Week Thrity: Junk

Performance Week: Junk

Monday 19^th May – Thursday 22^nd May 2014

     As the last week of the rehearsal process came to an end, it was now the time to begin performance week.  Our rehearsal sessions continued, only this time we began in the college theatre.  We started the day with preparations of props and staging.  Whilst the theatre was beginning to take shape of how we planned to stage ‘Junk’.  I mentioned in previous blogs of our plan to stage the play with the audience seated around the stage in a rectangular setting, with entrances and exits set in between the audiences seating positions.  This way we would be able to present the whole drama towards the audience and they would be able to see every little detail, in the setting of the play and in our individual performances.  It would also include a slight visual of the stage representing a street and it would deliver the moral message of the play being a journey for the lead characters, “Tar and Gemma”, a journey of how their lives go from bad to worse.

     While the theatre was being prepared by staff members, we had the props at hand ready to set the stage, but in the mean time we continued rehearsals to ensure full concentration and confidence for the performing side of the process.  With a many scenes blocked in previous rehearsal sessions, our main focus was to look at how we could improve our performances.  In my case it was more about my verbal presentation.  Having learnt my characters lines, using a new learnt technique, of speaking my lines out loud in a slightly robotic tone, this would give me more of a chance to rely on my muscle memories instead of relying on my own memory to deliver the lines.  Therefore when it came to the actual rehearsals I didn’t look at how I could present my lines.  So in today’s session I looked as to how I could add more characterisation in my verbal presentation as well as my physical presentation.  All of which was supposed to back up my style of acting in presenting the dramatic effects of certain scenes, as well as creating a detailed and interesting characters amongst many others in this play.  Personally I feel this introduction to the performance week was helpful as it may have been a continuation of the rehearsals, but it was all very helpful in preparing us for the main performance, only two days away.

     Finishing our last minute rehearsals of blogging and improving scenes, we had a short break and returned to begin setting the stage for the main performance.  The audience’s seats were set and we began to lay out all props and staging equipment to make our visual ideas of what the stage would look like and make it real.  With so many props, listing from a pay telephone, an old television, graphite decorated boxes, empty bottles, many more our plan to set them on the stage was to present it in the style of a squatters house.  From our background research, into what the play looks like in reality, we discovered what squatters are really like in the houses and our plan was to reflect that on the stage.  The style was to be extremely messy, so we place all props and equipment randomly on the stage, in a way so there would be enough room for us actors to move around on stage, and for us to have enough space to enter and exit when called on or off stage.  The end result of the stage, I thought, was pretty impressive as it really presented the life style of these characters as well as showing how bad life can get, which gave a strong and slight positive in making this play as real as possible.

     Monday’s session came to an end with many of us feeling a positive attitude for our upcoming session as we came closer and closer to our first performance of the play.  We had also received some notes from our teacher, in which explored certain areas in which we needed to improve, whether it was performing strategies or certain changes needed to be made before the main performance.

     Tuesday’s session began at an earlier time, than originally planned, as our main goal was to do a successful fun through of the entire play.  Having the stage already set, props already placed, we all got ourselves into our costumes and prepared ourselves for a fun through of act one. 

     We decided to take the rehearsal at a mild speed giving the technician time to make any changes to sound or lighting cues.  The majority of the cues had already been set, but it was now our chance to get to know the cues so we would know what to expect for future rehearsals and of course the main performance.  As we began rehearsing act one there were a few obvious errors, concerning cue times for actors to be on stage, or sound cues.  But all in all they were areas in which could be improved, although one area that was a positive overall was the improvement of the majority of the casts performances of their characters.  It was a really interesting to see how much the other cast member had improved in presenting their characters, in which was a vast improvement to show how the true realism of the plot within the play as well as showing the actors commitment to their role.

     As the day’s session went on we completed our run through of the play, however after receiving more notes from our teacher, it became apparent to us, while we may know all of our lines and all of our stage movements and timings, we still hadn’t achieved the approximate run time of the play, which was to be one hour and thirty minutes.  Therefore after our break, we aimed to do another run through, hoping to achieve faster timing, making it overall ninety minutes long.  In our second attempt there were less errors concerning timing, however there was a slight problem concerning lines, as unfortunately many of us, including me, lost track of our lines.  But all in all a second run through, as in a way it reminded me of the line learning technique.  In the sense of us relying on our muscle memories instead, therefore making it seem more natural from the audiences perspective and to ourselves.  This was proven when our second run through ended, as our teacher made the decision to end the day’s session earlier than planned because this would allow everything we had learnt and rehearsed to sink in so we would feel very confident and prepared for the next day’s performance.

First Performance Day

     Just as we did in our two previous rehearsal days we arrived earlier.  Once every member of the cast arrived we simply started with another run through of the play, now that all the lighting and sound cues were confirmed and ready for the main show.  It was also extremely helpful as well because we would also have the chance to see if we were truly comfortable and confident enough to present the play to our first audience, only a few hours away.  We managed to run through the play twice before hand, and at the end of the very last minute rehearsal I felt extremely confident in present this play to our first audience.

     It was at three o’clock in the afternoon when the first performance was on. 

     As the audience arrived and took their seats, all of us, cast members, were either seated behind the central seated audience, or at our at our first entrance door way, but in the case of the actors who played Tar and Gemma were seated back stage centre to open the play.

     Overall I feel this first performance was good, slightly imperfect, as I felt I could have given a little more detail in my characterisation on stage.  But all in all it was a good performance, receiving a positive outcome from both the audience and our teacher.  Resulting in us taking a break and then we would return to give our second performance.

     The second performance was performed at seven o’clock in the evening.

     Personally I felt the second performance was the best to date.  Out of all our full run through rehearsals, this performance topped all of them.  I personally felt very confident on stage, and though I managed to present a decent portrayal of the character ‘Vonny’.  Plus every cast member gave an outstanding performance as well, backing up my confidence, and truly making all the characters and the plot as convincing as possible for the audience.

Second Performance Day

     Wednesday’s two performances were very successful in the eyes of our teacher, the audience, and ourselves, but now it was time to give the final performance of our final major project.  Starting the day a little later in the morning as, again, it would give us time to process and remember our staging and acting in the last two performances.  Once again every cast member had arrived and we started the day by playing some drama games to get our brains in gear for the performance.  Then as the performing hour approached nearer and nearer he set our props and got dresses into our costumes ready for the final show.

     It was at one o’clock in the afternoon when our final performance began.

     Throughout this week I see it as a grand achievement in another lesson.  We achieved our final major project in our Level 2 course of Performing Arts (Acting), and we also achieved the best outcome of our performances.  In the way of seeing the response of our best abilities in acting, testing our abilities to see if we are capable of portraying these characters on stage and act in this intense and dramatic production.  I personally feel that this play was an amazing chance to see what we as actors can achieve as well setting goals, from any negatives from the outcome of our individual performances, and see if we can improve for future reference.

     This project was a privilege to take part in and I look forward to see what we can achieve in future projects.   

Week Twenty-Nine: Junk

One More Week

Tuesday 13^th May 2014

     It is only one more week before our main performance of ‘Junk’ comes to the college theatre.  With a timetable of only three days at college, our aim for this week was to complete blocking every scene in the play, and rehearse those, in which we haven’t blocked recently.  Since Monday we have looked at several scenes in which we needed to block and continued rehearsing as  much as possible to add/create the precise amount of detail in which would make the play convincing and entertaining for next week’s audience.  Today was the next day in rehearsing; however we began in the usual formation of completing our ‘hot seating’ exercise.

     In my previous blogs I have stated about our tutor group working individually in creating their characters using the script and their own originality, then testing their knowledge in the ‘hot seating’ exercise.  The way the exercise works is the individual sits in the centre of the room and they would have to answer questions from other members of the group.  The questions have to be answered in character and they can be either something simple, whether it is about their hobbies or interests, or if it is something more personal, such as their origins or relationships or thoughts and feelings. 

     I found this exercise helpful as, when I took the seat in the centre of the room, it helped me to understand more about my characters origins and areas in which I hadn’t focused on in my character’s profile.  But during today’s lesson it was increasingly helpful as it helped others look at their characters in more details and it backed up my characters relationship with their characters.  It also helped me as I was able to get a rough idea of how I could show, my characters, facial expressions around these characters in the main performance.  Giving a physical meaning about how ‘Vonny’, my character, felt about certain characters at certain moments in the play.

     During our rehearsal process of ‘Junk’ it helpful to two formations.  The first formation being it helped us as actors to show how much effort we had put into creating these characters and how we will be able to portray them on stage.  Along with proving whether the character choices were suitable for the actors performing them; in seeing whether the actor was capable of taking on such a role.  The second formation being of how the exercise helped us as students, this way it showed our commitment to the course and how much research we did in order to exceed expectations.  Thus making an overall view of the exercise as a positive and essential part of the production process, as we would show full commitment and extend our stage work skills to a new level of creating characters for a production.

     While the ‘hot seating’ exercise was huge positive outcome in the production process, as it helped us create our characters and show our commitment to the course, there are also certain requirements needed for the production process.  The first worth noting, as mentioned previously, is commitment to the job roles given to you.  For example having an acting role is very important and requires the individual to learn lines, create their characters, and memorise staging movement for their main performance.  Although there may be other job roles in a production which require as equal amount of commitment as the acting role.  For example, the lighting manager has to create a plan of how to create the lighting for all scenes in the play.  The list goes on with the amount of job roles in a production and all require commitment and focus for every rehearsal session, as their main goal is to achieve in making a successful and all round entertaining performance.

     Although in our rehearsal process for ‘Junk’ we have focused in these areas, but one area in particular that featured a lot in our rehearsals was our individual personal management.  Meaning that it all comes to our responsibility, in ensuring we have all that is required and that all work is met at the deadlines.  For example it is the individual’s responsibility to have their script, a pencil and rubber at hand, in case of script editing.  As well as knowing their lines, so when they stage the play they won’t need a script at hand and won’t need to be prompted, and when it comes to the main performance they will be fully prepared.  But when it comes to the homework side of it, they would need to understand their task inside out, so they can meet the deadlines and show progression in their commitment to the course.  Plus it backs up the ‘hot seating’ exercise as it presents how much they know about their performing role, and how much more they can learn from each rehearsal session.

     Summarising what is required of you in a production rehearsal, it is important to remember your equipment (script, pencil, rubber, spare paper), your set work (if there is extra work set on the course), and finally it is worth mentioning that an individual in the performing arts should also keep a positive attitude.  The reason being is that if every session had a group member who was always down and in a mood then that might be reflected on every member of the group leading to a negative group, which could reflect on the production.  So if the negative attitude became visible to an audience, then the production team’s main goal in creating an entertaining performance would have failed.  Therefore if each member of the group came into every rehearsal session with a positive attitude then they can achieve the best.

 

     Throughout this production process, we, as a tutor group, have achieve many great areas in which have led to positive outcomes, such as us developing our understanding of all the characters in the play, with help from the ‘hot seating’ exercise, and we have proceeded well in achieving what is required of us for each session.  But what is the most interesting thing about our rehearsal style is our structure of rehearsing to be in the position we are now.

     In the beginning of this assignment we were given the script and given our performing roles, and just like every production rehearsal session, it begins with a full read through of the script.  Having a read through of the script gave us the introduction of the plot and characters as well as giving us all a decent idea of how we were to present this play on stage.  As the sessions went on we looked into more detail as to how we could make this play more original, therefore we create a new stage layout of the stage.  Our stage layout was different compared to what had previously used in other assignments.  Previously we used the traditional staging in front of the audience, giving them a full view of the stage.  So for this assignment our teacher wanted to go in a different direction.  For this production we were to create a new layout of the audience to be around the stage in a rectangular position, in a way this would have two reflective meanings.  The first meaning was that it would be a similar staging structure to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.  But the second and most important meaning was that it was to represent a street style and give the moral message that this whole play was an incredible journey for ‘Junk’s’ leading characters, a journey of events that go from bad to worse.  It was later decided that the characters events were to be shown through the use of props as the staging would contain messy props, as the characters are squatters, and the stage would get worse and worse as it would have loads of props all over the place.

     Once our staging plan was complete we then moved onto our visual imagination of the written world in the script and novel.  In the script it is very detailed of what the setting looks like, but each member of the group had their own idea of how they could present it and visualise it, therefore our teacher came up with another strategy, mood boards.  The use of mood boards was to present photographs of similar settings, as described in the script, and we would categorise them so we could look at the boards for guidance as to how we could get a better idea of how to visualise the play.  We created mood boards with images of the setting, other similar locations, squatters (to get an idea of what costumes we could come up with) and images of drugs.  I felt the drugs images was an important part of the rehearsal process as it was always at our side and, in a way, it would be the most enthralling part of the production.  As the use drugs is the main themes of the play, and the images energised us as in a way it presented a moral message to the whole group.  The moral message was simple “drugs are bad”, but it would also give our group the mission to present this play to deliver the message to audiences in a dramatic style to show them the negative side of life and how bad one can get in life.  So I would say the mood boards were extremely helpful at our side during the rehearsals.

     While rehearsing a play in chronological order seems the way forward for many productions, we had a different approach as to how we could structure the rehearsal plan, in time for the main performance.  Instead of beginning the rehearsing at the top of the script we rehearsed slightly in the style of a motion pictures filming.  We started with a scene taking place near the end of act one and worked our way through randomly selected scenes in both acts.  The reason why we took this approach was the amount of cast members we had.  There are many characters in the play and only ten cast members, therefore there are few scenes in which certain actor are not needed on stage.  For example my character, ‘Vonny’, is only in the play for the majority of act one and is only in the last scene of act two (truthfully Vonny was in more than one scene in act two, but we cut those scenes for time).  Therefore we rehearsed using as many of actors as possible, with none of them doing nothing of the entire rehearsal.  Using this structure, I think, was again very helpful as we were able to explore many of the scenes, separately and then work on the whole acts going in chronological order at the end of the rehearsal process, in time for the main performance. 

 

     Throughout the assignment we have explored many areas, in which helped us with many issues we might have in presenting this performance.  Such as exploring how we could develop our characters, with use of profiles and hot seating.  As well as how we could develop our understanding of rehearsal processes, for future assignments.  But all in all I feel like this assignment has had the most impact on us as the story of ‘Junk’ has a very deep and strong purpose to it, and gives a very strong impact on us, the cast members.  Therefore I feel grateful to take part in these assignments as they extend my education in the performing arts industry’s and have given me opportunities to act in great plays which deliver moral messages.  ‘Scaramouche Jones’ there is more to an individual than meets the eye.  ‘Shakespeare’s House Party’ comedy is more than laughter; there is a lesson to be learnt.  ‘Junk’ be careful which road you go down.

BTEC Level Two Performing Arts – Presents Their Final Major Project

Junk

Performing at the South Downs College Theatre

Wednesday 21^st May  3:00pm  7:00pm

Thursday 22^nd May  1:00pm

Entry £2.00

    

Week Twenty-Eight: Junk

The Hot Seating Exercise

Tuesday 6th May 2014

     In this week of rehearsals we continued to block scenes, in which we hadn’t already rehearsed, as well as explore the meaning of the script in more detail in order to properly understand the play and story inside out.

     That was our aim for today’s lesson, however the beginning was an interesting and very helpful for our character analysis.  In previous blogs I have explored my character of ‘Vonny’ and looked into detail of the script and with use of my own ideas, I managed to create the character.  But in the beginning of today’s lesson it was now my chance to demonstrate how much I had learnt in creating the character, by means of ‘hot seating’.  The purpose of the exercise was for me to sit in the centre of the class room, staying in character, and have the rest of the tutor group ask me questions concerning my character and the plot.  My classmates asked me questions concerning Vonny’s origins with other characters (how Vonny met Richard, with them being best friends) as well as concerning Vonny’s thoughts and feelings about other characters relationships (such as Tar and Gemma’s relationship with one another, and how Vonny personally felt about the whole situation). 

     When it came to exploring Vonny’s origins and how he came to meet Richard, was an area I hadn’t explored in the past, so this was a great question for me to answer in the exercise.  From the original story line (where Vonny is a female character, and has a relationship with Richard) I came up with the idea that Vonny and Richard both knew each other dating way back towards their Primary School years.  Also in my previous blog I stated that the character of Vonny ended up in the position of a squatter due to the loss of a parent/guardian and another abusive parent/guardian.  Therefore I improvised the idea that both Vonny and Richard came from the same origins and therefore understood one another.  So this lead to, similarly to Tar’s back story, the pair of them running away together when they were about in there early teenage years, hoping to start a new life together.  But in our stage version Vonny is male and therefore slightly tweaks this story as the characters were not in a relationship and they were the best of friends and they were simply looking out for each other.

     The other question I was asked concerned what Vonny thought of Tar and Gemma’s relationship.  I have also previously explored this part of Vonny as well, in the sense that Vonny is character who likes to see the glass as half full, therefore likes to keep a positive attitude around people.  But when Vonny is introduced to Gemma, Vonny is already frustrated in the fact that a meal in which Vonny prepared was now ruined, due to Tar and Gemma’s absence.  Also when Vonny bare witnesses to Gemma’s actions with Tar, he is annoyed even more.  This is what I explored in the hot seating exercise.  Vonny has a rougher attitude towards Gemma, nearing the end of act one, this is because Vonny is the father figure amongst the group and does his best to ensure that they are safe and know what they are doing and know the consequences of their actions.  So I explained that, in the eyes of Vonny, Gemma was a ‘spoilt brat’ that did not know what she was getting herself into and didn’t the consequences of her actions and how much of an impact they will have on herself and all the people she knows.  As well as stating that Tar was a character who, as well, didn’t know what he was getting into and needed an opportunity to see what he can do in the world.

     So overall this exercise helped extremely as I was able to explore area’s in which I didn’t look into previously.  As well as explore what other characters Vonny has a perspective on and how that effects Vonny’s actions and the actions of other characters in the plot of ‘Junk’.

What is the Style of the Play?

     After a day’s rehearsals it was now time to receive our blog points and begin to think about a rhetorical question, which we hadn’t looked upon before: what is the style of the play?  For this we were to explore the main themes, the main languages, and the main structure of ‘Junk’.
 

Themes

     In this story of tragic events there are a number of themes in can explain and summarise the plot in minor detail.  For example, the first main themes in which have a huge impact on the plot and characters, and that is the themes of trust and friendship.  Trust is important in the plot, as we follow the stories of both lead characters ‘Tar and Gemma’ we see it from both point of views and what their perspective of trust is really like.  In the case of ‘Tar’ his version of trust come in the formation in the sense that he does not know what he is doing and trusts as far as his eyes can see.  This leads to a huge impact on his actions around other characters and how his life goes from bad to worse.  This could be because Tar had a very complicated childhood, with dreadful parents, which backs up the fact that nobody was there for him to tell him what he should and shouldn’t do.  For example “DON’T TALK TO STRANGERS”.

     Whereas ‘Gemma’s’ perspective of trust is similar, but more in the style of the way that she knows she is making these choices and doesn’t care as much about the consequences.  This could be because Gemma had a childhood in which she had very strict but caring parents who just wanted the best for their daughter, and Gemma just pushed away their advice on how to live life in best way possible.  Therefore when it comes to Gemma running away to join the group of squatters, she has an impact in which delivers the moral message to both her and the audience that “you should always listen to your parents”.  This message is near invisible to Gemma, and them has a huge impact on her at the end of the play as she them realises that her parents were right, and she went too far.

     Both characters perspective of trust also leads to their different vision of friendship.  Tar’s only confident friendship is with Gemma, as he personally thinks that their relationship can go far, and not evens his friendship with the characters Richard or Rob, can interrupt his friendship with Gemma.  Whereas Gemma’s perspective of friendship is her confident feeling around Lily, as she can feels happy and relaxed around her.  This also backs up the theme of trust as Gemma doesn’t know what she’s getting into.  She may feel confident around Lily, but doesn’t really know her well enough to trust her with lifelong secrets.  Such as her true feelings about Tar, as we learnt from reading the novel that Gemma doesn’t have the same feeling of romance with Tar as he does of her.  This shows the polar opposite visions of friendships, as Tar doesn’t attempt at any because he cares too much for Gemma, and Gemma think more of the happiness rather than the trust of other characters.

Language

     The language used in the play is very modern, which has an impact on the presentation of the production.  For example the language used in classical ‘Shakespearean’ productions is to create a signature mark on the script writing as audiences recognise the author based on the written language.  As well as presenting characters statuses, showing whether they are upper class, or lower class.  Along with showing what time period the play is set.  But for this play, the language is used to have an impact on the audience so they can understand what type of characters they are and what situation they are in.  For example, if it was a very ‘street wise’ type of English, then it would present the idea that their origin was rough and they have spent a lot of time living on the streets.  Or if it was a more ‘posh’ English accent, then it would give the idea that they are well educated and possibly rich in their family’s status.  So the purpose of the language is to give the audience the idea of what type of character they are and what they have been through.

 

Structure

     The final part in exploring the style of the play is through the means of what the structure is.  For the plot of ‘Junk’, in my eyes, it is quite obvious that the plot structure is a journey.  The reason being is if you look at the whole play through most of the main characters point of views it is a story of how they journey through this cruel and harsh version of life. 

     For example the lead characters Tar and Gemma, the story revolves around them and we see both characters point of view, showing their journey of their lives of how they go from bad to worse.  But if you look into their characteristic, actions and plans and how they evolve in the play there is more and more versions of a journey in their lives.  So beginning with Tar, his journey to being a squatter to a junkie gets worse.  But there is also the fact that Tar’s attitude towards people changes, as he is begins as rather shy around people and then he shows a darker mean attitude towards people who simply try to help him.  It is a journey of his attitude and also his feelings as he has high trust at the beginning, and at the end he has little trust.  Whereas Gemma’s has a journey in which has a huge impact on her feelings around the people she loves.  For example, in the beginning she is cruel and a brat towards her parents and at the end she has suffered too much and begs for her parent’s forgiveness.  It is a journey of her emotions, as well as, similarly to Tar, a journey of how her trust of other characters changes from high trust, to low trust.

     With other characters it is also a matter of how their emotions towards other characters change, beginning with Gemma’s parents.  When we first meet her parents, the audience is immediately on Gemma’s side as we see her parents the way she sees them.  Cruel and strict.  But as the play goes on we see that Gemma’s parents were right and Gemma was wrong, but it also leads to Gemma’s parents becoming more worried, concerned and caring parents who just want to see their daughter, rather than cruel and strict parents who want their daughter to be disciplined.  So this is a journey for both the parents and the audience’s perspective view of the attitude of Gemma, and how the audience go from being on Gemma’s side, to her parents.

     There is also a link of a journey of some of the characters which are in the group of squatters.  For example it is a journey for Vonny as he succeeds in his lifelong ambition of living a normal life.  It is also a journey for the character of Richard as he is the one who builds his confidence around people.  Also it is a difficult journey for the characters Lily and Rob, as they begin as overly confident squatter/junkies and they end up being the less confident and wanting to be safer when it comes to drugs and their lives in general.

     So the main structure of the play is the countless journeys amongst all the characters, whether it is their physical or emotional journeys through this rough view of life.

     In summary of what is the style of the play, it is a strong play which explores many themes, a specifically strong signature modern language, and a structure that is an endless journey.
 

     Finally at the end of the day we also had another focus point and that was another question concerning the importance of a vocal warm up.  It is always important to vocally prepare yourself with to a rehearsal session because, much like a physical warm up exercise, you would need to go the extra mile.  By this I mean you should see how far you can test the limits of your vocals so in rehearsals if you were needed to scream then you would need to know if you were capable of screaming at right tone and pitch, to make yourself fully capable for the main performance.

     As the lesson ended, I added in my own input of how a scene should be presented for the main performance and why.  But all in all, I feel this lesson was extremely helpful as it helped me to understand true meanings of the plot and my character.  I may have previously said that each lesson is helpful, but it truly is.  When taking part in the Performing Arts a session of exploring the play increases your understanding of the chosen play, whether it is you’re looking into more detail of a certain scene, or expanding your understanding of your character, or even looking into great depth of the subtext.  Either way ever lesson is helpful to ensure that our group gives an incredible final performance of the play ‘Junk’.



Week Twenty-Seven: Junk

Do we Really Know our Characters?

Tuesday 29^th April 2014

     During today’s lesson of rehearsals for our production of the play ‘Junk’ the main focus factor for us was to know our characters inside out.  Throughout the first weeks of the production process we have read through the entire script and have begun to read the original novel, from which the play is based off of.  Having been given our roles and have had time to create a character profile, it was now time to demonstrate how much we had learnt, and how much we need to learn, in time for the main performance.  So today’s lesson began with a hot seating exercise, the purpose of this exercise was for the actor, playing the role of a certain character, to take a seat in the centre of the room, where every other member of the group can ask the individual questions about their character.  The sole purpose of this exercise was, not only to present how much we had learnt about our characters, but to also expand the groups and their own understanding of the character.

     The character I was giving to portray in this performance was a young adult character named ‘Vonny’.  In a previous blog I presented the characters profile and explored what I had learnt from understanding the script context and introducing a little bit of originality to create the character.  One goal I aim to achieve is to see how other actors have portrayed the character, whether on stage or screen.  But the basics of my character, is that ‘Vonny’ comes from a rough origins, possibly concerning loss of a parent or guardian, such as his mother.  Or possibly even concerning an abusive father figure in his childhood.  This would have a vast effect of the characters personality and physical structure.

     Characters physicality is essential for an actor, as it helps them expand their acting to the next step.  The first step being the actor would have to understand how the character would have to be portrayed verbally.  So the actor knowing how to present the characters physicality would be a great part to show the actors commitment to the performing role.

     From what I’ve learnt and understood about the character so far is; having rough origins and sparkle of hope for having a bright future.  The impact that this would have on Vonny’s physicality would be somewhat similar to my own.  Vonny’s physical pacing would be tall, strong and positive.  In some way I hope that this can deliver the moral message that Vonny is a man who sees the glass as half full.  This is because Vonny dreams of living a normal life and possibly raising a family of his own, and the only way he can accomplish that is by keeping a positive attitude around people, in the hope of making as much friends as possible and achieve the best.  As well as Vonny representing the ‘hope’ within the group of squatters, so he can show every member of the group the light in their darkest times.  This backs up the characters profile in which I state that Vonny is one of the father figure characters amongst this group of lost souls in a cruel view of the world.

     However Vonny may seem to be the most positive character amongst the group of characters, there is few down sides towards this character.  For example, when we find the character at his first scene on stage, we see him a little frustrated, as one of Vonny’s few dislikes is that he is bored with the characters constant change of location.  Vonny does not like the position he is in and that he and his close friends are moving from house to house.  Vonny much prefers to stay in one house that suits him.  This also backs up his dream of living a normal life.  So when we first meet the character, his physical posture is going to be slightly different.  Slightly different in the way that he is still keeping a tall and strong figuring, but is more focused and wants there to be a point to their current situation.  For example in his first scene, his just want the breaking into a house over with, and wants to know more and more about the next member of the group, Tar (who is the story’s leading character). 

     This physical structure continues to appear in following scenes, such as the scene where Tar introduces Gemma to the group, and when Vonny stands up to Gemma.  When Tar introduces Gemma to the group, much like when Vonny meets Tar, Vonny just wants to get as much information about Gemma as he can.  Because, in a slight way Vonny also likes to judge a book by its cover, and doesn’t really like nor trust his first look at Gemma.  This then leads onto the scene when Vonny stands up to Gemma.  In this scene Vonny, in a way, confesses that he has had enough of Gemma and attempts to send her back home where she belongs, before “she really takes off”.

     But as the play goes on we see more of the positive side of Vonny, which in some ways makes him the only ‘good guy’.  Because every other character in the play, I define them as ‘Anti-Heroes’.  An ‘anti-hero’ essential describes the lead character being the here, but does bad things in order to achieve the best for themselves.  For example, Tar and Gemma are the lead characters, but both characters take up drugs and prostitution in order to get the best for themselves.

     As the hot seating exercise came to an end, we then began to continue our rehearsals for the play.  However one thing that was missing for today’s rehearsals was the warm up exercise.  Now understanding that we have to change our own physicality in order to create our characters for the production, it is now important that we are physically prepared, as well as being prepared in knowing our lines.  So it was now important to address why we all needed to take part in the warm up exercises.  These warm up exercises were now essential to prepare us for rehearsals.  The purpose being that they would get every inch of our bodies warmed up to see if we were physical capable to change our own comfortable physical structure into another characters structure.

     In conclusion, I feel that this lesson was extremely helpful to not only me, but the whole tutor group, as we had an extended understanding of not only our characters but all the characters in the play.  This also meant that we could develop our own characters to a level in which makes the whole plot more convincing.  It’ll also give us the chance to present how much we understand about the sub context within the play and if we are capable of reflecting a harsh view of this particular kind of life on stage.