Final Evaluation -
This project has been around working as an ensemble to lift a scripted play of the page and into a piece of theatre. The show was physical theatre based, with a lot of exaggerated symbolic actions used to convay deeper meanings within the play. The piece was in the style of story telling, therefore you aren't directly acting out the scenes. Because of this there isn't much dialogue where the characters physically interact with one another to create the scene.
This project has been around working as an ensemble to lift a scripted play of the page and into a piece of theatre. The show was physical theatre based, with a lot of exaggerated symbolic actions used to convay deeper meanings within the play. The piece was in the style of story telling, therefore you aren't directly acting out the scenes. Because of this there isn't much dialogue where the characters physically interact with one another to create the scene.
I loved the constant use of 'The Weakest Link' in that Tale, especially Matteos ending speech: 'So we close our eyes. You are the weakest link. Goodbye.' To the characters its just a casual TV programme that the father watches, however the hidden meanings woven into that choice of programme are so effective and clever. This whole idea of being 'the weakest link' and the constant battle for survival that all human partake in. It was linked into the fact that the neighbours never helped the women at number 4, she was just left to suffer for she was the 'weakest link' and therefore she had to go. They never helped her because they saw it as 'none of their bussiness' again showing this idea of every man for them self. If they had helped her then it would no longer be this battle for survival that the weakest link shows, it would be a struggle survival where all of the human race struggle together and if one becomes weak everyone would help them until them become strong again.
My favourite moment was at the beginning of Tale 5 when all the girls are putting make up on over their bruises. I enjoyed it because it felt very powerful and moving. The music and the slowness of the action made it meaningful and the actions seemed vulnerable. This contrasted with the brutality of the neighbour who was banging on the door and telling us to 'turn that racket off'. When in that moment I felt empowered and I could genuinely feel the emotions of the abused girlfriend. I think, as this opened the scene, it would really engage the audience and immediately make them start to think about the whole topic of abuse and whats to come in this Tale. This is then followed by Jake and Sherenes fight, by then I think the audience are slightly shocked as this Tale opens so dramaticly. The whole opening moment should make them feel as sense of realisation and questioning as abuse isn't something that people normally think about and I doubt they came into the theatre expecting that level of intense drama. I think the audience definitely felt this sense of shock however weather or not they really looked at the issues being raised is questionable. Like in Tale 5, some people do have a tendency to shut out topics that are not only difficult to deal with but can cause them to feel upset or distressed.I think that the moment Roseby created in tale 7 while behind the bar was brilliant. There was a clear sense of character and a really good variation/transition between all the different emotions that were going through her characters head. This then made it clear for the audience to see the emotions and therefore made it extremely interesting to watch.
The play did have some weaknesses, because we didn't get the whole peice blocked untill quiet late into the project and people had a lot of issues with their lines, I felt like we didn't quiet get enough time to rehearse properly which caused a few silences in the first show as people weren't entirely sure of when to come on. However, these were covered up by other actors on stage. Learning lines was also another large weakness, it took me a little while to learn my lines to the point where i could remeber both my lines and the physical direction.
However, by putting the work in I managed to learn both yet it meant a lot of the rehearsing wasn't used as efficiently as we spent a lot of time going over lines when other things like character and transitions needed addressing.
I think I wasn't as disciplined with learning lines as I could have been, it took me a long time to become confident in my lines. However, my focus during lessons was good it was just a case of bring my energy up and not giving in to the tiredness. I really enjoyed this unit and felt that I have improved a lot. I felt that I improved in terms of being in a ensemble as the more we worked with each other the more comfortable we became with working with one another and the more understanding we had of how we worked together. By working with the same people for so long we are also able to learn of each other. I learnt how to use my body a lot more in my acting and really be aware of what my body is doing and how it contributes to my character. My acting skills have also developed as I found it quite hard to act multiple roles with only one or two lines within them and flick between characters. However, by working on my story telling and creating separate characters for each tale i think i really developed in that area of acting.
My favourite moment was at the beginning of Tale 5 when all the girls are putting make up on over their bruises. I enjoyed it because it felt very powerful and moving. The music and the slowness of the action made it meaningful and the actions seemed vulnerable. This contrasted with the brutality of the neighbour who was banging on the door and telling us to 'turn that racket off'. When in that moment I felt empowered and I could genuinely feel the emotions of the abused girlfriend. I think, as this opened the scene, it would really engage the audience and immediately make them start to think about the whole topic of abuse and whats to come in this Tale. This is then followed by Jake and Sherenes fight, by then I think the audience are slightly shocked as this Tale opens so dramaticly. The whole opening moment should make them feel as sense of realisation and questioning as abuse isn't something that people normally think about and I doubt they came into the theatre expecting that level of intense drama. I think the audience definitely felt this sense of shock however weather or not they really looked at the issues being raised is questionable. Like in Tale 5, some people do have a tendency to shut out topics that are not only difficult to deal with but can cause them to feel upset or distressed.I think that the moment Roseby created in tale 7 while behind the bar was brilliant. There was a clear sense of character and a really good variation/transition between all the different emotions that were going through her characters head. This then made it clear for the audience to see the emotions and therefore made it extremely interesting to watch.
The play did have some weaknesses, because we didn't get the whole peice blocked untill quiet late into the project and people had a lot of issues with their lines, I felt like we didn't quiet get enough time to rehearse properly which caused a few silences in the first show as people weren't entirely sure of when to come on. However, these were covered up by other actors on stage. Learning lines was also another large weakness, it took me a little while to learn my lines to the point where i could remeber both my lines and the physical direction.
However, by putting the work in I managed to learn both yet it meant a lot of the rehearsing wasn't used as efficiently as we spent a lot of time going over lines when other things like character and transitions needed addressing.
I think I wasn't as disciplined with learning lines as I could have been, it took me a long time to become confident in my lines. However, my focus during lessons was good it was just a case of bring my energy up and not giving in to the tiredness. I really enjoyed this unit and felt that I have improved a lot. I felt that I improved in terms of being in a ensemble as the more we worked with each other the more comfortable we became with working with one another and the more understanding we had of how we worked together. By working with the same people for so long we are also able to learn of each other. I learnt how to use my body a lot more in my acting and really be aware of what my body is doing and how it contributes to my character. My acting skills have also developed as I found it quite hard to act multiple roles with only one or two lines within them and flick between characters. However, by working on my story telling and creating separate characters for each tale i think i really developed in that area of acting.
