Week Four Part One - The Truth

The Truth behind Drama and Acting

Monday 29^th September 2014

Acting

     To begin this week, we came together as a class and we had to discuss, with at least everyone inputting ideas towards what we thought were the principles of acting.   As well as the principles and the origins of drama itself.  To begin  with in our group discussion we all had to express/explain, in one word only, what we thought the purposes of acting are.  I stated it was to “embody”, such as it is the actors job role to fully embody their given character and tell their, either factual or fictional, story.  Once everyone inputted their singular word, some examples would be "storytelling, present, depict, and many more".  But it all came to the point when we all discovered that it is the purpose of drama, and all performers taking part in the drama performances to “react”.  It was then our lecturer stated that “anyone can act, as long as they’re reacting.” 
     This statement implied that anyone can stand on stage and deliver lines, but it is more of the matter of reacting towards other characters and scenarios.  Personally I found this statement to be extremely interesting, in a factual meaning, as truthfully it had never occurred to me that that is the purpose of acting, and all the more the purpose of the actors job role.  I always considered the actors job role to be to understand and embodying their given character, thereby resulting in them making the storyline and the storytelling, of their play, all the more convincing and entertaining for audience members.  But the truth is, if there was two people on stage and one was delivering a speech and another just stood still emotionless, than that isn’t acting, that’s just boring an audience. 

     But once we concluded the discussion on what is required of an individual, in order to act, we then turned to discuss the origins of drama.  Previously I had researched into the origins of drama and the theatre industry, and I already knew that it all began, dating back to 550BC, in ancient Greece.  It all began as a ceremony in honouring their God Dionysus, God of Wine and Entertainment.  But as we looked into more detail we discovered more factual elements behind the origins of drama.

     One key element that stood out, to me, was the actor’s use of masks.  I personally thought the masks purposes, similarly to today’s standard use of masks on stage, was to convey and express the performers emotions.  But that wasn’t quite the case back in ancient Greece.  Because their performing roles were to impersonate, give different yet entertaining interpretations, of people from foreign countries.  It could have been, and was in some performances, considered offensive, resulting in some unhappy audience members.  Therefore it was the mask’s job to hide their identities.  Not only that, but because their theatre layouts were ginormous it could have been rather difficult for audience member to understand what is going on.  Therefore the masks were designed to highly express the emotions of happy and cross.  All of which was backed up by the actors overly exaggerated movements on stage, to further project their current state towards the audience.
     Another element that I hadn't looked at in more detail before was their performance foreshadows particularly included in their tragedy play.  One repetitive element that stood out in their newly found genre of tragedy, was the use of characters deaths.  In the Greek Tragedy plays it was apparent that the lead characters were going to die at the end of the play.  But little details were placed within the performance to emphasis and foreshadow their upcoming death.  One feature, that I found genius and interesting, was the input of the characters constant gases towards the sun.  This would suggest that the character was looking to the God of the Sun, and "looking into the light", thus emphasising that he wishes to step into the light, and go from this life to another.  In other words the lead character looking into the sun was suggesting that was where he was going to end up.
     But the final detail I found interesting was the first playwrights competitiveness.  It was said in a documentary about the Greek Tragedy genre that every year there was a festival honouring the God Dionysus.  But at this festival there were three successful playwright's, and at this festival there was a panel of judges and they would come together and debate which play was better.  Better presented and better performed.  I liked this little factual detail, as it for me expressed the playwrights original ambitions, not just to be recognised, but to be recognised as the best writer of their time.   

Chorus

     All in all I found this extremely interesting, and I was beginning to sense that this was all building up to the main purpose of the lesson, and sure enough I lecturer then asked us about what we knew about a Chorus.  Once again, I did some research and performed, in the past, into a group chorus.  But this time we all worked together to discover the true purpose of the group chorus, and in particular their roles in Greek Tragedy productions.  From last year’s assignments focusing on our productions we looked at a group chorus and how they fitted into the play and alongside the lead characters.  From what I could remember, it was the job role of the chorus to express and back up the lead characters sudden emotions; giving every amount of detail that the audience needed to fully understand the play and the character.  But going back to our previous discussion about the principles of acting, our lecturer revealed that it was the chorus’ job role to react to what was happening on stage.

     We came to the conclusion that the chorus were like the audience.  In the sense of them being a group of citizens reacting to what was happening on stage, but they were fully embracing the storyline and the storytelling.  Plus the chorus could express their own emotions, only increasing the enthusiasm in their movement, to, in a way without distracting the audience from the main plot of the play, increase the audience’s attention to detail and fully engage them towards their production.

     All of this was extremely interesting and came in handy for our practical exercises.  As we practised on stage with two volunteers to read an argumentative speech aloud and see what the rest of the group, whom were now the chorus, would react to the argument, and take sides and express emotions towards their specific side of the argument.

Tragedy

     After exploring and discussing the principles of acting and all the details behind the chorus’ job role, we now looked into Greek Tragedy.  We turned to watching a series of documentary videos, all which explored Greek Tragedy and the impact it has in today’s theatre industries.  From theatre’s origins we know, as a fact, that there are countless elements still used in modern theatre, but it was these specific elements that are still used professionally and keep a high impact on their specific storytelling.

     Elements such as the chorus, once again it is still used in modern theatre, but it is presented in a style that can interact and intrigue their audience even more.  One example was a modernised production, with a large cast roll call, but with many characters having little to no dialogue, it is their job to back up and exaggerate the lead characters emotions and reactions to certain prop devises and/or plot events.  But why it is done in a different style is what I found to be the most interesting.  Because some of the theatres directors and artistic directors stated that increasing and including elements such as different pacing for lead cast member and chorus members.  All of which would back up their changing thoughts and feelings, as well as emphasis the dramatic feeling throughout the entire production.  With the pacing, there can also be rather theatrical movement, where the chorus seems to be rather unnatural and unearthly, all to enhance the feeling and the curiosity of whether the lead characters on stage are even aware of the group chorus.  I found these new element fascinating, and it made me wonder, slightly if we could implant these particular chorus elements into loads of modern plays; all to enhance and expand the unique possibilities of storytelling in a new and original fashion.

Conclusion

     To wrap up the lesson, we continued our rehearsals for our first production of ‘13’.  In this rehearsal session we looked at certain scenes, involving big speeches or monologues, and we looked if we could include any chorus elements into our version of the play.  So we looked at one speech in particular and for those who weren’t involved in the scene became the chorus.  For this we included the expressions of excitement, disappointment, curiosity, approval and disapproval.  All these moods, I thought, came in quite useful as if did give a convincing feel to it that the chorus was representing an audience of citizens reacting towards this individuals speech.  The end result was quite impressive, but with a few more rehearsal session I think we can make the scene increasingly convincing and of course intriguing for our audience.

Week Three Part Three - Course Option 2

Course Option Two: Arts University Bournemouth BA (Hons) Acting

How do I get there?  Training:

 What does the institution offer?

     Another potential course option I have discovered, which may also be a great stepping stone in order to achieve my ambitions for a career in acting, is located at the Arts University in Bournemouth.  In this Arts University students take part in courses which explore Art and Design, Performing Arts based subjects, Graphic Design, Textiles, Make-up, Visual Communications, and Photography just to name a few.  For my key five year plan ambition, to extend towards a career in acting, the course I have looked at, in the Performing Arts subjects is the three year course of BA (Hons) Acting. 

     In this course, University, students are shown the practical and academicals sides to acting.  The courses goal is to help build motivations and self-discipline.  Not only with vast set of practical work, but the course also likes to include a practical, hands-on, system to their academicals work to underline the vocational nature of this course, and give students increasingly motivations to continue down the roads of acting.  Supporting/related classes, such the Universities Film, Costume, and Make-up courses, combine their work with the Universities actors, to create a professional output, and even produce their own film’s and productions.  With the Universities productions comes their venues.  Creating their performing, and presentation, of their plays, succeeding in a professional standard allows students in all the performing arts and media courses to take their work into the Universities own studio theatre, and possible extend to other public venues.  All of which allows students the experiences to work with other course members, work in a professional standard, and discover more of the hands-on approaches to the practical and academicals sides to stage and screen acting.

     What modules are on offer?  As previously mentioned, students who succeed in their course work and extend to working in a professional standard have the opportunities to work with other students, in related courses, and extend to presenting their production work in the Universities studio theatre, or even in other public venues.  But if the students hasn’t begun to extend their work to professional standard, then students take part in the courses modules which all link in to the performing arts industry and would allow the students more opportunities into developing their skills for future career offer in acting.  The course modules consist of learning the voice, movement and singing skills.  These modules assist vastly in the student’s development into becoming a creative artist, and taking their next steps towards a professional standard in acting.

     When it comes to the question about whether gaining these skills will support my career choice, I stand strong in saying yes, and this course does support my ambitions for the future.  Because the course lecturers/teachers understand their students, they would know if they would need any areas for improvement or even development.  They could look at the skills I have already gained from my past experiences in acting, and see if I could change for the better.  Plus the course modules and lessons would allow me many opportunities to extend my understanding of the practical and politics in working, as an actor, in a theatre company; along with working with other course members, in the same and/or different courses to acting.

     Unlike my first course option route (LAMDA BA (Hons) Professional Acting), the location did come to a slight negative, but this course option doesn’t have the same outcome.  Location wise the University is located as a under an hour dive, from my current home.  Therefore this courses/Universities location is a positive, in my eyes, as travelling for home visits can easily be rectified.

What skills/requirements do I need to get in?

     “We welcome applications from students with a wide range of backgrounds,” as stated on the Universities website.  An entry requirement to getting into this course asks that students applying include their previous experiences, grades and qualifications.  “Your grades and qualifications tell us what kind of student you, interviews and portfolios show us what kind of person you are.”

     What grades does a student require to get into the course?  A student applying has to have achieved five C’s in their GCSE’s, or above, all of which must include the subjects of Maths and English.  As well as receiving a Level 2 and 3 qualifications in their colleges course work.

     Personally I don’t see this as much of an issue.  In my GCSE’s I have achieved passes in my Maths and English subjects.  As well as a pass in my BTEC subjects, like Science, along with a pass in BTEC IT, and more importantly I have gained a final marked grade of a C in Drama.  So I have the qualifications, GCSE wise, but when it comes to my college acting grades, I have, so far, only achieved Level 2.  With my final grade last being a Distinction Star for Level 2, I have set my goal to repeat my achievement for my Level 3 acting course.  So I feel confident, for if I wished to apply to this course in the University, as I have yet to achieve my Level 3 course in college.  But I do feel confident in stating what grades I have achieved in the past, and gaining a decent grade in Level 3, in order to take part in this course.

Why is this course for me?
     In a summary of what I like about this course, I do see a lot of positives and negatives about this particular course and University.  Course work wise, I think this course is excellent.  I really admire the way the University structures the practical and academicals sides of the course so it all get a positive overview of both the students and the lecturers.  As the students will enjoy their time at the University, on this course, and will receive a decent understanding what are the ups and downs of working in an actor’s role.  But as the lecturer, they will admire the way their students will progress to a professional standard.  There is also the fact that students will be given opportunities to work with other students and in other working conditions/areas, all of which to back up their understanding and experiences of what it is like to work in this job role.  Plus location wise, it’s perfect it isn’t too far away, and it isn’t too close to me home either.  Taking me away from my comfort zone and allowing me the chance to work and explore new locations to extend to professionalism in this particular field of the career of acting.

     That is what I admire about the course, and the University, but what I do see as a negative and potentially a struggle is the administration and the prices.  Administration wise, I may have to take opportunities to work a little harder, if I am to go down this road for my five year plan.  By working harder I may just achieve the right grades/qualifications to take part in this course, and get a positive overview from the University’s course lecturers.  Also financially speaking, there may be another difficulty as well.  But I do feel it can be rectified, depending nearer the time of needed to apply for drama schools or Universities.

     But overall I do feel a good outcome of this course and I shall definitely consider this course after completing my Level 3 college course work/years.
 

 Post Training:     Post training after this course, at the University of Bournemouth, I feel that could be an opportunity to explore and express the skills I would have received from taking part in BA (Hons) Acting.  In this course I could receive new skills into many related areas in acting, and other performing arts subjects, and the post training would allow me to present them.  By taking up this career of acting, I could potentially receive job roles with theatre companies which require certain skills in order to take part in their productions.  Plus this course would allow me to perform productions in various locations, giving me experiences and understanding of relocating with production team.  Therefore I would say that the post training, from experiencing this course would allow me to present the new skills I have gained and extend to a professional standard in my potential career in acting.     

Voice Portfolio: Alexander Technique

Alexander Technique

Wednesday 24^th September 2014

     To wrap up our development of the actor’s voice lesson we continued exploring techniques into concentration and controllable breathing.  Last week we explored breathing, inhaling and exhaling, and control over the diaphragm.  In this session we continued to explore methods into concentration, of not only our breathing but of our minds, and control, over our breathing and our entire body.  This is when we were introduced to the Alexander Technique.

 

     The Alexander Technique is a devising method used by many actors, on stage and screen, and it assists them in their embodiment of their performing characters.  The technique allows the individual to maintain focus and attention of their mind.  It also works towards the individual’s posture of their body; similarly towards an actor’s embodiment of a different character, in the sense of walking and talking in a different way so they appear/seem as a different person. 

     It was now our turn to experience and take part in the Alexander Technique.  Similarly to when we did concentrated and controlled breathing through the diaphragm, we lied on the floor, hands to the bottom of the chest, where the diaphragm is, and remained still as our teacher taught us the focus and control to put into achieving the Alexander Technique.  To begin with, we started by finding the comfortable position and maintain a steady and controllable inhaling and exhaling routine.  Once we found a comfortable position, our teacher began the tutorial.  We began in getting focus towards our body, asking the question is our body tense anywhere, is so why?  As well as answering can we rectify this in any way, to maintain steadiness in our body so then we could begin our focus.  These multiple layers of our concentration looked particularly at our breathing and at our body structure.  Our teacher then introduced the feeling of infinity.  This feeling had us imagining of us travelling in amongst the stars, increasing our feeling of infinity.  All of which expanded and increased our imagination, in particularly to changing our current posture to something new and original.  Another factor that helped us to changing our physical posture was our teacher introducing tension.  For this our teacher had us tense every inch of our body.  The end result, I found, was an increase in the feeling of relaxation.  Backing this up was a slight feeling of wonder, and I personally felt like I was flying, which also helped me to explore what I could change in order to embody something completely different to myself.

     But finally our teacher concluded the focus speeches to assist in our concentration towards something different.  Then we were all told to return to a standing position.  Taking our time and slowly resume a natural position.  The only difference this time was I could feel more relaxed and controlled in my standing.  Therefore my posture was different to pre-Alexander Technique.  Pre-Alexander technique was my usual and traditional standing posture, as I began I stood more relaxed with a slight tall figuring to it.  Whilst during the Alexander technique I lay low, vertical and explored my breathing and posture, to change to a new structure.  But post-Alexander technique I came to a posture of where I was comfortable, with no tensions amongst my structure, and with a slight feeling of new to it.  In the sense that I did feel comfortable, but at the same time a rather unnatural feel to it, as I felt strong and different in my newly post-Alexander technique standing posture. 

     Post Alexander Technique I could really feel the difference vocally as well.  Pre the Technique my vocal formation was at a low tone and pitch, which is a natural setting for my speech pattern.  But post the relaxation and focus exercise, my vocal formation took a new pattern, similarly to my physical structure.  Before the exercises I felt a natural sense within my throat and my voice box.  But it was during the exercises that I could feel the unnecessary tensions within my voice box, and once again the feeling of wonder and infinity let me to rectifying these tensions and reforming the vocal formation.  But after the exercises I could feel a sense of unnatural and slight uncomforting, as my vocal pattern took on a higher tone and pitch.  But I felt this was because the feelings of infinity lead me taking a relaxed physical and vocal posture.  This created something new and out of my comfort zone.  While physically I liked and admired my new standing posture, vocally I felt slightly out of my comfort zone, and felt the need to work on it in order to alter my voice for any future production work.

     Therefore in summary I felt the Alexander Technique was an extraordinary experience.  It allowed me to explore the techniques of focus and concentration to achieve in areas in which I haven’t looked to before.  Plus I do hope this exercise can come in handy for future reference.

  

'13' Blog 1: Reflecting '13'

‘13’

Monday 22nd, Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th September 2014

First Impression

     Continuing our weeks in the first term, of Level 3 Acting, we were introduced to our first play, for our first production assignment.  After waiting with much anticipation as to what play we would be performing and researching, our lecturer announced the title of our first play.  The play was called ‘13’.  My instant reactions had mixed thoughts and feelings, I personally had never heard of the play before, all I knew was it was modern play and recently written, within the past ten years.  I was interested, though, to read the play and get a decent understanding of the plot, before we began any work towards the official performance.  So firstly, in nut shell, our lecturer gave us a decent understanding of what the play is about and who the characters are.

     ‘13’ is a modern play written by ‘Mike Bartlett’, and tell a story of mystery, involving thirteen people, hence the title of the play, and it concerns their journey through haunting nightmares, protests against their government, as well as the return of a young man with a vision for the future.  With myself and the rest of the group knowing very little about the play to begin with, we were all eager began the read through.  This play consisted of five acts, and was predicted to have a full run time of two hours and thirty minutes.  My initial thoughts were positive, because I, personally, really like a story with a mystery, plus this play was set in the modern times/society, and it had a sense of paranormal activity involving the characters and their haunting nightmares.  So for this introductory session we began to read through the entirety of Act One.

     Now the first Act of ‘13’, I thought was pretty genius.  I really liked the written dialogue amongst the characters; I thought the stage directions were detailed in their description of characters movements and the settings.  But all in all I really admired the strong sense of mystery throughout this Act alone.  It established what types of characters were on stage, where they came from, what they do, and where the rest of the play could potentially go and take these characters.  I thought this was a great introduction to our first play, as we had little to no understanding of what the play was about, to begin with, yet we read through the first Act, giving us a rough understanding of what we were in for.  Then it was up to us to finish reading the play, in our own spare time, so then we all could share our thoughts and begin the audition and rehearsal process.

     As the read through came to an end we continued to learn more about this play, as our lecturer asked us a question: “does the storyline sound familiar?”  To this we all answered curiously, only wanting to know what the true meaning of the plot was and if it had any link to other famous stories.  To which our lecturer revealed that the inspiration behind ‘Mike Bartlett’s’ ‘13’ was the story of the ‘Bible’.  In particular, in answering the title of the play; ‘13’ was inspired by the story of ‘Jesus’ and his ‘twelve disciples’.  Not only did the inspired storyline have multiple references within this plays plot.  But the characters involved had a specific reflection of the ‘twelve disciples’.  This we would go on to explore in future sessions.

     But as this session drew to an end, we were asked several questions concerning what our thoughts were on the play and who are target audience should be?  We expanded on those questions later on, but it was now time to see if we could give a small performance, using scene extracts from ‘13’.  From this we were told to work in pairs or small groups, depending on how many actors/characters were needed for that particular scene.  But the scene extract I had, I got the chance to explore several interesting points about the characters ‘John’ and ‘Paul’.  I knew from the read through that there was a strong sense of mystery and plot details revolving around the character ‘John’, but what I admired particularly about the character was the mystery behind him.  Truthfully that what I really like about characters in plays, movies and novels, as it makes that particular character the most interesting, and makes us, as an audience member, curious about their personality and their character traits.  This is why I really liked the character of ‘John’.  However in the other scene extract, where I explored the character ‘Paul’, I discovered that this character wasn’t essential to the entirety of the plot of ‘13’.  But he was an entertaining side character that helped bring a sense of humour in that particular scene extract.

     So as we wrapped up our introductory session towards ‘13’, our lecturer concluded with a final question for all of us.  As for next session we were to begin the audition process, and our lecturer asked: “is there any character in particular that you wanted to reserve to audition specifically for?”  I desperately wanted to audition for the role of ‘John’.  As I mentioned earlier, the character really fascinated me, already knowing what the character is capable of from reading the first Act.  Therefore I wanted to cease this opportunity to portray the character, and get a better understanding of what his past was like, and unveil the mystery behind ‘John’ and this mysterious plot line within ‘13’.  So I put my name down to audition specifically for ‘John’, and I was eager to get going on this project.     

Audition Process

     As the next day began, so did our audition process for ‘13’.  As I mentioned previously, I was eager to audition for the role of ‘John’.  So as we began, all of us separated into small groups, where we all could audition for various roles from different scene extracts from ‘13’.  I however I was taken into the other room, with other students who wished to audition for the same role.  We were given one scene extract where involving ‘John’ and his delivering a speech to an audience about their fictional government and how they should stand up for what they think is right and true. 

     While reading through this speech, I took a real liking for it as the speech reminded me of a typical ‘William Wallace’ battle speech.  By this I mean, for example, in the motion picture ‘Braveheart’, directed by, and starring, screen actor ‘Mel Gibson’, there is a battle speech given before the epic climax of the movie.  ‘John’s’ speech in ‘13’ reminded me of it, because of his use of encouragement towards his followers to begin their revolution against their fictional government.  Similarly to ‘William Wallace’ in ‘Braveheart’ standing up against his enemies, and encouraging his followers to stand tall and be brave.  Therefore I wondered how I could deliver this speech.

     Firstly I figured one style, in which I could have gone over the top with it and involve the audience and do my best to make it seem memorable and inspirational for the fictional characters.  But on the other hand, I did think of why I wanted to do this role, and that was because I loved the mystery behind ‘John’.  Therefore I wanted to begin the speech in a silent tone, and bring my vocalisation louder as it came to an end.  That way, I felt, gave the increasing sense of the mystery behind ‘John’, like he didn’t want to reveal his true purpose for starting the uprising, but had to improvise a speech to bring his followers closer to him and pursue their goals.

     So I presented the speech in that manner, although one down side to my audition piece was the fact that I wasn’t capable of learning the entire speech in time.  Therefore I looked too closely towards the script for help.  But I still managed to keep my vocalisation alive, thus making the speech strong a deliver the message behind ‘John’s’ words. 

     When my audition piece for ‘John’ came to an end, we were all taken into new groups and continued audition pieces, except for different characters, different scenes, and with different people.  The purpose of this was for our lecturer to see how well we would all get on working together as a group, and if we were capable of bringing these particular characters to life, and if these were the characters we were meant to perform.  Once again I took part in working with a small group, where I did receive a smaller role, but I liked their part as they did enhance a slight comedic tone to the scene.  As the audition process came to an end we had time to rest and work together on team exercises, whilst our lecturer made the final decisions on the casting of ‘13’

     The final decisions were made, and I was extremely relieved that I received one half of a double casting for ‘John’.  Our lecturer revealed that there were two of us that did a good job in delivering ‘John’s’ speech.  Therefore the part was double cast.  It was my responsibility to take on the role of ‘John’ for the entirety of Act One and Two.  Then the second actor would take over in Acts Three and Four.  I personally was pleased with this casting role.  Because it was my job to present the real mystery of this character, and show the audience his first steps into his vast journey ahead in the play.  I was really pleased to receive this role, and I was now extremely eager to begin the rehearsal process into the play, and begin exploring the character and unveil the mystery behind ‘John’.

 

Beginning the Academicals Rehearsals

     Continuing for our ‘13’ workshops, for this session, we began to look at how we could present our version of the play in time for our practical rehearsals and the main performance.  The key area that we looked to particularly was the staging of ‘13’.  We began to look at different performing and staging strategies, for this we turned for inspiration to the original staging of the play, at the ‘National Theatre’. 

     It was in the year 2010, when ‘Mike Bartlett’ began to work on a script, titled ‘13’, whilst mid-way through his wildly successful production ‘Earthquakes in London’.   It was the current society and the impact of the political debates that inspired him to write a play telling the negative and positive outcomes of these political debates/decisions told through a vast amount of characters perspectives.  Then in 2011, the ‘National Theatre’ brought his new stage epic to life.  Receiving positive reviews and brought to life another unique form of storytelling.

     “Hip, incisive…13 demands to be seen.” - Time Out

     The ‘National Theatre’ brought this play to life, with a humungous stage structure with multiple meanings and attentions to detail.  All of this used to capture their audience’s attention, and bring the true meanings within the plotline to life.   

     This image in particular stood out to me the most because it showed the true scale of this play.  I really liked their use of raised levels and a circular structure.  Now the reason I liked the use of levels was because the story within the play, tells the story of political decisions and the impact it has on the people.  Therefore I liked the use of levels as it, from my point of view, showed the physical impact the decisions can have on the people, who represent the general public.  Expanding on this, it can physically show the audience the political characters on a higher level, and making an impact on the characters standing on the lower levels.  Thereby giving the audience the true perspective of how vast/large and devastating these characters lives are.  Also it backs up the many reviewers statements of the play being “Mike Bartlett’s New Epic” as it shows through the epically large stage structure.

     However one area, I found the most extraordinary, was the circular formation of the stage.  Now from someone else’s perspective, the usage of the stages circulation could be to simply so the actors can embrace the audience members deeper into the characters storylines.  But I personally think there is more depth to it than that.  I think the purpose of the circulation is to enhance the element of confrontation.  Because shortened, the story of ‘13’ depicts the general public standing up to their government.  This all the more backs up the idea that the play is a representation a huge confrontation.  As we see the story flow through every characters point of view, including characters representing the general public having to suffer the consequences and the politician’s making the dark, difficult and dangerous decisions.  This also links into the audience’s attention and interest with the play, as it shows both sides of the argument, and it makes them interested to see how they can bring the argument to a conclusion.  Intriguing the audience members to a new standard where they do not miss any details what so ever.

     These two techniques particularly, used in the main production, performed at the ‘National Theatre’, inspired us most of all.  This is because these techniques, in the stage structure, increased certain elements within the play.  All of which would enhance the storytelling and audience’s attention to detail, in both the plotline and the characters.  But in particularly, our target audience (Further Education Students), would be able to experience all these details and receive a decent understanding of the moral messages within the play.  As well as receive an entertaining experience.

     The final part of our early research into the plays background was our own performing strategies.  Now being at an early stage of the research and rehearsals, I felt I needed more time to understand the plot and the characters, particularly my character.  Although I did come up with some ideas as to how I could enhance the presentation of my character, by using the staging structures to an advantage.  By doing so it could make my performance seem more natural and realistic, through understanding how I could position myself on stage and manoeuvre to a position where it could keep the character and storylines on stage alive.  Plus it would keep the audience attention to every hidden detail. 

     I would like to set this a goal, where I can take this research to level where it’ll come in handy and make the main performance, and my own performance, to a new standard where I am truly pleased with the presentation of ‘13’.  As well as our audience (Further Education Students) having an entertaining experience and do not miss any details within the story and our own performing strategies.

 

     So in summary of this week, being introduced to our first production ‘13’ has been an interesting experience.  Beginning with our understanding of the plot within the play and then beginning to further expand on an academicals side to the rehearsals.  All of which shall be brought together various ideas and inspirations to how we could present the stage structure and our performances for our main production of ‘13’.   

http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/13 - Here is a link showing our inspiration towards the staging of ‘13’, presented and performed professionally by the ‘National Theatre’ company.

Week Two Part One - Frantic Assembly and Voice Lesson

Frantic Assembly's Best Shows & Vocal Work

Monday 15th, Wednesday 17th and Thursday 18th September 2014

     To begin our second week in the Level 3 course, we returned to our previous work in learning and understanding of the theatre company known as 'Frantic Assembly'.  After learning and understanding what type of theatre company it is, as well as what kind of work they produce, it was now our chance to see their best productions on screen and take notes on what we liked, and disliked, but mainly their production techniques involved within the plays.  The two plays were titled: 'Lovesong' and 'Stockholm'.

     The first play we watched was 'Stockholm'.  From what I learnt from the introductory video, 'Frantic Assembly: A Guide to Devising' I learnt that it was this particular production that was, according to the artistic directors, Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett, was inspired by true events.  Not only has that, but the story behind ‘Stockholm’ imitated the story of how Frantic Assembly began.  In the sense of constant disagreements and conversations concerning of how they were to progress and if they could achieve what they wanted.  But personally I could see this within certain plot details amongst the entire play.  While, in a nutshell, the story of 'Stockholm' depicts a young couple as they struggle in their lives together, resulting in some visually amazing choreographed sequences of the couple fighting and making love.  In amongst my notes I stated of how well structured the stage was, and how it suited the setting and atmosphere for the characters and plot.  As the stage was double sided and rotated to change rooms amongst the scenes, it did give slight feel of isolation, backing up the characters tensions and pain, and in a way their love, which increased and decreased as the play went on. 

     But not only that the dynamics of the production was shown throughout the actor’s use of staging and connection to one another.  Both the actors, and the characters they were portraying, had a strong bond that, not only made their acting more convincing, but made their movement sequences more naturalistic.  With their movement backed up by a sense of naturalism, enhances the audiences understanding of what is occurring on stage, and what the characters are physically and mentally going through.  The audience could really feel the characters emotions on stage; at least I could, and felt a sense of curiosity as to what will happen next and how this story will conclude.

     Similar thing could be said for their second production 'Lovesong', in a way the dynamics kept the audience intrigued and interested about these characters and what they’re going through, but I felt there was more dialogue, than movement.  This seemed to work better as it increased the audiences understanding and interest in the production.  The story of ‘Lovesong’ tells the past and present story of a married couple, as we see them in their youth and in their older ages.  We are taken through these characters timelines and we explore what they’re going through and what they've already been through.  I found this to be genius storytelling.  What I really loved about this production was the style of the play, the interaction of the past and present incarnations of the characters, and how their stories developed and we became increasingly involved in their lives, desperate to know what they were to do next.

     While the play did use some physicality in certain sequences, which involved the development of a certain character, and including both the past and present incarnations of the same character.  I found those movement sequences to be interesting and it showed the evolution and the bond between these two characters.  Along with the use of lighting and sound to increase the audience’s attention to detail within the performance, and performers, it truly made each scene stand out and helped us to further explore their current emotions and thoughts.  But one thing that stood out for me in particular was the characters dialogue.  The written dialogue, I thought, was very well written, and extremely well delivered.  In the sense that we believed the older incarnations, of the characters, had been together for a long time, and didn’t always see eye to eye.  But we couldn’t also sense a little tension in some scenes where we could feel an argument developing from, what started as, a simple conversation.  This is also similar towards the younger incarnations, you could tell that they were newly married, you could tell, once again, they didn’t always see eye to eye, but what stood out to me the most, was you could tell they were worried.  Worried about where life was going to take them, worried about their life decisions that they had to make together, but the biggest worry I embraced the most from this play, was the younger characters worry about if they would live together until they died together.  This particularly was emphasised vastly throughout the entire play.  One piece of dialogue that was repeated throughout the past and present characters was their wish to be buried underneath their garden tree.  But with use of props and other secondary plots within the play, it really foreshadowed the end of the play.  The prop devises enhanced the understanding of the older characters wanted to be back in their youth and resting in their back garden before they go.  As well as secondary plots suggesting they might pass away sooner than expected, because other characters wanted to buy their house.  All of which gave deeper emotion and foreshadowed the heart warming and emotion ending, to a brilliantly directed, well written and acted production.

Breathing

     For our second lesson in the development of the actors’ voice, we turned to improving and understanding our breathing.  The reason being, was for us to understand how our breathing work’s and how we can concentrate enough to put enough control for when we’d, for example, deliver a speech and not forget to take time and breath. 

     At the beginning of the lesson we were introduced to a simple yet essential bullet point, stating: At no point should breathing, the holistic nature of performing be forgotten.  After looking at many diagrams of the human chest and rib cage and diaphragm, our teacher pointed out the areas in which ensures that our body inhauls and exhales.  Inhaling oxygen and exhaling out carbon dioxide. 

     The diaphragm’s job role, in our breathing exercises, is to help pump carbon dioxide out of the lungs and pull oxygen into the lungs.  The diaphragm is a muscle that lies across the bottom of the chest cavity.  As the diaphragm contracts and relaxes, breathing takes place.  It was in our physical breathing exercises were we had to place our hand across the lower part of our chest, were the diaphragm lies, and take in slow yet strong breaths.  This allowed us to maintain control over our breathing and experimented on whether it had any impact on our voice.  Maintaining our control of our breathing allowed us to focus and control the three registers of the voice, high, medium, and low.

     Personally I found this lesson and the exercise to be extremely interesting, and I found it might come in handy for future reference.  As for performing, a performance role may require the use of maintaining control of the voice, and I think these breathing exercises were the perfect exercises in which to focus and control, to achieve what I’m, or anyone in this matter, is capable of projecting with their voice.      



Week Three Part Two - Course Option 1

Course Option 1: LAMDA

How do I get there?

What is the Training?

 

What does the institution offer?

     In order to achieve my ambitions of succeeding in the performing arts industry, and hope to get a career out of stage and screen acting, the perfect training institution where I would be further educated and given the chances and experiences would be at LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts).  The course that seems to be right for my hopes and ambitions is BA (Hons) Professional Acting.  In taking part in this three year course I will strengthen my physicality, emotional, intellectual, and creativeness in order to succeed in the professional standard of acting.

     Throughout the training within the course, I would take part in classes which explore acting, improvisation, voice, movement, singing, textual analysis and interpretation, Alexander Technique, physical theatre, stage combat and dance, including audio and screen performance.  These classes, like modules would allow me to experience secondary method and techniques, which all link into the courses main projects.  Not only that, but the supporting classes/modules are also spread throughout the three years of the entire course, beginning with expanding what students already know in the course work, in acting and performing arts, and extending it to a new and professional standard in order to succeed in this field of performing. 

     Administration to the course is simple, in to applying an application online, and then going to the University to take part in the audition process.  The minimum entry age for applying to this course is 18, and there is no upper age limit.  As well as there being no academic prerequisites for the course. But as they recommended on the website: applicants must be fluent in the English language. 

     However one negative in amongst all these positive outcomes of the BA (Hons) Professional Acting course with LAMDA, is the location.  When it comes to travelling to the University located in London, that may be an issue for visits from family members and annual holiday trips home may at first seem to be a difficulty, and possibly the strongest negative outcome.  But if I was to head down this road to continue my five year plan, travel issue may be rectified.  Plus the end result would be a positive outcome as my ambitions of gaining a career in acting would be a couple of steps closer, and personally I feel this course is, what has been reviewed as, one of the best universities when the individual is in a position to continue their education in acting.

What skills/requirements do I need to get in?

     “We ask only for talent, passion and a commitment to learn.”  As stated by the course managers themselves, there are no academic qualifications and grades required, as long as students wish to head down the roads of professional acting then the university is very happy to welcome many more students.

     The audition and interview process consists of two or three weeks’ notice for when students audition shall take place after students applied via the LAMDA website.  Auditioning requires for students to memorise and perform a monologue of their choice and to perform in front of their interviewer and course manager. 

     In the students written application students are to state what experiences they have had in the past concerning the main theme of the course.  What the course means to them.  As well as what they would like to get out of this course.  Personally I would state that I have had experiences in taking small parts to begin with in school productions, then receiving larger performing parts in college productions, including taking job roles back stage and experience other form of performing arts, such as dance and singing.  But what I would like to get out of this course is to extend my understanding and experiences in acting and hope to expand to a professional level, where the subject becomes more than a passion and a hobby, it becomes a job role, and I can take part in bigger productions either on stage or screen.

Why is this course for me?

     Personally I feel this is course for me because it understands its students, where their coming from, what they’d like to do, and how far they’d would like to progress in the course.  This course has seen many, now famous actors/actresses, take this course to the level of a professional job role and have gone the extra mile to succeed.  The course also has many supporting classes and modules all to back up the final course work and expand their students understanding of the industry so if they did reach a professional standard they know what other skills they can rely on, should any problems in their career back fires.  But mainly I feel this course offers more opportunities than many acting courses/universities do.  It also supports my current skills and ambitions, as I’ve always wanted to take my acting to the next level, and see if I can gain any new skills by exploring and taking part in their supporting classes to further educate me in the vast world of performing arts.

     Location wise, as I stated previously, may become an issue but all in all, in a way, I see it as another positive.  Because it is located in our capital city, I do get the feeling of success as all the famous British actors might have studied and performed in those local acting schools/universities, and who knows they could be the homes of the next big hit rising star actors.

     Financially speaking it may be an issue as well, as it is no different from every other University prices, but the circumstances may change over time.  But all in all I feel extremely positive about potentially taking part in this course, as it seems to have a positive outcome, as well as receiving positive reviews about the Universities settings and teachers, whom much like the student have a strong passion for their course and give others full support towards succession.

Post Training       

     Further education wise, should I need it before taking part in any professional courses I do feel the need to look at any possible local drama schools.  In the hope that I could receive any further understanding of practical and/or academicals course work, this I feel would boost my opportunities for when it came to further extend to a professional standard.

     For my career aims I wish to set the goal to get job roles in any stage and/or screen production roles, whether it is at the beginners starting point of assisting back stage/set or gaining a professional career resulting in taking one of the lead roles on stage and performing.  All this, I feel, is achievable given the position I am currently in, still in education and further expanding my understanding of acting.  Then possibly taking it to a professional standard to do what I love doing.

     Has the course set me up for a career?  Personally I feel the course I am currently in is giving me stepping stones towards a career.  As it give me my final overall grades, giving me qualifications, and allows me to put those achievements onto my actors CV and apply for any future roles concerning acting roles and performing arts roles.  Plus it might give me opportunities to quickly expand to professional standards, but once I do achieve what I can then I hope to take part in professional courses and productions, so one day I can for fill my dreams of becoming an actor on stage and screen.    

Week Two Part Four - Five Year Plan

Five Year Plan

1 – I Am Here…  What Skills Do I Already Have?

-          Current Courses

     In my current course I take part in the Level 3 Extended Diploma Acting course, expanding my understanding of acting, and receiving more experiences on stage, and beginning experience towards screen acting.

-          What Grades do I have?

     From previous courses and education I have received a C in my GCSE drama course from secondary school.  This began my education of what it is like to take part in productions and how to research behind the staging, performances, costumes, and many more all of which do come in handy for the Performing Arts Industry.  Another grade I have received in the past, or recently, I have gained a Distinction Star from taking Level 2 BTEC Acting course at my first year at college.  This extended my education/understanding of the Performing Arts Industry and gave me more experiences on stage.  As well as it allowing me to break down layers upon layers of research in which comes in handy very well for courses in general to receive the top grade.

-          What have I Covered in College

     What I have covered in college so far has a range of skills which support my wishful ambition to take a career as an actor.  Simply beginning with building my confidence on stage to a new level where a feel comfortable working in a group of people where no one is “the one”, we are all in the same boat and we are there to enjoy our time on stage.  I have also covered opportunities to take part in a range of other Performing Arts subjects, such as being able to take assignment pieces involving singing and dancing, all to back up my final grade and see if there was another course I liked in comparison to acting.  All of which I enjoyed vastly, but still set my goals for an acting career.  Although I feel this has given me an chance to understand what it is like to take on various modules, so if the opportunity came for a University offer I would know I am capable of taking on various subjects to achieve a high final grade.

-          Extra-Curricular Experience

     Similarly to what I have covered in college my Extra-Curricular stand as taking part in acting, dancing and singing roles.  All these curricula’s show what I have taken on board in the past and if I am capable of taking on various other curricula’s in the future.

-          What Skills do I have?

     Over the course of the time in my education in acting I have been able to receive and understand what skills I have achieved and kept for future.  My first set of skills could be listed as gaining social confidence, which comes in handy when meeting new members of the acting course.  My second skill lists as being able to learn scripted lines for productions; in the past I have struggled, but over time and particularly in my college courses I have learnt a technique in which makes learning a script easier and enjoyable.  A third skills in which, again, I have developed in my previous year at college, is committing to doing a decent amount of research towards my given play, whether for my character, or for the plot.  Finally my forth essential skill can be listed as having the ability to listen and take instructions from my teacher/lecturer or even the plays director; I listen carefully so I can understand and make it come so it is to my, and my teacher/lecturer/directors, liking.

-          What Skills, Qualities and Experience do I lack/not have yet?

     When it comes to my skills, I suppose it could they could be developed to a better standard so it may become more professional for future reference.  But when it comes to experiences I have not yet taken, it could be my lack of screen, backstage and musical theatre experiences.  For example, I haven’t experienced any screen acting and do not yet understand its principles, but this is something I wish to develop and understand, as screen acting is one area I would like to achieve.  In the past I have taking role backstage of college productions, but not to a professional standard where I fully understand my job role and how to make/keep the production at a successful and professional standard towards its audience and director.  Once again I have stated I have taken assignments in which explore singing and dancing on stage, but I have not yet experienced that at a professional level, which could lead to another key strength/skill/experience I could list on my actors CV.

 

2 – My Career Aim(s)/Aspiration(s)

-          What do I want to do?  What does this job role involve?

     One of my all-time dreams/ambitions is to become a stage and screen actor.  Having experienced many stage production roles I would like to extend any education and knowledge I already have and turn it into a professional job role.  Now this job role requires experience and understanding of what I am to do with a performing, or back stage, role so it can result in a successful production.  But the job role involves various offers towards the performing arts industry, whether it is a large performing role on stage, or if it’s another job required back stage assisting, or if it’s a simple job role starting point where you would have the role of handing out drinks to cast or crew members.  Either way it all comes down to the experience or skills written on your CV that gains you job role you wanted.  Therefore I wish to receive good grades and understanding of the many job role areas in the performing arts industry so I can for fill my dream and become a professional stage and/or screen actor.

-          What Skills/Experience do I need to do this?

     Skills wise I would need to be able to work in the production company’s conditions and be able to adapt to their working timetable, and exceed to their expectations of what they require of me in my job role.  Meaning if I had a performing role I would have to learn my script and character inside out for the main performance.  The same can be said for a backstage job role as I would have to understand what I would have to do and if I could do it decently enough for the main performance.  Although when it comes to the experience I would have to know what is expected of me and if I can adapt to their working conditions to suit their needs and make their stage productions a success.