17/11/2011 A Doll's House

In this lesson, me and my partner began by hot-seating each other. In character as Helmer, I tried to answer all the questions given to me by my partner in a way that would conform to all the character traits we discussed in our Berkoff lesson. I tried to convince myself I was proud, sexist, possessive, hard-working, patronising and worrying. I believe that this exercise has helped me internalise the character of Helmer. I found that in rehearsals this helped me believe that I was Helmer and was being left by Nora. We spent the rest of the lesson rehearsing. I had learnt around a page and a half of lines so far. By next lesson, I hope to have learned a few more.

17/11/2011 The Arsonists

We began the lesson with warmups such as wink murder and still image to focus us for the lesson. We then split into the groups we do the first section in to fine-tune our performance. The first thing we did was discuss the position of the puppets and the puppeteer. We decided that the puppeteers needed to do their actions more limply to imitate actual puppeteers. We also decided that the bell section needed better synchronisation. I believe that we accomplished that when we performed in front of the group. Next lesson, I want to improve the second group piece.

17/11/2011 Berkoff

We began the lesson today in the groups we begin the piece in. We were told to list the techniques that Steven Berkoff uses in Theatre. Our group listed Total Theatre, the importance of the actor and minimalism. Afterwards the group all shared what ideas they had come up with. I believe that this helped me as I was reminded of all the techniques we should have been using. We then split into groups made up of the people playing different roles in 'A Doll's House'. In the Helmer group, we came up with five of his character traits that we were going to turn into a Berkoff piece. After discussion, we chose patronising, worrying, proud, possessive and hard working. We began with an idea for possessive where we would links arms with an imaginary Nora and walk around the space dragging her around. We also each had one phrase we would say as we walked round the space that would show him to be possessive or patronising. My line was: "tsst, the poor". We then created a chair and footstool for one of the Helmers. The intention was that the Helmer sitting down would appear very proud and continually order expensive items from a waiter. I then had the idea that it could be staged in the round. I thought that this would be effective as the walking section at the beginning would be difficult to view from a proscenium arch view. It would also make the piece more non-naturalistic. When we performed it, we were asked to perform it twice. I believe that I contributed a fair share to a performance that was well received by the group. I believe I also understand the traits of Helmer more.

10/11/11 Berkoff

We began the lesson with a quick warm-up to help us focus, and a quick run-through of the piece to prevent us from forgetting it. We were then split into groups of four where we would compose the section of 'Greek' after the manager has died. We would then perform these in front of the group, with bits from each piece being put into the final piece. We began by reading through the lines and determining who would have which lines. We had two Eddys and two Waitresses, so we had to make sure that both members of the pairs were playing the same character and that everyone had a fair number of lines. One idea I devised was for me and the other Eddy to play sarcastic violins as the Waitresses were crying over the loss of their husband. Another idea I devised was for us two Eddys to allow the Waitresses to lean in our arms as they decide they would rather be with Eddy. I think that I contributed a fair share to the performance and that some parts of our performance will be in the final piece.

04/11/2011 The Arsonists

We began the lesson with a few warm-up games to help us focus. We then performed the full chorus piece we had rehearsed. There is still a small lack of synchronisation in our group, but I believe that that will be fixed through further rehearsals. We then split into our smaller groups to practise our performances. We began with a read-through of the script where I established the characterisation of my character. I tried to show that Schmitz had a higher status than Biedermann by adopting a very confident and commanding voice. I did this because I noticed how Schmitz often ingratiates himself to Biedermann by saying he doesn't require much food or a bed, but then tells Biedermann and Anna to get him those things anyway. When we started blocking the scene, I adopted a high posture and a firm gait to further characterise Schmitz. When we first blocked through the scene, we felt it was too naturalistic. To make it more abstract, we added a part where the performer playing Anna comes in and performs various actions towards Biedermann which reflect Schmitz's monologue. She does this in a way which makes Biedermann her puppet. For example, on the line; "Don't make me laugh", she tickles Biedermann, making him laugh uncontrollably and unwillingly. On another monologue, we have her coming in and dousing Biedermann in petrol then trying to set light to him. These actions received praise when we performed it to the group, so we intend to continue developing them in the lessons. By next lesson I want to have learned most of my lines for Schmitz.

04/11/2011 Berkoff

We began the lesson by watching the video of what we had done last lesson. As I watched it, I noticed inconsistencies in the actions of all the performers, including myself. For example, at the beginning, some of the Eddys have their hands on their knees while others have their elbows on their knees. I believe that as we continue to rehearse, we will have to pay a closer attention to detail, to prevent problems like this. Another issue I noticed was in the section before the fight scene. Most of what is said between the Eddys and the Managers is lost due to de-synchronisation between performers. I believe that to fix this, this scene will need to be de-constructed so that all the performers know how they should say the line and at what tempo. Afterwards, we went into the CYT and continued to rehearse the performance.

04/11/2011 A Doll's House

After discussion with our tutor for A Doll's House, we have once again changed the extract we are to perform. This is because our tutor believed that because we had cut out so much material, it broke the Through-line of Action. In our new extract Nora tells Helmer that she is leaving her and gives her reasons why. We started by breaking our extract into units and objectives. For example, I have defined one unit of text where Helmer attempts to force Nora to stay by adopting a commanding tone. I have identified the objective in lines such as the one in which Helmer says: "You are betraying your most sacred duty". I have annotated this section describing that Helmer's objective in this line is to convince Nora to stay through a form of emotional blackmail. He does this by using a word with negative connotations to describe Nora's actions and a powerful word associated with Religion to describe what she is 'betraying'. By next week, I aim to have learned some of my lines.

03/11/2011 A Doll's House

We began the lesson with a quick physical and vocal warm-up. I had partially completed my target set last week of learning lines as I had learned the first three of my character's new lines. We began by reading through the extract we had chosen. We had already familiarised ourselves with the characters so we read through the lines confidently. We then decided to time one of our read-throughs to ensure it was within the three to five minute limit. We found that it was almost seven minutes so we looked through the extract for places we can cut material without losing the quality and naturalism of A Doll's House. After we had made cuts, we did another read-through and managed to reduce our time to five minutes and thirty seconds. By next lesson, I want to be blocking actions. My target is to learn my first page of lines by next week.

03/11/2011 The Arsonists

We began today with some warm-ups and then split into our groups. We rehearsed the sections we had created before half term. After we had re-perfected them, we discussed how to combine the work of the two groups. We came up with a solution where the other group perform their section with us watching in a semi-circle. We would then slowly sing clock chimes as they pass a cigarette along a line. After they have finished their section, they dissipate with our group being left in the middle. As we perform our section, they surround us and mime that they are CCTV cameras and make machine noises. After we had performed this twice, our tutor placed us into small groups where we would each perform a short extract from the play. I was originally given the role of Biedermann but this was soon changed to Schmitz. In our group, we performed a read-though in character. I think that I have personified my character well in the read-through as I have made him appear charismatic and I have shown a passive-aggressive dominance over the character of Beidermann. Tomorrow, I am going to rehearse more, and I will hopefully have learned some lines by then. I also need to think of ways to express the meaning of the play in a non-naturalistic way as the character of Anna has very little dialogue. Therefore I think the actress playing her could use physicality to create symbolism in a way I have yet to imagine.

03/11/2011 Berkoff

We began the lesson with quick stretches to prepare us. We then rehearsed what we had created so far. We then worked on improving the death clump at the end. We began by improving the transition between the fight and the clump. The Managers in the middle no hobble into position clutching their chest in pain as the Eddys take their position menacingly. One point of improvement we were given was to slow down the action in the death clump as it looked too clumsy. We achieved this by synchronising our speeds into one slow-motion tempo. This improved the clump as I believe it would make an audience treat the Managers more sympathetically. There is also a new section added where we Eddys turn to face the audience and state "Victor". I found this challenging as I was not sure how it should be timed. I believe that this led me to be out of sync with the other performers. I also noticed some of them made victorious facial expressions with hands held high while myself and some others did not.