would have made our piece more accurate and innovative, due to the originality of the movements I would have found. Another improvement I would like to have made would be my exaggeration. Some of my movements were not full committed to, making my performance seem unrefined. For example I had to take three fast steps into a crouch onto the floor, I could have suggested we make these into long strides or runs to add to the energy and help myself to commit to the movement. This also allows my focus to remain on each individual movement, instead of what as coming next. My general extension in the piece was good, but could've been better. To improve upon this I would record myself rehearsing alone, then repeat each movement to an extreme exaggeration, so that I get used to full extending and putting all of my energy into the dance. 

Chorus 3 - Fate

This chorus represented the struggle and relevance of the chorus in the play. We demonstrated this through the movements we did. We split it into two sections, and each half of the chorus had movement. My half was the first, and as we said our lines we acted out going into the middle and collecting food or blankets, and then huddling around the edge of the stage, but not in the trench. This displayed the cities people suffering and how the royal families troubles are effecting others. The dialogue itself shows how envious the chorus is of others that are not going through what they are. I felt it was important to show that they are clearly suffering and we wanted to show this as clearly as possible. I decided to mime having a blanket, and huddle on the floor after my  line. The other group came together in the middle of the stage to show they are supporting each other. At the end of the chorus we split into threes, repeating round by through, creating strong positions for the person in the middle.

For the final section of each part of the dialogue we said the lines in unison, emphasising the dialogue to the audience. Using direct address in this way allowed us to connect with the audience more and immerse them in the story. After this, we positioned ourselves in trios at the edge of the stage facing out, repeated a sequence of Round By Through, making strong, proud poses. This demonstrated the chorus' purpose and strength. Finally, for the last few lines of this chorus we delivered them as a whole ensemble to the audience- 'Mother to daughter, father to son, wave upon wave of affliction. Shake the house, shake the house of Oedipus.' This is repeated throughout the chorus, making it an important line. We used our increase in volume and numbers towards the audience to show us uniting. I see the dialogue we say itself is talking about how the chorus are envious of people not suffering in the way we are. I will keep this meaning in my head for the performance, This type of meaning shows the development in the chorus and shows how initially they don't have a voice, and a the piece goes on we develop this confidence and maturity in the situation. I think this because when around the royal family they follow their lead and are civilised around them, however when having choral isolated scenes they announce their part and how they feel about the other goings on in the narrative.


Later on in the rehearsal process-
We have decided that due to our Round By Through idea stopping the energy of the piece we are going to repeat the 'See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil' gestures in our trio positions. I feel before, the round by through manipulation had a different dynamic which didn't fit with the meaning of the scene. I think these positions are far more effective, because they suggest that the chorus have to pretend they do not know what is going on in the royal family, and they are also more recognisable to our modern contemporary audience, therefore the meaning is clearer.

Chorus 2 - Wonder Is Man

This chorus follows the first guard scene in which I, as my other role as the guard, explain to Creon that someone has buried the body of Polynesis and therefore breaking his new law. It is very dramatic but the cities people aren't quite involved in this issue yet. The chorus dialogue here is describing the land and how man has wondered it, but we will never fully understand it, and it depicts some of the harsh but wonderful aspects of nature.
As there are 10 of us, and 5 verses, we split into pairs and took one each. We wanted to keep this chorus simple to contrast with the previous one, so we decided tat starting from the trench would be perfect, and we walk to the centre of the stage, deliver our lines to the audience and walk through them to the back of the seating at the top of the hill. Then for the final two lines of the last verse, we all walk back to the stage through the audience again and come together, before returning to the trench around the stage. Using direct address to deliver our lines makes the audience connect with the chorus more as we are seen as a relatable device which the audience can connect with as we help with the narrative. Also, moving through them immerses them in the production more and allows us to use traditional staging to its full potential.
I was paired with Holly, and we had the 3rd verse. We decided to split the part evenly saying alternate lines, this creates a slightly more intimate atmosphere as the lines are more even.

Chorus 1 - War And Victory

In this lesson we focused on the first chorus, we split it into groups to tackle each part, and worked on the last section as a whole chorus. This way we could have a difference in choreography in small groups, and then a section together, which demonstrates to the audience all of the chorus' purpose.
Jaydee, Rosie and I looked at the First paragraph-

This part describes a vague setting on the play, it tells about the natural happenings of the city in a visual way, whilst suggesting that it is grand and to be feared-  'Drove the Argos amry's might from the seven gates of Thebes'.
We wanted to use our physicality to demonstrate each line, so we began raising our hands in the formation of a triangle to symbolise the rising sun. We chose a triangle to take the Brighton Open Air, amphitheater style of staging, ensuring all of the audience can see. We also wanted to use levels to create a variety, so we started on the floor on our knees. Another clear example of physically showing the scripted lines was our final position, we stood in the trio back to back out to the audience with our arms in crosses above our heads as if we were blocking something out, and this strong position implies that the city of Thebes is is powerful.
The last section in this chorus that we all worked on together, had more of an obvious rhythm to it due to the repetition and rhyme. Therefore we wanted to make it musical in some way. We considered the harp but we want to use this for the main scenes to add to the atmosphere as much as possible, using our bodies in some way adds to the rustic feel and had a stronger beat to it. We decided on bodily percussion as this would be more original, we split the sections of clapping and stomping into groups which was very effective as we joined in cannon and as the volume increased it created an effective musical piece.

Concept Improvisations

In this lesson we looked at our concept, which in summary is that there has been a national disaster, creating a futuristic post-apocalyptic world. The chorus with symbolise the displaced refugees and the royal family will be representing the government figures. We explored both of these classes of people through improvisation workshops with different stimuli. 

The first workshop was focused on the refugees, in groups we were given a scenario; we as refugees have been deported in an unknown location, and we need to set up our camp. We chose roles within the group, I was a woman looking for her husband, we had two young girls and a man who was alone. During this exercise we had to tackle tasks such as building our tent, making fire, sharing out our food and trying to find loved ones. We had to interact with other groups in different spaces to ours and interact in the appropriate manner. I tried to take a leader role in my group, as I felt that someone would in this situation, I was not too confident as I wanted to show that they were scared and uncomfortable. When connecting with other groups I tried to ask for names and create conversation that would be uplifting as possible. This was really helpful as I could look at our concept in a practical way and gain a better understanding of it. I was able to link this to our piece, as the chorus will be like this. I am going to use this in my performance to interact with the royal family, when being told that there was food available or to make tents I felt genuinely excited and ambitious, looking up to the leader. 

The second workshop was about a higher status of people, in these same groups we created a dinner table situation, I was the mother, and we had a husband and three children. This was slightly easier to portray as we in this day have a better idea of what its like to live a rich life as apposed to a displayed life. I had a proud posture and and spoke with a snobbish voice, I spoke about things that cost a lot of money and turned my nose up at something I didn't agree with. I used very smooth and relaxed movements, in contrast to the fast  flinching movements of the refugee characters. 

These exercises gave me a better understanding of how my choral characterisation is going to form, ie- bad posture, flinching, small hand movements, timid facial expressions. The things I can take from this and use in my performance are how to interact with other chorus members, the royal family and how the royals with more power themselves are acting and feeling. 

Antigone Mask Workshop, Text Work, Round By Through & Shoal Of Fish

This lesson consisted of a Greek mask workshop, looking at some choral parts of the script and trying out some choreographic devises for these sections. This was really useful for me as I know we will have to devise these physical parts ourselves, so we used this lesson to grasp a better idea of our intentions as a chorus. For example-

• To assist in explaining the narrative to the audience
• To symbolise the community in the world of the play, in this case; Thebes
• To give the heavy parts of the play lighter intervals to create a sense of balance throughout the piece
• To add movement and energy

During the mask workshop we learned bout the meaning and purpose of masks in the original performance context of Antigone. They were used to show the exaggerated facial expressions illustrated on them to the further away audiences, which enhances their melodramatic physicality. They were also used for actors playing antagonist characters, or characters that had controversial views or lines to say, this way the actors having the play these roles would be able to hide their identity and not be personally attacked for it. 

The workshop involved picking a mask that had the emotion that caught our attention the most, then using our bodies to portray this. I found it easy to create exaggerated movements as I could not use my vocals, which made mime a lot easier. The relevance of this to our piece is that although our concept is contemporary, we want to keep some traditional aspects. I feel it is really important for us to use these, I suggested we use the masks in new ways, sourcing inspiration from traditional, Chinese and modern mask works-

I would use the triple faced masks to create a creepy disturbing atmosphere in the piece, such as Antigone's reflection scenes and during the period where Creon is turning mad over power, showing the different views in the city and how the community is or will judge him, also suggesting that he is just seeing or thinking things that aren't real. The idea of the backward masks would work really well with some physical theatre pieces for the chorus, using our bodies to create strange shapes do a fast rhythm would have add energy and create a really effective visual, whilst making the audience think we are looking directly at them.

Following the mask work, we were put into pairs to look at the first chorus. Jess and I chose the lines

 "Swooping

Soaring

Diving

Plunging

Mouth open wide

Blood spears for teeth

Circling

The seven gates of Thebes."

Because we had to memorize this quickly and speak it as we performed it, we made the movements simple. Using mostly our arms and facial expressions to portray each word/line differently. We delivered some lines alone and some in unison, this was tricky but effective, showing the different voices of the chorus but showing we as a unit have the same intentions and role. 

We then had to do the same but with our masks from before on, we realised that it was very difficult to deliver lines with them on, as we couldn't move our faces much and they physically blocked sound. We tackled this by using our diction to speak as clearly as possible and projecting physically and vocally to ensure we were heard. This made me think that for the performance, we shouldn't try to speak with masks on, because we will have to really try to project because of the outside conditions, the masks will make this even more difficult. Wearing them differently could work though. 

Finally, we had to keep the movement we had devised, but not speak the dialogue. Just using our bodies to portray the narrative was really tricky, however making our movements really big helped this.

Following this we looked at Round By Through, a technique involving bodily manipulation to portray feelings of one person or how others are making the feel, it also demonstrates narrative and creates a fast or slow paced piece of movement. We looked at, in groups of 3's, different movements we could do, working in a sequence to each take a turn to be manipulated. After a while it felt natural to create a routine. When manipulating others I aimed to create contrasting movements, creating harsh angles and proud postures, and then collapsing them to the floor to make a lower status character.

We were then put with another group of three to create a 6, and looked at Shoal of Fish. Moving around in a tight formation was initially difficult, as we all didn't know which directions we were going in, however I suggested that we stay in a small cluster, and whoever is at the front of that formation, depending on the direction we are in, decides the flow of the group. When we turned, that role changes. This created a smooth flow in our movement. Developing this, we added gestures, such as head turns, arm movements and jumping. This gave me the idea of how a chorus could use this, I would use this in some of the chorus' in which the city's people are interacting with the royal family (episode 3, episode 4, episode 5, etc).

We then worked on putting these two together, Shoal of Fish and Round by Through. I suggested we Alternate between the two, we came up with this order-

1. Abi's trio Shoal of Fish with Emily's Round by Through
2. Swap this
3. Ensemble Shoal of Fish, exiting and entering the room
4. Ensemble Shoal of Fish with cannon

When performing this to music I found it a lot easier to stay in time with the beat, and my group and a chorus. Our piece was very effective because we had high energy and the group movements and transitions between parts were smooth and flowed well. 

To finish the lesson we looked at some of the script, the Wonder is Man chorus. This part is about the cities people rejoicing about how the land they live on is fulfilling them with what they need and how the animals survive there. We looked at how we can create a rhythm for this, because this part of the script was interpreted as verse. These poetic sections are common and add energy, whilst giving the narrative more relaxed intervals during the harsher, deeper scenes. 

Antigone Run at The B.O.A.T

When we got to our performance space at the Brighton Open Air Theatre, we did a speed run, to try out some of the main choreographic pieces. This way we could try out any scenes we thought would be risky in the space, for example the Bacchus Chorus and my guard scene.
After this we did a full run of the show, as if the audience were there. this run was more successful than I expected, It made me much more confident about the real performance later on in the day.
These are the notes I received:

• Reach towards Abi and Holly during prologue as chorus to show that we are desperate for help before crawling into trenches. 
• Have fists up to the side to end the first chorus War and Victory, showing we are in unison and together
• Guard scene doesn't need improvement
• Take Tiresias' stools off before Bacchus chorus

Antigone Evaluation

Upon reflection, I feel I played a chorus member well. I remained in character and focused throughout, this meant showing the slow development sin character as an ensemble, ie. security, through to desperation. I used my facial expressions and tone of voice to show this. I was strong and proud at the beginning of the show, but as the narrative explained what was going wrong in the royal family I became much more frantic. The opening scene, with us chorus singing, could have gone better, some of harmonies were off at the start and not everyone sang at their strongest. This was due to nerves, and also it being windy, as we were standing at the back of the audiences seating. The Bacchus chorus stood out as a successful piece, it brought a lot of energy to the piece and contrasted well. Another strength of myself in the chorus was episode three, when we were seated at the sides of the stage as a jury.Our movements worked really well and we were all in unison with each other throughout.
A weakness of my role in the chorus was near the end of the Bacchus chorus, I forgot to start saying the final unison lines quick enough. We decided in our run in the morning that we wouldn't wait till were in the trenches to begin this section of dialogue, however in the main performance I forgot this and didn't deliver the line straight away, This made it look under rehearsed and messy.

A strength of my guard scene was my projection, to ensure that the whole of the audience heard me, I had to push my voice out as much as possible. Because the theatre wasn't inside it was quite difficult, however when I watched the video back, my voice was clear and loud enough. Another strength was my characterisation, it was the strongest it has been. In reference to the original style of acting I made all of my facial expressions and movements clear and large, melodramatic, to show my characters feelings to the audience. For example when I was ashamed I clearly bowed my head and slouched away from James in fear, even from far away this is a clear indication of anxiety.
A weakness of this performance was my interactions with Amber, the other guard. We didn't make any eye contact or physical contact till the very last line of the scene, which I deliver directly to her. I interacted well with James but I didn't show the relationship between the two guards well. To make this better I would have looked at her, and came on stage closer to her, creating more of a visual bond between us.

Shoreham Monologues Evaluation

The main strength of my performance in the Shoreham Shakespeare Festival was my projection, because we had to start our pieces randomly imbedded in the public it was important to catch their attention well and quickly. I didn't think it would work well initially, but especially after my first try, I had a huge audience and received a large applause after, this gave me a lot of confidence to do it again and again. As previously mentioned in my blog I wanted to try out too tones of voice for my first line, on this first try I chose the more confident one, as I was nervous and thought this was most logical. Once I had grasped the idea of how to attract attention without volume, I took a longer pause before starting, this shaky start drew just as many people in, which I didn't expect. I also strived finding new and interesting performance spaces. At one point Luke and myself sat on a bench at the roadside and began our monologues together, reciting them to each other. This had a dramatic effect as it was loud, and competitive. Delivering my monologue in this way, with anger gave me a new perspective on the emotional developments during the speech and I realised I can make some parts a lot more aggressive if I want to. 

One weakness of my performance was my nervousness, specifically in my earlier performances of the day I struggled to have a punchy starting line, which made me lack on confidence. I found that without this good start, you don't attract much of an audience, for example I began on a bridge at one point, and I chose a bad time to start as there weren't many people around, and therefore didn't attract much of an audience. This scared a lot as it made me quite anxious about my next performance but I made sure I was persistent and finished the dialogue. 

Overall I am happy with my performance at Shoreham, I was confident and got the opportunity to try out and learn about different ways to deliver the lines. I have benefitted from this as an actor as I now have a better idea about audience reaction, most of them were genuinely interested in what I was doing and stopped to listen and appreciate my efforts. I would like to try this on a day that isn't known for Shakespeare, or a non Shakespearean  monologue to see if they have the same effect on passers-by. I found that performing outside like this gave me an insight to what my Antigone performance at the Brighton Open Air Theatre will be like, as they are both outside. I now know I will really have to push my projection and movements to make sure I keep the audience entertained with all of the distractions around, without ruining the effect of my smaller gestures of characterisation. 

Episode 1 - Guard Scene

This scene is my main character scene, in this I play the guard, and I tell King Creon about Polinices' burial. But at this point I am hiding the fact that I know it was his niece Antigone. I have two speeches in this scene, The scene starts with Creon making an announcement to the crowd chorus, as I enter it must act as if I have been running to tell Creon this news as a messenger. I created this effect by running onto the stage slightly after James (Creon) had finished talking, making it seem more natural. I was out of breath and taking small steps around the stage to show I was stressed about talking to Creon. This contrasted well with James calm and introverted manner, before he got angry. This shows a difference in status, as he was physically higher for most of the scene but also had better posture and was more calm.
The blocking for my scene is quite simple, within my first paragraph I must slowly make my way to downstage right, but I need to make sure i keep turning, so that I am delivering my lines to Creon but also the audience around me. This can be quite difficult but with people seating all around me I feel I will find it quite natural to address them all. After my second speech, the chorus left around the stage slowly crawled off, in reaction to Creons anger.

Greek Theatre

Greek Theatre happened between 700 BC and 400 BC, the three types of plays were Comedy, Tragedy and Satyr. Greek comedy that mocked Greek mythology and politics and included a chorus. Greek tragedy was a drama based on human suffering. Comedy included three genres, old, middle and new. These were based around the mocking of stereotypes.

The main differences 

15-4-16 Classical theatre context 'Antigone' (Greek)

The original performance context of Antigone is 441 B.C., however our piece is being modernized with post apocolyptic influences to reflect some contemporary issues and events, such as the Syrian refugees. It would have been performed as a part of The Festival Of Dyonisus, a collection of performances and celebrations for Dionysus, the god of firtility, wine harvesting and drinking, religious ecstacy.

Rent Audition

Episode 4 - Masks

Before this episode, we have just performed the Eros dance chorus, and in the line 'When Eros plays, we burn.' we all run off into the trenches as Holly, Antigone, enters the stage. We use this time to put our masks on, as we need to respect the rules of mask work by not showing the audience us putting the masks on as much as possible, as this ruins the illusion. We then all face the stage, with the masks on the back of our heads slowly moving and reaching up and down. Having the masks on backwards make sit look as if we are looking directly at the audience. I suggested this idea because I felt we had not enhanced the creepy feel to the play enough yet, considering this is a post apocalyptic concept. This also reflects what Antigone is saying, as she tells the story of 'the goddess Niobe' and how she died.

At the end of the verse that the chorus delivers, we drop down to our knees reaching up, towards the sky. This line- 'you go to death by choice' is repeated throughout the scene at the end of small speeches, therefore focusing on this line gives it more meaning. The reaching implies to the audience that we are dragging her down, either to the cave she later ends her life in or to hell, as below the stage was thought of as a hellish state in the original Greek theatres. 

Later on in the scene we form a cave like shape around Antigone facing away, to show that we are listening, and trapping her. Facing away creates an odd and intimidating visual for the audience. 

At another point in this scene we are spread out across the whole stage, and as Antigone delivers her monologue we all turn away, still with our masks on, but the right way now. This suggests that we don't need to know Antigone without wanting to know her and listen to her problems. It also suggests that we could be part of her imagination in her mind. This contemporary twist will be far more interesting for our modern audience as 

Chorus 6 - Bacchus

We began blocking this chorus with quad jump. We all stand in a triangle formation and turn in cannon, each saying Bacchus with our line then back round to face the front. In the triangle, we all had groups with lines each, but not in the lines. This is more interesting for the audience to watch, and makes us seem more in sync with each other. Whilst the group you are not in is saying their lines, we all turn around to face different directions. This displays the chorus' panic and distress at the time. The meaning behind this part is that the cities people are begging the gods to help them- 'now help us Dionysus, heal us, help us Dionysus' and 'purify us, purify us'. The final lines of the chorus have a lot of repetition of 'Bacchus Dionysus', we decided to increase in volume and frantic movement out to the audience, to show us begging.

Later on in the rehearsal process- 

At this point we are very close to the performance, and when tweaking chorus sections to perfect them we noticed that this chorus brought the energy down, as it was too technical and difficult to pull off successfully. After some discussion of techniques we could use we settled on a more simple but effective movement piece. We start in a huddle in the middle on the stage facing inwards and the first group delivers our line up, whilst walking out to the edge of the circle. As each group does this we create two circles facing out. For the next lines the outer circle walks clockwise and the inner circle walks anti-clockwise. Whilst increasing in volume and a distressed tone of voice. On the line 'now help us Dionysus..' we all drop to our knees yelling, and repeating praying hand gestures, for example displaying our arms to the sky, holding our chests, and our stomachs, Showing our desperation. We then stand and run the trenches, and deliver the last section of repetition right out to the audience. Because the audience seating is raked, it looks as if we are praying to the gods, but the gods are the audience. This is really effective as we can really exaggerate our facial expressions and more our arms and hands as if we are reaching out for them, completely immersing the audience and making us vulnerable, provoking their empathy. 

Chorus 4 - Eros

For this chorus we wanted to use more contemporary dance movement, this way each chorus will have a different feel and look to the, creating more diversity and contrast in the chorus' role. For example this is different to our body percussion in the first chorus, and our rhythmic chorus six, Bacchus later on in the script. This method also allowed us to isolate the dialogue from the movement, by having one person deliver the lines as chorus leader, whilst the movement added a modern twist without straying from the original intentions of the scene.
This dialogue describes the god of love, Eros and how Antigone and Haemon are destined for each other. It reflects on the previous scene, and what Haemon was saying to his father to defend Antigone.

We began by splitting the speech into three, overlapping sections and Rosie, Jaydee and myself all took one to choreograph within our groups-

Because we didn't have a specific stimuli for this section, we found it difficult to come up with choreographic ideas. We thought about a balance between mime, physical theatre and dance, to create a different dynamic in the group.

Looking at the text helped, for example we used a step and arm movement forward to demonstrate the first line- 'Run, try to escape'. Our arms almost resembled us brushing things out of our faces as if we were grasping things out of our faces. we used the line 'The mind tangles with frenzy' and held our wrists together and twirled our hands up to standing, before contracting down again, to show a flourishing love.


Once we had finished devising our pieces in groups we ran the whole chorus and the timing and movements worked surprisingly well. We all worked well together and the different types of choreography around the stage bounced off each other well.

Shoreham Monologue Research/Preparations

The monologue I have chosen to perform for the Shoreham is one of Hermione's speeches from The Winters Tale. In the part of the play that my monologue is from, Hermione is in a court room expressing her feelings about how she will stand up for herself and take what is hers. Previously, her husband has accused her of adultery and many other various things, which would lead them to taking her child away from her. She is appalled by the court for threatening this and builds in confidence throughout the piece. 
I chose this monologue for this performance because I can do a lot with the movement and my voice to grab peoples attention as they walk by. For example to start my monologue I am going to look around the space, just above my natural eyeline, as if I am looking at the jury in the courtroom that the monologue is set in. This establishes my status and also allows me some time to relax and become comfortable before I start my speech. As for my general movement, I plan to stay in the same place for most of the monologue, I have videoed myself performing my monologue as if it it my audition and I have a habit of stepping on the spot without realising or meaning to, this is need to stop. It makes it look as if I am distracted or forgetting my lines, neither or which I want to happen in Shoreham. To improve on this i will rehearse in front of a mirror more, or in front of others so that I, or the person watching can point out to me when I am doing this. 

In terms of vocal skills, I have tried to vary my volume and tone throughout the monologue. For example the last line 'cry fie upon my grave' is a very angry ending line. At this point Hermione has declared that she will not be wronged. I also start my speech with a shaky tone of voice, ending a few sentences in a higher pitch to show that she is anxious about what she is going to say.  I have also tried starting my piece with a proud strong voice, both of these work well with the narrative of the piece and my character, I would like to try both of these out on the performance day if I can and see which is more successful. 

In the original performance circumstances this monologue would have been performed in a melodramatic fashion. This was due to the types of theatres it would have been performed in. The staging would be thrust, meaning the actors would have had to perform to the whole room, not just forwards. The audience at the time would have been quite vocal, meaning they would have had to project over this, also without mics, this would have been much more difficult. Furthermore, because the theatres were open air, the sound would travel more. 

Similarities in these performances and mine are that I will be outside and will have to project my voice as much as possible. I will also have to be aware of audiences all around me, especially if I am going to start my monologue in an unexpected place or scenario. 

Differences between the OPC and my performance will be that my costume will be different. I will be wearing all black to show formality within my company, whereas in the Elizabethan performances they would have worn dresses with lots of layers, and a royal blue/purple colour scheme, but as Hermione was rejected from the royals more she would have worn black or white. But most importantly it would have always been a dress- 

My preparations- 

Because I already knew my monologue from a previous performance, I had minimal preparations to make. Apart from choosing my costume, rehearsal professional blacks, I only had to rehearse. I did this in front of others, to gain pointers to help me. Such as remaining focused, and having a stronger entrance. These helped me as my fellow performers gave me this constructive criticism, therefore I can work on these on the day as well. 

Episode 3 - Bend or Break

This scene is essentially between Creon and his son Haemon, the chorus form a jury, like in a court room and observe their confrontation, whilst giving their response throughout. Initially we as a chorus agree with Creon, and support him as they are used to seeing him as a leader with knowledge and power. However as we listen to Haemon and what he has to say we realise that they both need to listen to each other, hence the line- 'Haemon. learn from your father. Creon, learn from your son. The truth lies inbetween.'
For the earlier parts of dialogue for the chorus in this scene, we as the chorus are seated on the floor watching at the sides as a jury. This demonstrates how the cities people can quietly judge what is going on in the royal family. I feel this is a really effective way to show the chorus' role, this scene is very private and dramatic, but having us at either side closes the scene in, making it more intimate, but also allows our dialogue later on to flow well. This dialogue describes Antigone's actions and reasoning's behind them. We realised that we could split it into two, as if the two halves of chorus were arguing. We added some simple arm gestures to go with this to keep the energy up. I suggested we deliver these lines to each other to increase our interactions and show the audience that we are having conflict as well as the royals due to the crisis.
Our final role in this scene is the 'bend, or break' section, in which we act as Creons inner thoughts, still in conflict with each other. For the first two sequences of this we remain on our sides but rise as we repeat the lines, but on the last one we come together in one group next to Haemon and Creon advising them to learn from each other. This shows a development in the chorus in this one scene, initially we disagreed, but we finally were desperate in advising them to help the city and listen to each other.

My Evaluation Of Classical Theatre Audition

Overall my audition went very well, I delivered my monologue successfully and my characterisation was the best it's ever been with this specific speech. I used my vocal dynamics to demonstrate the different emotions explored throughout the text. For example as Hermione gets more angry i made my voice louder, used a sharper voice and spoke faster. My posture was another strength of this performance, I remained upright and did not slouch the whole time. This added to the court room atmosphere I tried to create and doing this with my body showed Hermione's anxiety effectively.
A weakness of my audition piece was that I adjusted my eyeline too many times, I started looking just above my audience but my eyes wandered as I thought less about what I was saying. I think this is due to over rehearsing on the day of my audition. I repeated it too quickly and too often making myself relax too much. 

The interview section of my audition contained a few questions about how i feel about the play and its context, and my relationship with this type of theatre. I answered these questions professionally however I could have been more formal. I was informative and clear but I feel I relaxed too much into being chatty. This was due to one of my peers, Sophie, being involved in the audition, next time, and in drama school auditions, I will ensure I remain focused by practicing in front of others more. 

My Preparation For Classical Theatre Audition/ Analysis of Chosen Pieces

Analysis-

My audition for Antigone consisted of a classical monologue and a short interview. I chose Hermione's monologue from A Winter's Tale. I really enjoy Elizabethan theatre as a subject and am confident in translations, melodramatic techniques and the general context of these times, from my other studies. Since finding out that my production would be Antigone I heavily researched the characters. I am mostly drawn to Antigone herself, I feel she has a strong independent character, and my work in rent, playing Mimi in my previous show gave me the confidence to take on another role like this. These characteristics of Antigone also link to my choice of my monologue. Hermione in the part of the play that my monologue is from is in a court room. expressing her feelings about how she will stand up for herself and take what is hers. This relates to Antigone in that she too is standing against not only royalty but her family- her uncle, king Creon. 

Two Weeks Before My Audition- 

At this stage I am feeling confident in my audition piece, I know it well and am developing some small gestures to go with certain lines. For example to start my monologue I am going to look around the room, just above my natural eyeline, as if I am looking at the jury in the courtroom that the monologue is set in. This establishes my status and also allows me some time to relax and become comfortable before I start my speech. As for my general movement, I plan to stay in the same place for most of the monologue, I have videoed myself performing my monologue as if it it my audition and I have a habit of stepping on the spot without realising or meaning to, this is need to stop. It makes it look as if I am distracted or forgetting my lines, neither or which I want to happen in my audition. To improve on this i will rehearse in front of a mirror more, or in front of others so that I, or the person watching can point out to me when I am doing this. 

In terms of vocal skills, I have tried to vary my volume and tone throughout the monologue. For example the last line 'cry fie upon my grave' is a very angry ending line. At this point Hermione has declared that she will not be wronged. I also start my speech with a shaky tone of voice, ending a few sentences in a higher pitch to show that she is anxious about what she is going to say. 

Next week I aim to have rehearsed in front of a mirror and others enough that I am wholly confident in the lines and remain fully focused and in character throughout. 

Three Days Before My Audition- 

At this stage in my preparation I am feeling very confident in my monologue. I am comfortable with my lines and movement. I have performed my piece in front of peers multiple times now and I have made a clear improvement on my focus and also my characterisation. 

In terms of my research in preparation for my interview, I have knowledge of all the characters in Antigone, and the context of the piece. I have mainly focused my searches on how gender equality stopped women from playing in performances, making pieces like Antigone, Lysistrata and Electra comedic because of the strong female protagonists. I have also looked at the role of theatre in their society and therefore the types of audience it would attract. ie. The yearly Festival of Dionysus, attracting all types of audience for a celebration. 

My Evaluation Of Rent Audition

My Preparation For Rent Dance Audition

Knowing I had a dance audition coming up for Rent, I wanted to prepare myself as much as possible. Althought there were no physical preparations, I could familiarise myself with the music we may be using in the workshop. Doing this gave me better understanding of the whole script and the context of the show. I specifically listened to the main dance numbers such as La Vie Boheme (A&B), Santa Fe and Rent. All of these songs have different styles of dance in the,, and different characterisation. Assuming these will be ensemble pieces in the show, I have watched others' videos online of them performing these numbers. This has given me some choreography inspiration for if we need to devise in the workshop.

Units 1 & 5 Feedback - Rent

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT RECORD SHEET
Programme	BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Performing Arts (Musical Theatre)			Learner Name	EMILY D’AGOSTINO		Assessor Name	Rachel Maddix
Unit No. & Title	Unit 5: Rehearsing for Performance			Target Learning Aims	1 Be able to contribute to the rehearsal process 2 Be able to select and apply appropriate rehearsal and performance skills 3 Be able to progress rehearsal and performance skills/techniques in response to feedback and evaluation.		Assignment No. & Title	Rent
Issue Date	22/10/15			Interim Submission Date	05/02/16		Final Sub Date
Target criteria	Criteria Achieved Yes/No	Final Assessment Comments
P1	Y	You identified key rehearsal tasks appropriate to your roles
M1	Y	You described and prioritised key rehearsal tasks appropriate to your roles
D1	Y	You explained and prioritised key rehearsal tasks, with insight, foresight and confidence
P2	Y	You completed designated rehearsal tasks, so that a valid contribution was made to the rehearsal process
M2	Y	You completed designated rehearsal tasks, so that a valid contribution was made to the rehearsal process
D2	Y	You completed designated rehearsal tasks with considerable attention to detail, so that an outstanding contribution was made to the rehearsal process
P3	Y	You developed and applied research for your roles
M3	Y	You developed and applied research for your roles, employing findings constructively and progressively during the rehearsal process
D3	Y	You developed and applied research for your roles, employing findings in a constructive, progressive and imaginative way during the rehearsal process
P4	Y	You selected and use rehearsal and performance skills appropriate to the role
M4	Y	You selected and employed rehearsal and performance skills appropriate to the role, in an effective, controlled and considered way
D4	Y	You selected and employed rehearsal and performance skills appropriate to the role, demonstrating strong command and insight
P5	Y	You developed and improved rehearsal and performance skills in response to feedback.
M5	Y	You demonstrated commitment to the development and improvement of rehearsal and performance skills with positive and constructive responses to feedback.
D5	Y	You demonstrated outstanding commitment to the development and improvement of rehearsal and performance skills, with detailed responses to feedback.
Summative comments
Planning D1 You were able to describe the key rehearsal tasks. You have also shown the ability to prioritise and organise tasks according to their importance within the development of the overall production, interdependencies with other members of the ensemble, etc. You also provided an explanation of the rehearsal tasks, elaborating to suggest how and why their approach to the tasks contributed to the overall success of the production, showing a thorough and sophisticated understanding of the tasks and processes. Completion D2 You were able to show extensive attention to detail in completion of the majority of your designated tasks, thus making a very obvious and excellent contribution. Research D3 You were able to demonstrate a strong awareness of how you could apply research findings which were highly relevant to the role/production. There was clear progression of performance skills and you were able to articulate this with clear reference to specific research findings, both in physical rehearsal activities, as well as in discussion and supported with notes and analysis in their rehearsal log. You showed imagination in your use and application of research, and may therefore employ less obvious forms of research or research findings, and/or provide additional insight or fresh and unusual interpretations for the performance. Application D4 You were able to employ the appropriate skills and techniques selected with confidence and proficiency. You demonstrated some insight through your ability to recognise facets of your role and the demands of the performance in their use of skills and techniques. Development D5 You showed dedication and determination in your desire to perform to the highest possible standard, taking feedback and criticism as a cue for further and detailed exploration and progression of role.
Resubmission authorisation*
* All resubmissions must be authorised. Only 1 resubmission is possible per assignment.
Assessor Signature			R.Maddix			Date:	19/2/16
Learner comments
Learner Signature						Date:

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT RECORD SHEET
Programme	BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Performing Arts (Musical Theatre)			Learner Name	Emily D’Agostino		Assessor Name	Rachel Maddix
Unit No. & Title	Unit 1: Performance Workshop			Target Learning Aims	1 Be able to interpret ideas for performance material 2 Be able to apply ideas creatively 3 Be able to take part in workshop performances 4 Understand the workshop process in light of performance.		Assignment No. & Title	Rent
Issue Date	22/10/15			Interim Submission Date	05/02/16		Final Sub Date
Target criteria	Criteria Achieved Yes/No	Final Assessment Comments
P1	Y	You showed a response to source material through research and practical workshops, recognising obvious possibilities as performance material
M1	Y	You showed considered responses to source material, exploring its more creative possibilities as performance material with insight and attention to detail
D1	Y	You showed a range of detailed responses to source material, in which the possibilities as performance material were explored in a perceptive and comprehensive manner
P2	Y	You developed and shaped workable ideas
M2	Y	You develop and shaped the most workable ideas
D2	Y	You developed and shaped the most creative ideas
P3	Y	You performed with a level of skill appropriate to the chosen medium showing engagement with the material and communicating ideas to an audience
M3	Y	You performed with a level of skill that showed a degree of control in the handling of the chosen medium, degree of engagement with the material, communicating ideas to an audience in a focused manner
D3	Y	You performed with a sense of flair, confidence and assured control of the chosen medium, showing consistent focus and engagement with the material and clear and responsive communication to an audience
P4	Y	You were able to evaluate the potential of the work in artistic, professional and vocational terms with recognition of the strengths and weaknesses of the work.
M4	Y	You were able to evaluate the potential of the work in artistic, professional and vocational terms, with considered judgements about what worked well and/or less well.
D4	Y	You were able to evaluate the potential of the work in artistic, professional and vocational terms with strengths and weaknesses clearly identified and judgements fully justified and thoughtfully expressed.
Summative comments
Analysis of of development. D1 You explored source material in a more detailed and insightful manner, showing that you considered a number of possibilities and were not afraid of rejecting ideas. You were able to explain the thought processes behind your choices in a thorough manner. Rehearsal D2 You demonstrated a more creative and perceptive way of working. You were able to identify constraints and able to suggest alternatives, working through problems to find workable solutions. Performance work D3 You were able to show control in the handling of performance skills. You demonstrated a higher degree of commitment to the performance and your performance work was confident and focused. Ideas for further development D4 You were able to weigh up the potential of the work and make judgements about the feasibility of further development. Your comments were fully supported by well-chosen examples from the work. I hope you overcome the barriers you have when tackling and organising your work as your final blog submissions are pleasing and show the required amount of analytical responses. You thoroughly embraced the challenges that came with the role of Mimi and fully realised strong performances. Your vocal range saw a new breadth during performances allowing audiences to appreciate characterisation born out of hard work and dedication – well done Emily.
Resubmission authorisation*
* All resubmissions must be authorised. Only 1 resubmission is possible per assignment.
Assessor Signature			R.Maddix			Date:	19/2/16
Learner comments
Learner Signature						Date: