Evaluation

The show I think throughout was strong and was successful ii also believe that most of the tutor put a lot of thought and time into characters. In my own performance I think the idea of my character strong and how he is always distracted performed this by even when on or off stage would be in my own thoughts and chewing my fruit drops I do know this was successful as audience did sometimes look at me off stage and did not just want them to see an actor off stage waiting to go on but the character throughout. Physicality I feel was held throughout the show as when I was sat down would normally sit in the same positon with my hand on my right leg or while walking my hands would be behind my back and I would be looking round the room thinking of my memories. If we had a larger rehearsal time think I would like to have played around the relationships between the characters and different ways my character could have felt towards each of them. This term I think the fact we have been looking into naturalism is an important topic to an actor the most important thing to understand is the opposite of naturalism so melodrama and looking into what makes that is a key thing to understand naturalism and we also began to understand the smallest thing can change naturalism either the way you speak or what you’re doing on stage. However we took an old paly that would have been mostly performed over the top and we toned it down and turned it into a show that the audience could relate to or really think about.

Looking into Stanislavskis work really help he was the original founder of naturalism he believed an actor should not just act a character but be a character. When it came to the final show I think this really helped a lot of people as if we had not looked at his work the performance may have looked melodramatic. For example the scene on pg 311 with Guyev  Lophakin and Ravensky little thing such as the way she spoke to the servant or how Lophakin spoke to the other characters could change the performance if they were more over the top but in the natural world u wouldn’t react to a situation in that way it may be more toned down. In the rehearsal process writing and changing the objectives allowed the actor to know how each line and each scene would play out and the attitude or atmosphere of the scene but as we got to change the objectives t allowed us to play round in which objective was suited for each line and see which one best explained to the audience what the actor was trying to show so in the show I do think that I did play to objectives and that allowed the scenes to flow more freely. Showing intentions to the audience I believe did try but I could have spent more times on making my actions clearer so an audience understood why my character was doing these certain things.

Beau had an all-round great character and I know for a fact that he at home worked endlessly on his husky old voice , and his posture ii do give him a lot of credit to stand there while the show was going on just looking at the ground however I do think he could have worked on his lines a bit more as a key character throughout the show he was not certain on all lines or queues as in rehearsal he did walk in a few times.

Script

Tuesday 7th

Today we were going through the show and different scenes but this time we were mostly wearing costume. In a rehearsal I think it is important to wear costume as it motivates the actors and make it easier to get into character and feel their character. the show is looking well how ever some of the scenes do need to be sharpened up

30th september

30^th September 2014

I chose to write about Romy who was playing Ranevesky because I think she made her character a bit different towards the rest of the actors. when she read her lines it seems she understood the scene and with what she was saying , so much I began to believe her relationship with jack and throughout her scene keeping facial expressions and relationships with others on stage is what drew me in to her character she learned her lines so, she was able to focus and truly know what she was saying  , which I think worked really well and made the scene come to life, and better to watch, b you could see the relationships and chemistry between the two characters. 

At the begging of the rehearsal I was watching Sophie and how she made her character different or believable. On stage during her rehearsal I could see she really reacted with lines being said around her and her face was never just still she was always showing a new emotion and it really helped me connect with her character I also noticed she has changed the way she walks her legs were more extended and sometimes she would not stand still depending on how her character felt during the scene. I really like what she has done with character and can’t wait to see the final product.

23rd September

Tuesday 23^rd September

Today was to carry on rehearsing and to block scenes before we went on a trip. For each of my scenes we did a rehearsal but I began to focus on my first scene as this would be the first time audience get to see me and what my character is like and is the starting point of him. 

We began by going through the script and just reading then eventually bringing it to its feet it was really useful having a previous student who left a year ago, saw the scene and was able to give us an outside view of the story and how it should look. What definitely helped me was the fact we broke down scenes into units and objectives and what is the goal of the scene as shown below.

As an actor I think going through a script before putting it on its feet really does impact you as it gives you a feel for the character and the pace of the scene but it also allows the chance for the actor to look at his objectives and what they are doing while the line is being read or while people are speaking this has really impacted me as a young actor. 

Character profile

    

             

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T7Zloj39kI

In the cherry orchard my character gates

Seems to be some one that in each scene is looked over and he is in his own little world and people over talk him if he rambles on but there are other sides to him for example towards his sister he does care for her feelings and emotions and also the cherry orchard he has the Same beliefs that it should not be changed into summer houses as he and his sister have both had child hood memories their with the rest of the family. 

His style seems to be casual smart so a jumper around the neck but Alps relaxed at the same time 

16th September

16^th  September

In todays lesson to start preparing for the Cherry Orchard assessment in week 8 we started to look at the Laban Efforts

We started to look at this method as it will help us start to create a character and a sense of what our character in the show would be like. It is only used as a starting methods it also helped us to see what little differences in the body can impact in the scene as we showed the class a piece that we had made in pairs.

We were provided a sheet of movement and sequences that would help for example a punch comes from strong weight it’s sudden in time and direct in direction. We were then asked to explore these different movements and walk round the room developing characters and exploring ways to move in these forms. I found the exercise useful to me as an actor as I was not thinking of the weight or direction of the character so early on in the process and it made me think of how different characters in The Cherry Orchard would be like.

We were then given the scenes that we will be performing in for the assessment and told to get into the groups of people in the scene. I was in three different groups so I did find it a bit of a challenge to get round and have an in depth look at the scene but in each group we started by just reading through the scene and exploring each character just by their speech to start off with.

I got the character of Gayev he seems to be very distracted by a mental game of pool in his head that he blurts out in lines some of the time he also does not have much respect for the lower class and finding meaning for his lines was sometimes hard as he never thinks what he says he just says them.

Group 4 start on page 311 and we are discussing selling the orchard to help with money. Throughout my scene I am mostly giving opinions on different situations for example the fact having the railway is a good thing in town or the line either he goes, or I do.

Group 7 we start on page 336 and this is just when the orchard has been sold and we are going through different emotions. This scene I am emotional shown through my first stage directions with his right he is wiping away his tears or me saying I’m horribly tired, finding excuses to leave so I just go to bed instead.

Group 9 we start on page 348 and this is the last scene and we are just leaving the house to go to the train station. I am much more caring n the last seen as I worry about my sister and call for her a lot to make sure she’s ok. I also say my friends my dear good friends leaving this house forever can I stand silent can I refrain from saying a word of farewell.

If I did not understand parts of the script I highlighted them to research and look more into when I was at home.

Me and Michael then worked with each other to decide what we thought this character was like as a person and his relationships with other characters and also the super objectives of this character.

Together we found out that throughout the play Gayev mostly will agree with his sister Ravensky

It also seems to have some conflict with yasha throughout the show. Most of his objective are to : agree, be successful , inform, tell , entertain  we found out he is very opinionated and sometimes comes off as rude to other people  but his super objective we both decided was that he wished to look after his family

We started to look at these questions of what people say about my character

What my character says about other people and what he says about himself.

It really helped me by looking at opinions on himself and others towards him or his attitude to others all this research is on my character profile which will be published soon. As an actor the process helped me to make descions on how I should play my character and in the next couple weeks how my character should react on stage.

To the end of the lesson we in character groups were told to come up with a sequence of movements for our character to perform together Michael and I decided to show the business side of his character and stressed and at work I think once it was all put together with other characters it looked ok but the stage looked to cramped and people were too much standing near each other it may look nicer with more space between people.