30/11/15 Rehearsals

During the most recent rehearsal we ran through from top to about half way. We did the start scene, the army scene, the poor scene, the deal, the transformation from rags to riches, the betrayal and the long revenge scene. All that was left was to do the scene where he is dragged to hell because we needed to incorporate Sarah's dance scene. That scene will be done in our next lesson and then we shall run through everything all together before showing our teacher to get more feedback. 

19/11/15 Rehearsals

In this rehearsal we did a lot of work on the whole story. We had the scenes together but we weren't sure about how to put them together and make them a whole story. We wanted it to be a journey so we sat down and discussed everything. We where able to show a whole story, one that conveyed the message that people could relate to. We created a reason for people to hate bearskins aswell as sympathize with him. We also chose the songs we wanted in the places aswell as the ideas for the lighting. We then went back to the starting scene and tried to perfect it and create something that would lead into a smooth transition for the following scenes. We then formed 3 more characters who would be physical embodiment of 3 of the 7 deadly sins, which Satan sends to destroy bearskins life after he refused to do the job he promised to do. 

12/11/15 - Rehearsals

Our group hasn't always had the best rehearsal sessions , especially during the start because people weren't always in or came late. However our more recent sessions , especially the last 3 have been very productive and have helped us piece together what could be a very good piece.

First rehearsal session (12th November)

In this rehearsal we took the feedback we got from everyone watching it and applied it to our work. We took the character of The Devil, and made him more charming, relaxed and cunning rather than the rigged character he played before. His speech is now slower and more deliberate, as if he is talking to the members of the audience directly. 

We also took some time talking and thinking about homeless people, how they are shown and viewed by the public. So we took that scene and made it more realistic based on what we have seen happen in real life. As the people moved behind Bearskins they would be whispering and carrying on with their day until he looked at him and they would go silent. 

Medea - Review

Medea was a play, adapted from the Greek story of the woman whos husband leaves for someone else. As a result she extracts a terrible revenge on her husband and his new woman by murdering their own children. This was an extremely controversial theme and still is as society deems the bond between a mother and child as unbreakable, more so than a father and child or a husband and wife.
This adaptation took many themes of the original tale while adding a modern twist. The main character was a writer turned bitter by her husband who cheated on her. Their split was causing the children to grieve with the youngest hating the mother and the oldest despising the father. As a result her ultimate revenge was to have a script she had written for her husband made into a play in which he would star unwillingly knowing the story was about him. The children were then sent to live with their father but their grief was too much and they ended up feeding each other painkillers, their fate left a mystery at the end..

There were many aspects of this i found very compelling. For example the group of mothers dancing during the performance. This was very good because they where in sync and with the use of lighting, projection and sound it made a very powerful visual image for the viewers.

Jane Eyre Review

The production of Jane Eyre was a play about a young rebellious woman sent of to school to become a proper 'Lady'.. After growing up there and becoming a woman she leaves and on her travels meets a wealthy Governor who, unknown to her, is the father of the daughter at her new job posting.Soon after some strange happenings at the home, the dark truth about the governors wife and the loss of his sight the two decide to be together.

The play had many positives in particular the movement. For example the simulation of the coach moving, with the small group of people running and stopping and making the noises. This was very effective because it gave the illusion that whey were actually taking a coach somewhere. Another highlight was the dog. It was just a man with what seemed to be a folded up piece of leather wagging it around and smacking it on objects. Coupled with his panting and barking it was a very effective use of movement to show the idea of a dog.

Some elements of this was seen as very helpful to my group especially because we didn't actually have a solid start. After seeing this we Incorporated ideas for example the ensemble of them running as a coach however we adapted it a little bit to fit the story. 

Process so far

So far we have completed our beginning sequence. It starts with a speech from a mysterious man in a suit and with a briefcase speaking very cryptically. This character is the devil however it never actually says it until later.  From there we got to a scene with the young recruit - our main character - in a conversation with his acting general. This conversation leads to the general to informing him he will be going on a mission with other recruits which is a signal for the song to start and the ensemble movement to begin showing their training, the battle the had and the injury of our main character. From there we have him shrivel up, each member remove a piece of army clothing from him and he moves on to becoming homeless, where various people walk past him until he offers a man who can make him a deal, in this case Satan.

Peter Brooke - The Empty

In Peter Brook's The Empty Space, he discusses various issues within theater and the drama industry today on a whole. He discusses why Theatre is not progressing as it should be. Some of the reasons he used included:

• It is overpriced and does not give you your money's worth

He says this because Theatre is extremely expensive nowadays, some shows ranging from £10 all the way up to about £150 for a show and most of these shows don't live up to the hype they where billed at. This is diminishing the industry because people are now accustom to paying huge prices for performances that lack creativity, and depth. He also said it means people are more likely to make theater to make money instead of art or drama. 

• You cannot force an audience to emit emotion

He said that you can't force an audience to act a way they don't want to. If they see something funny they will laugh, if they see something sad they will weep and if they see something shocking they will gasp. The audience is only as good as the performance itself so if you have a dull, slow and uninteresting show then it will be reflected in the audiences energy and reactions.