'13' By Mike Bartlett - The Technical Side Of '13'

'13' By Mike Bartlett - The Technical Side Of '13'

Introduction:

Week 7 Synopsis Blog:
http://sdcperformancens.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/level-3-acting-extended-diploma-week-7.html

Above, I have included a link to my Week 7 Synopsis Blog, which gives specific detail as to what I had done in the week and it also includes much information about my evaluative judgements towards some of the scenes I had blocked for '13' in this week.

The sessions for this week is when we had really started to experiment with the technical side of '13'.  My teacher had ran through all of the scenes, with the required actors, to devise what lighting/colour schemes we would use for the different scenes and also have sounds implemented to present an effective environment/atmosphere for both the actors on stage and the audience members.

Lighting:

When experimenting with the lighting of '13', we had used many forms of how we could present the scenes to show off a natural environment.  I'll list below each form of lighting we had used in our scenes and a short desciption of what it represents, and I'll also give my evaluative judgement towards them.

• Singular Light Bulb:

For a few of the scenes within our performance of '13', we had implemented a singular light bulb as a form of lighting, which was located at the center of the stage, to represent an in-door environment, i.e, a house, an office/workplace/building.

I thought that this form of lighting does indeed fit into these certain scenes and it does bring an effective environment since it brings a naturallistic vibe to the scene, also bringing a sense of realism since everyone uses lightbulbs in these certain scenarios in real life.

• Spot/Follow Light:

For some scenes within our performance of '13', we had implemented a spot light which would follow certain actors on stage whether they are presenting a monologue or when we want the audience to look more onto specific characters as a key point of interest for a certain moment in the scene.  We had used this form of lighting more often when there are background characters appearing in some scenes, and we had wanted the audience to listen and watch more specifically towards the key characters in these scenes that actually deliver lines from the script and not background noise.

I thought that this form of lighting would help the audience discover which characters are the key point of interest in certain scenes and that it also is an effective form of lighting to use when one character is presenting a monologue, whilst there are other actors on stage, so all eyes would hopefully be on them.

• Stage Lighting:

For most of the scenes within our performance of '13', we had implemented the use of the stage lights which would, evidently, reveal all of the characters on stage, but I picture using the stage lights to represent an out-door environment as though the lighting is meant to be the Sun in the sky.

I thought that this form of lighting did deliver, in my eyes, what it intends to bring, and most of scenes being outside does work with this form of lighting very well, much more than the other previously mentioned forms.

There were some moments in the play where we had used more than one form of lighting, if not all of them at once, to bring in all of the represented uses which, in my opinion, makes that scene seem much more developed and be delivered effectively in terms of story.

There was also talk of which colours we could use for each form of lighting within all of the scenes, like how the colour red would represent evil or violance; and the colour blue would represent peace and harmony. But we had just left it to be that we dim/enhance the lights are certain points within the main scenes of '13' and for the dance routine part of our performance, we will include many colours of lighting to represent a sort of disco/party environment.

Sound:

As well as the forms of lighting in '13', we had also implemented a few uses of sound to create an effective atmosphere for the scenes within the play.  Again, I'll list below each use of sound we had used, and what it could represent, and I'll give my evaluative judgement towards them.

• Protesters Shouting:

Although it does make sense that people shouting isn't anything to do with the technical side of '13', it still is an element of sound that is being produced within a few of the scenes which does, indeed, create a violent, disruptive atmosphere.  The protesters shouting within scenes is meant to represent the struggle between the general populace and the political decisions delivered by the Prime Minister in '13', Ruth.

I think that how we have implemented certain actors to become protesters in certain scenes is delivered very effectively.  It does, again, bring that violant, disruptive atmosphere which we had wanted to project in the play when the audience witness the protests happening within it.

• Birds Singing/Tweeting:

When there are scenes taking place, I guess more appropriately, in an out-door environment, i.e, in a park, we have implemented the background ambience for birds singing/tweeting whilst the scene is being performed.  This is, evidently, meant to represent that the scene is taking place outside, but this use of sound coincides with the form of lighting used within these certain scenes and it also brings a peaceful vibe towards them.

I think that implementing the sound of birds singing/tweeting does, indeed, bring that peaceful atmosphere towards the scene, and there is the sense of both naturalism and realism being delivered through this also since this would happen in real life when there are events taking place in an out-door environement like a public park.

These are the main sounds that we are going to be using within our performance, but there are also sounds which are playing for one specific moment in a few scenes, such as the alarm clock going off at 7:13am whilst 'The 12' are sleeping, and the character Esther playing the piano at the end of Act 1 Scene 12 once Holly has exited the stage.  There is also the dance routine part of our performance, to which we will include a song to party along to.

Level 3 Acting Week 7 Synopsis Blog & '13' By Mike Bartlett - Reflective Blog - Entry 5

Introduction:


'13' By Mike Bartlett - The Technical Side Of '13' Blog Entry: http://sdcperformancens.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/13-by-mike-bartlett-technical-side-of-13.html

Above, I have included a link to a separate Blog Entry which details both the different forms of lighting and the different uses of sound within our performance of '13'.  I also give my idea as to what they could represent in certain scenes in which they appear, and I also present an evaluative judgement towards these different elements to show whether or not I think they are effective when working with the scene overall.

Monday 20th Of October 2014 Blog Entry:

Synopsis Of Day:

Lesson 1 & 2 - Physical Theatre And Contemporary Theatre:

To start off this week, the group had returned to the 'Physical Theatre' and 'Contemporary Theatre' lessons, where we started to think about how we were going to open our first major production, '13', to an audience when it comes to the main performances in November.

Firstly, our teacher had split all of the students in the class into 4 separate groups. Our task in these groups was to come up with a dance that fits along with a song which had 4 beats within it.  This song, supposedly, is what '13' is going to start off with on the main performances and all of the actors are meant to dance to the beat presented.

Evaluative Judgement For The Dance Routine And Form Of Lighting (Reflective):

My group had come up with a dance that wasn't like any others in the room, it was a much more aggressive, large and loud routine.  The stance that my group had for this dance routine was very powerful and took the shape of what, to me, seemed like was a large rock, since the movements were so heavy and had a lot of stability.

After each group had presented their individual dance, we moved onto how we were going to fit all of these dance routines into a sort of party scenario to start off the performance before the main prologue for '13'.  This is when we had started to include the technical side of our performance with the use of sounds and lighting.  The sound for this party scene, obviously, is the song playing in the background whilst we are dancing.  The lighting we had used is very unique, and nothing that I have seen or used before for a performance.  We had used a singular light bulb at the centre of the stage area in the theatre and we had performed our dance routines in the circle of light that it was illuminating.

This use of lighting fits into the circular fashion of performance that Mike Bartlett had intended for the presentation of '13', and I'm sure we are going to use the light bulbs area of light for a bunch of scenes within the performance of the play.

After having done the dance routines, our teacher had instructed that the actors who are part of 'The 12' would lie down, in a circle, around the light that the singular bulb was giving off.  This is when we had really started to experiment with the lighting used in this scene.  What we had resulted with is that:

• The light bulb would be turned off after the party introduction.
• The light bulb afterwards will slowly fade on to reveal 'The 12' sleeping to what looks like all of them having a nightmare.
• The alarm clock will go off at 7:13am, which results in 'The 12' waking up from their nightmares screaming and with their hearts pounding.
• A few seconds after this, the character John will come on stage and turn off the alarm clock, which will then lead all of the actors currently on stage to exit to then move onto the next scene.

After devising how we were going to start off the performance of '13', we had started to do a dress/technical rehearsal run-through of Act 1 and 2.  During this dress rehearsal, I did indeed wear my costumes for Martin and Paul, and I had also used the props that Martin uses in his scenes for these 2 acts in the play.

Characterisation/Further Input (Reflective):

I'll include below a description of my costume idea for both Martin and Paul and the props I had used for only Martin:

Martin

Costume:

• White Shirt
• Black Tie
• Black Formal Trousers
• Black Dress Shoes

Props:

• Black Notebook (with Pen)
• Mobile Phone
• Apple I-Pad
• Paperwork (only for certain scenes in '13' where I'm sorting them in the background)

Paul

Costume:

• Large Blue Hoodie
• White Shirt
• Black Formal Trousers
• Black Dress Shoes

The reason that my idea for costumes is similar for Martin and Paul is because my first and only scene where I appear as Paul is set directly after a previous scene where I appear as Martin and I won't have enough time to change into a completely different costume.  Due to this, when I am going to change my appearance, before I come back on stage as Paul, I'll take off the Black Tie and put on my Large Blue Hoodie.  I had told my teacher of this plan for costume changes and she had approved of it along with the props I use for Martin within his scenes in the performance.

As well as doing this, I know how I could possibly perform differently for Martin and Paul by using a different use of posture, including different habits, whether sitting or standing, and I may try to speak differently also to give further characterisation for both.

We hadn't fully completed Act 2 in this dress/technical run-through, but we will return to this and further acts/scenes later on in the week.

Input Into Act 5 Of '13' (Reflective):

For the remaining 45 minutes before the end of the day, our teacher had made the actors who are part of 'The 12' devise how to present the finale, Act 5, of '13'.  Many people had come up with suggestions such as implementing performance techniques used by physical theatre groups such as Frantic Assembly.  I had inputted the idea that, for the scene:

• We once again use the light bulb as the only source of lighting to create the circular area of the stage.
• Then, all of the actors would stand in a semi-circle facing the audience, but with heads down.
• Anyone who has to present a line would lift their face and go out into the centre of the circle of light to present it.
• Lastly, they will go back to their place in the semi-circle and the process would repeat for each character in the scene.

When it comes to the massive monologue presented by the character Rob, 11 of the characters in 'The 12' would lie sleeping in the selective spots as they did at the beginning of the play.  Rob will present his speech, and when he has finished it, he will join into the circle and the play will finish off with the 7:13am sign appearing on the back curtain but this time with no alarm coming out to conclude the story.

It's a simple, but in my eyes, effective way to end the performance.  However, my idea wasn't really explored as the other actors were afraid to think that not much would be happening on stage in the scene resulting in it to become boring and repetitive.

Other actors had made the suggestion that all of the actors would move around the stage, as their characters, in a dream like fashion, and then when the character presents a line, he/she would stop and announce it, and when they finish, the character starts moving again.  This resulted into a messy, rushed scene which everyone disapproved.

Conclusion Of Day (Reflective - Evaluation/Aims): 

The day had ended with nothing put towards this scene after our teacher had sent us away, but when we return to this scene, hopefully before half term, I can once again announce my idea as to how to present this scene, this time with my teacher witnessing, to see if it is effective and bring a, as I said, simple and effective ending to '13'.

When I think back to the technical/dress run-through of both Act 1 & 2 of '13', I had noticed a few things that needed to be worked on before our main performance in November.  Since this was our first technical/dress run-through, I had expected that things weren't going to go very smoothly, but in the time I have left after half term, before the main performance week, I should be able to cope with and memorise these specific things:

• The scenes that I appear in.
• The correct lines and blocked movements for the scene.
• What I have to bring on stage for a scene, i.e, a chair, table or prop.

Over half term, I should hopefully be able to remember all of these necessities so I can then have a smooth run-through of '13' when I come back to further rehearsals sessions before the main performance.

Wednesday 22nd Of October 2014 Blog Entry:

Synopsis Of Day:

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

To start off with the day, our teacher had wanted the group to complete, what was left, of the technical run-through for Act 2 of '13'.  There were only about 2/3 scenes which needed to be completed for Act 2, which I didn't even appear in, so we could then move onto the blocking for scenes within Act 3.

Further Character Development & Evaluative Judgement For Act 3 Scene 5 (Reflective):

I had taken part in a few scenes for Act 3 which had needed to be blocked still by our teacher.  What is interesting, for me, is that for Act 3 Scene 5, I appear on stage as a student and not as Martin and Paul.  When I was to perform as the student within this scene, I had to present certain reactions, facial or physically, towards what the character Stephen was announcing in his speech for this scene. 

This was a process, within the blocking session for this scene, that our teacher wanted all of the actors to work on through rehearsing.  She had stated that we all should be able to have some sort of reaction, both facial and physical, to what Stephen was announcing in his speech. 

Since Stephen is talking about the Iranian Regime and how it is, simply put, "brutal", and how they have "clung onto power, rigged elections, kidnapped, tortured, repressed, and murdered their own people in the thousands", I had presented a sad/sorry stance for my character, whom is a student, to represent my own gut-feeling opinion towards the topic announced by Stephen.

I felt that this process, which our teacher wanted me to work on after the blocking of Act 3 Scene 5, is very effective and presents both a naturalistic and realistic performance.  Since I should show a natural reaction in this scene, Staislavski's 'System' does cross my mind and I should delve into it to further enhance my performance in this scene in hopes of achieving a higher overall mark for this production.

As for the objectives and obstacles for my character within this scene, I've decided that my objective would be that I'll be listening to Stephen's speech, giving my opinions towards it with facial/physical changes. My obstacles would be that whenever Stephen announces something that sounds really hurtful, I'll take a step back and feel kind of 'blocked in' whilst standing in the crowd, and knowing that I can't exit the scene until the end as both my character as well as myself as the actor, I would think of this being the obstacle in this kind of situation.

After the blocking session for Act 3 Scene 5, our teacher had then wanted to move onto the blocking for Act 3 Scene 6.  I appear within this scene, but towards the end once Ruth and Dennis have finished their conversation, so for the time before my appearance on stage, I get to witness the blocking for the scene prior to it.

Evaluative Judgement For Act 3 Scene 6 (Reflective):

This scene, in my opinion, stands to be much different, and has a sense of uniqueness, than the other scenes in the play.  What's happening is that the characters Ruth and Dennis are having a political conversation whilst Amir and Rachel are also having one.  What's interesting is that the 2 different conversations also have the same topic, which is about going to war against Iran, and that the characters overlap each other with their individual lines but with the scene still making sense.  I enter the scene intruding Ruth and Dennis' conversation to announce that Dennis' wife is on the phone and urgently wants to speak with him.  I don't have much movement to present, since I'm just walking in the scene to announce 3 lines of text, but I did try to work on how I could deliver these lines in a natural manner, and also, before Dennis had left the scene with me, I tried to listen in on the rest of the conversation Ruth and Dennis had to try and get a idea of what is going on in the higher parts of parliament.

I felt that this scene was well written by Mike Bartlett and has been presented very effectively thanks to the blocking from our teacher.  The way that she had made certain characters in the scene announce their lines, with the different uses of tone and pitch, as well as the timing between the two conversations, did make me feel like that this scene was the most powerful and best presented out of all the others.

My objective within this scene is obviously to tell Dennis that he needs to come talk on the phone which is what I'm imagining is in the next room.  As for my obstacle, I don't really have one within this scene other than that I'm patiently waiting for Ruth and Dennis to finish their conversation, and the fact that I'm listening into it may result in them speaking more quietly to block me out.  If this was somehow implemented into the scene than my obstacle becomes more transparent.

After blocking Act 3 Scene 6, I had rehearsed the already blocked scenes and had gone over my lines to memorise them for later blocking sessions and run-throughs.  Not long after, I then had to be part of another blocking session, this time for Act 3 Scene 8.  In this scene, I had appeared as Martin, and I had to present a still image performance, in the background, whilst the rest of the scene was being performed by the other actors.

Evaluative Judgement For Act 3 Scene 8 & Input (Reflective):

Other than my still image performance for this scene, I had witnessed, yet another, unique and effective way of performing.  There is a certain point in this scene that presents, in my eyes, a sense of foreshadowing for what is going to happen later on in the play.  There is stage directions in the script that says the character Stephen actually collapses in the scene once a human hand has been pulled out of the ground by the character Edith.  I saw this moment as foreshadowing because of the death of the character Ruby, which is later revealed in Act 4 Scene 4 once I receive a notification on my I-Pad about Ruby's mum, Sarah, being arrested for the death of Ruby since the police won't look for anyone else.  Since Martin is using an I-Pad in this scene, it does tie into and presents further evidence to suggest that the contextual research about how '13' links to Modern Day Social Media is shown in our performance.

To go alongside with when I had referred to Act 4 Scene 4 in the previous paragraph, there was another moment after the previously mentioned part of this scene where Ruth asks Martin "What was her name?", to which there is meant to be a pause until Ruth says "Martin. Her name?" and I say that I've already told her, which results in Ruth to become confused.  I had the idea that Ruth was in a sort of 'bubble' moment where she wasn't listening to anything other than her inside thoughts whilst I was telling the other characters in this scene (Liam and Carol) what the child's name was, which was Ruby.  When me and the other group of actors come back to rehearsing this scene, I may implement the use of silent speaking to show this moment more clearly to the audience since just leaving it and not doing anything will not make any sense, much like it did when we had read through the script before performing the scene.

My objective within this scene is to deliver, what the stage directions entitles, some papers to give to Ruth, which leads me into my still image presentation.  My obstacle within this scene isn't clear to me since I'm not doing anything within this scene, but I was thinking that when Ruth rejects me for when I want to give her the papers, and I react with a confused appearance, I would say that my confusion at this moment would be my obstacle because I enter the scene with the objective to give the papers and the obstacle is Ruth rejecting to take them.

Aims For Next Rehearsal Session (Reflective):

After the blocking session for Act 3 Scene 8, our rehearsal sessions for today had ended.  I've got a few more physical/facial activities that I have included in the blocking of a few scenes, which I've mentioned above, that I need to memorise before I come back after half term to arrive to what I think is going to be a full technical/dress run-through of '13'.

Lesson 3 - Performing Arts Business:

During this session for this week, my teacher wanted to go over a few blogs, which I had already finished, to notify me of any changes I want to do before she goes over and marks them during half term.  After our short discussion, I had finalised chapter 4 of my Voice Portfolio which talks about Articulation and how, in our voice sessions, we went over a few exercises to help enhance our own individual articulate skills.

Lesson 4 - Developing Voice For The Actor (Winchester University Representative Visit):

Instead of having a voice lesson for this week, the group instead had a representative visiting from Winchester University whom is also an actor.  In this session, the second year students for the Level 3 Acting Extended Diploma had joined us in a range of physical activities and discussions about what each of us had wanted to do in the future for educational and career purposes.  Since the discussions about further education was mainly aimed at the second year students, my group still had some contributions within this discussion, to which the representative had gone into a long, detailed conversation about joining Drama Schools and Universities after leaving College.

What was interesting in the discussion about further education is that some of the second year students had wanted to move away from performing and wanted to do other career paths such as Technical Performance and even something completely different like Tourism.

The representative from Winchester University had gone over a few of the courses, associated with the performing arts, to see which is better suited for each person in the room.  For me, I was more interested in the Drama side of the performing arts industry, where I would be presenting a story either on stage or on television.  This course had interested me since I watch drama's all the time, and I have been inspired by a few of them to pursue a career in Acting along with many other reasons.

Conclusion Of Day:

This session was very useful as I have learnt a lot about what future decisions I have to faced against in terms of educational and career path purposes.  I'm hoping that in later Performing Arts Business lessons, I will learn more about Drama Schools and Universities, and which one may be better for me in my career path as an Actor.

Thursday 23rd Of October 2014 Blog Entry:

Synopsis Of Day:

Lesson 1 & 2 - Tutorial And Performance Workshop:

To start off the day, my teacher had wanted to do a 1 on 1 session with me, to see if I was:

• Safe at College.
• Enjoying the course as well as listing any problems I have within it.
• Any other things that I'd wanted to discuss with her.

After the 1 on 1 session, I had gone back to going over my lines in '13', more specifically for Martin, in the later scenes of Act 4.  I had also rehearsed already blocked scenes from previous blocking sessions we had with our teacher, to experiment with the forms of movement and staging of the scenes.

Input Towards Act 4 Scene 8 (Reflective):

After waiting a little while, I was called into Act 4 Scene 8, to which I was to walk on stage with the character Ruth (Sophie) once the line "Well they haven't completed the tests yet, but we're not here to play doctors" from Stephen had been presented, to hand out tea/coffee for the rest of the characters (John and Stephen) in the scene.

Since, in the script, it is not mentioned that I appear in this scene and also don't have any lines to deliver, I came into the room a little bit unexpected and not really knowing what I was meant to be doing, but after going through this part of the scene multiple times, I had an idea of how I can present my character, Martin, within it. 

I appear, again, much later on in this scene, near the end, to bring out Stephen once Ruth had called me into the room.  When I enter the room, my teacher had instructed me to present a concerned look on my face since I don't know what Ruth and Stephen had been talking about and I was to be concerned as well since Stephen is bent over as though he feels unwell.  After I present my line "Of course", I would begin to walk out the scene with Stephen, but I pause in my tracks when he turns around and delivers a few last words to Ruth, to which I'm still meant to show a look of confusion and concern.

My objectives within this scene is to deliver the coffee and tea for the people in the room, and to help Stephen get out of the room towards the end of the scene.  My only obstacle is witnessed within the duration of my second objective in the scene, Stephen stops just before Martin and him exit the room so he can say his last words to Ruth, which leaves Martin to stop in his tracks also since he needs to keep an eye on Stephen through Ruth's orders.

Since Act 4 Scene 8 seems to be the longest scene in '13', my teacher had suggested that we would cut some of the later lines in the script out since the scene is just going to drag on and become uninteresting for the audience.

Evaluative Judgement For Act 4 Scene 8 & Creative Idea's (Reflective):

Once I exit the scene with Stephen, our teacher had called everyone else into the room.  She had wanted the characters in 'The 12', excluding Martin, since he is in the scene, to appear as both themselves and/or the protesters supporting Johns' revolution against the British Government.  Our teacher had wanted the characters to have their phones out recording the meeting between Ruth and John, which, yet again, ties into the link to Modern Day Social Media. 

What was interesting to me at this moment in the scene is that when John delivers the line "I'm not here to talk about Simon", all of the characters that have entered the scene will all collapse.  This may be to signify that the character Simon is actually dead and had died due to Johns' intentions through all of his speeches.  This would then lead Ruth and John having an argument about where John had gone prior to the events of the play.  This also leads into the 2 characters talking about the death of the character Ruby, which was discovered earlier on in '13', and how John may have made her kill herself also.

This scene presents a breaking point for the character of John from the audiences' perspective since they have been kind of clueless as to who the villain/hero is in the story of '13' and all is now revealed, right before the ending of the play.  I find this scene to be the most tense out of all the rest and how it has been delivered, in my eyes, is very effective as it brings a very concluding ending to the real intentions of the character John.

Conclusion Of Day: 

Sadly, my teacher had decided she wanted to cut out all of Act 5, apart from Robs monologue, from our performance.  I didn't have the opportunity, due to this, to present my idea on how the group of actors can present this scene.  But, as I have previously stated, my idea may have been a bit repetitive to some of the other actors in this scene, but again, I still think that my idea would of brought a simple, yet effective, end to our performance of '13'.

Strengths And Weaknesses Discovered Within Blocked Scenes (Reflective):

For all of the scenes that I have performed in for this week within the blocking sessions, I actually haven't discovered any Weaknesses in my performance, but in terms of my Strengths, that could be reflected upon my time with my characters and all of the research findings I have implemented into my presentation of them.

With the time I have during the half term and first week back before our main performance week for '13', I still have to finalise how I could react to certain characters within scenes as both Martin and Paul, but also when I come on stage as a student/reporter whom is witnessing a speech being delivered by Stephen.  This all goes towards my personal development as an actor for this production, improving my skills and techniques within performance, to hopefully achieve a higher mark for the assignment.

Voice Portfolio Entry 6: Articulation - Exercises To Help Correctly Apply It To Speech

Introduction:

In Phonetics and Phoneology, Articulation is the art of using the tongue, lips, jaw and other speech organs in order to produce sounds of speech.

Sound is simply produced by expelling air from the lungs.  However, to vary the sound quality in a way that can be useful for speaking, two speech organs normally need to come close together to contact each other, so as to create an obstruction that shapes the air in a particular fashion. 

The point of maximum obstruction is known as the place of articulation.  For example, when making a "P" sound, the upper and lower parts of the lips would come together in order to produce the sound of the letter.  The sound of the letter is produced by the blockage of air that the two parts of the lips are obstracting which is caused by the build-up of air pressure.

The Study And Practice Of Articulation:

During our session for 'Developing Voice For The Actor' this week, the group had continued to look at their own individual articulation.   Throughout this session, we took part in some practical exercises to see if we could further develop our own vocalisation skills.

    

Our teacher had began this session by having the group look at the layout of the The Oral Cavity (Mouth).  This was important as it would be able to help us all understand what we could all accomplish with our own articulation, and to also notify us which areas of our mouthes contains tension.  Through knowing these areas, I could enhance my vocalisation skills to result in me to present a new form of projection and correct articulation. 

    

The main areas of The Oral Cavity, which is to do with both pronunciation and vocalisation, consisted of:

For this session, our teacher had wanted us all to bring in a pocket mirror, to help us visualise each area of The Oral Cavity, and to perform a few exercises, with our mouths, which would possibly help develop our individual articulate skills.  We had also performed a few physical exercises from previous sessionso help us with focus and maintain a strong performing body.

The Process Of Exercises In Lesson And The Effects Taken From Them:

Before we had began our process for the Articulation exercises, our teacher had wanted us all to focus and consider on 3 main things:

1. To relax our bodies to the maximum.
2. Keep correct physical posture.
3. Correctly develop own individual breathe control.

Through these three points, we would all recieve the maximum effect to further developing our own individual Articulation skills.

Below, I'll be listing each exercise performed in a non-specific order, detailing what we had done within them and the effects that I'd gained from each:

Exercise 1. The Semi Supine:

For this exercise, we had performed 'The Alexander Technique', which required me to lie on my back to properly control and focus on your breathing, to result in a more relaxed state of mind, both physically and vocally.

Voice Portfolio Entry 3: Delving Into The Alexander Technique Link: http://sdcperformancens.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/voice-portfolio-entry-4-posture-use-of.html

Above, I have included the link to a earlier entry in my Voice Portfolio's further detailing the process of the 'Alexander Technique', and the effects that I had contracted from performing it.

Evaluation For Exercise:

• I had felt much more relaxed throughout my whole body than I had done prior Alexander Technique.
• Both my body and voice had felt much more lighter than before, which had enabled me to develop the correctly positioned posture and make me speak more slowly, which had resulted in my words to become much more punctual and articluate.

Exercise 2. The Spinal Role:

Through doing this, I can maintain a more steady physical body posture and also keep a strong breathing pattern.  We had done a few physical stretches and flops to get all of our bodies in gear for the process. We had then performed a spinal role, where we had to bend our upper bodies down towards the ground, with knees bent. After doing this, we had then flopped around our arms, and then we slowly rose up to correct posture with our heads being the final thing to be correctly aligned/balanced. We had done this exercise 2 times within the process before we had moved onto the next exercise.

Evaluation For Exercise:

• It had made me become much more energetic in what we were going to be achieveing in this process.
• My body had felt a lot more relaxed post spinal role compared to before.
• My body also felt a lot more warmer than before, maybe to do with the spinal role and letting all of the blood go through all of the areas in my body.

Exercise 3. Producing A Humming Sound:

By performing a humming sound through the use of, primarily, my throat, it would allow my vocal folds to warm up, resulting in any preparation for my vocalisation performance to enhance.

Evaluation For Exercise:

• Having had a little bit of a blocked throat before performing this exercise, it had felt much more clearer after I had done it.
• Since my main focus was on my vocal folds, I could feel them vibrating a lot more than if I had done this exercise beforehand without focusing on them.

Exercise 4. Stretching The Muscles:

This increased the overall movement within my body, since it released any unwanted tensions within it.  It had also given me much more energy and had also increased my overall focus towards both my physical posture and vocal folds, for better articulation both physically and vocally.

Evaluation For Exercise:

• Before perfoming this exercise, I did have some unwanted tension in my shoulder blades, and after having performed this exercise, the tension did go away, resulting in me to gain the benefits from the exercise.
• I felt much more active for the later activities since my body had felt free of movement with no obstacles, such as tension.

Exercise 5. The Tongue Exercise:

For this exercise, I had moved my tongue, around my whole mouth, in a certain pattern, as many times as I could to both release any unwanted tensions that is specifically placed within the Jaw area of the head, and also get a good exercise which tests the strength of my tongue, all of which would be needed towards the practicing and enhancment of my articulation.

Evaluation For Exercise:

• Since I had unwanted tension in my Jaw area, I did have it released after having done this exercise.  I have allowed my Jaw to stretch in all directions due to the purpose of this exercise, and I had gained the proper benefits from doing so.
• I did feel that sensation of a workout within my tongue whilst performing the exercise, it did get a little bit harder before I had finished the exercise, but I'd managed to pull through test and acknowledge the physical strength of my tongue.

Exercise 6. Releasing The Jaw:

By doing this, I had released any more unwanted tension that would of been in my Jaw, to enhance the feeling of movement, and to further increase the vocabulary in my speech.

Evaluation Of Exercise:

• Much like with the 'Tongue Exercise', I had released the unwanted tension that was located within my Jaw area, and it did, indeed, enhance the feeling of movement, as previously mentioned.
• After having done the exercise, I felt that it was a lot easier to project speech, probably due to the fact that the unwanted tension had been casted away, but also that my whole Oral Cavity had a massive stretch from doing it, which may have been the main cause overall for the purpose of this exercise.

Exercise 7. Projecting a Still Tone With A Closed Oral Cavity:

For this exercise, I had used a still tone, which was released from the back of my throat, and I had to produce the sound of a siren.  I had to perform the siren for as long as I could until I had run out of breath, to which we had repeated a second time, to see if I could produce the sound for a longer duration, and I can see this being a good exercise to redo for my vocal folds in the future.

Evaluation For Exercise:

• Much like the 'Humming Sound' exercise, I did have increased focus on my vocal folds and I did, indeed, feel more vibrations within that part of my throat whilst performing this exercise.
• For the second time that I'd performed this exercise, it did feel as though I had lasted longer in terms of air capacity, maybe due to the fact that I'd gotten my body used to the exercise and that for the second time, my lungs had allowed more air to be accessed when I'd inhaled a large breath before projecting the still tone.

Exercise 8. Nasal Cavity Sound Effect:

For this exercise, I had to perform and project a certain sound through my Nasal Cavity (Nose).  This had increased the air intake through my Nasal Cavity and I can see this being useful when it comes to the enhancment of my articulation.

Evaluation For Exercise:

• I could definately feel the vibrations coursing through my nasal cavity during this exercise, and it had made my eyes feel a little bit weird also due to this.
• Performing this exercise did release any unneeded blockage, and had allowed me to have proper inhalation through my nasal cavity after doing so.

Exercise 9. “Why fly so high?”:

With this exercise, I had to project my voice by performing with different tones and pitches of voice using both my Nasal and Oral Cavity.

The lines we had spoken were:

"Why fly so high? Said Naughty Nora, whilst eating an apple, with Zoe the Zebra in the Zoo"

(High/Light Voice)(Blocked Nasal)        (Open, Deep voice)       (Beating the upper chest)

Evaluation For Exercise:

• For the "Why fly so high" part of the exercise, when trying to project a high/light voice, it did feel like my voice was 'braking' since I naturally have a very deep voice, but after having done the exercise again, I did manage to successfully pull of a high/light voice for the purpose of this part of the so called song. 

Exercise 10. Tongue Twisters:

For this exercise, we had perfomed a series of lines, which had a rhythm within it, with the pronunciation of each consonant within each word spoken.

The lines we had spoken were:

"What did you do to die today, what did you do to do. The dragon will come at the beat of the drum, a rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat tum, what did you do do to die today, at quarter to two to two today at quarter to two to do."

To make this exercise a lot harder, and more old fashioned, we had to perform the exercise by changing the 't' sound in the words and replacing it with a 'd' sound instead. I say old fashioned because this is what actors do for a performance if the play takes place a long time before the present day.

Evaluation For Exercise:


Although I did have a hard time keeping up with the rest of the group with this sort of song, I did discover some benefits from performing it:

• Having listened to my voice whilst announcing the words, I could hear the hidden consonants within the words being said, resulting in my speech to become much more punctual and articulate overall.
• Having performed the breath control exercises prior to this did help with the flow of air I had needed in order to project each word with correct articulation.

Exercise 11. Working With Breath Control:


For the third exercise within this process, we had gone through 2 mini exercises which had required each of us to use our breath, whether it was to hold it for an amount of time or to release the air for as long as we could after inhaling a large amount of air.

To start off with, our teacher had made us perform the exercise which had consisted of us breathing in air for 4 beats, and then holding it for another 4 beats, until we had to release the air within another 4 beats. We continued this exercise multiple times with the amount of beats increasing for each. We had started with 4 beats, going to 6, and then finally finishing with 8 beats.

After performing that exercise, we had waited until or breathing pattern had gone back to normal again, until we were ready to perform the next one. This exercise was different than the previous because this time we had to exhale an amount of air for as long as we could.

Evaluation For Exercise:

• Thanks to the first exercise I had performed prior to this, and also gaining the benefits from also performing the 'Alexander Technique', I was able to have a large amount of air capacity available for the purpose of this exercise.
• After having done the exercise, I felt that my breathing pattern had changed, only slightly, to the point where I was actually breathing slower than before. This change of breathing pattern, strangely, didn't feel unnatural to me compared to what it was before, which would of been my normal breathing pattern.
• I felt that I was speaking much more clearly when using my words since I can, having performed the exercise, now use the air to make my words be more articulate.

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

From the information that I've gathered from my thorough evaluations of each of the exercises that I had done in my voice lesson, I have come to the conclusion that spending more time on these particular exercises could help to improve my overall air intake, ability to pronounce words properly and to enhance my overall stage presence for when I may have to start shouting on stage.

Obviously, more so, when being graded on the vocal quality of my performance for any project, doing exercises in this area will make my the letters in the words that I say come out more than if I had not done the exercises prior, making my speech much more clearer to understand.

Level 3 Acting Week 6 Synopsis Blog

Monday 13th Of October 2014 Blog Entry:

Synopsis Of Day:

Lesson 1 - Physical Theatre:

To begin with this week, we carried on with the presentations for exploring the different contexts behind our play, '13'.  Since I haven't mentioned what all the presentations were about before this Blog Entry, I'll list each individual presentation and list each of the topics that the presenters had talked about in a separate blog and I'll also give my evaluation of these topics and how they have helped me in my knowledge of '13'.

Below, I have listed the link to this blog detailing my understanding of each one.

The Context Behind '13': http://sdcperformancens.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/the-context-behind-13.html

After all of the presentations had been shown, our teacher had discussed how each group could develop their individual presentations to higher standard by giving some useful tips and tricks for presenting a piece of work.

After receiving our notes from this lesson, the 'Physical Theatre' lesson for this week had ended.  I had learnt a lot from this lesson about the context behind '13' and I thought about how I could possibly implement some of the topics discussed in these presentations towards my portrayal of Martin and Paul, especially with Martin being a Politician and Paul being a Christian Believer.

Lesson 2 - Contemporary Theatre:

After a short break, me and the group had returned to our rehearsal sessions.  For the time within this lesson, I had taken part in the development of both Act 2 Scene 7 and Act 2 Scene 11.  During this session, I had more time to develop the characterisation on one of my characters, Martin, and think about what his objectives and obstacles would be in these 2 scenes.  In my '13' Reflective Blog Entry for Week 4, I'll talk more about my contributions to this session and I'll also give my own judgement towards these 2 scenes as to how me and the other actors had performed it.

I had also thought more about both of my characters costumes and their uses of props within their scenes.  I'll include detail about this more in my Reflective Blog for this week but even more so in the completion of my character profile for '13'.

After a long day of rehearsing already blocked scenes and reading into the scenes that I'm in later on in the play, the 'Contemporary Theatre' lesson and day had ended.  I have a bunch of topics that I can talk about in my Reflective Blog for this week and I have thought more about what I could potentially include in my upcoming character profile which gives much more specific detail about my interpretation of both Martin and Paul.

Wednesday 15th Of October 2014 Blog Entry:

Synopsis Of Day:

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

For the duration of these 2 lessons, our teacher, along with the group, had worked towards finalizing the blocking for the whole of Act 2, so that for next weeks lessons, we can all move onto Act 3 & 4.

During this rehearsal session, I had worked more on my characterisation for Martin in his scenes for Act 2 and 3, and I also thought more about what I can talk about in my Reflective Blog for '13' this week through doing this.

Not much more was discovered in this rehearsal session by reading the script, but at least I've had a good time going over my scenes as Martin and Paul once more so I can feel more comfortable with the scenes I'm performing in.

Lesson 3 - Performing Arts Business:

During the lesson for this week, I had worked more on both my presentation, which details my 'Five Year Plan' and my Personal Statement.  I had also made a start towards the creation of my Actors CV and I had also completed an Application Form for a Drama School.

I had received some homework from this lesson, which was to send the first draft of both my Personal Statement and my Actors CV to my teacher by the end of next week, before half term, for it to be marked and be given areas of improvement.

Lesson 4 - Developing Voice For The Actor:

For my 'Developing Voice For The Actor' lesson for this week, our teacher had the group look towards Articulation and made us perform a series of exercises to help work towards it.  My homework from this lesson is to complete the 4th Chapter for my Actors Portfolio which is the topic of Articulation.

Thursday 16th Of October 2014 Blog Entry:

Synopsis Of Day:

Lesson 1 - Tutorial:

For this weeks Tutorial lesson, I had received personal feedback about my Reflective Blog Entries from my teacher.  She had given me specific areas of improvement for these Blogs such as how I should write and structure it, so that she gains the most important information about what I had learnt from the rehearsal sessions for '13', and to also include more bullet points, with short paragraphs, detailing my judgements/contributions and use of stagecraft towards any scenes, either mine or others, in the play.

My teacher had heavily complimented my work on these Blogs by saying that I have a very clear articulate way of writing, but she only wants to know what I had done in each rehearsal session and how I had arrived to this point and also giving my judgments towards it.  I had left this session feeling more comfortable with as to how I should be writing my Blogs and, hopefully, I'll be posting them to my teachers standards.

Lesson 2 - Performance Workshop:

In this lesson, our teacher had worked on blocking the final scenes in Act 2 so that we can move onto Act 3 and 4 next week before I go away on my half term.  For the duration of this session, I had worked more on all of the scenes that I had blocked so far from Act 1 and also Act 2 as Martin and Paul.

As Martin, I don't appear in the later scenes of Act 2, so I was taking part as an audience member for these scenes so I can witness the development of them and also give any ideas towards it to help my teacher in the blocking process.

After finishing and blocking all of the scenes in Act 2, my 'Performance Workshop' lesson and day had ended.  I'll be working on several blogs over the weekend to show all of my physical understanding of '13', and I'll also be making improvements towards my upcoming character profile. I'll also have the time to go out and choose my costumes for both Martin and Paul and pick up any possible props that I can bring into their scenes.

'13' By Mike Bartlett - Reflective Blog - Entry 4

'13' By Mike Bartlett - Reflective Blog - Entry 4

Introduction - The Context Behind '13':

Week 6 Synopsis Blog: http://sdcperformancens.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/level-3-acting-extended-diploma-week-6.html

Above, I have included my Week 6 Synopsis Blog, to give background detail as to what I had done in my weekly sessions. 

For the beginning of Week 6, I had finally witnessed each individual group of partners presentations about a specific context of performance behind '13'.  Each one of these presentations had revealed all of the hidden details behind our play, and has increased my overall understanding of it, much to the point where I can reflect some of the things the presenters were talking about into my overall physical characterisation for both Martin and Paul.

The Context Behind '13': http://sdcperformancens.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/the-context-behind-13.html

Above, I have included a link to a separate blog showing my understanding for each of these presentations and how I could possibly implement each groups ideas into my performance of Martin and Paul.

Performance Workshop:

In the rehearsal sessions for Week 6, the group, along with blocking sessions from our teacher, had completed the whole of Act 2 and we're now able to move onto Act 3 & 4 next week.

Act 2 Scene 7

Rehearsal Methods:

To start off the blocking of this scene, we had staged it with the stagecraft technique of 'The Plate', to balance out the scene and allow for some unique ways of movement for each character in this scene.

This scene takes place in what would be a meeting room and by implementing 'The Plate' technique, it did, I feel, give a better portrayal and it did bring more meaning towards the individual characters ways of movement within it.

Character Objectives And Obstacles/Input:

For my portrayal as Martin in the blocking session of Act 2 Scene 7, I had an objective but I didn't have an obstacle.  After having thought more about what my obstacle could be in this scene, I had come to the conclusion that there really isn't one since I'm sitting down for the majority of it and nothing is there to necessarily 'block' my path.

There was, however, something that was implemented at the beginning of this scene to do with Martin that I do consider a minor obstacle, which is that I arrive late to this meeting and Ruth, the British Prime Minister and Dennis, the U.S Ambassador, are looking at me with a negative expression on their face, which results in Martin to not sit down on his chair for a second since he's feeling down, and that he has given himself a bad impression towards both Dennis and Ruth.  Martin does make up for this however by remembering to bring along the background information files that he hands out during this scene, which is my objective, before his first line when Sir Christopher is being introduced to Dennis.

By having this objective, I felt that Martin did have more of a purpose within this scene and I consider him a key character because of this.

Strengths And Weaknesses In Scene:

For my portrayal of Martin in this scene, I feel that I'm making a good effort to express my opinions towards what the other characters are saying with facial expressions and change of body language.  But I feel that I could potentially work on my facial expressions and body language more since I think I'm doing too little in this scene. 

An aim for the next time I do this scene would be to try and accomplish more of these two things to able to boost the potential of my overall performance within it since, because I only have one line in this scene, I feel that there could be a lot to experiment with.

Other than the Strengths I had noticed in my performance for this scene, I didn't really discover any Weaknesses either.  To me, this is a good thing to realise, but I should explore the scene more, either in my own time or with the other actors, to try and discover any potential weaknesses in my performance.

Evaluation Of Act 2 Scene 7:

* I feel that by the way that this scene has been blocked and how some of the actors present their lines, it sets a powerful moment and really reveals to the audience the true purpose behind this play.  It makes the audience think more about who really is the villain/hero in this story and will leave them to wonder until the end of the play, where all will be revealed. 

* The staging used in this scene, I feel, gathers the whole audience, as though they were also at this meeting and are performing as side characters.  The speeches that Sir Christopher, the Head of the Armed Forces, presents, I feel, creates a thrilling atmosphere that really binds the audiences eyes as to what is really going on behind the story of '13'.

* The talk of nuclear weaponry and the scene ending with Ruth left in deep thought about her future plans really creates a very deep tense moment for both the actor and the audience for the rest of the play.

Act 2 Scene 11

Rehearsal Methods:

To start off the blocking of this scene, we had, again, implemented the stagecraft technique of 'The Plate' to balance out the scene, by having a certain number of actors stand/sit in a certain area, to allow for some unique ways of movement.

Since this scene is meant to take place in a park scenario, implementing this use of stagecraft did make the overall presentation of the scene feel like it had more meaning and that it had brought a real purpose for the audience to discover, and since the scene is meant to represent a large area, I did feel like that the audience was also part of the scene by being spectators of Johns speech.

By using the stagecraft technique of 'The Plate', I had realised that it had brought the circular fashion of staging that Mike Bartlett had intended for the presentation of '13'.  This type of staging was unique and nothing I had realised before in any performance that I have seen, so using it for this play is something that is exciting to me.

Character Objectives And Obstacles/Input:

For my portrayal as Martin in Act 2 Scene 11, I did have an objective and obstacle in mind that I had wanted to input into the blocking of this scene.  Since it's a scene with a speech being presented by John, my objective was to listen to it and to either agree or disagree with his ideas.  I actually agreed with everything that John had presented in this scene because of a line I had discovered, through reading the script, in Act 4 Scene 6, where I present my opinion towards Johns' speeches to Ruth by saying "I think he's good."

I didn't have an obstacle in this scene when it was being blocked, but after having thought more about the scene, there is a character in this scene, Holly, that is gathering E-Mails throughout the duration of the speech and after it.

I'm making a suggestion that instead of Holly asking for Martins E-Mail address at the beginning of the scene, before John presents his speech, she will become an obstacle to Martin when he is about to leave the scene, which takes place right after the speech, due to him looking down and realising the time on his watch, since he was on his lunch break, and she will stop him in his tracks, hence becoming the obstacle.  I will discuss this idea with my teacher to hopefully implement it into the scene so Martin has more of a purpose within it.

Strengths And Weaknesses:

Since I don't have any lines for Martin in this scene, I feel confident that my physical performance, using gestures and facial expressions to show my opinion towards Johns speech, is to a good standard.

I do think that I should move more in this scene perhaps, since I'm sitting on a park bench for all of it until I quickly depart the scene after the speech.  I'll experiment with the use of movement if I can rehearse the scene once more with the other actors in the scene to try and implement it in to hopefully boost my overall performance in this scene.

Evaluation Of Act 2 Scene 11:

* This scene in particular creates an understanding about some of the characters within '13', such as Stephen when John is introducing Holly to him.  It also reveals some unnerving, emotional moments for some of the characters, especially Mark and Holly, when they are talking to each other at the end of the scene about them not being in contact with each other since Holly is scared of Mark and cries when John asks her if she is alright after he had left the conversation.

* This scene, much like Act 2 Scene 7, makes the audience wonder, again, who is the villain/hero in this mysterious, thrilling story, because of the speech that John presents, which mainly discusses the benefits of siding with him in this political crisis.  How John interacts with the other characters in a calm and peaceful matter really makes the audience question what his true intentions are.

Aims For Next Rehearsal Lesson:

After having gone through and blocked a few scenes with my characters, I now feel that I should start implementing the use of costumes and props to help bring a visual representation and bring my characters, Martin and Paul, to life.

I've considered the use of props with Martin since for some scenes, for example Act 1 Scene 4 and Act 4 Scene 6, he uses a personal diary, to keep track of daily events, and an I-Pad, to keep up to date with the latest news broadcasts.

I do have possession of these two props, as well as the costumes, for my characters, so for next session, I'll bring in all of these props to help create and express my interpretation of both of my characters.

Conclusion:

  

I think that for this weeks rehearsal sessions, for the completion of Act 2, was an amazing experience to delve into.  I had much more time to work with my character and his main objectives and obstacles within scenes and it also gave me much more time to work on the movement of the play due to the type of stagecraft that we are going to be implementing into our performance of '13' in November.

'13' By Mike Bartlett - Contextual Research

The Context Behind '13'

Presentation 1 - The War During '13':

The first presentation had shown the process of exploration that the pair had done to give their interpretation of a possible war taking place during the time of '13'.  The war that this group was working with was the one which took place in Iran during 2010-2011, the year that '13' is set.

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, having a meeting with the U.S Ambassador and the Head of the Armed Forces.  The speech that the Head of the Armed Forces (Sir Christopher) presents in this scene about Nuclear Weapons 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.

Presentation 2 - Moral In Politics Within '13':

For this presentation, the pair had posed a question towards the entire audience: Is War the best option?  Much like the previous presentation, this one had discussed more of the political side of the Iranian War and had included some points that show the relation between Ruth and David Cameron, since they are both the British Prime Minister during 2011.

One of the notes that I had taken down, which I thought was interesting, was that David Cameron, had presented this quote in a live speech:

"Under my leadership, the Conservative Party has modernised."

This specific quote has a strong relation to the same quote in '13' that Ruth presents during her speech in Act 1 Scene 13.  This had interested me because it shows another physical influence behind Mike Bartlett's creation of the character Ruth for '13'.

I think it's smart how Mike Bartlett had implemented an almost identical copy of David Cameron into '13', to possibly give his opinions towards her decisions with the other characters in the play.

This can relate to one my characters, Martin, who, at some points, may disagree with what Ruth had announced in this speech through my interpretation of him since he is meant to be showing that he is scared of what's going to happen later on in this war, and Ruth states that everyone shouldn't be afraid.

Presentation 3 - Relationship Towards The Biblical Text:

In this presentation, the pair of researchers had delved into the script of '13' and had explored the possibility of the story of  '13' being linked towards Jesus and the 12 Disciples, which was the question that they had opened with.

The researchers for this presentations had compared a certain number of characters in '13' to some that are in the biblical text, to show their similarities and justify their point.  Below I will list 2 examples:

* John = Jesus:
The researchers had suggested that Jesus, in the biblical text, is strongly related to John in '13' because they both, mysteriously, had come back from the dead due to an event, which in '13' isn't detailed, with a specific purpose that benefits the general public.  For Jesus, it was to spread the word of his return for guidance and to also scare off the Roman Empire; for John, it was to help give the general public a brighter future by protesting against the British Government and their Political opinions.

* Peter = Amir:
The researchers had suggested that Peter, in the biblical story, is strongly related to Amir in '13' because they are both spokesmen for their leader in both stories.  Peter was Jesus' right hand man, and had spread his good word to all of the people in the region; Amir is also, later on in '13', the right hand man for John and had supported alongside him in his public speeches to rally against the British Government.

I strongly agree that '13' has a very strong relationship towards the biblical story of Jesus and the 12 Disciples since the purpose behind both stories is similar, and the characters have a strong familiarity with each other.

When performing as my second character, Paul, I will research into Christian Beliefs, since he is Christian and I think that doing this may benefit my overall performance in the Alpha Session for Act 1 Scene 12.

Presentation 4 - Economic Link Between Reality And '13':

For this presentation, the researchers had delved into the study of economics, and had given their interpretation of the link between reality and '13' with this in mind.

As already stated in another presentation, David Cameron is strongly related to the character of Ruth in '13', since they are both leaders of the Conservative party and the British Prime Ministers during the time of 2010-2011.

During his time as Prime Minister, David Cameron had raised unemployment in the U.K from 7000 to nearly 2.5 Million.  This could also be the case for Ruth, as the protesters that appear throughout '13' may be these unemployed people causing riots, with the help of John, against her political decisions.  Also during this time, the recession was at its peak and it has now been known to be the worst global recession since the second world war.

Presentation 5 - All Aspects Of '13':

For the first presentation, the topic of interest was all the different aspects of '13', and the researchers for this topic had plenty of interesting things to talk about.

They had researched about the author of '13', Mike Bartlett, telling the group of his past life and education and previous stories that he had written.  Mike Bartlett was a student in Creative Writing and English Literature, which had resulted in him to become a brilliant story teller.

The researchers in this group then went to talk about the different people in '13' and the specified religions that they all follow.

They talk about the Alpha Scene in '13', which contains a group of Christian believers, and talked about the conflict between this religion and the Politicians in the play.  They then talked about how Atheism is in the play as well since the character called Stephen is an Atheist.

They then finally talked about all the riots that had occurred in 2011, which is when '13' is set.  The riot that they specifically talked about is one called the 'Blackberry Riot', which is a riot that was heavily connected with social media devices such as Mobiles and Tablets and was spread on social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter etc.

I'll be using both my Mobile Phone and I-Pad during my performance as Martin in '13' to coincide with the social media aspect within it.

Presentation 6 - The Religons and Political Issues In '13':

For this presentation, the topic was to talk about all the religions within '13' and to also talk about the Political problems that would of occurred at the time of the play.

They had researched that during 2011, there were a bunch of riots, especially in London, which was caused by problems such as Economic Crisis's, and disagreement with Political matters, even the Royal Family had risen a bunch of tension which caused a great concern for the people of England.

I also took note that David Cameron was elected as the British Prime Minister at this time so, as something I don't really follow to often, this has to have been a very grim time in terms of Political matters.

The Political and Religious points that were presented in the researchers slideshow is, they claimed, to have been intertwined within '13', and the lines that each character presents with relation to these two topics is over-exaggerated throughout the whole duration of the play.

Presentation 7 - The General Themes Of '13':

For this presentation, the general topic of interest was about the war which took place in Iran in 2011, and also how the British and American Government were in an economic crisis and had Political disagreements which had resulted in each of the individual countries leaders to become hated by their people and this caused riots to occur.

Within '13', the British Prime Minister, Ruth, had supported in the invasion against Iran, which did bring all of the riots that occurs within some of the scenes throughout the whole play.  These riots were happening because people were dying and families were becoming very angry with their Political leader, being Ruth.

Since Ruth is a leader of the Conservative Party, an interesting point was brought up being that the Conservative Party's real name, from it's creation in 1912, is the Conservative and Unionist Party, but due to this name never being used by the general public, this is not known by many people.

There were also topics that were being brought up within the presentation which were about the development of nuclear weapons, the Government and the individual Political powers, British Youth and Economic Problems.

They had concluded their presentation by saying that the themes of '13' are mainly based on real events used with fictional facts to further exaggerate the problems occurring within 2011, the time in which '13' takes place.

Presentation 10 - A Review From Dan Hutton:

For this presentation, the lone researcher had delved into the themes within a review of '13' given by a critic named Dan Hutton.

She had expressed his opinions on the conflict between some of the characters in '13', especially Ruth and John, and had explored and presented the points of:

* Prime Minister VS The Modern Messiah
* Female VS Male Characters
* The Rise To Power - How Did They Get To Power?
* Why Do People Disagree?

Presentation 11 - The Relevance To Contemporary Society Within '13':

This was the presentation that me and my partner had researched for, and our main topic of discussion was to show the plays relevance to contemporary society.

We had both researched from reviews given by critics towards the performance of '13' from the National Theatre in London, and had also looked at their website to find any more information that relates to the topic at hand.

The two different areas that me and my partner had covered for this presentation was the impact of social media and each of the individual characters links towards modern society.  By researching this, we had come to the conclusion that the characters within '13' give a realistic representation of the people within our modern society.  This presented us the question as to how all of this could possibly impact each actors representation of their own character and how we could tell the story of '13' overall to an audience.

Within our presentation, we had shown to the group that the fiction of Mike Bartlett's play collides with modern reality and this may have been an intention for Mike Bartlett's creation of '13'.

These were mine and my partners research areas for this presentation:

* ‘13’ Review by Aleks Sierz - http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/33998/1

* The National Theatre Website - http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/13

Conclusion:

To conclude the presentations, we presented any concerns/questions about the topics to each group of presenters and our teacher had given them feedback about how they could improve the presentation for next time. These improvements were things like including short, detailed bullet points and having Que cards so they aren't reading off of a script and it would actually look like they had learnt something from doing the research for the presentation. Pretty much all of the groups have had this happen, but I still think they all made a good effort and produced a decent piece of work to present to an audience.

All of these power points that have been presented have helped me in my research process for '13' and I feel that I have an even more increased knowledge in the various context's behind Mike Bartlett's play.  When it comes to completing my Character Profile for '13', I'll use the information I had gained from this lesson, in note form, to give further detail into both of my characters in '13', Martin and Paul, and I can talk about all of the different topics and present my own interpretation for their own opinion towards them.