Commedia dell'Arte Research Entry 1: Introduction & Origins

The Commedia dell'Arte (Comedy of Professional Artists/Actors) is a form of improvised comedy that was very popular within it's origins in Italy in the 16th and 17th centuries. The words within these comedies were not written down on a script, rendering them to come from the actors' own mind, hence it being improvised comedy. Since these words were not written down, the actors would work to a plot framework and make up their own words for the performance.

The use of mime was an important part within these performances, but the words should not be forgotten about. The Commedia dell'Arte used all areas of the performing arts within a performance.

These areas are listed as followed:

• Music
• Singing
• Dancing
• Acting
• Mime
• Acrobatics
• Juggling
• Magic

All of the actors in these companies knew the ways of the others so well that all of them could co-operate and play harmoniously together. Later, as time went on, some of the more popular plots were repeated many times. They have been written down and we can still play them today.

The companies of Commedia dell'Arte travelled to many countries, resulting in their popularity to increase exponentially over the years. In 1570, there were reports of of resident companies at the Austrian, Hungarian and Bavarian courts. The companies usually travelled to France more often than others, but at some time, whilst in Paris, the actors started to poke fun at the Parisian Authorities and things got so bad that a bye-law was passed forbidding the Italian actors in Paris to use 'vulgar speech and spread profanity'. 

This happening resulted in the Commedia dell'Arte actors to not speak during their performances, so this made other aspects become more prominent. Any words that would have been spoken were now to be sung or chanted, there were many more dances, more spectacle and there was also much more uses of Mime involved. 

The 'Mime' part of the performance began to develop so much over the years from then until the present, making Commedia dell'Arte a very strong kind of performance within the 'Physical Theatre' part of the Performing Arts Industry. Most of the actors in the early Commedia performances were had solo Mime scenes called 'Lazzi'. The traditional Mime gestures we see now in present day originated from traditional Commedia Mime plays, and some of the classical ballets were established within these plays also.

Level 3 Acting Week 8 Synopsis Blog & '13' By Mike Bartlett - Reflective Blog - Entry 6

Monday 3rd Of November 2014 Blog Entry

Synopsis Of Day:

Lesson 1 & 2: Physical Theatre And Contemporary Theatre:

For the start of this week in my 'Physical Theatre' lesson, my teacher had talked about the implementation of naturalism within my performance as both Martin and Paul, by including physical actions within my scenes to prevent a static performance.  She had mentioned that this would improve my overall grade for the performance of '13', so I began to explore the inner being of my character, mainly Martin, to discover what he'd be doing on stage to not look static.

Input Into Session & Character Development (Reflective):

Through the development of characterisation I've already done for Martin, I had an idea of what actions I can do within his scenes since I'm both not saying very many lines for the whole play as him and I'm standing in a lot of scenes, and looking back at the rehearsal sessions for those scenes, I remained standing in an idle position for the majority of the time.

For this session about implementing a sense of naturalism into my performance as Martin, I was instructed to present 3 different physical actions that are associated with my character in the play, and through my study of their characterisation, I should be able to present this with ease. 

The first action that I had done was to present a large yawn, to mainly signify that my interpretation of Martin for '13' doesn't sleep very much due to what has happened to him in the past year, before and during the events of the play.  I discovered that Martin dosent sleep very much due to the stage directions given in the script for Act 1 Scene 4, where the scene starts off with Martin presenting a large yawn, as though he was about to fall asleep, until the Prime Minister of '13', Ruth, walks in to wake me up and suggest getting coffee, to which I say "I'm fine."

For the second action, I had thought more about how my interpretation of Martin moves around during his scenes, does he walk at a fast or slow tempo?  For my characterisation of Martin within the performance, I want him to be a well structured person that walks with his upper chest leading.  When doing this, he walks with a very medium tempo, it's not too fast but not too slow either.  I felt that this would suit the character of Martin since my interpretation of him, as evidenced in my character profile, is that he is a very athletic and sporty man so he should be ale to walk with, at the very least, a medium-fast tempo.

For my third action, I thought more about what Martin may be thinking in his head during his scenes and how I could present this physically.  I was mainly thinking about what may be happening at the present moment within these scenes and/or what he could be thinking more about the future of the world based off of the actions being presented for the war against Iran by different characters such as Dennis, Sir Christopher and even Ruth, like in Act 2 Scene 7 for example.  I'd presented this sort of 'thought process' by looking away from everyone else in the scene and looking like I'm in my own world.  This does make Martin more accident prone within the scenes where he's walking around whilst other characters are talking, like in Act 4 Scene 3, when Mark and Holly are arguing, and I want to try and implement another physical action with me maybe walking into someone within this scene to present this sense of naturalism within my character to the audience.

Conclusion:

Having done these physical actions, it did make me more in synchronization with the character of Martin, and within today's rehearsal sessions for Act 4, I'll be sure to try and implement these 'senses of naturalism' within my performance.

After this session in discovering more of the physical traits of my characters, my teacher had moved on to look more into how the group of actors could present John's final speech in the second to last scene of the play in Act 4. 

Our teacher had presented this scene by having the character of John standing on the big black box, which has remained on-stage since the very beginning, and all of the other characters within this scene, including Martin, would stand in a semi circular line stemming from the box in the near centre of the stage.  When the speech from John was about to end, all of the actors will get out their mobile phones to both react to what John was saying about a video of him going viral and for a special moment within this scene which is that we'll have the sound effect for Big Ben chiming 12 times, and for these 12 chimes, one by one, each actor will shine a bright light into their face in a specific order, with me being the 6th person to do it. 

Then, once all the faces have been lit, a nuclear bomb sound effect will go off in the theatre, resulting in all of the lights to turn off to go into the final scene where Rob present his ending monologue, concluding '13', where all of the actors in the previous scene would stand looking towards the audience with a still image.  When Rob says the line "I needed to know what the enemy looked like", all of 'The 12' characters currently standing on stage, excluding Rob, would go into their sleeping positions, then Rob will say his final words in the middle of this 'sleeping circle' to which we all of the actors would wake up, to the alarm clock sound effect, for a final time with all of us still panting and having a heavy heartbeat, then this slowly fades to nothing being heard and the theatre lights going out, concluding '13', to which then we all stand in a line to be applauded by the audience.

Evaluative Judgement For Act 4 Scene 10 (Reflective):

I thought that this was an effective and nostalgic way to end our performance of '13' since we are presenting the nostalgic feeling of showing how we had initially presented '13', by being in the sleeping positions and waking up from a nightmare all of 'The 12' had, and then to end it the same way does make it seem more effective.

Since Act 5 had been completely cut from the play, I didn't come out with my idea as to how we could present it, which I'd included in my previous Reflective Blog Entries, to my teacher or the other actors, but seeing as we have now sorted out how to conclude '13', the group have both been able to shorten the time of the play and make it have more sense without the audience loosing the overall plot.

After we had successfully concluded '13', our teacher wanted to look back on the earlier scenes of Act 4 and to try and pick up the pace a bit more since it was going very slowly and it was taking near to an hour to perform it completely.  We had worked on some of the ensemble work within some of the scenes, specifically the ones with the speeches, like in Act 4 Scene 1, and areas of public space, like in Act 4 Scene 3.

Input Into Act 4 Scene 1 (Reflective):

For this speech, I was performing as Martin, and I was listening to John present his speech about how he wants to move forward against Ruth and the British Government to his army of protesters, which Martin had become interested in watching due to him spectating another speech earlier on in the play in Act 2 Scene 11.

For this scene, within the ensemble, I was presenting physical actions to represent Martin's opinions towards the topic being presented, which was mainly positive.  I had done actions like nodding my head, throwing my fist into the air once the speech had finished saying the line "In Our Name! In Our Name! In Our Name!", and even recording the speech on Martin's mobile phone, so he could both watch it later on behind the scenes and to also have the character link towards the reference of Contemporary Society, which I'd talked about more in my Character Profile and my '13' Contextual Research Blog Entries.

Character Profile: http://sdcperformancens.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/13-by-mike-bartlett-character-profile.html

'13' Contextual Research: http://sdcperformancens.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/the-context-behind-13.html

Input Into Act 4 Scene 3 (Reflective):

For Act 4 Scene 3, which is a park scene including the character's Mark and Holly, I was included into this scene, as Martin, to perform the 'Chair Duets' exercise which I had done, with my chosen partner, several weeks ago when we were studying about the devising methods of the physical theatre group called 'Frantic Assembly'.  We had done the 'Chair Duets' twice within the duration of this scene with the first time being quite a fast tempo, and later on for the second time, we had gone slightly slower.  For the two separate times we had performed our 'Chair Duet', we had gone through it three times before we had moved onto other areas within the background of the scene.

When I wasn't doing the 'Chair Duets' exercise with my partner, I was implementing one of my senses of naturalism for Martin within this scene, which was the one where I would sort of wander into my own world of thought, which had made me more accident prone to the other characters in this scene also.  There was one time where I had walked into another character to present another physical action which I had intended to perform for this particular scene.

Conclusion Of Day:

After going through these two scenes at a faster tempo, to prepare for our speed run-through of '13' in later sessions, our day of rehearsals had ended.  Having implemented these senses of naturalism in my performance of Martin, I did feel that my portrayal of him does, indeed, present more of my character development and I also did feel more embodied with Martin for his scenes more so than previous run-through's.  This will hopefully give me a better mark for my performance when I get to present it in show week.

Wednesday 5th Of November 2014 Blog Entry

Synopsis Of Day:

Lesson 1 & 2 - Principals Of Acting And The Historical Context Of Performance:

To begin with the 'Principals of Acting' lesson, my teacher had made me think more about Monday's lessons, where I was thinking about the sense of naturalism for my character's in '13', such as how they walk and what physical actions they would be doing, in the scenes they appear in, to not remain static.  This all goes towards my overall grade for the performance of '13' if I can pull it off for both Martin and Paul.

To start off with, I had been instructed to walk around the room with an objective to go towards, and once I had reached that point, I would walk to a different destination.  This happened until I was instructed to start interacting with the people in the room, such as hugging them or even a simple handshake.  After doing this with a few people, I was then instructed to start walking at a faster tempo.  For this part of the process, my teacher wanted to make me think that I was initially walking at a tempo of about 5/10, and for this part, I was going up from the tempo of 6-10, 10 being really fast walking.

After finishing this sort of exercise process, my teacher had asked me to close my eyes and imagine that my character, being Martin, was standing in front of me and I was to witness what he was doing physically with actions for when he is both moving around in scenes and when he is standing still, but not remaining static.  When I was ready, I was to open my eyes to reveal the full embodiment of Martin to my teacher.

Input Into Session & Character Development (Reflective):

Whilst my eyes were closed, I had seen my interpretation of Martin standing in front of me and I was witnessing the specific physical actions he was doing for both when he's standing still and walking.  Through the character development and research I've done for Martin at this current moment, I knew how I should embody him for the next part of this process: I was to reveal three physical actions that I'd seen within Martin's scenes to my teacher and to also give a demonstration of how he walks and at which tempo.

Physical Action 1 - Yawning/Stretching:

When going through both my character profile and current character development for Martin, I'd wanted to present him as a person who is fatigued, being very tired and not having much sleep at home.  

This is all evidenced by stage directions in the script for Act 1 Scene 4 of '13', where Martin was to open the scene by yawning and looking as though he's about to go to sleep, later to be stopped by Ruth.  I keep using this physical action, among many others, when I'm standing/sitting still during Martin's scenes in '13', much like in Act 2 Scene 7 and Act 4 Scene 8, where I don't have many lines to present so I'm mainly focusing on what I could do physically within these scenes whilst the other characters are talking.

Physical Action 2 - Kicking My Feet Around:

To perform something separate from my first physical action within Martin's scenes, I also added the use of kicking my feet around during any dialogue that the other characters announce.

This physical action isn't mentioned in the script, but I've added it as part of developing my overall characterisation for '13' and it should award my performance towards naturalism and keep me away from a static performance.

Physical Action 3 - Walking In My Own World:

Due to the events that have occurred before and during '13', Martin has become sleep deprived from it, but externally, he seems to transition from reality into his own world where he becomes more accident prone.  

I show this in my performance by simply walking into someone random without even noticing them. I felt that doing this did help towards how I can show the development of my character towards my teacher and to the audience when it comes to the main performances.

After completing this task for developing the naturalism into our characters, we had moved onto another task which required us to summarise a chosen act in the play in one minute.  For this task, I was put into a group which had to summarise Act 1 of '13'.  The style of our performance was much the same as a pantomime, since we were interacting with the audience and it had more of a comedic vibe to it other than the initial dark, tragic atmosphere.  Using our scripts to help structure the performance, we had used moments that were considered more important in each scene to complete the task.  Below, I'll list the structure of our performance.

1. For Scene 1, we showed the 12 characters waking up form their nightmares.
2. For Scene 2, we showed John arriving in London from his travels encountering Ruby and Sarah.
3. For Scene 3, we showed Amir being verbally abused by a police officer in the scene.
4. For Scene 4, we showed 10 Downing Street with Ruth speaking to Liam, Martin and Carol.
5. For Scene 5, we showed Amir being brought down by a police officer and getting arrested.
6. For Scene 6, we showed Stephen Crossley's lecture to his students.
7. For Scene 7, we showed Mark and Alice's meeting in the park.
8. For Scene 8, we showed Rachael's first encounter with John after 2 years of not seeing each other.
9. For Scene 9, we showed Ruth meeting Dennis for the first time.
10. For Scene 10, we showed John and Rachael having a conversation in the park.
11. For Scene 11, we showed Mark meeting Amir at the courthouse to support his claims.
12. For Scene 12, we showed the Alpha Group discussing current events.
13. For Scene 13, we showed Ruth's speech to the general public.
14. For Scene 14, we showed Ruby and Sarah's argument during their dinner.
15. For Scene 15, we showed John getting Amir out of the courthouse.
16. For Scene 16, we showed Edith having a conversation with Holly.
17. For Scene 17, we showed Ruth's meeting with Stephen Crossly.
18. For Scene 18, we showed the dance ensemble moment.

I felt that this task was interesting to experiment with because it gave us all a chance to see the play in a different style other than contemporary theatre.

For the rest of the lesson, we had all looked at and went through the entirety of Act 3 and 4 to look for any improvements towards scenes and to give us all a chance to implement the uses of naturalism into our performance.  I had managed to implement the physical actions I had mentioned above to all of my scenes in this act and, in my opinion, I felt much more embodied with Martin by having all of these natural non-external and external objectives.

Thursday 6th Of November 2014 Blog Entry:

Synopsis Of Day:

To conclude the week before our main performances, we had gone back to rehearsing for Act 1 and 2 to include the senses of naturalism in our scenes that we had devised on the previous day.  This also gave us all a chance to memorise our entrances/exits for the play before we would do the technical run-through for '13' next week.  I contributed much more to the development of my character within this session for both his physical and verbal delivery.

'13' By Mike Bartlett - Evaluation

Artistic Aspect:

The effectiveness of our performance, as a whole, was impressive, but I still felt that there were areas for improvement in some scenes/actors.  For example, with the character of Mark in Act 1 Scene 11, the performance given by the actor seemed to be a little lacking in detail and could have been so much more developed in terms of characterisation. 

I see Mark as an underpaid, over-exaggerated character who likes to joke around.  The sense of enthusiasm could have been more explored/expressed, much to the extent that the play becomes more comedic whenever he comes on stage.  I would have preferred this development of characterisation over how it was presented initially: a very slow and unenthusiastic character.

Professional Aspect:

After receiving audience feedback, I acknowledge they all had a bit of trouble in understanding the different characters and all their individual purposes within the play.  But as the performance went on, with all of the different themes being presented, they all became more intrigued into the story and had started to sense the same contextual idea’s which was discovered.

This then developed into a strong, positive response: ‘A cohesive story which was delivered by enthusiastic actors who have clearly explored their individual characters to draw in the audience to become part of the overall play.’ – Rob Stokell, Audience Member

Vocational Aspect:

The Target Audience for ‘13’ is mainly based for teenagers/young adults which will be given the right to vote next year.  I’d gained this knowledge by witnessing the story through both the text and performance.

Was the work presented appropriate for the Target Audience?  I felt that it was because most of the characters can be represented to be young people living in a dark world, where politics the main factor, and the entire play shows their individual struggle for the betterment of the world. 

Self-Strengths/Weaknesses:

Strengths

Lines – I was using a monotone technique alongside the physical actions I do as my character.  This had worked very well for me during the rehearsal process since I could further develop my characterisation and work on my overall naturalism.

Style – I achieved an effective naturalistic performance within the characterisation of my roles for both my characters and the ensemble work.

Vocal Delivery – I was projecting a powerful voice within my character, expressing his thoughts clearly to the other characters and the audience.

Team Playing – Overall, the entire group had worked to the highest standard as a team and we had supported each other with efficiency.

Weaknesses

Transitions – My transitions between scenes were smooth and executed effectively, but I did, however, think that this wasn't achieved fully.  I say this because I was using the same entrances/exits.  I could have improved my performance by experimenting with different entrances/exits to create the sense of having more of an external objective.

Execution – As a group, the level of focus was sub-par.  I say this because, backstage, people weren't really listening to their enlisted cues and had kept asking what scene we were on.  This was unprofessional and could have been improved by increasing the overall level of focus.

Gestures – I didn't really present many gestures when announcing my lines.  This could be improved by spending more time, within the rehearsal process, on specific scenes.

Pace – Through all of the detailed work that we had done for this project, such as the exploration of the themes and its relevance, it wasn't presented very effectively and this may have been the reason why we had such a confusing plot to grasp during the final performances.

Voice Portfolio Entry 7: Vocal Health - Associated Affects To Overall Voice Production

Introduction:

As an Actor, I must have very good Vocal Health in order to assist with the overall production of my voice within a presented performance.

There are many multitudes of affects that are associated in a persons overall Vocal Health, and these affects can really cause a bad influence on the Actor when he/she has to present a performance.

The Understanding Of Overall Vocal Health:

In the 'Developing Voice For The Actor' lesson for Week 7 on the Level 3 Acting Extended Diploma course, me, and the rest of the group of Actors, had partaken in a discussion about what we all think may apply to a persons overall Vocal Health using a mind-map to note down our thoughts on the white-board.

Here is the mind-map with what we all had thought of in this discussion:

After having this discussion about what we all considered was associated with Vocal Health, our teacher had put us all into separate groups of 2-3 people with the task of going to the college library, and within the short period of time before the end of the lesson, they all must create a poster detailing specific pointers for 'The Implications of Bad Vocal Health'.

For this task, I'd taken the liberty of searching for a book, in the college library, mainly giving details about these certain implications that results in bad vocal health.  For the short time I had for this task, I had written down, in my notebook, about both Lung Cancer and Tonsillitis, which was also mentioned in the discussion we had, before this task, when we thought of the affects that smoking/drugs brings towards the human bodily functions along with Tonsillitis.

Information Gained About Lung Cancer:

Lung Cancer comprises various malignant neoplasms that may appear in the trachea, bronchi, or the air sacs of the lungs.  It is also the leading cancer killer for both Men and Women.

There are 2 major types of Lung Cancer:

1. Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Non-Small Lung Cancer is the more common type for both Men and Women, and it generally grows and spreads slower.

2. Small Cell Lung Cancer

Small Cell, or Oat Cell, Lung Cancer is much less common for both Men and Women, but it grows at a much more quicker pace than Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and it'll likely also spread to other body organs if not treated properly.

Both types of Lung Cancer can be treated with the combination of surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. 

Information Gained About Tonsillitis:

Tonsillitis is most frequently caused by the bacteria that builds up in the throat, which later leads to infection.  This condition is a common complication of Pharyngitis.

There are many ways that Tonsillitis can be treated, either self-help or medically:

• By taking different antibiotics (Paracetamol, Pain Killers, Aspirin) to keep the pain away
• To keep eating and drinking food, even if it hurts, to get used to the pain
• By having surgery to remove the tonsils, this procedure is called 'Tonsillectomy'

After having received this information from the college library, I had just a few minutes left in this task to include a brief note of the knowledge that I'd gained onto the poster that my partner had already started to make.

Here was the end result of the poster me and my partner had created in this session:

After completing this task for our teacher, we had then moved onto the assignment brief that details the requirement of creating a presentation about one of the specific portfolio entries that we had done within our time in these voice lessons.  Our teacher had sorted the whole group, again, into partners and she had wanted these groups to do, within the study week, the creation of these presentations to then be prepared to show to her when we return after the week to gain some feedback notes on how to improve it for the next week when we're going to properly present our findings for the chosen subject.

For the purpose of this assignment, me and my partner where given the task of creating a presentation about 'Posture - The Alexander Technique - Releasing Unwanted Tension', so within the study week, me and my chosen partner will be working on this presentation to hopefully make it appropriate to my teachers requirements.

When looking back upon my Voice Portfolio Entry about the 'Alexander Technique', I'd included a bunch of detailed information about what I'd experienced, first hand, from performing specific exercises within the 'Alexander Technique' whilst also listing the given effects after doing it.  This information will hopefully all become useful when me and my partner start to create this presentation.

Analysis On How And Why Exercises In This Area Can Help Improve Vocal Performance:

Before and after a performance is to be given, it is recommended that the actor should go through some gentle vocal stretching which cools down the laryngeal muscles. Vocal cool downs like this can be gentle vocal slides or glides up and down your range (which stretches and contracts the vocal folds). Physical body stretching and becoming mentally focused are also key components before and after a performance and/or audition.

Another good thing to do when trying to improve your vocal performance in this specific area is to try and exercise both your body and your vocal area like an athlete. There are so many muscles in the human body that are situated within the vocal area, so why shouldn't someone be able to train those muscles much like you'd train your upper and lower body strengths. Actors doing this, however, must be well aware not to strain their vocal muscles, much like how they could strain, for example, their bicep muscles from too much exercise without much rest in-between. They should try to maintain a disciplined practice schedule with intervals of rest and recovery to perform at an optimal level, regardless for genre of performance.

'13' By Mike Bartlett - Character Profile: Martin And Paul

'13' By Mike Bartlett - Character Profile: Martin And Paul

Introduction:

In this Character Profile, I will be listing the specific details of both of my characters that I have been given the role of in '13', Martin and Paul.  The details I will be listing in this Blog are things that go along with my own interpretation of their age, what they are wearing during their scenes in the play, what their objectives and obstacles are within their scenes.  I'll even include more personal things about them like what their opinions are towards other characters in '13', what their posture and different habits are, how they should speak to a public audience and also how they express themselves to other people, do they have a shy personality? Or are they very open to new ideas that the other characters present? 

All of these things count towards my overall performance grade, and since both of my characters, Martin and Paul, don't say many lines throughout the whole of '13', I have to work very hard to devise techniques and improve my overall skills in Physical Theatre to be able to pull off an effective and naturalistic performance.

Section 1 - Who Are They?

Full Character Name’s:

Martin Price:

Within the script of ‘13’, Martin’s surname is not mentioned.  I've given my character of Martin the surname of ‘Price’ because, in my opinion, it sounds like a good name for a politician.  After having done some character research for Martin, I discovered that the surname ‘Price’ has been used by politicians in the past.

Paul Montgomery:

As well as Martin, Paul’s surname is not mentioned within the script of ‘13’.  I've given my character of Paul the surname of ‘Montgomery’ because it’s not a very common surname to have.  It may sound more of a Scottish surname than British, but, after having done some character research for Paul, I had linked this towards his Scottish ancestors and that the name ‘Montgomery’ has been passed down through many generations in his family.

The Age Of My Character’s:

Martin Price: 23 Years of Age

I had wanted Martin to be a younger character because, when performing as him, I find him to be quite a clumsy, enthusiastic individual, as evidenced by my inputted actions in Act 4 Scene 6, where I say the line "He knows when it's going to rain" with a sarcastic tone after Ruth had said the line about John: "What kind of miracles?". 

I could also further evidence my interpretation of his age because of how much he uses modern day technology, such as an I-Pad, during ‘13’.  When I'm performing as him also, I have my choice of costume to look scruffy to further signify his age. 

As the play progresses, Martin becomes more mature, and I show this in my performance by becoming much more serious in my later scenes in '13', specifically within the time span of Act 3 and 4.

Paul Montgomery: 31 Years of Age

I wanted Paul to be a little bit older than Martin when deciding what age he could be.  When reading through the script of ‘13’, and acting it out in rehearsals during the only scene he’s in, I can picture him having feelings for the character of Sally within the Alpha Scene, which is evidenced by the moment where Sally becomes upset with Holly and then Paul goes over to comfort her. 

During and after the events of '13', Paul could be looking for a romantic relationship with Sally, but seeing as this is the only scene with these two characters within the whole play, I can’t explore that assumption very much, but I go along with this idea more later on in this Character Profile.

Life Details/Experiences:

Martin Price:

Martin Price was born on the 13^th of July 1988 within his own house in Twickenham.

Martin’s Father wasn't home very much, as he was in the British Navy, but he would always try to find a way to visit Martin and his Mother on specific occasions, such as Birthday’s.  Martin’s Mother was a successful Lawyer and she was being paid with tons of money to go towards Martin’s school education. 

When Martin was in his teenage years, he had gone to a Private Law School, near London, to study Politics and Economics to later become, what he had hoped at the time, to become a Political Adviser or to be elected to become the British Prime Minister.

Martin had achieved his dream in life through the events of ‘13’ and he will be working his very hardest to impress both the British Prime Minister, Ruth, and any other higher authorities in the Political world.

Paul Montgomery:

Paul Montgomery was born on the 15^th of September 1980 in a hospital located in Bristol.

Paul’s whole family were Christian believers, and he was brought up following in this religious path.  Paul’s Mother and Father didn't really see eye to eye very much, they didn't talk to each other very much in the house, and going to church on Sunday’s was awkward at times.  This had later leaded to them having a divorce which had affected Paul’s educational years very much. 

Paul doesn't really have much to live up to in the events of ‘13’, but he does have an interest in the leader of the Alpha Group sessions that he goes to, and he would do anything to be able to live up to her expectations.

Key Character Relationship’s Within The Play:

Martin Price:

Liam:

After much study of the script, I have gained the impression that Martin doesn't really have any friends or enemies within ‘13’. He likes to picture himself as a hardworking person, but this is less obvious as he arrives late to specific meetings with the higher authorities, like in Act 2 Scene 7 for example, where he arrives late and not fully dressed for what would be considered the most important meeting of his career.

Being a second Political Adviser for Ruth, he does have the idea that he and the other Political Adviser, Liam, are in competition to see who impresses the Prime Minister the most.  Throughout the duration of the play, they do pick on each other by slight giggles for doing something wrong, it sounds childlike, but Martin hates when Liam does this to him.

Ruth:

Martin, as evidenced by his lines in Act 5 of ‘13’, is uncertain of Ruth’s decisions in this dark time of war against Iran, and throughout the play, he and her have a very unusual relationship.  As the character, the scenes are very tense, as he wants to impress everybody in the room with his ‘skills’, but there is that slight sense of awkwardness with Ruth when they are in conversation, such as in Act 1 Scene 4, where Ruth asks Martin a question that she should know anyway about Civil Servants right to vote.

Sir Christopher:

For Act 2 Scene 7, again, I do act within the scene to look up to the character of Sir Christopher since he is of higher authority within Politics and Martin wants to impress him by agreeing with his intentions for acting in war against Iran.  It's particularly when he presents his first big chunk of text which discusses the possible development of nuclear weaponry in Iran and how he intends to proceed with this knowledge in times of war.

Paul Montgomery:

Holly:

After studying Paul’s only scene within ‘13’, I've discovered that he likes to stand up for others within the scene, such as when he defends Holly after Esther has presented her line of text involving Holly’s decisions.  This could imply that they are friends and he is defending her, or he just wants to be viewed a nice person to everyone else in the room.

Sally:

As previously mentioned, he may have a ‘crush’ on the leader of the Alpha Group, Sally, as he seems to be the only one who goes to comfort her when she is in distress.  He also presents good ideas which Sally approves of, such as when he proposes “if there’s an all-powerful, all loving God, then why is there evil in the world?”

I didn't discover any potential rivals for Paul within this scene other than Esther, since he stands up for Holly when she fights against her opinions, this could be because I view him to be a gentlemen and everyone else sees this, or he’s just a likable person.  Either way, he doesn't have any conflict with anybody within ‘13’.

Physical And Mental Conditions Of My Character’s:

Martin Price:

Martin’s physical health is at its prime in his life, when he was younger, he had played a lot of sports, such as Football and Rugby, and he still carries on playing them throughout the events of ‘13’, behind the scenes.

Martin’s mental health, however, is a little bit more worrying.  Before the events of ‘13’, Martin’s girlfriend, Lilly, had died of unnatural causes and this had caused Martin to have a very low case of dementia, resulting in him to forget things that are considered important.  I could show this in my performance by use of one of my props being a notebook/diary, which informs Martin of things that he forgets and needs recalling.  I use this prop in Martin’s first scene in ‘13’, Act 1 Scene 4, to recall where the character called Andrew had gone to answer Ruth’s question “Where is Andrew?” 

Martin also doesn't sleep very much, due to the death of his girlfriend, and he is caught drifting off by Ruth in the same scene as mentioned.

Paul Montgomery:

Paul’s physical health is at the average for someone of his age, he doesn't play any sports, but he does like to go out for long walks to keep up his athletic ability.  He also likes to eat healthily by eating fruits and vegetables.

For my interpretation of Paul, he doesn't have any mental problems within his scene in ‘13’, but he does have a strong attachment to the character Sally, so much so that he fantasies about them being together.

Character Interest’s/Like’s And Dislike’s:

Martin Price – Like’s:

• As previously mentioned, I want my interpretation of Martin, behind the scenes of ‘13’, to be a physically fit individual due to him playing many sports such as Football and Rugby.

• Martin, within political decisions, is mainly only interested in what he thinks is right for the people of the world.  He despises violence, but if that’s the only way to result in fixing a problem, then he goes with that intention.  I show this more by looking up to and agreeing with the character Sir Christopher in Act 2 Scene 7 of ‘13’, he proposes that Ruth should go to war against Iran for the betterment of the country, which is what makes Martin more interested and be more approved of his idea’s, this results in my performance within this scene to make me nod my head to Sir Christopher when he comes out with idea’s to both gain his respect and to properly portray what a real Political Adviser would do in this situation.

• Martin likes to keep up to date with what is going on in the world by use of social media.  I reflect this in my performance by having an I-Pad on stage with Martin which he uses to witness the latest news and tweets in the world, in case it’s useful.

• Martin also, obviously due to his job, has an interest in political matters and likes to keep up to date with what’s occurring within that world.

Martin Price – Dislike’s:

• Martin, when compared to the character Liam, whom is the other Political Adviser for Ruth, is in deep competition with him for the respect of Ruth and other higher official’s within Politics.  He hates when Liam brings him down by entering into a meeting late, like in Act 2 Scene 7, where Martin enters the scene arriving late to the meeting with Dennis, the American Ambassador, and Sir Christopher, the Head of the Armed Forces, barely dressed for the occasion due to oversleeping.

• Martin dislike’s the idea of war and always looks for the most peaceful and non-violent way to solve a problem.  He hates it even more when he has to cause violence to solve a problem when there is no other way to accomplish it.

Paul Montgomery – Like’s:

• As previously mentioned, Paul likes to eat healthily by eating many fruits and vegetables throughout his day.  He also likes to take long walks to keep himself physically fit in his own way.

• Paul has a romantic interest in the character of Sally, whom is the leader of the Alpha Group in Act 1 Scene 12. This is evidenced by the way that he goes over to comfort her when she becomes upset with Holly and when he comes out and proposes good idea’s to the whole group, which Sally approves of.  This may mean that Sally is also interested in Paul, and their relationship with each other may evolve throughout the course of the play after Act 1 Scene 12, where we don’t see them again on stage.

• Since Paul is a religious man, he has an interest in going to his local church on Sunday’s, or even the whole week, to do his prayers to God.

Paul Montgomery – Dislike’s:

• Paul becomes infuriated when someone despises the Christian religion by saying that God doesn't really exist or that church is a waste of time, this causes him to also dislike the person.  This event doesn't occur within Act 1 Scene 12 of ‘13’, but that’s my idea of what he would, in my own interpretation of him, dislike.

• Paul, as well as Martin, doesn't like the idea of war and always looks for a more peaceful and non-violent solution to problems within the dark world of ‘13’.

• Paul hates that he is not a very open individual and that he also becomes shy for when he has to express his inner thoughts about both his own life and his opinions towards certain events which are occurring within ‘13’, like the war with Iran.

Character Link’s To Key Themes In The Play:

'13' By Mike Bartlett - Contextual Research Blog Entry: http://sdcperformancens.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/the-context-behind-13.html

The link above is to a separate Blog Entry I had done which discusses all the possible contexts behind '13' which my group had researched, I'd taken a few notes from these presentations and I'd given some possible links towards my character development in certain scenes which could involve certain themes.

Moral’s In Politics

Martin has a link towards the theme of ‘Moral’s In Politics’ within ‘13’, since many of the scenes he appears in is with the Prime Minister, Ruth.  The idea behind this Key Theme is that Ruth, in '13', is really Mike Bartlett's own interpretation of David Cameron, the Prime Minister in reality.  

There is a quote which is presented by Ruth in her speech within Act 1 Scene 13 which is closely related to one of David Cameron's quotes in his public speeches:

"Under my leadership, the Conservative Party has modernised." - David Cameron, 2011

Martin's connection to this theme is evidenced by my actions in Act 1 Scene 13 when I'm witnessing Ruth's speech as him.  When she presents this quote, specifically, and any other lines that talk about fighting in war against Iran, this causes Martin to shy away and disagree with Ruth's intentions since my interpretation of him doesn't like the idea of war and wants to find another solution which he hopes is peaceful and non-violent.  This basically gives my overall opinion towards the character of Ruth, I don't agree with her idea's very much in the events of '13', and as evidenced by Martin's line in Act 5: "Thing was, whenever the Prime Minister talked about the tactics, I saw this look on her face.  I don't think she was ever...certain", this justifies my point.

The Relevance To Contemporary Society

The idea of this theme is the talk of the impact that the usage of social media brings into '13'.  We can see this being used when there is the talk of news broadcasts, use of modern technology (I-Pad, Phones) to present a link to Modern Society.  My presentation was about this theme of '13', and me and my partner for this had researched how our characters could have a possible link towards Modern Society through our performance.

Since Martin uses a lot of technological devices during his scenes in the play, and he has an interest in keeping up to date with the latest news broadcasts as evidenced by his line:

"Tweets, the news, updating all the time.  In case it's useful." - Martin, Act 4 Scene 7

I can see that Martin has a very strong link to this key theme in the play.  Many of my actions in the play are me using these technological devices as a source of social media to keep up to date with, what in reality terms, would be Modern Society.

The War During The Play

One of the notes that I had gained from this presentation is that in June 2010, the U.N Security Council had imposed a round of accusations against the Iranians which included tighter financial funds and weapon restrictions.  There was also talk of a possible production of nuclear weaponry being made in Iran.

I had linked this information towards Act 2 Scene 7 of '13', which includes the British Prime Minister, and her three Political Advisers, one of them being Martin, having a meeting with the U.S Ambassador, Dennis, and the Head of the Armed Forces, Sir Christopher.  The speech that the Head of the Armed Forces presents in this scene is mainly about the production of Nuclear Weapons in Iran which may relate to what the researchers had found out for this presentation.

Through reading the text in this scene, I feel confident that the topics presented in both the presentation and the play, about the Iranian war, are closely related, much to the point that they may represent the same thing.  Through knowing this, my interpretation of this scene had changed exponentially, I have a much better understanding of what the characters in this scene are talking about and how I can reflect this in my performance as Martin.

Section 2 - What Has Happened To Them?

In the script of ‘13’, it never explains neither explores the development for each of the characters within it, so through several rehearsal sessions and time with my character’s, Martin and Paul, I have come up with their own life stories before, during, and after the events of ‘13’.

Before The Events Of ‘13’):

Martin Price:

Whilst Martin was studying at Law School, he had met and got along with a girl called Lilly.  The two, after a short time, had started dating each other and had both graduated from Law School in each others arms.  A few years later, after moving out of his parent’s house in Twickenham, Martin had purchased an apartment with Lilly in London where they had both tried to achieve their dreams of becoming a member of parliament.  About 2-3 Weeks before the events of ‘13’, Lilly had died of unnatural causes which had resulted in a heart-broken Martin.  He had gone for days without leaving the apartment looking at the pillow she had laid her head on.  When he eventually went outside, he went to her gravestone and pledged that he would sign up to become a Political Adviser for the British Prime Minister, Ruth, to achieve his dream in life and had promised her also that he would not be with anyone else since he thought that she was the only woman for him and nothing is going to change that.

Paul Montgomery:

Paul had spent many years living on the rough streets of London, which were filled with many criminals at night.  Paul, however, was not one of these criminals, he instead gained the street name of ‘The Holy One’ since he didn't commit any crimes and he had always been seen reading the Christian bible and praying to God.  Paul had seen a sign on a local church in his area which had a need for a priest.  Paul had signed up for this job and had gained it, and after a few more years, right before the events of ‘13’, he had gained a good amount of money and had started going to Alpha Meetings which were being held in a private area just next to the church.

During The Events Of ‘13’:

Martin Price:

Martin had achieved his dream in life through the events of ‘13’ and he will be working his very hardest to impress both the British Prime Minister, Ruth, and any other higher authorities in the Political world.

For the limited times we see Martin on stage in ‘13’, he has one main objective in his scene’s, which is to do what he considers is right by not performing any sort of violence and always looking for a peaceful solution to a problem in the world of politics.

As the play goes on, and Johns’ anti-war protest’s become more serious, Martin starts to think more about Lilly, his recently deceased girlfriend, and begins to have an interest in John’s uprising against Ruth.  Martin presents a line to Ruth once she has asked him if he had been sleeping much:

“I don’t mean this politically, but over the last year.  It feels like it’s all been falling apart.  In the country.  Across the world.  Like people have gone wrong.  And I…I think out of everything, he’s…I think he’s good.” – Martin, Act 4 Scene 6

I can link what Martin says in this line of text to both the death of Lilly, for when he says “I don’t mean this politically, but over the last year.  It feels like it’s all falling apart”, and towards his own opinion of John, for when he says “And I…I think out of everything, he’s…I think he’s good.”

Paul Montgomery:

Paul doesn't really have much to live up to in the events of ‘13’, but he does have an interest in the leader of the Alpha Group sessions that he goes to, and he would do anything to be able to live up to her expectations.

Within his only scene in ‘13’, Paul does give an interesting quote relating to both the Christian religion and the events occurring within the time of the play after Esther had spoken about Holly’s opinions towards her own life experiences:

“But to be fair to Holly, this is the big question that every Christian struggles with, if there’s an all-powerful, all loving God, then why is there evil in the world?” – Paul, Act 1 Scene 12

This further evidences my point about Paul disliking the idea of war and how his following in the Christian religion is reason because of that.  This presents a good idea towards both the people on stage and the audience for when the play is being performed, which may result in them to think more about their own lives and how it came to be.

After The Events Of ‘13’:

Martin Price:

After the events of ‘13’, as evidenced by his lines in Act 5, Martin moves on in life from politics and quits to become a teacher, and has also cut all ties in social media such as Facebook, Twitter etc.  Martin also reveals his overall opinion about Ruth to the audience, by saying how he thinks she was uncertain about her political decisions within the play.

“I quit.  Got myself off Twitter, cleared my Facebook account.” – Martin, Act 5

“Thing was, whenever the Prime Minister talked about the tactics, I saw this look on her face.  I don’t think she was ever…certain.  I’m going to be a teacher.  I want a small life.  Don’t think there’s much anyone can do, except get through it.” – Martin, Act 5

Not much more is revealed as to what else Martin had done after the events of ‘13’, but I think he knows, deep in his mind, that the world has become a terrible place to live, and him saying that he wants a small life could be evidence to say that he may have committed suicide due to my interpretation of Lilly dying, before the events of ‘13’, and that the world has become broken by war and his dream of politics.

Paul Montgomery:

After the events of ‘13’ and Paul’s only scene within the play, Act 1 Scene 12, there is not much to go on for what he had done once John had reached his inevitable downfall in his anti-war protests.

I feel that it’s safe to say that maybe he and Sally had got together and are living a happy life with their own children and a nice house in the country, leaving behind everything that had occurred within the play.

Perhaps Paul picks up from where John had left off, to try and bring a brighter future for the world, but for Paul, it was to be spreading the Christian religion around the country, even the world, to bring peace and harmony and to make people believe that there is always hope, no matter what has happened.

Emotional Investment:

In my performance for '13', I also play as two separate character's for the speeches occurring within some of the scenes in the play.  

These two roles are:

• Student
• Reporter

When I'm to perform as these two types of characters for the specific scenes, I'm presenting my opinions as them to be the same as Martin's, to show more of my character development and how Martin feels, emotionally, about what each spokesman/spokeswoman is saying in their speech.

When I come on stage as the Student, it's for a speech which the character Steven presents within Act 1 Scene 6, which he is giving to them as a lecture.  For this scene, I'm to present physical activity/reactions towards the words that Stephen is announcing to show whether or not I agree with what he's suggesting.  Since the main topic of this speech is about the existence of God, I present my reactions with an interest in what Stephen is saying, not really disapproving or approving his idea, but going along with what he thinks is a logical point to make.  Throughout the scene, as this student, I'm left wondering, for the whole time, whether or not God's face would be in the box that Stephen is holding, it's only down to the imagination of my character to discover if there is something in the box once Stephen reveals it at the end and says the line "There's nothing there. Never is."

When I come on stage as a Reporter, it's for a speech being presented by Ruth in Act 1 Scene 13, which talks about how she has modernised the Conservative Party and wants to bring hard work to the people of Britain to battle against the broken economy system it has gained from the war with Iran.  For this scene, as the Reporter, I'm mostly agreeing with what Ruth is proposing in this speech due to the fact that she wants to fix everything going wrong in the country currently.  But just before the speech ends on the line "I like hard work. Every minute. Every hour.", I start to think that what Ruth is proposing starts to sound a little bit unreal for me because this is the first time that she had wanted to do this since her election, which would of been before the events of '13' at some point, to which I start to back away from Ruth, after having gone towards her and supporting her, to start disapproving of her so called intentions as Prime Minister.

When I'm performing as Martin, as the play goes on, I become more upset with the events that are occurring within the political world.  War was just around the corner, and Martin doesn't like the idea of it since it brings so many bad things towards each country such as Asylum Seekers, Refugees etc.  When it comes to Act 4 Scene 6 of the play, where I'm telling Ruth of my opinion towards Johns' anti-war protest's against Ruth, I think about all of the bad things that war could bring and remember the events that has happened within the past year, before and during the play, such as Lilly, my interpretation of Martin's girlfriend, dying of unnatural causes, the people of Britain becoming violent and causing riots against the political decisions made.  I reflect this within my final lines for this scene where I want to implement the use of crying to show Ruth that I'm truly upset about what's going on, and as her Political Adviser, she should, at the very least, listen to what I have to say about what she should do in the future for the betterment of not just the people, but the world.

Section 3 - What Do They Want: 

Martin Price:

Character Objectives and Obstacles In All Scenes

Act 1 Scene 4:

Martin's Objective within this scene is to mainly listen to what the Prime Minister, Ruth, has to say to her three loyal Political Advisers.  I also have the objective to tell Ruth where the character called Andrew is and why he is not in the room with the rest of the characters.  Martin's Obstacle within this scene, I guess, would be when Ruth wakes me up at the beginning of the scene when I'm starting to slag off to sleep, preventing me from my original starting external objective, which would of been to go to sleep.

Act 2 Scene 7:

Martin's Objective within this scene is to listen to and agree to what Sir Christopher intends to do in the war against Iran through, what he thinks, is their production of Nuclear Weaponry.  I also have the objective to hand out the background information files to each member of this meeting so everyone is properly informed of what the main topic at hand is.  Martin's Obstacle would be when I enter this scene arriving late to the meeting and everyone in the room is looking at me, with a disappointed, disgusted look on their face, which causes me to stop in my tracks and prevent me from sitting down for a slight second.

Act 2 Scene 11:

Martin's Objective within this scene is to listen to Johns speech whilst he is eating his lunch since he is on a lunch break, presenting his opinions towards what he has to say to the crowd of people.  I also have an Objective to exit the scene, in a rush, once I had realised what the time was.  Martin's Obstacle in this scene is transparent, but there is a moment where the character Holly is asking for my Email Address which prevents Martin from eating his lunch and listening to John whilst he is speaking.

Act 3 Scene 6:

Martin's Objective within this scene is to grab Dennis, the U.S Ambassador, from his meeting with Ruth by telling him that someone wants to talk to him about wife on the phone and that it's urgent he speaks with whoever it is, as evidenced by my lines in the scene:

"Mr Harrison.  There's a call for you."

"Your Wife"

"Apparently it's urgent." 

Martin's Obstacle within this scene is for when Ruth and Dennis continue their conversation after I've presented my lines and I'm waiting in the room for Dennis, I try to listen in on what they are talking about which then results in the two to move away from me and speak more quietly, blocking me out from eavesdropping.

Act 3 Scene 8:

Martin's Objective within this scene is to give some papers to Ruth so she can sort them through.  Martin's Obstacle within this scene is straight after when  I'm about to try and give the papers to Ruth, to which she refuses to take, resulting in me to present a confused reaction because of her preventing me from achieving my Objective.  For the rest of the scene, I stand in a still image looking at these papers apposed to her.

Act 4 Scene 4:

Martin's Objective within this scene is to present to mainly Ruth, but also everyone else in the room, that Dennis' wife, Sarah, has been charged for the murder of their daughter, Ruby.  

This is evidenced by my lines in this scene:

"It's about Dennis.  They're charging his wife."

I also have the Objective to inform everybody who Dennis' daughter was, to which I mention her name.  Martin's Obstacle in this scene is for when Ruth randomly, unexpectedly comes out and asks what her name was even though I had already said it to everybody.  I also have a semi-Obstacle in this scene when Liam pretty much wants me to not send the message by saying "I would advise that you stay very distant from the whole -", to which Ruth orders me once more to send the message.

Act 4 Scene 6:

Martin's Objective within this scene is to tell Ruth of his opinions towards John' uprising through the use of his anti-war protest's, I approve of this by saying the line "I think he's good".  My obstacle within this scene is transparent, as this moment only includes my opinions towards the topic, but I guess the Obstacle could be when Ruth interrupts my dialogue by saying "You've not been sleeping have you Martin", which causes me to walk away from her and carry on with my point.  

During this scene, and all the rest in the play, there is a theatrical convention of staging we had used called the 'fourth wall'.  The audience is invisible to the characters, as if there's a one-way mirror between the actions in the play and the audience that are spectating.  Martin breaks this convention during this scene by using another theatre convention called the 'soliloquy'.  Martin had directly - in rhetorical terms - addressed the audience through the 'forth wall' to reveal his internal processes of thought within his final line in this scene:  "I don't mean this politically, but over the last year, it feels like its all been falling apart.  With the countries.  Across the world.  Along with it's people.  And after everything that has happened I...I think he's good."

Understanding these theatrical conventions is important in the presentation of our play, in a way that the audience can understand, so that the rules can be applied early on in the production through the overall style, to which the audience can settle into their role chosen for them by the presenters: for example, as invisible spectators, or as participants in the performance, much like how they are in this scene. 

Act 4 Scene 8:

Martin's Objective within the early part of this scene is to deliver the tea and coffee for everybody in the room having the meeting, and later on, his Objective is to help the character Stephen get out of the room with me being concerned on why he is feeling the way he is when I see him.  My Obstacle within this scene is within this part of it, when I'm just about to bring Stephen out of the room, but he turns back to say his last words to Ruth, which results in me also to stop in my tracks, preventing me from exiting the room and scene.

Martin Price's Super Objective Throughout The Whole Play:

Throughout the duration of '13', all Martin wants in all of his scenes is to make sure that Ruth is making the right decisions in the war against Iran.  He wants the two countries to have peace with each other, and he doesn't want them to result in violence. 

Through my development in characterisation for my interpretation of Martin, I'll be disagreeing with anything that Ruth, or any other character related to Politics, suggests about going to war and become more interested into Johns' anti-war protest's which Martin does approve of by saying to Ruth "I think he's good." - Martin, Act 4 Scene 6 

Martin Price's Super Obstacle Throughout The Whole Play:

Whilst performing as Martin, I have an external obstacle that spans across all of the scenes he's in which may have been expressed through my physical actions.  As previously mentioned, Martin has sleeping problems due to both the death of his girlfriend, Lilly, and he's constantly thinking about the war with Iran along with the deaths of thousands being men, women and children.  Throughout all of his scenes, I've expressed this super obstacle to the audience using the physical action of  yawning whilst other characters are speaking and I've also, casually, nodded off to show my lack of sleep.

Paul Montgomery:

Act 1 Scene 12 - Paul's Objective within this scene is to propose idea's about recent events to the Alpha Group, and to also stick up for Holly once Esther has, basically, been rude to her, and to finally comfort Sally when she is in distress.  My Obstacle within this scene could be when I say my line in the scene "Um, Sally, I don't think that's what she..." to which I get interrupted by Sally and Holly because they're arguing, since I'm kind of being prevented from speaking the plan of action, I later resolve this by saying the next line "Maybe we should take another break."

I also create another Obstacle towards Sally in this scene since when she asks the whole group about opening up and bringing forward a new topic, I lean back more on my chair and cross my arms to physically close myself away.

Paul Montgomery's Super Objective Throughout The Whole Play:

Paul also, as well as Martin, has the super objective of fighting for what he believes for during the whole of '13', but it's more on the religious side compared to Martin's 'anti war' sense of personality.

Through my development in characterisation for my interpretation of Paul, I'll be swaying away from any conversation within Act 1 Scene 12 that is mainly about the war with Iran, and any Political decisions being made, and give support to those in need, such as Holly, who isn't sure on what to decide within this dark time. 

Origins Of Character Objectives And Obstacles - Stanislavski's 'The System':

Week 1 Synopsis Blog Entry: http://sdcperformancens.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/level-3-acting-extended-diploma-week-1.html

In the link above, it gives more detail about a lesson I had taken part in about a famous Russian playwright called Stanislavski, and how he had a way of performance called 'The System' which he had devised himself in order to create a more natural performance for his play's, which is what he's famous for mainly. 

The use of Objectives and Obstacles within all of my scenes as both Martin and Paul for '13' originated from a session where we had studied about a system of performance called 'The System' which was devised by the famous playwright Stanislavski.  Stanislavski had used this 'system' to present a more natural, as well as realistic performance to an audience, which is what has made him so well known within the performing arts industry today.

With the use of Stanislavski's 'system', I'll be able to present both a naturalistic and realistic performance by having an objective and obstacle within these scenes in the life of my character's, Martin and Paul, to come out of the play hopefully receiving comments on these two things which would as well go towards my overall mark for this production.  

To pull this off in my performance, I need to be showing my:

• Solitude in Public: Which is where I present how an actor should react once a situation arises.
• Emotional Memories: Link myself emotionally towards the scene to present naturalism as well as realism.
• Imagination: By bringing in emotional memories from a similar scenario in my life to bring an even more natural and realistic performance.

Section 4 - Interpretation For Portrayal And Actor’s Choice:

Physical And Vocal Delivery – Martin Price And Paul Montgomery:

For my portrayal of my character’s, Martin and Paul, within my performance of ‘13’, I would like them both to be a strong, well postured individual whom approves of what’s right for the world.  How would I hope to achieve this in my Physical and Vocal delivery?

I will present my lines through using an average, sometimes slow, speed tempo of voice production, to give clear and punctual opinions towards the main topic for the scene.  I’ll be presenting good articulation within my words, presenting every bit of detail with extreme precision to ensure a natural, as well as realistic, performance.  I’ll be implementing the use of the ‘Alexander Technique’ prior to performance in hopes of achieving this objective for Vocal Delivery, as well as enhancing my use of intonation for both character's within specific parts of scenes, which is mainly going to a low, quiet voice and then me rising to an average voice afterwards.  I’ll be removing any bodily habits, such as leaning more on one side, unless I intend it to be placed for a specific moment in a scene to ensure my use of good posture within my characters portrayal.

Evolution Of Characterisation:

Martin Price:

As the performance of '13' goes on, I want to show the evolution of Martins characterisation through the lines he presents.  As I've previously mentioned, Martin, at the start of '13', is a very tired and young individual that has just joined the political world and has yet to encounter the problems happening within the plays context.  As the play goes on, and days/weeks go by, Martin now begins to understand what is happening in the world with the deaths of thousands and countries across the world becoming unsettling.  This is evidenced by his last line in the play for Act 4 Scene 8: "I don't mean this politically, but over the last year, it feels like it's all been falling apart.  With the countries.  Across the world.  Along with it's people.  And after everything that has happened I...I think he's good."

When I'm to reach Act 4 of the play, I show Martin to become much more focused within his job as a political adviser to the audience by paying more attention to what's going on, as well as removing the tiredness form the character since he's become used to the idea that he's not sleeping and he's started to become a constant consumer of caffeine to counter it.

Appearance Of My Character’s:

Through many rehearsal sessions, and time to develop on my characterisation for Martin and Paul, I've decided the appearance that they shall take for my performance as them.

Martin Price:

Choice of Clothing:

• White Long Sleeved Work Shirt

• Formal Black Trousers

• Black Dress Shoes

• Black Tie

I've chosen to take this appearance since this is what politicians wear in reality and it further enhances my naturalism within my performance of Martin.  As you can see, I've shown the scruffiness of his attire which I had mentioned in my description of him in his picture.

Choice of Props:

• Apple I-Pad
  

• Black Notebook/Diary
  

• Black Mobile Phone

I’ve chosen to use these props to present the idea of the play’s connection to social media through the use of modern day technology, and the notebook/diary is primarily to go towards my own interpretation of character development for Martin where he becomes forgetful and needs to recall past events.

Paul Montgomery:

Choice of Clothing:

• Large Dark Blue Hoodie

• White Long Sleeved Work Shirt

• Formal Black Trousers

• Black Dress Shoes

I've chosen to take this appearance for Paul since, as similar to Martins costume as it is, there isn't much time between my first scene as Martin to my only scene as Paul to fully change costume.  I've added the hoodie to give a slightly different appearance due to this.  Because of Paul’s age in ‘13’, many adults wear this sort of clothing regularly, so it’s effective towards my naturalism in performance.

Conclusion:

After much time developing my character's, thinking of things such as what they should wear and how they should speak, I feel confident that my portrayal of both Martin and Paul within this interpretation of '13' will be an effective, natural and also realistic performance by combining the use of human emotion and physicality together to create an exceptional performance overall.  I've enjoyed this whole process in the discovery of what, I feel, is my character's inner being, and I'll reveal all the things that I've listed in my performance as them.