Week 7
Pre-Show Planning (Structure):
After 2 weeks away for our Easter Holiday's, we had returned to rehearsals for 'Road'. For this first session, we had worked on the structure of the 'Pre-Show' which I thought brought a repetitive feel to our performance as it's showing what's to be expected later on with all the different characters. For the Pre-Show, our lecturer took her main interests into the blocking of the actors portraying the Professor and Scullery, but before doing this, should was to decide where each character was to be sitting/standing on stage. During this, our lecturer wants each character to perform a specific actions which relates to their scene/monologue to give that repetitive feel. I personally liked this decision as it gives the audience a picture as to what's to come later on in the performance.
We mainly looked at each of the interactions that both the Professor and Scullery were going to have with each character. This was to briefly show each of the characters different traits and personalities to keep the audience acquainted with them.
I'm happy with the look and execution of the Pre-Show, and I think it'll be good once we get to use it properly for our real performances later on in the coming weeks.
Off Script Rehearsals:
After having an entire 2 weeks off college, it should be expected that everyone in the room had learnt their lines in the script and has memorised each stage direction. I'm happy to say that I'd learnt my lines before we left for the holiday's for my final show back and over the holidays I'd acquainted myself with the set stage directions. Unfortunately, not everyone was this way. There were still a few select people who had still not learnt their lines and/or directions, which I think is quite disappointing. Hopefully they'll learn these quickly as I'd like to start doing full non-script rehearsal runs to get a real time of how long the play will last.
If there was anything that I was impressed by, it was the development of the accent for each actor. I can tell that this was the thing that they'd spent their precious time on more than anything else. Now that everything was looking to be going fairly well, we started to look at a few scenes which still needed development and/or refinement. We did this by way of '2 Stars and a Wish' so each actor had an easier time as to what needed improving the most and what they don't need any more work on as it's already good. Although this session was for the monologue's within 'Road', we each had a chance to show how to improve in areas such as the accent and overall the physicalisation of the character and how they had interpreted it.
My feedback goes as followed:
2 Stars
- Good Physicalisation: There was an overall good reaction for my show back of Skin-Lad in terms of my physicalisation. I was really starting to look the part with all of my hard work and I'm thankful for that. Some people head mentioned that my overall energy in the monologue had been twice the amount than last time, which I felt it was personally.
- Great Moments of Going towards the Audience: For the monologue, I wanted to make the audience feel more intimidated by Skin-Lad's presence. I did this by way of going nearer to the audience, so much so that I'm within their personal bubble. Everyone had a very good reaction to this, although some people felt that I wasn't going close enough. I'll work on this feedback and experiment with going closer to the audience for the next show back.
Wish
- Work on the Accent: Sadly, I still needed a little tweaking on the accent in some areas of my monologue. I somehow seemed to transition from the accents Scottish, Irish and Liverpool. Words such as "Best", "Blind Alley", "Go", "One, Two, Three" and "Won't" fell victim to this. I'd received a note that perhaps if I elongated my words, the accent would become more prominent. I'll continue to work on the accent and these words in-particular until the performance date is due.
Having this feedback after working hard for the monologue over the holiday's will really help me in the development of my portrayal of Skin-Lad. Few people have stated that my interpretation is one of the best in the group and I want to continue to live up to that high standard.
Any additional things that were added to the stars sections was that the pace was really good, it had sped up a little more compareed to last showback. The pauses I had included definitley made the scene much more tense. The "KIYAA!" line was scary for some people as they were'nt expecting it to happen.
Any additional things that were added to the stars section was that I should go more towards the audience. Nyakeh had mentioned that there seemed to be a barrier that stopped me from going closer and that I shouldn't have that, take more risks within the monologue for things like this. Luke had suggested that I should try and make Skin-Lad appear more mysterious. This can make sense as not many people in the audience might understand why he's a "Nutter". I think I would be able to show this if I worked on the pace of the monologue even more and maybe how I could say certain words differently. Luke had also suggested to add towards this that I should add a laugh to end of the line "But he was only smiling" which would pose the question as to why I found it funny.
I also recall a quote from Issie after my feedback: "Every time I've seen the monologue, its been performed differently, but this time, don't change it as it's excellent."
I had also given this form of feedback to several group members:
Frank as Jerry
2 Stars
The accent and actions done on stage during the monologue was improving, he's definitely absorbed the feedback from past sessions.
Although there were a lot of actions, it did feel sub-par at some points so I said to improve these.
Wish
I said to slow down on the monologue a little bit, not so much that the scene drags, but so he has the time needed to pronounce words properly as he was muddling them up. It also allows more opportunities to work on actions during the monologue to help make the scene more dramatic.
Kennedy as Helen
2 Stars
I felt that the accent work during this scene was very good, I never found a moment where it was lost.
The physicality of the character is excellent, I believed fully that she was the character as she was experiemnting with creative risks throughout the scene.
Wish
Learn your lines!!! If the line is forgotten, it helps to just stop what you're doing completely and to just breathe in a steady pace, the line will come back and it'll still appear as though you're in character.
Sophie as Valerie
2 Stars
The accent and overall pace of the monologue was top standard, she has really worked hard on it.
I also liked all the actions within the scene, it just added to her character so much and it made the scene overall more dramatic.
Wish
"Look at my hair, it's dry." - I suggested that the character should play around with it at this point, she could do things such as stretching it and trying to untangle strands instead of just pointing at it like she did.
Week 8
We mainly looked at each of the interactions that both the Professor and Scullery were going to have with each character. This was to briefly show each of the characters different traits and personalities to keep the audience acquainted with them.
I'm happy with the look and execution of the Pre-Show, and I think it'll be good once we get to use it properly for our real performances later on in the coming weeks.
Off Script Rehearsals:
After having an entire 2 weeks off college, it should be expected that everyone in the room had learnt their lines in the script and has memorised each stage direction. I'm happy to say that I'd learnt my lines before we left for the holiday's for my final show back and over the holidays I'd acquainted myself with the set stage directions. Unfortunately, not everyone was this way. There were still a few select people who had still not learnt their lines and/or directions, which I think is quite disappointing. Hopefully they'll learn these quickly as I'd like to start doing full non-script rehearsal runs to get a real time of how long the play will last.
If there was anything that I was impressed by, it was the development of the accent for each actor. I can tell that this was the thing that they'd spent their precious time on more than anything else. Now that everything was looking to be going fairly well, we started to look at a few scenes which still needed development and/or refinement. We did this by way of '2 Stars and a Wish' so each actor had an easier time as to what needed improving the most and what they don't need any more work on as it's already good. Although this session was for the monologue's within 'Road', we each had a chance to show how to improve in areas such as the accent and overall the physicalisation of the character and how they had interpreted it.
My feedback goes as followed:
2 Stars
- Good Physicalisation: There was an overall good reaction for my show back of Skin-Lad in terms of my physicalisation. I was really starting to look the part with all of my hard work and I'm thankful for that. Some people head mentioned that my overall energy in the monologue had been twice the amount than last time, which I felt it was personally.
- Great Moments of Going towards the Audience: For the monologue, I wanted to make the audience feel more intimidated by Skin-Lad's presence. I did this by way of going nearer to the audience, so much so that I'm within their personal bubble. Everyone had a very good reaction to this, although some people felt that I wasn't going close enough. I'll work on this feedback and experiment with going closer to the audience for the next show back.
Wish
- Work on the Accent: Sadly, I still needed a little tweaking on the accent in some areas of my monologue. I somehow seemed to transition from the accents Scottish, Irish and Liverpool. Words such as "Best", "Blind Alley", "Go", "One, Two, Three" and "Won't" fell victim to this. I'd received a note that perhaps if I elongated my words, the accent would become more prominent. I'll continue to work on the accent and these words in-particular until the performance date is due.
Having this feedback after working hard for the monologue over the holiday's will really help me in the development of my portrayal of Skin-Lad. Few people have stated that my interpretation is one of the best in the group and I want to continue to live up to that high standard.
Any additional things that were added to the stars sections was that the pace was really good, it had sped up a little more compareed to last showback. The pauses I had included definitley made the scene much more tense. The "KIYAA!" line was scary for some people as they were'nt expecting it to happen.
Any additional things that were added to the stars section was that I should go more towards the audience. Nyakeh had mentioned that there seemed to be a barrier that stopped me from going closer and that I shouldn't have that, take more risks within the monologue for things like this. Luke had suggested that I should try and make Skin-Lad appear more mysterious. This can make sense as not many people in the audience might understand why he's a "Nutter". I think I would be able to show this if I worked on the pace of the monologue even more and maybe how I could say certain words differently. Luke had also suggested to add towards this that I should add a laugh to end of the line "But he was only smiling" which would pose the question as to why I found it funny.
I also recall a quote from Issie after my feedback: "Every time I've seen the monologue, its been performed differently, but this time, don't change it as it's excellent."
I had also given this form of feedback to several group members:
Frank as Jerry
2 Stars
The accent and actions done on stage during the monologue was improving, he's definitely absorbed the feedback from past sessions.
Although there were a lot of actions, it did feel sub-par at some points so I said to improve these.
Wish
I said to slow down on the monologue a little bit, not so much that the scene drags, but so he has the time needed to pronounce words properly as he was muddling them up. It also allows more opportunities to work on actions during the monologue to help make the scene more dramatic.
Kennedy as Helen
2 Stars
I felt that the accent work during this scene was very good, I never found a moment where it was lost.
The physicality of the character is excellent, I believed fully that she was the character as she was experiemnting with creative risks throughout the scene.
Wish
Learn your lines!!! If the line is forgotten, it helps to just stop what you're doing completely and to just breathe in a steady pace, the line will come back and it'll still appear as though you're in character.
Sophie as Valerie
2 Stars
The accent and overall pace of the monologue was top standard, she has really worked hard on it.
I also liked all the actions within the scene, it just added to her character so much and it made the scene overall more dramatic.
Wish
"Look at my hair, it's dry." - I suggested that the character should play around with it at this point, she could do things such as stretching it and trying to untangle strands instead of just pointing at it like she did.
Week 8
Discussion on some Other Portrayal's:
I'm happy to say that I will be doing all of the things I'm doing for my character as I think it will really benefit me in my final grade, but I'd like to talk about a few other actors I've performed alongside the most within these rehearsal sessions.
Frank as Jerry
Him and I have had our discussions in character decisions and more specifically what costumes we have chosen to wear for the performance. What he's told me about his characters costume is along the lines very similar to what he wears right now being a shirt, possible cardigan, smart trousers, braces and smart shoes. This had worried me a little bit as I think the audience would still be seeing Frank and not Jerry, just with the added accent. On top of all of this, he hadn't mentioned changing his hair style or anything for this role like I have which I think is a very unwise decision for his role. I would think that Jerry, seeing as I've depicted him being one of the older members of 'Road', would be near balding or at least have bald patches. Instead, Frank will still be walking on-stage with his Ginger mane. I would of preferred Frank to wear a bald cap at the very least.
It's not that I think Frank should change his appearance completely because I asked him to, but it's just I think it'd come across as much more effective if he did, much like I'm doing. Still, at the end of the day, when I watch Frank perform his monologue as Jerry, I still see him. The mannerisms are very similar to his, the clothing is practically the same and the hair is also. Unless he makes some extreme changes like I have for Skin-Lad, I'm worried that the audience wouldn't recall him after the performance has finished. The exception of course is his family, but I don't think any one else will. But still, I know him better than most people so this may be overlooked, but it's just a thought.
Another thing about Frank's/Jerry's monologue is that he is using a sofa as a prop; he will be sitting on it and also interacting with it when he's walking around it. From what I understand in the script, Jerry is meant to be getting ready to go out, yet with Frank's portrayal, he's already dressed to go out. I think that the overall picture of the scene would of been much more effective if he came on stage wearing some sort of vest with possible shorts and also with an ironing board as a prop. While he is saying his first line, he would be ironing his shirt and as the monologue progresses, he would be putting on several pieces of clothing to eventually be ready to go out. I think that the overall pace of his monologue will have been much better if he had done this since the beginning and it would be more interesting to watch.
Luke as Bisto
Luke shares his charm and witty humour with his own portrayal of Bisto and it works very well. I've said time and time again that his interpretation is one of my favourites in 'Road' and I'd think I'm not the only one to see this. Everything from the costume and hair style decisions for Bisto is great, he had changed his appearance accordingly and I was witnessing the character and not him.
I've had conversations and rehearsal sessions involving Luke and he mentions that his interpretation is much like the works of Paddy McGuiness. Things such as his mannerisms and attitude towards things, involving subtle jokes, is all inspired by this figure and I think that Luke portrays it brilliantly.
If there is anything I would of changed for his portrayal of Bisto is that he could of possibly worn more 'bling' as he is a Disco DJ and he also comes across as a sort of 'dude'.
One final point about Luke's performance as Bisto is his addition of improvised dances towards the songs that go off during his scene. Each time I watch it, he does something different, and it never fails to make me laugh. This is a character that I think the audience will really link well with because of this and I can't wait to see their reaction to his performance when it's due.
Milo as Brink
I would say that Milo has an 'average' interpretation of character for Brink. It's unfortunate that for each time I've seen him perform that he puts on a full Scottish accent and not even try to perform a Lanchashirian accent. I wish he would of spent much of his time on improving his accent work as I feel this will ruin the effectiveness of the scenes he appears in as it sounds 'off-putting'.
Another problem I have encountered with his interpretation is that he is still wearing the same clothes he normally wears. None of the clothing he wears as Brink is what people would of worn in the 1980's. Again, it's an unfortunate situation to occur and I think this is one of the things that will affect his overall grade.
The third and final problem is his hair style choice... it's still his original hairstyle. I feel that he should of really thought more about his characters portrayal as I don't see Brink, I still see him.
Looking at Refining Scenes and More Feedback:
For the day before we were to start running 'Road' from start to finish without stopping, we wanted to look at a few scenes to give them further refinement as we hadn't had many chances to witness the work that's been done on them.
Frankie and Brandon as Claire and Joey
We first went through Frankie and Brandon's scene as Claire and Joey. We initially wanted to see how far they would go in the monologue as they both havn't had many chances to work together and say the lines to one another. I found the scene to be a little choppy, there were quite a lot of moments where Frankie and/or Brandon had forgotten their lines and came out of character. However, I still found the scene to be very emotional, as it should be. I really did feel a connection between the two characters and I hope that the two actors will be able to work on this even more to make the scene much more effective in the mian performances.
A note which I had taken from Deborah's feedback was that Frankie needed to portray Claire looking "Desparate, Dizzy and Confused." This also needed to be apparent within her lines as well since, at present moment, she's just simply saying them without emotion or change of feeling.
Luke as Bisto
The scene with Bisto, as always, was excellently performed by Luke. He really does suit the character so well. I never found a moment where he was out of character, he just did his own thing and it came out to be a really funny watch. I think that the audience on the night of the show will get a real kick out of Bisto. His characteristics relate to the audience so well and this is mainly why he is one of my favorite characters in the whole play. Another reason is simply Lukes interpretation of him.
I had also taken note of a few more things that Deborah had mentioned as feedback to others:
Matt as Scullery
Deborah had found that Scullery wasn't very energetic for his moments on 'Road'. Since he is essentially meant to be portrayed as a sort of tour guide, Deborah would like Matt to be much more energetic for the full run-through, pretty much to Bisto's level.
Brandon as Joey
The lines need to be learnt! When Joey is shouting out the newspaper headlines, the words need to be expressed bigger than it is. I found it to maybe be a lack of confidnece, this would make sense as he hasn't really shown off the scene very much since we had started the project. Deborah also mentioned that he shouldn't appear to be tired all of the time, especially when announcing his lines, as it became very unentertaining to watch and it was hard to hear what he was saying half the time.
Discussion about the First Full Run-Through of 'Road'
How did I feel?
I was very positive about the full run-through. I love to perform as Skin-Lad every chance I get, I enjoy bringing that strong sense of danger/terror into everbodies mind. I really do want them to think "Am I safe being close to this person?"
I'm happy to say that I did think of a few more things to add to my monologue, mainly to go closer to the audience a little bit more, but still not to overdo it.
Unfortunately, whilst performing the monologue, I had accidently stomped on top of Nyakeh's foot when I had said the line "Top of the Foot." This did make me come out of character completely and I lost the accent thereafter. Other than that, I thought that this was one of my worst performances as Skin-Lad. I hope that with a littole more practice throughout the sessions that I'll be able to fully enbody Skin-Lad in front of the audience to make the scene much more effective and terrifying.
How did I think everyone else did?
I thought that everyone during this session was fully commited to getting the work done, having all their lines learnt down to the teeth, although there were still a few hiccups. But we all helped eachother pull through, which is very good group work.
I still felt that this was one of the worst showbacks that each of us had done, possibly due to a lack of energy? It's definitley been better than this before, maybe it's just to do with going scene after scene.
More Feedback for the first Full Run-Through of 'Road'
Matt as Scullery
As always, Matt does perform to the best of his ability. Since the beginning of this project, he has had the accent down to the teeth and has helped others with the correct pronouciation of words. He has even helped me through my lines several times and I thank him for his contribution.
I did feel like there were moments where Matt may have lost the accent, but I overlooked this by his consistamnt humour as Scullery throughout the full run-through. He defintiely does give that persoanification of a tour guide; he relates well with people (audience or other characters), and he's never unfocused in his role.
Issie as Louise
Issie is very commited to her role as Louise, I've rehearsed in the same room as her several times and I'm really happy with her progression by giving constant compliments to her.
Out of everything, I found her accent work to be much better as time progresses, I thought that this session was one of her bests as Louise, specifically Scene 2 of 'Road' with her Brother. If there's anything that is affecting her performance it's that her face is being blocked by her hair half the time so I can't see what she's doing facially. Of course, at this moment, we're not fully in character as we're not all wearing our desired costumes, but I think that she could've made the little effort to do this just so we can see her face basically.
I had suggested for Scene 2 with Louise's Brother that there should be more pauses to create much more tension and it also shows the relationship between the brother and sister.
Jake as Louise's Brother
I had found Jake's performance in this role as "Good - Okay". I say this because, each time I've seen him perform, he doesn't really keep consistant with the accent, he would sometimes lose it completely half way through the scene. This has been a constant problem since the start of blocking, and I hope he works on this before the performance date is due.
Seeing as this is the only scene in the whole play with this character, I still think that Jake should try and show differences in his character, by form of physicalisation, to show the difference between this character, Blowpipe and Bald.
Phoebe as Carol
Phoebe has had the accnt mastered since the very beginning of the blocking process of 'Road' which is amazing! It was even done during the first read-through of 'Road' which is even more facinating... Has she done this accent before!?
Her physicalistion as Carol is excellent, one of the best I've seen out of anyone in the group. She really does come across as this sort of 'Bully' character, especially towards her mother, Brenda.
I don't feel as though there's anything to improve about her performance as Carol... Perhaps she could try having more bigger physicalised movements? It's up to her what she does, but I think she's already good to go for the real thing!
Hannah as Brenda
Hannah is another actor in the group which I feel is ready for the main performance. She has perfected both her physicalistion and vocalisation as Brenda.
She really does come across as this nagging old woman that Carol clearly despises of.
Milo as Brink
STILL SCOTTISH!!!
He's okay with his physicalisation as Brink, but him performing an entirely different accent than the rest of us just makes the whole performance overall look 'weird' to me. Some people have said it suits his character... But I don't think so. I personally think that it draws me away completely from the performance as it makes it look less 'real'.
I think that with hard work and determination that Milo can do so much more with Brink, especially when everyone gets up to dance in the final scene before the epilogue, as he just sits on the sofa for the whole of that moment looking like nothing is going on. I would find it much more funny if he had tried to dance with Carol but she just completely rejects him and they could have a rant or something whilst Eddie and Louise are calmly dancing the night away. It would show the relationship between the male and female characters so much better.
My Feedback for Skin-Lad
- Try not to kick people during the monologue (go into character too much clearly)
- Think of using other voices for characters mentioned within monologue
- "Pad, Pad, Pad" sounds Liverpool
- Work on the overall pace of the monologue
- Tension was brilliant!
- "I don't want to work at the engineering firm!" Great comedic moment
- Stare at the audience before I walk off stage
- Don't look confused for the last section of the monologue
- Be sure if I'm going to be pointing at one person in-particular or several
My Feedback for Skin-Lad
- Try not to kick people during the monologue (go into character too much clearly)
- Think of using other voices for characters mentioned within monologue
- "Pad, Pad, Pad" sounds Liverpool
- Work on the overall pace of the monologue
- Tension was brilliant!
- "I don't want to work at the engineering firm!" Great comedic moment
- Stare at the audience before I walk off stage
- Don't look confused for the last section of the monologue
- Be sure if I'm going to be pointing at one person in-particular or several
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