Week 26 Blog ( Week 6 For Junk )

Week 26 Blog, Monday 19th - Thursday 22nd Of May 2014

After so many weeks of rehearsals for our final major project called 'Junk', it was now time to begin the live performance week. Our rehearsal sessions still continued, only this time we began in the college theatre opposed to the usual classroom environment. We started the day with preparations of prop placement and staging directions. I had mentioned in previous blogs of our plan to stage 'Junk' with the audience seated around the stage in a rectangular fashion, with entrances and exits set in between the audiences seating positions. This way we would be able to present the whole drama towards the audience and they would be able to see every little detail, in the setting of the play and in our individual performances. It would also include a slight visual of the stage representing a street environment, and it would also deliver the moral message of the play being a journey for both lead characters, 'Tar and Gemma', a journey of how their lives go from bad to worse.

      

While the theatre was being prepared by the box office management team, we had the props ready to set the stage, but in the mean time we continued rehearsals to ensure full concentration and confidence for the performing side of the rehearsal process. With nearly all scenes blocked in previous rehearsal sessions, our main focus was to look at how we could improve our performances. In this case I had to develop on my physical presence on stage, since my character, 'Tar', has a lead role in the story of 'Junk' and all the audiences eyes should remain on him for a long duration of the play. I felt that I had already achieved this goal since whilst performing I have to be an angry character filled with rage over the fact that Tar can't escape Junk once he has taken it, I feel confident that doing this will grab the audiences attention over over characters and turn all their eyes onto me.

      

After finishing our last minute rehearsals, we had a short break and later on we would all return to begin setting the stage for the main performance. The audience’s seats were set by the box office management team and we began to lay out all of the props and staging equipment to create our visual idea of what the stage would look like and make it seem real. With so many props, listing from a public pay-phone, an old television, boxes, empty bottles, and many more, our plan to set all these objects on the stage to present it in the style of a squatters house, which is meant to look 'trashy'.   

 

Mondays session came to an end with many of us, in my opinion, feeling a positive attitude for our upcoming performance as we came closer and closer to our first performance of the final project for Btec Level 2 Performing Arts. We had also received some notes from our teacher, in which explored certain areas in which we needed to improve, whether it was performing strategies or certain changes needed to be made before the main performance later on in the week.

      

Tuesday’s session began at an earlier time than planned, as our main goal was to do a successful run through of the entire play without scripts. Having the stage already set and props already placed, we all got ourselves into our costumes and prepared ourselves for a full run through of act one. 

      

We decided to take the rehearsal at a mild speed giving the lighting/sound technicians time to make any changes to lighting or sound cues. The majority of cues had already been set, but it was now our chance to get to know the cues of by heart so we would know what to expect for future rehearsals and of course the main performance when it comes to it. As we began rehearsing act one, there were a few obvious errors, concerning cue times for actors to be on stage, or lighting/sound cues. But there will always be certain areas in a performance that goes wrong and needs to be improved. Although there was one area that was a positive factor in the run through and that was the improvement of all the cast members performances as their characters. It was really interesting to see how much the other cast member had improved in presenting their character, which was a vast improvement to show how the true realism of the plot within the play as well as showing the actors commitment to their role.

      

As the days session went on we completed our full run through of 'Junk', however after receiving more notes from our teacher, it became apparent to us, while we may know all of our lines and all of our stage movements and timings, we still hadn’t achieved the approximate run time of the play, which was to be one hour and thirty minutes. Therefore after a short break, we aimed to do another run through, hoping to achieve faster timing. In our second attempt there were less errors concerning timing, however there was a slight problem concerning lines, as unfortunately many of us had lost track of our lines. But overall it was a successful second run through of 'Junk' and we did achieve the 90 minute mark.

 

First Performance Day:

      

Just as we did in our two previous rehearsal days we arrived earlier to college than usual. Once every member of the cast arrived we simply started with another run through of the play, now that all the lighting and sound cues were confirmed and ready for the main show. It was also extremely helpful as well because we would also have the chance to see if we were truly comfortable and confident enough to present the play to our first audience, which were only a few hours away from arriving. We managed to run through the play twice before the live performance, and at the end of the very last minute rehearsal I felt extremely confident to present this play to our first audience.

      

We started the first performance at three o'clock in the afternoon.

      

As the audience arrived and took their seats, all the cast members were instructed to either be seated behind the central seated audience stand, or at our at our first entrance door way to the stage when it was time for us to come on, but in the case of the actors who played Tar and Gemma, they were to be seated on the upper centre stage to open the play.

      

Overall I felt this first performance was good, slightly imperfect however, as I felt everyone, including myself, could of performed better, but since it was our first performance in front of an audience, I let it slide and hoped the second performance would be much better. But from an audience standpoint, it was a good performance, receiving only positive feedback from both the audience and our teacher. Resulting in us taking a break and then we would return to present our second performance.

      

The second performance began at seven o'clock in the evening.

     

Personally I felt that the second performance was the best presentation of 'Junk'. Out of all our full run through rehearsals, this performance topped all of them. I personally felt very confident on stage, and I felt I managed to present an excellent portrayal of my character ‘Tar’. Plus every cast member gave an outstanding performance as well, backing up my confidence whilst on stage, and truly making all the characters and the plot as convincing and realistic as possible for the audience.

 

Second Performance Day:

      

Wednesday’s two performances were very successful in the eyes of our teacher, the audience, and ourselves, but now it was time to give the final performance of our final major project. Starting the day a little later in the morning as, again, it would give us time to process and remember our staging and acting in the last two performances. Once again every cast member had arrived and we started the day by playing some drama games to get our brains in gear for the performance. Then as the performing hour approached nearer and nearer we set our props and got dressed into our costumes ready for the final show.

      

It was one o’clock in the afternoon when our final performance began.

      

Throughout this week, I felt I had achieved something great in my life of an actor. We achieved our final major project in our Btec Level 2 course for Performing Arts, and we also achieved the best outcome of our final major performances for the course, in the way of seeing the response of our best abilities in acting, testing our abilities to see if we are capable of portraying these characters on stage and act in this intense and dramatic production. I personally feel that this play was an amazing chance to see what we as actors can achieve as well as setting goals, from any negatives from the outcome of our individual performances, and see if we can improve for future reference.

      

This project was a privilege to take part in and I look forward to see what I can achieve in future projects with other actors or perhaps the same actors I have gotten so well to know throughout this year. 

Week 25 Blog ( Week 5 For Junk )

Week 25, Monday 12th - Wednesday 14th Of May 2014

We only have one week left until our final main performance for Btec Level 2 Performing Arts: ‘Junk’, which is to be shown in the college theatre like our previous two performances for this course. Having a very limited timetable of only three days at college per week, our teacher and the rest of the group were feeling more dedicated to complete blocking every scene in 'Junk', and to also rehearse scenes which we haven’t blocked already. To begin with on Monday, we looked at several scenes in 'Junk' which we needed to still block and we also continued rehearsing as much as possible until the days end to add and or create more detail in which would make our performance a lot more convincing and entertaining for the present audience members. 

The following day continued in rehearsals, and our teacher reminded us to think more about our characters whilst performing, which brings back the topic of the 'Hot Seating' session we have done in a previous session that I explained in a previous blog entry. In my previous blog entry's, I have stated about our tutor group working individually over the course of learning their lines in their own time away from college to create their characters using the script with their own originality, then testing their knowledge in the upcoming lesson with a ‘Hot Seating’ exercise. The way the exercise works is that one individual member of the group would sit in the centre of the room, and they would have to answer questions from other members of the group whilst portraying as their character in 'Junk'; with my character being one of the main lead roles, Tar. The questions have to be answered in the way of them being their character and the questions asked can be either something simple, whether it is about their hobbies or interests, or it can be something more personal, such as their origins, relationships, thoughts and feelings. 

I stated that I did find this exercise helpful since, when I took the seat in the centre of the room, it helped me to gain more knowledge about my characters origins and other personal areas in which I hadn’t come across on in my character’s profile. But during today’s rehearsal session, thinking about my character more was increasingly helpful, as it helped me, and hopefully others in the group, look more at their characters with increased detail, and I felt it allowed more experimentation with my characters relationships with other characters in the play. It also helped me get a rough idea of how I could show my characters reaction to certain moments in the play with facial expressions and other forms of body language. Doing this gave my character, 'Tar', more physical meaning to the performance overall.

While the ‘Hot Seating’ exercise was indeed a huge positive outcome towards the entire production process, as it did help us create a more detailed character and it also showed, to our teacher, our commitment to the course, there are also other certain requirements needed for the production process. The first requirement, that is worth noting, is the commitment to the job roles given to you. For example, having an acting role is very important and it requires an individual to learn lines, create their characters with both physical and mental emotions, and to also memorize staging movements for their main performance. Although there are other job roles in a production which require an equal amount of commitment as an acting role. For example, a lighting manager has to create a plan of how to create the lighting for all the scenes in the play, which is a lot of work, and they have to make sure that they can handle the technical side of the lighting management. The list does go on with the amount of job roles for a production, and each and every one of these roles require an increased amount of commitment and focus for every rehearsal session, as their main goal is to achieve in making a successful and all round entertaining performance for an audience, but also themselves.

In our rehearsal process for ‘Junk’, we have focused in the acting and lighting job roles more than others, but one area in particular that is featured a lot in our rehearsal sessions is our individual personal management. By saying this, I mean that it all eventually comes down to our responsibility towards the sessions, to ensure we have all that is required to work professionally in the Performing Arts Industry, and that all work is to be met with the required deadlines. For example, it is the individual’s responsibility to have their script, a pencil and eraser at hand, as well as knowing their lines for the scenes to be blocked in the session and later to be revising the whole script entirely, so when they stage the play they won’t need a script at hand and won’t need to be prompted, and when it comes to the main performance, they will be fully prepared. But when it comes to the homework side of it, they would need to understand their task inside out, so they can meet the deadlines and show progression in their commitment to the course. This also backs up the ‘Hot Seating’ exercise as it presents to the whole class and the teacher just how much they really know about their character role in the performances, and how much more they can learn from each rehearsal session. Attitude is also important in the rehearsal session since if there was someone in the group who had a unpositive attitude, they could possibly disrupt the lesson, which results in ruining it for other people who show dedication to the Performing Arts course. If this attitude continued to a point in their lives when they would rehearse for an acting role in a Film/TV production, they would be fired from that production instantly, since they run on a very limited timescale and they could also waste a lot of money for one person to not act properly, especially in action movies, where they have explosions going off etc.

Throughout the 'Junk' production process, the tutor group has achieved many great areas in which have led to positive outcomes, such as us developing our understanding of all our characters in the play, with help from the ‘Hot Seating’ exercise, and we have proceeded well in achieving what is required of us for each rehearsal session. But the most interesting thing about our rehearsals, is the style and structure we have chosen to perform in each week. At the beginning of the 'Junk' assignment, we were all given the script and were also given our performing roles for this production, and just like every production rehearsal session, it begins with a full read through of the given script.  Having a read through of the script gave us the introduction of the plot and the characters, as well as giving us all a decent idea of how we were to present this play on stage to a real live audience. As the sessions went on, we looked into more detail as to how we could make this play more original, this resulted in our teacher and the rest of the group to create a new stage layout for the stage area which we hadn't done before in previous assignments.The stage layout we chose was very different compared to what had previously used in other performances. Previously, for both productions, we used the traditional staging in front of the audience, giving them a full view of the stage in front of the characters performing. So since this was our final main assignment and performance for Btec Level 2 Performing Arts, our teacher wanted to go in a different direction for staging. For this production we were to create a new stage layout with the audience to be around the whole stage in a rectangular position, in a way this would have two reflective meanings. The first meaning is that it would be a similar staging structure to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.  But the second and most important meaning was that it was to represent a street style and give the moral message that this whole play was an incredible journey for the leading characters in ‘Junk’, a journey of events that go from bad to worse. It was later decided that the characters events were to be shown through the use of props as the staging would contain messy props, such as alcohol bottles and scenes of drug usage since most of the characters in 'Junk' are squatters, and over the course of the performance, the stage would get worse and worse as it would have loads of props all over the place making a much 'dirtier' picture. Doing this does give the audience an idea as to what these characters would be like in the real world.

Once our staging plan was complete, we then moved on with our visual imagination of the written world in both the script and novel of 'Junk'. In the script, it is very detailed of what the setting looks like, since the setting of each scene is explained before the lines are announced by the characters, but each member of the group had their own idea of how they could present it and visualize it, therefore our teacher came up with another strategy to counteract this, the making of 'Mood Boards'. The use of 'Mood Boards' was to present photographs of similar settings, as described in the script, and we would categorize them so we could look at the boards for guidance as to how we could get a better idea of how to visualize the play whilst performing. We created these 'Mood Boards' with images of the setting, other similar locations, squatters and images of drugs. I felt that the images contained with drugs was the most important part of the 'Mood Boards' to be included in the rehearsal process, since drugs was always at our side in the performance and it relates well with the production overall, and in a way, it would be the most enthralling part of the production. The usage of drugs is the main theme of 'Junk', and the images presented a moral message to the whole group. The moral message was simple “drugs are bad”, but it would also give the entire group the mission to present this play with the deliveration of the message to the audience in a dramatic style, to show them the negative side of life and how bad one can get in life. So I would say the 'Mood Boards' idea was extremely helpful at our side during the rehearsal process.

      

While rehearsing a play in chronological order seems to make sense for many directors with their productions, we had a different approach as to how we could structure the rehearsal plan, in time for the main performance in the upcoming week. Instead of beginning the rehearsal at the start of the script, we rehearsed slightly in the style of a motion pictures filming. We started with a scene taking place near the end of act one for 'Junk' and worked our way through randomly selected scenes in both acts. The reason why we took this approach was the amount of cast members we had. There are many characters in 'Junk', and we only ten cast members to work with, therefore, there are few scenes in which certain actors are not needed on stage. This is not the case for my character, Tar, entirely, since he is on stage with Gemma, his girlfriend, for most of Act 1 and 2 for 'Junk' since they are both the main characters to the plot line.

Throughout the assignment we have explored many areas, in which helped us with many issues we might have in presenting this performance, such as exploring how we could develop our characters, with use of profiles and Hot Seating, as well as how we could develop our understanding of rehearsal processes, for future assignments if we are to proceed to the Level 3 Performing Arts. But all in all I feel like this assignment has had the most impact on us as the story of ‘Junk’ has a very deep and strong purpose to it, and gives a very strong impact on each cast member equally. Therefore I feel grateful to take part in each of the given assignments as they extend my education in the Performing Arts Industry, and has given me opportunities to act in great plays which deliver different moral messages to an audience.

Week 24 Blog ( Week 4 For Junk )

Week 24, Tuesday 6th - Wednesday 7th Of May 2014

For the start of this week we carried on with our rehearsals. Since our performance is coming up in 2 weeks time, we decided to get right on with it. First off however, we had to recover from having the extra day off from Bank Holiday Monday. We began this by starting with another Hot Seating session, carrying on with the people who didn't get a chance to present their findings for their character for the last session we had. However, I still didn't have the chance to present my character for the production, Tar, so I have to wait until next week to present it. But this gives me more time to prepare for the questions that are going to asked to me whilst I'm answering them as not as myself, but Tar, which sounds like a challenge, but I have had time for myself to actually learn how Tar would of reacted to certain situations in the script by the type of language he used, so if I can direct the same attitude towards the question, I feel that it'll give others the impression that I understand my character with thorough knowledge.

After the rehearsals and a read-through of the novel, we all received our blog points and our teacher began to think about a rhetorical question, which she hadn’t looked upon before: what is the style of the play?  For this, we were to explore the main themes, the main languages, and the main structure of ‘Junk’.
 

The Theme:

Throughout the story of 'Junk', there are a bunch of tragic events that explain and summarize the plot in minor detail as it goes along. For example, the first main theme has a huge impact on the entire plot and the characters, these two themes are Trust and Friendship. The theme 'Trust' is very important in the storyline of 'Junk' as we follow the stories of both of the lead characters: Tar and Gemma. Throughout the script, we can see it from both of their points of view and can observe what their perspective of trust is really like to them. 

For my character Tar, trust comes in the sense that he does not know what he is going to do half the time, and he follows others that he considers 'friends' to help achieve his goals. This eventually leads to a huge impact on his actions both physically and verbally throughout the script around other characters, and this explains how his life goes from good to bad to worse. This could be because Tar had a very complicated childhood with him having awful parents who, daily, gave him abuse and were strict to him for no reason.

Gemma's perspective of trust is somewhat similar to Tar's, but more in the way that she doesn’t really much care as much about the consequences of her actions. This could be because Gemma had a similar childhood as Tar, in which she had very strict parents, but the only difference is that they cared for her and they both just wanted the best for their only child. But Gemma, being who she is and madly in love with Tar, just pushed away their advice on how to live life in best way possible and followed a very risky, dangerous path with Tar, which was to run away from home and attempt to begin a new life together where they both did whatever they wanted to do without anybody pulling them back. Therefore when it comes to Gemma running away to join the group of squatters after a reunion with Tar, she has an impact that delivers a moral message to both her and the audience where she says the line: “You should always listen to your parents." This message blinds Gemma until near the end of the play when she realizes that her parents were right from the very beginning, and she opens her eyes and realizes also that she went too far.

Tar and Gemma's different perspective of trust also leads to their different perspective of friendship.  Tar only has a confident friendship with Gemma, as he only knows her more than anyone else in the setting of Bristol, and he personally thinks that their relationship can go far to the point where they will be together forever and not even his friendship with Richard and Rob can interrupt his everlasting friendship with Gemma.  

Whereas Gemma’s perspective of friendship is her relying on her confidence, especially around Lily, as she can feel happy and relaxed whenever Lily is around her. This also calls back to the theme of trust in the play, since Gemma doesn’t really know what she’s getting herself into. She may feel more confident around Lily than any other character, even Tar, but she doesn’t really know her well enough to be able to trust her with her lifelong secrets. Such as her true feelings about Tar, since we learnt from reading the novel of 'Junk', that Gemma doesn’t have the same feeling of romance with Tar as he does of her.  

This shows that they have a different perspective of friendship entirely, as Tar doesn’t attempt to make to many friendships because he cares too much for Gemma and he dosent want anyone to take her form him, and Gemma thinks more of the happiness and confidence rather than the trust of other characters.

The Language:

The language used in 'Junk' is obviously very modern, since it is set in 1980's Bristol. But for this production, the language has been written in a way to have an impact on the audience as they watch so they can understand what type of characters they are observing and what situations they can get themselves in. For example, some of the English language the characters use is very 'street', meaning that there is a lot of slang in the words they pronounce, this would present to the audience the idea that the origin of all the characters were rough and they have spent a lot of time living on the streets, away from the modern world. With that said, the purpose of the language is to give the audience the idea of what type of character they are observing and it also helps them understand what they have been through in their lives.

  
The Structure:

When I look back to reading the script, I realize that the plot of ‘Junk’ has a certain structure to present a journey. The reason is if you look at the whole play, through most of the main characters point of views, it is a story of how they journey through a cruel and harsh version of modern life. For example, the lead characters, Tar and Gemma, has the story evolve around them, and throughout the story, the audience can see both characters point of view via a monologue. But throughout the entire play, if you were to look further into their characteristics, their actions and plans evolve as the play goes on and this results in more versions of the same journey.  

So beginning with Tar, his journey starts from being a child abused schoolboy, to being a squatter in Bristol which then leads to him becoming a 'junkie', and after he becomes a 'junkie', his journey becomes a lot worse. But there is also the fact that Tar’s attitude towards people changes as the play goes on. He begins rather quiet and is shy around other people that aren't Gemma, since he doesn't know if he can trust them or not, and then later on after he becomes a 'junkie', he shows a much darker side and grows an infuriating attitude towards people who simply want to try to help him get off 'Junk'. This shows a journey of his attitude and also his feelings towards other characters in the play, as he has high trust at the beginning, and at the end, he has little trust. 

Whereas Gemma has an entirely different journey that has a huge impact on her feelings around the people she loves. For example, in the beginning she is cruel towards others she doesn't know personally and can be a brat towards her parents, and at the end of the play, she has suffered too much and begs for her parent’s forgiveness since she realizes that her parents were right from the beginning about what was going to happen between her and Tar. Gemma has a journey which shows her emotions, as well as, similarly to Tar, a journey of how her trust between other characters changes from high trust, to low trust.

      
For other characters in the play, it is a matter of how their emotions towards other characters changes also from the beginning to the end. 

Beginning with Gemma’s parents, when we first meet her parents, the audience is immediately on Gemmas side as we see her parents the way she sees them: Cruel and strict. But as the play goes on, we see that Gemma’s parents were right about everything and she was wrong. But this also leads to Gemma’s parents becoming more worried, concerned and caring parents towards Gemma, and all they want is for their daughter to return home, rather than cruel and strict parents who want their daughter to be disciplined further. This is a different journey in the play for both the parents and the audience’s perspective view of Gemma, and how the audience go from being on Gemma’s side at the beginning, to her parents side at the end.

There is also a different link of the same journey for some of the characters which are in the group of squatters. For example, it is a journey for the character Vonny, as he succeeds in his lifelong ambition of living a normal life away from home. It is also a journey for the character Richard, as he is the one who builds his confidence around people, especially with Tar as he stands up to him when he says he needs to get help off Junk. For the characters Lily and Rob however, it is a more difficult journey, as they begin as an overly confident squatter/junkie duo, and then later on end up becoming the less confident characters with them both wanting to be safer when it comes to getting and taking drugs and their lives in general.

So the main structure of the play is a different link of the same journey amongst all the characters, whether it is their physical or emotional journeys through a rough view of life.

In summary, for what style of the play 'Junk' is? It is a strong play which explores many themes, a specifically strong signature modern language, and a structure that is an endless journey with many links attached.

Finally at the end of the day, we also had another question we had to ask ourselves, concerning the importance of a vocal warm up prior to a session. It is always important to vocally prepare yourself for a rehearsal session because, much like a physical warm up exercise, it is essential for you to go the extra mile. By this I mean you should see how far you can test the limits of your vocals, so in rehearsals, if you were needed to scream, then you would need to know if you were capable of screaming at right tone and pitch, to make yourself fully capable for the main performance.

Week 23 Blog ( Week 3 For Junk )

Week 23 Blog, Monday 21st - Wednesday 23rd Of April 2014

During today’s lesson of rehearsals for ‘Junk’, the main focus was for us to know who our characters were inside out. Throughout the first weeks of the rehearsal sessions, we have read through the entire script and are also reading the original novel, from which the play is based off of. Having been given our roles and have had the time over half term to learn our lines, we were asked by our teacher to create a character profile to demonstrate how much we had learnt about our characters, and how much more we need to learn in time for the main performance which isn't too far away from present day. That being said, today's lesson began with a hot seating exercise, the purpose of this exercise was for the actor, playing the role of a certain character, to take a seat in the center of the room, where every other member of the group can ask their individual questions about their character. The purpose of this exercise was, not only to present how much we had learnt about our characters, but to also expand the groups and their own understanding of the character.

The character I was given the role to portray for this performance was a young teenager character named ‘Tar’. In a previous weeks blog, I had presented Tar's characters profile and explained what I had learnt from understanding the script through my time learning my lines. Since I'm only portraying Tar in the second act for 'Junk', I have to remember the reasons he is who he is because of certain situations in the past, such as child abuse, and mental and physical violence.

Physicality is essential for an actor when he is performing as his character, as it helps them expand their acting to the next step by making the performance seem more realistic. It also helps to know how their character should act mentally and verbally throughout performance, and making a character profile does help in understanding this. From what I’ve learnt and understood about my character,  the impact that these situations would have on Tar's physicality and mental health would be very different from what I've experienced in my life. Tar's physical attributes would be a lazy, self conscious, but also strong and positive person in ways of decision making.This is because Tar has dreams of living a normal life away from public eyes and possibly raising a family of his own with Gemma (Girlfriend in 'Junk'), and the only way he can accomplish that is by keeping a positive attitude around people and also respecting the right people to help gain this dream.

Although it may seem that Tar is a very positive respectable person in this production, there are a few down sides towards this character later on in the script. For example, when we view Tar in a scene from Act 2 with his friend Richard, he comes on being all positive and listening to what Richard has to say to becoming a more aggressive character bringing his mental feelings into his verbal speech, and also seeing Richard as a foe more than a friend. This scene also raises a lot of tension in the performance as the audience can see that taking Junk is changing Tar to the utmost extreme, which makes it more exciting for the audiences eyes as they can watch the same character throughout the whole production change his ways of how he perceives people, first off being nice and friendly, to a more aggressive and violent person. This physical and mental change of mind continues to happen more in Act 2 for 'Junk', since we get to see Tar trying to give up Junk by going to rehab but going back to it from time to time since he has realized that he can't live without it.

As the hot seating exercise came to an end, we then began to continue our rehearsals for 'Junk'. One thing we didn't do however, was a warm-up exercise. But I would consider the hot seating to be the warm-up for this session since we really had to think about who our characters are in the performance, and answering questions about them for some people may have been stressful. But not having a more physical warm-up exercise may have been this sessions downfall, since our bodies weren't physically able to perform at maximum efficiency and there was more sloppiness in some scenes for the performance which caused more retakes to happen for the scene.

But overall, I felt that this lesson was extremely helpful to not only me, but the whole group equally, as we had an extended understanding of all of our characters in the play.  This also meant that we could develop our own characters to a level in which makes the whole plot more convincing and realistic to an audience. It’ll also give us the chance to present how much we understand about the sub context within the play and if we are all capable of reflecting a harsh view of this particular kind of life on stage.