'13' Blog - Evaluation

Performance Evaluation for ‘13’

By Frank Hussey

Basics

Strengths:

1.      Learning Lines – Keeping my former technique of speaking lines out loud repeatedly in a monotone voice, I succeeded in learning lines in time for final rehearsal session and main performance.

2.      Memorising Entrance and Exit Calls – After memorising the stage layout for the main production, I successfully managed to memorise when I was call on and off stage in the main performance.

3.      Pacing – Rehearsing in ‘speed runs’ helped vastly in our understanding of how the pacing for the final performance should be.  Plus it gave me an understanding of what scenes I needed to speed up, for timing, or slow down, for dramatic effect.  One scene in particular I kept at a slower pace was Act One, Scene Ten, in order to enhance dramatic tension between the characters ‘John’ and ‘Rachel’.  I personally felt the end result was excellent, with perfect timing and pacing.

Weaknesses:

1.      Keeping Track of Time – Struggling only slightly in rehearsals, in keeping track of my entrance calls, I wanted to ensure that I was on time for my scenes in the main performance.  While rectified in time for the show, I feel this is an area to focus on for future reference, ensure I’m on time and the flow of the play continues to a success.

 

Stylistically

Strengths:

1.      Adding a Sense of Naturalism – I personally felt I succeeded in reflecting on ‘the Stanislavski System’ of adding a sense of naturalistic flow and realism to my performance.  Both physically and verbally I believe I succeeded in bringing ‘John’s’ character to life, ensuring that audience members saw the character, not the actor.

2.      Reflecting on the Themes of the Play – Pre-rehearsals, I managed to get a good understanding of the context of the play.  I learnt that the key themes of ‘13’ were the themes of war and the morals in politics.  I personally wanted to reflect both these essential themes in ‘John’s’ emotions, and I succeeded through his passionate public speech, in Act Two Scene Six.

3.      Presenting ‘John’s’ Objectives – Once again pre-production process, I gained a decent understanding of what ‘John’s’ objectives were throughout the play and certain scenes.  I personally felt I succeeded in presenting these objectives to the audience while all the more keeping the character alive and in the moment of the scenes.

4.      Including Contemporary Theatre Elements – One scene in particular that stands out for me personally is Act One Scene Fifteen.  Our goal was to include the element of ‘balancing the stage’.  Thereby reflection characters emotions, current state, while keeping every actor on stage visible for our audience. 

Weaknesses:

1.      We Used Less Contemporary Elements – One area of which I felt we could improve upon for future reference is to use more contemporary elements.  This way we could achieve near professional standard of bringing ‘13’ to life.  But I still feel positive about what we achieved in the final performance; I just feel we could have included more elements to achieve a better standard of production work.

2.      Not Using a Large Amount of Movement – I always pictured ‘John’ to be a more verbally descriptive character, rather than using physical actions to back up his descriptions.  Therefore for my main performance I wanted to use nice and simple movements to increase the sense of realism to my performance.  But I do feel I could have used more physical actions for ‘John’s’ speeches, but this an area I aim to improve upon for future reference.

 

Actors Skills

Strengths:

1.      Understanding my Character’s Physicality and Vocalisation – During the main performance, I felt extremely confident in projecting ‘John’ physicality and vocalisation.  I felt I achieved well, in delivering these elements in a high standard to ensure our audience understood everything about my character and the play.

2.      Learning New Performing and Staging Strategies – I personally felt that learning new strategies helped vastly towards my final performance, as I felt I could bring great depth to the character and the play for our target audience.

Weaknesses:

1.      Vocal Variation – I did feel for certain scenes I could have improved upon my vocalisation, in particular projection.  While I did keep a low tone, to increase dramatic effect, I do feel that I could have taken on board a louder tone ensure audience members did not miss any hidden details.

2.      More Physicality – As mentioned earlier, I wanted to keep my physicality to a nice and simple standard.  But I do feel that, for future reference, I could have added more physical action to further engage audience members.

 

Ensemble

Strengths:

1.      Keeping High Focus and Confidence – I found that working in a new production team helped vastly with boosting my own confidence.  We all kept a high amount of energy and focus with one another.  Plus it ensured that we would all succeed in our performances, as well as offer many ideas and suggestions as to how we could improve for the final performance, making this assignment piece a success.