'And' Evaluation 29/02/12

Today, we performed 'And' in front of an audience. A few hours, before we also performed a final dress rehearsal. I got some feedback from my tutors afterwards. They said that I had caputured Aaron's persona very well vocally, showing Aaron's charismatic nature as well as his indecisiveness. They said that I needed to improve my physical characterisation of Aaron in ways such as my posture and movement. I decided to practise this in the time between the dress rehearsal and the acual performance in hope that I would improve enough to improve my grade.

When I performed the piece, I was trying to be constantly aware of my posture to ensure that I was always poignant when it suited my character. I decided that at the moments when Aaron becomes less confident in himself, I could drop my posture slightly. Overall, during the performance, I believe that I had improved my physicality since the dress rehearsal. I also concentrated on making sure that every word I said was clear and distinct as much of the play relies on the audience understanding exactly what Aaron is explaining. I had also practised with the speed of my speech, speaking faster when I thought it suited Aaron's characterisation, for example, when he is excited by the thoughts of billions of unique, unconnected events happening simultaneously. Another thing I believe I did well was listen to the other characters. Even though they never interact with me, I interact with them later, which means that Aaron has to develop some sort of understanding of their character. So when I am sat down, listening to their situations, I am listening to their every word and forming an opinion on how I would treat them if I ever met them. I am also assessing the differences between how I would treat them, for example, I would treat the girl worried about the shrinking of chocolate bars with little respect, but I would treat the boy with the dying father with much greater respect for how he is dealing with it.

One area of the play which I believe still needed work, was the naturalistic ending sequence. We had rehearsed that section very little and Hanna was very unsure of her lines. I don't think this scene looked natural, which may have reduced the tension built up by the previous scenes.

28/02/12 Micro

We began the rehearsal by going through the final section of dialogue with Aaron and Adrian. We then prepared for a full runthrough by playing 'zip zap boing' to keep us energised. We then performed the full piece. I tried to show that I was more confident about the vocabulary I was using by addressing one of our technicians directly when speaking the line: "And you, at the same time, are sitting right there." I have improved on my tendancy to speak lines too quickly. However, during a few manic moments, I need to continue to concentrate on my diction and clarity. During the end sequence, I also need to concentrate on my character's emotions as he faces his sister for the first time since he found out she's been raped.

24/02/12 Micro

We started today by just going through the lines between Aaron and Adrian, to ensure that we could competantly perform them despite, the little rehearsal time we have had for this section. We then prepared to perform it in front of tutors to prove that it can be performed in front of an audience. Before we performed, we did some vocal and physical warm-ups to prepare us for the performance. One aspect of my performance that was praised was my confidence and stage presence. I was also said to have been listening to what I was saying more, understanding what I was trying to communicate better. This would lead to the audience understanding what I was saying better because I am communicating with them audibly, visually and semantically. One thing I need to improve on is the speed at which I speak my: "I don't lack intelligence" monologue. The problem is that I am speaking too fast while trying to show Aaron becoming more emotionally agitated. I need to improve on this by practising a pace that is slow enough to be clear and fast enough to show Aaron's fluctuating emotional state. Another thing I need to work on is my pronunciation. During the performance I stumbled on the words 'seperate' and 'arbitrary'. To prevent me from doing this again, I am going to go through my lines at home to ensure I can pronounce them correctly first time, every time.

21/02/12 Micro

We began with some vocal and physical warmups to prepare for the rehearsal. We then went through the play from the beginning. I believe that I have improved greatly on a section of the play which begins with: "You have to keep this in mind too." In this speech, Aaron explains that the stories the other actors are telling are all happening seperately, simultaneously and in close proximity. I felt before, when I repeated this that it appeared mundane as Aaron uses very similar sentances. Now, by using appropriate pauses and changes in vocal delivery, I am emphasising the meaning of what he is saying much more.One part Eric told me to work on is a small section where Aaron says: "Three nights ago...oh god, how could I not have known." I'm still not ready." I was told that the last two sentances should be directed at myself, rather than to the audience, as Aaron has just realised that he's unable to talk about his ordeal. Before next lesson, I want to practise the final part of the play between Aaron and Adrian to make it as natural as possible.

10/02/12 Micro

We began with some vocal and physical warmups. We had a quick games of tag and zip zap boing to make us more energetic. We then did an excercise where we portrayed genereric charcters at request such as an octopus or a ballarina to boost our physicality. We then did breathing and diction exercises to prepare us vocally. We then did a full runthrough of the play. One thing which Eric believed I did well was my facial expressions, saying that I knew exactly what I was doing and that they looked natural. One thing I need to improve on is my clarity and diction. Eric said that some of the lines which I deliver quickly become hard to understand. To fix this, I need to practise these lines more to ensure that I can deliver the monologue audibly and clearly. Another thing Eric said I did well, was to show my control over the figments of my imagination, showing clear distinctions between when I was in control of them, and when I wasn't. Another thing I need to improve on is my familiarity with my monologues. Occasionally when I spoke, I stumbled on certain words and phrases such as "confluence of concomitant conflicts". I need to rehearse these thouroghly to improve.

09/02/12 Micro

The original plan for the lesson was to do a runthrough, but as Hanna wasn't here, we couldn't do that. Instead, we did a timed readthrough of the script to get a better sense of the length of our final piece. Afterwards, we discussed design and costume ideas. One idea I had previously suggested was to use white face paint to increase how surreal the piece is. Eric also suggested using white t-shirts with the word 'and' scribbled all over them.

02/02/12 Micro

We had a very quiet rehearsal today where we read through parts of the script, discussed sections of it and how it should be improved. One thing we discussed was replacement schools in Nate's first monologue. In the original play, Nate talks about schools he has been rejected from such as Dartmouth and Ithica. As these would mean nothing to a Nottingham audience, Eric wants to change the names of these places to colleges in the local area. This does not infringe the performing rights of the play as there is an author's note encouraging directors to substitute the names of the schools. We then suggested local colleges that the character of Nate would want to attend that would fit in with the monologue, such as Trent College. We then moved on to Aaron's cut-ins between monologues. Eric instructed me to try and keep the audience partly focused on the other performers while ensuring they listen to what I'm saying. This is because the other characters are still going to perform monologues shortly while Aaron's interuptions do not advance the plot. However, they do give an insight into his character and will become relevant later in the play. We then discussed when Aaron attempts to tell the audience his story visually. There is a lot of information in this speech that the audience need to remember and also a lot of movement of chairs on stage. Eric noted that an audience may be distracted by on stage movement if I am distracted by it while I am speaking. This means that I have to try and divert audience attention away from the movement on stage by clarifying what I say more and leaving pauses between sentences. Next we discussed Aaron's responses in the Mix and Match section. All of us agreed that his responses did not suit the cut down version of the play as his character has not developed enough to get away with phrases such as "Ha!". We instead discussed ways I could react to the character's mixed phrases through physicality and facial expressions. We ended by discussing Aaron's motives for wanting to tell his story and how he reacts to his sister, Adrian. In my opinion, Aaron feels guilty that he was nearby when she was being raped and he didn't know. He feels that he has failed her. He also questions whether he is stupid, but tries to dispute it by intentionally using complex words in his speeches. Eric commented that throughout his life, he has been dealing with his problems logically. But now he is faced with something he can't fix, his only solution is to deal with it emotionally, something he resists because he has never done it before.