'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.