The Trailer of Girls gives me an insight into the play, understanding a bit more about the set and the proxemics within the play. I will use this video in order to create my set and understand a bit more about the relationship between the girls.
This interview explains... Elayce Ismail the director, expresses how she felt when first reading the play, "they feel vital and really relatable". I agreed with ,the statement that they felt "familiar to me as a women, they feel familiar to people all around the world. Artistic Director Michael Buffong, talks about the same idea Theresa mentions in her interview, about telling stories, "make us look at a stories that was once big in the news, then not anymore". Showing us that these serious issues still go on in the world even if the media does not cover it. Within this play there is something for everyone to tap into, if that be the politics, relationship between the girls or the humour, regardless I want the audience to go away moved from this message and that is it what the Director and Artistic director picked up also. This video has benefited me in making my goals of the play clearer, that although the play has humorous elements, there are clear messages that need to be highlighted and within rehearsals we must work on ways in which we will show this to an audience. I have also thought about the costumes now that I have an idea of what the cast were wearing.
Researching about the play itself gives me an insight into the reasons behind the show and why the director decided to make it. I can see the different hairstyles the simplicity of the set and also costume. I want a strong message to be given across to the audience, therefore remembering our objectives throughout the play is crucial. I want the audience to go away and reflect about the situations we no longer hear about and may still go on till today. I want the audience to follow us in our journeys whether that be separate or as a whole.
After having the first read through I really enjoyed this play, I was moved by the story and the way in which the author highlighted many issues surrounding the girls. She mentioned issues such as religion, underage marriages, child soldiers, miscarriages, child abuse and many more. Most of these issues were discussed, in a conversational way which made it more effective for me. I liked how you could see each characters personality, Haleema is strong headed and fierce, Ruhab is a mother-like figure although very vain. Finally, Tisana is the child of the group the other girls baby her and she is very optimistic; after reading the play we instantly felt our characters related to us so we decided to keep them. I thought the play was moving, showing that not every story has an happy ending capturing the reality of the circumstances. I'm excited to put this play on it's feet, exploring ways in which we can get this powerful message across.
We have been given an hour to perform our play, the production runs for an hour and half. Therefore, we had to cut down our play. This was difficult to do, as there was a lot of information included in the play, we did not want to miss any key parts. We went through each scene, cutting down parts of lines, but the sentence still makes sense. We also had to cut big paragraphs down so that we took a couple minutes off. After cutting down the play we read through and it was at an hour, we feel that once we get quicker with our lines this will be a lot smoother.
Relationships is a strong theme for Girls, there are many different relationships shown and not shown within the play. We have our main relationships which is the three girls, but we also have relationships from Ruhab and her two husbands. As I am playing Ruhab, I must determine how I feel about two husbands and do I prefer one to another. I question if I would choose Ishy or Moses if I had a fair chance to pick, my initial thoughts is I would pick Ishy. This is because I can relate more to Ishy, "He had no choice, just like us", we are supporting one another in a dark time and he teaches me prayers. I feel my relationship with Ishy was more for my parents, because I would not want to get married at such a young age. My relationship with the girls is extremely strong, we are inseparable, we are all that we have. For my character Ruhab she is a mother-like figure, she cares and tries her hardest to protect the girls. Halfway through the play the group is separated from a massive argument, they're relationship strengthens from there on showing the sisterhood within them. Because they only have each other they must stick together and they're love is unconditional like Ruhab says, "I still love you, both of you".
Within the play the girls all have their individual way of surviving, Tisana survives by not only loosing her mind. She thinks positively at all times and believes that there is help coming for her, Ruhab survives by getting a husband and joining their cruel acts so that she will get "special treatment". Haleema is determined to escape by trying to use a shiv, she refuses to be anybody's "prize" and believes she will escape. Because we all have different methods, it makes the story interesting because although we may think we are surviving the "best way we know how", it is the soldiers who are in control of our fate.
Loss is a is a big theme within the play, each character has lost something dear to us. For my character Ruhab, I have lost my family, my village, my unborn child and sadly my life. Personally, I think my greatest loss was my unborn child, for my family and village there was a chance we could be reunited one day. However, for my child I know I have lost him forever and that killed me inside. Furthermore, Haleema experienced loss by loosing her family and village like me although, Haleema is very strong headed and brave. She has lost her sense of control and her freedom like us all but she refuses to be anybody's 'prize', trying her hardest to escape. Tisana has lost her family and village also, but she has lost her mind completely at the end of the play, we see her playing with our dead bodies. We have all lost our freedom of speech and actions, not being able to leave when we want to. But we have not lost nor forgotten where we have came from and all the stories we have learnt, it is important to hold onto each other and the memories we have.
The character of Ruhab is a Muslim girl, she uses phrases such as, "Mashallah" and "Alhamdulillah". I am strong in my faith and enjoy that I can pray whilst living in the camp. Haleema doesn't follow a religion but comes to prayers so that she is not beaten however, Tisana refuses to come to prayers as she is Christian; she believes it is about honour. The soldier beat Tisana for not following their rules, but she is still persistent that she will not pray. At the end of the play
Theresa Ikoko is the author of Girls, she grew up in Hackney estate, East London. She grew up in a family of nine children, raised by her single Nigerian mum. Theresa now leads a number of personal, social development and creative/performing art workshops in prison and other socially excluded institutions. Working with gangs, serious youth violence offenders in the community, also women who have been affected by gangs. From her work this stimulates her with fresh and new ideas, from real peoples perspectives and views, allowing new voices to be heard.
Why did you write this play and what inspired you ?
Theresa answers this question by saying she was "Inspired by people in my head who I don't get to hear or see anywhere else in my head". She continues by saying, "There are stories and voices that are so rich and intriguing and dark and funny and dangerous and honest, that are knocking on my brain. When seeing something or hearing a story she says she feels voices saying "did you hear that?", "Did you see that?". Peoples stories interest Theresa to tell real life stories.
Where would you your play performed ?
Theresa talks about how she would like her play performed somewhere near he grew up and where some people would never step foot. Being able to bring people from her same upbringing to areas and events that they have never heard of or felt welcome to. Theresa continues to say she wants, "floods of people from Hackney, Brixton, Stockwell walk through The National and Old vic."
What do you want the audience to take from this play?
Theresa expresses how she wants the story of friendship and a love story to be portrayed. For the audience, from all different backgrounds that might be to find the truth within these young women. To be curious with our environment, these girls could be us, someone we know, or even a friend. Although this story is thousand of miles away, Ikoko wants this story to feel local, strange, unfamiliar accents, climates and worlds clash and disrupt ours.
Which playwright/writer do you admire?
Debbie Tucker Green is the writer she admires because she rights "writes in a rebellious way" and she is only interested in telling the truth in her stories without compromise.
It is evident that Theresa Ikoko is passionate in being the mouthpiece for stories and voices that need to be heard. Through her help to the community she has developed stories and she has not forgotten where she has come from. Going forward with the play, I aim to keep Theresa's ideas of what she wants the audience to take away. I will look deeply into my individual relationships, with the Tisana and Haleema, to express to the audience how much we depend on one another. I will also think about how I will portray my relationship with Ishy although he is only spoke about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNexqe3fnUw
This is a link that shows the actors and director involved in the Girls, they explain each of their character and how they view their character. This video gave me a better understanding of the girls objectives and what they wish to gain from the play.
Africa
Africa is considered the 'cradle of humankind', they had the first hominids, hominids is the primate of a family which includes humans and their fossil ancestors and at least one of the great apes. The humans closest relatives are the gorilla's and chimpanzees. One of the earliest evidences of human life were found in South Africa. Mrs Ples and the Taung child are the most important fossils found t support this evidence.
'Mrs Ples' is the nickname for Australopitheaus Africanus, this fossil was discovered in the sterkfontein caves in South Africa. The fossil found traces of plants and animals that lived a long time ago. The caves are a part of an area known as the Cradle of Humankind.
This fossil is called the Taung Child, first discovered fossil of Australopitheaus Africanus, exhumed by miners in South Africa. The fossil was found in 1924 recognized as a primative hominin.
Many powerful kingdoms exsisted on the African continent in the early history and middle ages. Between the 5th and 6th Centry many African slaves were being traded prodominatley by arab traders. It was then that in the late 19th century Europeans started conquering Africa, however colonised in the 19th/20th century mainly from Britain and France and also the Dutch, Italian and Germans.
There are more than 3,000 different groups of indigenous people living in Africa. All expressing their own language and culture. There is a large scale of poverty in Africa, the poorest countries are the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimababwe. However there is still rich within the poor with the most devloped and richest countries being Seychelles, Libya, Mauritius, Algeria, Egypt, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.
There is an estimate of around 2,000 different languages spoken in the African continent. Africans can speak several languages and an European language, these languages are frequently used for communication and business. English is largely spoken in Africa because so many countries were British colonised. Arabic is spoken in the northern part of Africa and also used as an official language.
Africa is the second largest and second most populous continent behind Asia. Africa covers 6% of Earth total surface area and 20% of its land area. Africa has 1.2 billion people as of 2016, which is 16% of the human population. Africa is surrounded by Mediterranean Sea to the North, Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea to the Northeast and the Indian ocean to the Southeast and Atlantic Ocean to the West. There are 54 fully recognised sovereign states, Algeria is the largest more than half the continents landmass. The most populous country is Nigeria, with more than 185 million people living there. Lagos is the largest city, located in Nigeria, with 21 million inhabitants. To continue, Africa is one of the six biggest metropolitan cities in the world, with the smallest countries being Seychelles, archipelago (nation of Islands) next to the Indian Island and the Gambia being the smallest country on mainland. The biggest Island is Madagascar in Indian Ocean and fourth largest Island in the world. The longest River is the River Nile (6,852 miles/ 4,258meters) the longest river in the world, the white Nile coming from Lake Victoria in Tanzania and blue Nile coming from Lake Tana in Ethiopia, river mouth Egypt. The highest mountain in Africa is Mt Kilimanjaro located in Tanzania and the biggest Lake, is the Victoria. The lake borders Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, worlds second largest river with freshwater. Finally the driest place in the world is the Sahara in Northern Africa.
The reason why I researched, facts and history about Africa is because Nigeria (where the play is set) is in Africa. I wanted to get a bigger context of the country I was in and understanding how big Africa really is. I can identify where many landmarks within Africa are as we are taken and travelling around Nigeria, I could expand my whereabouts and being able to have a deeper knowledge of the country is important.
Nigeria
Nigeria is located in the west of Africa, original name was the 'Federal Republic of Nigeria'. Nigeria has a population of 188,462,669 making it the 7th biggest country in the world and the 32nd largest country, with a 356,669sm. Estimates for the country can be effected, this is due to AIDs meaning there is a lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates. There are also lower population rates due to AIDs. The birth rate in Nigeria is 35.2 births per 1,000 population, on the other hand the death rate is 9.6 deaths per 1,000 people. English is their official, followed by Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Fulani, with over 500 indigenous languages. Nigeria is under a federal presidential republic with a president followed by vice president. The capital is Abuja, the largest city in Lagos. To continue, there is 250 ethnic groups, these include, Hausa(27.4%), Igbo (14.1%), Fulani (6.3%), Tiv(2.2%),Ibibio(2.2%), Ijaw/Izon (2.2%), Kanuri/Beriberi (1.7%), Igala(1%), other tribes are (28.9%) and unspecified (2%) estimated in 2013. It is said, that Yoruba has the highest rate of twin births in the world. Around half of Nigerians are Muslims(51.6% and around 35.7% are Christian, there is 11.2% Roman Catholic, 9% traditional and 5% unspecified.Within some Islamic marriages once a women is married, she is not allowed to see any of her male relatives. Nigeria is also home to Nollywood, they are the second largest producers in the world. Nigeria has a tropical climate with a semi-arid and far north and rainier is the south. Winter is hot with 33/35 degrees in December to January, within Abuja it rains from April to October. The Harmattan(which is a season in Nigeria) often blows wind, which brings dust from the desert and reduces visibility.
Tribes
Eastern/ Igbo, Ibo
The Igbo tribe is the second largest group living in Southern Nigeria. The tribe can be located in areas such as Anambra, Imo, Delta, Rivers, Ebonyi.
Efik-Ibibio
Tribe is located in the South-eastern region Nigeria in Akwa Ibom state to cross River state. They had a secret society that protected the Efik- Ibibio, culture 'Ekpe' and regarded as the 'Lions' of the indigenous southern eastern Nigeria. The tribe later became popular and adopted other Nigerian ethnic cultures. They invented 'Nsibidi' a popular indigenous writing of the Efik people, annang dialect and Oran dialect.
Fulbe/Fulani
This tribe is located in Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Sokoto, Tabara, Niger, Yobe, Kebbi. It crosses from the Atlantic Ocean to the Nile Valley to Red Sea. The tribe is divided into nomadic cattle-breeders the Bororo, Waterabe and Vuda. The semi-nomades are the settled people known as Hausa, a special ethnic community.
Hausa
As my character Ruhab, is a Muslim girl, I asked my Nigerian friend, which tribe had a majority on Muslims. His response was the Hausa tribe, I therefore decided to base my character within that tribe. Hausa is the largest ethnic group in Africa, second largest language after Arabic in the afroasiatic family or languages. Found chiefly in Northwestern Nigeria, Fulani is perhaps one-half of whom are settled among the Hausa as ruling class. Hausa language is in the Chadic group which is infused with many Arabic words. The Hausa tribe is spread across Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Chad, Togo, Ghana, Sudan and largest in Nigeria. The states in Nigeria where you can find them is Bachi, Borno, Jigawa, Kano, kaduma, Sokoto and Niger.
Nigerian Food
There are many foods within Nigeria, in this section I will talk about the different foods in Nigeria and what the individual tribes eat. The trade in early Africa is largely responsible for the changing of flavours in Africa. Africa's main dish before trading was rice and millet(type of grain) and Lentils. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to reach Nigeria, this was around the time of the slave trades in the 1400s, the Portuguese were the were the first to introduce Cassava to Nigeria. Nigerian's from the North region (mostly Muslims) do not eat Pork and diet on beans, Sorghum which is a type of grain and brown rice.
A lot of Nigeria, depending on the area, have different dishes and seasons.
- Hungry season- Before it rains, this arrives in March.
- Season of surplus- Follows the Harvest which is October- November.
- Fruits are eaten all year round, from Oranges, Melons, Grapefruit, Lime, Mangoes, Bananas and Pineapple.
Here are some of Nigeria's most popular dishes, giving me an insight into the food culture.
Pounded Yam
Served with different soups like Egusi, Vegetable soup and Okra
Egusi Soup
This soup includes melon, seeds, meat and seafood etc.
Jollof Rice
Many West African countries eat Jollof Rice, made with rice, onions, tomatoes, chillies and spices.
Efo Riro
Efo Riro is a mixture of Pumpkin green leaves and meat which can vary from Chicken or smoked fish)
Akara/ Kosai
Fried bean cakes, some opt to have this meal for breakfast. In south Nigeria it is called Akara and in North it is called Kosai, it is cheap on the roadside and in food vendors.
Moi Moi
Steamed beans pudding, originally from South West Africa, Moi Moi contains Egg, Crayfish, Corned Beef, Onions and Sardines.
Garri
Garri is considered as the 'King' in Nigeria, almost every household has Garri in their homes. Garri is prepared from Cassava tubers that have been fermented, the tubers must undergo peeling, washing and grating into mash prior to being fermented. Product gotten from this is locally dried (roasted) to form fine flour. When Garri is mixed with hot water, it becomes 'Eba' can be served with stews and soups. Garri is the main source of food that we eat through the duration of the play, it is important I understand what the food is and how to prepare it in order to get the correct props. At first, I didn't have an idea what Garri is but after researching the food it has allowed me to dive deeper into the play and the circumstances I am given.
Now I will talk about the different tribes and what their main dishes are:
Hausa
The Hausa people like meat in the form of Tsere or Suya. Their main diet includes Vegetables, Porridges, soups, meat, dairy and fish. They also enjoy Kebabs which are chunks of roasted meat and skewered. Muslims love to drink tea a coffeehouse is a popular place to socialise. Other dishes include Kuka soup, Masa/ Sinasir, Dan wake and Tuwo Shinkafa.
Igbo
The Igbo tribe eat a lot of Garri, Dumplings, Pumpkins, Yam, Vegetables, Rice and use Palm Oil to prepare their food. Igbo's main soups are Akwa and Oha soup, Igbo bitter leaf soup and Okra soup. The tribe prepares their own food and living by trading/fishing, harvesting wild fruits berries, herbs and plants. Although, due to the Tse-Tse flies they have invaded a huge amount of large livestock.
Yoruba
The tribes main source of food is fishing and Agriculture. They farm crops such as Yam, corn, Cassava, Bananas, Vegetables, Groundnut and Millet. Although their main crop exported in Cocoa.
Yoruba tribe main food is Yam, Banana's/Plantains, Emu, Gbegiri(bean Soup) and Ila Asepo.
Fulani/ Fulbe
This tribe has a largely preserved traditional occupation which is cattle breeding, cattle rearing consists of large/small cattle with donkeys and horses. They also include manual farming to make Sorghum, Millet, Phonio, Rice, Yam, Corn, Peaunuts, Cotton, Tobacco and Vegetables. The Fulani tribe eat Fura De Nono, Fried wara, Wara and Nyiiri.
Cheap food in Nigeria
Ewa Agoyin
This dish has considered to rescue Nigerians from pangs of hunger, it can be added with bread or yam. Ewa Agoyin is between 150 naira's to 200 naira's, which is equivalent to 31p-42p.
Boil and groundnut
Roasted plantain and groundnut is sold in every part of Nigeria where plantain is eaten and this costs between 80 naira's to 200 naira's, which is equivalent to 17p-42p.
Ogi, Akra/Moin Moin
Some called Ogi Akamua which is fermented cereal pudding made by maize, Sorghum or Millet. You can add moin moin and this keeps you filled for more than 6hrs and is no more than 300 naira, that is 63p.
Agege Bread
Agege bread is a recognised street food, named after a popular suburb of a Lagos state, sold in different sizes.
Fried Yam
Yam is still expensive but sliced into small pieces it is a cheap alternative.
Understanding the different food and what different tribes eat is crucial for my role, being from the Hausa tribe. I now understand what traditional food we eat and I can appreciate it more when we can only eat Garri. It allows me to visualise the foods that I once ate to help me get into my character, of missing my home foods. Also the cheap food in Nigeria, is what I would be eating as I believe my character would not be very wealthy. So connecting a social status with the food I eat helps me get into the world of the character. Lastly, although this research is beneficial it allows me to appreciate what I have here. Some of the food which is no more than 300 naira's, does not even reach the UK pound, this shows how hard it is in Africa and what it means to survive.
Clothing In Africa
Within Africa different, different tribes throughout the continent pride themselves on their national dress.
History
African people used clothing for warmth or protection in most areas of Africa, due to hospitable climate change many tribes did not wear much clothing. Material's such as bark cloth, skins and hides were the first form of clothing. The males simply wrapped black cloth over a belt and passed between their legs. The women also draped cloth over the belt to hide the front of their bodies. Raffia, which is a type of palm originally from Africa was used to sew together separate pieces of bark cloth as being grass skirts.
Tribal Clothing
Tribal clothing is made from traditional, contemporary woven, printed fabric, wrapped or draped around the body to form the tribal clothing. Each tribe has a different headdress, bag and belts, followed by collars, girdles and capes. These items are made from natural materials such as feathers, leather, gold and silver etc. The skin of an animal is an symbolic significance of tribal allegiance or personal totems, colours and patterns also distinguish different tribes.
Igbo Tribe
Hausa tribe
Fulani tribe
Modern African clothing
Kaftans are worn by women, however originally men's attire. This is a simple one piece garment with a robe and hat, finished with the hat and scarf.
Another piece of clothing that is popular for both sexes in central/ western Africa is pronounced Boubou's(men) and m'boubous (women). This is a large overflowing gown, complimented by a head wrap. Agbada is the Nigerian version.
To continue, we have Aso Oke, a prestige cloth with three main parts, Alagari which is red, Sanyan a brown and Etu blue.
Ankara is a vibrant material with rich colourful patterns.
Dashiki is a loose fitting pull over shirt, including an ornate embroider v-shape collar.
Because I have decided to come from the Hausa tribe, here are a few pictures of what the people wear to give me better knowledge of my tribe.
Researching about clothing within Africa is important to me, not only do I get to educate myself on the development of clothing in Africa. I also get to see how the different tribes dress from one another, but also the little things that they all have in common such as the materials they use. The clothing will help me, in regards to my rehearsals and thinking about costumes for the play. The girls and I can decide if the clothing from our tribes should be used within our production and how we can allow them to fit our character.
Hairstyles in Africa
The character of Ruhab takes pride in her hair and always makes sure her hair is presentable, I connect to Ruhab in that aspect as I believe we should always look after our hair. Coming from the Hausa tribe I will be looking up hairstyles, that will inspire me for my performance.
After looking at these pictures I have decided to have a similar hairstyle to the last one. I will have two braids to begin with followed by a bun later in the performance. It is difficult to have the other hairstyles has my hair needs to be changed a few times within the performance and wrap a headscarf. Whilst practising with Ilonka, she mentioned she was not able to plait. therefore we compromised with two simple plaits that I will do and Ilonka will do the bun.
Islam
My character Ruhab is a Muslim, being able to understand Ruhab more, means I must understand her circumstances including her religion.
The five Pillars of Islam
- Deceleration of faith (Shahadah)- Trusting and understanding words of the Shahadah and believing there is no other God except Allah and Prophet Muhammad.
- Obligatory Prayer(Salat)- Praying 5 times a day, kneeling towards Mecca, specific rituals and prayers are required.
- Compulsory giving(Sawum)- charity or alms-giving each year, a Muslim should give 2.5% of their savings.
- Fasting in Ramadan(Zakat)-Islamic fasting, whereby you do not eat or drink when the sun is out only moon.
- Pilgrimage to Mecca(Hajj)- The pilgrimage to Mecca.
Nigeria has the largest Muslim population in West Africa, CIA estimates 50%. They are predominately Sunni of the 'Maliki school of Thought'. Apart from Sunni there is also Shia minority, primarily in Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and sokoto states. Islam was first documented in Nigeria in the 9th century. Religious archives showed Islam being adopted as the religion of the majority of the leading figures in the Borno Empire during the reign of the Mai (king) Idris Alooma. As an
institution in emirate society, Islam include daily/annual ritual obligations which includes the Hajj. Hajj is an annual pilgrimage (Mecca), in Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. One type of Muslims are Sunni's, there are more than 1.5 billion muslims. They regard themselves as the orthodox branch of Islam. They are located in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia. The name comes from the phrase 'Ahl al-Sunnah', which practices what the prophet Muhammed done. The other side is Shia, this is 10% of all muslims. Their population estimated 154/200 million, the majority live in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Azerbaijan. Shia was the movement 'Shiat Ali' which translate to party of Ali.
Here are some rules or stereotypes that people believe:
- No pork or alcohol
- Not allowed to show skin
- Can eat meat
- There is not always arranged marriages
- Stoning is not found in the Qu'ran
- Oldest schools of Sharia did not exist until many decades after the Qu'ranic, revelations and the prophets death.
Because I am a Muslim girl it is important for me to understand the fundamentals of the religion, there are Muslim words within the play so it is my duty to make sure I know the meanings so that I do not offend anyone.
Pregnancy
Pregnancy and births are celebrated all around the world, in Africa due to superstitions they perform rituals to safeguard the pregnancy. They acknowledge the pregnancy but do not celebrate it , they are very cautious of what the pregnant women can and can't do. African culture have beliefs about rules you should follow whilst the women is pregnant, these include:
- Don't reveal a pregnancy too early, when you announce a pregnancy within the first few months enemies may bewitch you or even put a curse on you.
- Do not accept gifts before the child is born, these gifts may be cursed and could anger the God's or invite bad spirits.
- Not allowing just anyone to rub your growing belly, they may be transferring bad spirits onto your child.
- Don't let anyone expect close friends, family or people you trust see the baby before three months and not to leave the house either. You could interact with bad spirits.
- Before the baby is born, once the baby is born and after the baby is born, making sure you pray.
Unlike the majority of countries around the world, Africa does not have baby showers, it is believed it will anger the Gods and ancestors. This is interesting because, in the play the two girls throw a baby shower for Ruhab, this could be due to them being taken away from their cultural norms. This could also be a reason, why Ruhab looses the baby due to the ancestors being angry at Ruhab. The pregnant women's birth is considered, the reproduction of future generations and rebirth of the ancestors. If the child looks like the ancestor, they may name the child. Childless couples are seen as selfish, ridiculed and even insulted for not having a child. The women are seen as weak throughout the pregnancy, the partner will take care of the physical jobs, as it is said the mother must rest. However, pregnancy before marriage is forbidden and seen as revolting, family and even strangers will insult you. They can ridicule, ostracise and even subject you to violence, calling the women "whores" and "prostitutes". Marriage outside of wed-lock is considered shameful, not to be celebrated. In some cases the parents may even dis-own the woman and she may have to leave her village, leaving the grandparents or other relatives to look after the child. This explains why Ruhab says, "It is better better to be dead than to make him ashamed", because she knows her family will judge her decisions and not accept her.
Understanding the beliefs that their culture has about pregnancy is important, this is because my character of Ruhab becomes pregnant in the play. The reasons for me keeping it a secret is not only because of the environment I'm living in, but the bad spirits surrounding me. Ruhab says, "everyone will know exactly where the baby came from", from researching these points I can now link that to the bad energy that will be given to me by the people.
Underage pregnancy
Girls under fifteen are less likely to be physically developed to sustain a healthy pregnancy, U.S teens are topping the charts for teenage pregnancy among the most developed countries in the world. Two- thirds of young and unmarried mothers are poor and 25% are going on welfare within the first three years of childbirth. 46% of teenage girls and 22% of teenage boys that have had sex before the age of 15 have been involved in pregnancy. Almost 1,700 teenage girls get pregnant every single day, that is 70 girls every hour. Roughly 82% of teenage pregnancies are not planned, leading to a 38% of teen mothers with a child before 18 having a high school diploma, meaning less than 2% earn college degree by the age of 30. The UK has the highest teenage birth and abortion rates in Western Europe, rates of teenage births are 5 times those in the Netherlands, double France and more than twice Germany. The country with the highest rate of teenage pregnancy, with 143 per 1,000 girls aged 15-19 years old is in sub-Saharan Africa these include, Somalia, Sudan, Egypt etc.
Within Nigeria 23% women aged 15-19 have begun having children, where 17% have had a first child, 32% of rural areas have a child as oppose to 10% in urban areas. The Northern parts of Nigeria have the lowest literacy rate, however highest pregnancy rate, the explanation for this is as followed. The higher level of education, the more awareness these children have of the use of contraception and are made aware of the risks and complications along with pregnancies. Areas in Nigeria with the lowest wealth are more than twice as likely to have started having children than those with middle wealth. To continue, factors such as rape, changes in societal values and victimisation rape reports almost daily victims in Nigeria. When the young girls become pregnant due to rape, they are forced to marry thee rapist, this is due to the inability to take care for the pregnant girls and the social comments.
After researching underage pregnancy, I have learnt that there are a large amount of underage pregnancies shown in the statistics that I did not know of. I have learnt that the particular class and how much wealth you have can become a huge factor on child birth. Playing the role of Ruhab and being married to Moses earlier on in the play, I believe that if we were still living with one another I would've had a baby very soon after. Living in the camp, because I did not come from a wealthy or educated position, the one value that I do know is family. This is why I think Ruhab is happy with her pregnancy because it gives her purpose and is "blessed". This gives me enough context to work on stage with what I have read and apply it to how I will react to my pregnancy.
Miscarriage
1 in 4 pregnancies will end in a miscarriage, the symptoms being vaginal bleeding, cramping and lower abdominal pain. Your age, partners age and previous pregnancy history. Between 10%-20% of women have been medically confirmed end in miscarriage, 80% ending in the first trimester. Within the first trimester the chance of a miscarriage is high, however after 12 weeks the risk drops to 3-4%. Many women's age can effect their chances of a miscarriage, at the age 20 (15%), 40 (16%), 45 (70%). If you have a miscarriage you are likely to have another, although black women are more likely to experience a miscarriage.
I was fortunate enough to be able to have a conversation with a woman who had experienced two miscarriages. She asked for her identity to be kept private due to personal reasons, I asked a few questions regarding her experience and the emotions she felt.
How did you know you were experiencing a miscarriage?
"I was feeling pains in my stomach, they felt like period pains times 100, it was really painful and I could barely walk."
How did the miscarriage make you feel and what were your emotions?
"Well you know me, I'm quite a strong person so I just had to deal with it. I'm lucky in a way because I know many girls that have been completely broken after it, so yeah I am strong. But I don't know it made me feel really empty inside, like something was missing inside of me. Yeah, just really empty and upset I would say."
After hearing this interview it allowed me to think about how I will portray and do the women who have been through this justice. I wanted to make sure I played the scene correctly, so that the audience members understood the pain and suffering that these women go through. In our rehearsals
I will explore different techniques, in order to bring this message across and move people.
Refugee
These were the facts and statistics giving by the UN Refugee agency UNHCR
- In 2014 global displacement reached 59.9 million, If all the refugees made their own country they would be the 24th largest country in the world.
- In 2014 8.3million refugee's were forced to flee, resulting in the highest record ever.
- 42,500 refugees are forced to leave their homes everyday due to persecution and conflict.
- 19.5million are refugees, 1.8million are asylum seekers and 38.2million are internationally displaced in their own countries.
- 86% of the worlds refugees are hosted by developing countries.
- 53% of refugees include Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia.
- The five top countries include: Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon, Iran and Ethiopia.
- 51% of refugee's are children, the highest figure over a decade and worse than WW11.
- In 2014 34,000 asylums claimed they were made by children alone which was the highest number. The main countries they are from is Afghan, Eritrean, Syrian and Somali.
- Nearly 50million children have been uprooted, 28 million fleeing because of conflict, poverty, violence and deprivation.
- Britain holds only 0.6% of child refugees
Refugee Camps
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Hostility built shelters means immediate protection, the camps allow UNHCR to deliver essential resources these include food water and medical attention if needed. Refugee camps are practical during emergencies although many refugees are displaced and are often living through protracted situations. Although refugee camps aim to be short term, when this turns into long term they are often faced with challenges, these include electricity reaching to camps in the desert, children getting education and helping prepare refugees for life outside the camps with jobs and skill training. Refugee camps are no longer just rows of tents but a community and giving people the opportunity to bright futures. In 2013 8year-old boy Mahamoud and his family fled Somalia because of conflict and found a refugee camp in Ethiopia Buramino, Mahamoud says “Before I came, I was illiterate. Now I have education and I like to learn more,” The camp has helped him so much he has big dreams planned for ahead “When I finish my education, I want to become president of my country. I want to go back to the land where I came from, Somalia. I will open health facilities, hospitals and schools that are free of charge to everybody.” Showing that it is not just a place of protection but a place of growth and creativity. Here are some additional facts about refugee camps.
- 2.6million refugee's live in camps, million more live in urban areas and informal dwellings.
- 61% of Refugee children of primary school age who are in school today.
- 22.5million refugees in the world which is the highest record.
- 40.3million refugees are internally displaced.
- 2.8million asylum seekers across the globe.
- Jordan has the largest refugee camp with more than 2.7million people, followed by Turkey with over 2.5million, then Pakistan with 1.6million and Lebanon with more than 1.6million.
This information is useful as performing the play 'Girls' many children in this situation (if lucky enough to escape) become refugee's. It's interesting to see the statistics and the large scale of people who become refugee's. Tisana mentions the camps helping her to find refuge, although Nigeria is not mentioned as one of the highest countries. I can imagine how many people are trying to escape these camps, and not being able to get the help they deserve. I will think about the refugee's and the camp within the rehearsals as a drive, wanting to go home in the beginning.
Child Soldiers
- The UNICEF states a child soldier is any boy or girl under the age of 18.
- Children are combatants in almost three quarters of the worlds conflicts.
- Child soldiers are mainly from Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Democratic republic of Congo, Iraq, Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia and south Sudan.
- Approximately 300,000 of child soldiers are involved in combat and nearly half a million additional children serve in armies not currently in war.
- 40% of world armed organisations have children working for them.
- The children are easily manipulated especially under the influence of drugs and used for jobs such as scouts, messengers, minesweepers, bomb-makers and suicide bombers.
- Child units are used in advanced troops in ambush attacks.
- Around 30% of armed groups include girls, who are used for sexual purpose and mistress to army leaders.
- The girls can become impregnated by their leader, once they've had their child, they must go on the battlefield, with their newborn tied to their back.
- Most of the child soldiers volunteer out of survival, others enlist for revenge of their families (being abused or murdered), poor, displaced or limited access to education.
- Child soldiers were also common by the end of WWII, with Hitler's Youth.
Within our production of Girls, child soldiers are mentioned by Ruhab, "Sent away as fighters...to bomb". This is a frightening topic, to know that children at such a young age are forced in to inhumane circumstances. Having knowledge of this topic allows me see that this is a huge problem, going on in the world. Thisonce again strikes more fear into the character of Ruhab and the emotions I have to deal with.
Boko Haram
Boko haram is a terrorist group, an Islamic state in West Africa formerly known as Jamat'at Ahl. Their main goal was to purify Islam in Northern Nigeria. Since 2009 Boko Haram has killed tens of thousands and displaced 2.3 million homes. In fact, they are ranked as the worlds deadliest terror group by the global terrorism index in 2015. After 2002, Boko Haram increased in radicalisation, which led to an up rise in violent. By 2009, their leader Abubakar Shekau was executed, which followed a mass prison breakout in September 2010. Until March 2015 Boko haram was a Jihadist militant organisation based in Northeastern Nigeria, Chad, Niger and northern Cameroon. Their aims are to replace Nigerian Government with Islamic state (strict Sharia), establishing an Islamic caliphate across Africa. They have demonstrated their violence by attacking the headquarters in the Northeast, since 2009 fighters have been killed and tens of thousands Nigerians. They have disrupted Nigerians trade and farming, the Northeast are in fact at risk of famine from this. Boko Haram are violent to any political or social activity associated with western society; including voting, attending secular schools and western dressed.
Understanding the severity of this group allowed me to see how petrified I should be, they have planted fear into the lives of so many people and damaged many homes. This research allows me to channel fear into my production and realise what a dangerous situation I am in, when Ruhab says "I can't go back there T it will kill me". I now understand the depth of that line because of this violent group, I will use this fear of the stories and what I have scared to penetrate real fear into my piece.
#BringBackOurGirls
#BringBackOurGirls was a 2014 campaign that transfixed people around the world and more than 4 years later, the spotlight has shun back on their plight. Documentary kidnpaped by Boko Haram on HBO focuses on 2 Chibok girls freed in 2017 and like the thousand others kidnapped had become the 'forgotten girls'. Boko Haram have killed more than 20,000 people and displaced at least 2 million, mines laid by the group have killed 162 people in 2 years, wounding 277. Although 112 girls are still missing since capturing in 2014, exclusives look at safe houses where the girls lived and the first time being reunited with their family.
After reading this play I think deeply about the girls in the last picture and what their individual stories were. From the information gathered I can see a huge movement was made, I remember watching it on the TV, then one day it stopped. I feel guilty myself for forgetting about these girls because another headline can replace it so quickly. I will continue to think about all the protests and girls still fighting till this day during rehearsal and be the mouthpiece they deserve. This also links in with the play of the idea of the videos they had to record for the world, Ruhab mentions, "this will be sent to the news, YouTube even millions will see". I can keep in mind all the knowledge I know from looking on the outside in.
Problems we may face and how we will solve them
Practical Problems-
Our first practical problem is not being able to get blood or not being able to use it in the way we would like to. For example, when I have my miscarriage a big patch of blood is meant to appear from my clothes. This could be an issue as if the blood we get does not burst (blood capsules), bursts to early in the scene or does not show on my clothes the way its suppose to, it could ruin the effect. A solution for the blood is making sure we rehearse a few times with the blood in order to see if the idea works. We can also make an alternative if the blood does not work on the clothes, but rather put the blood on my legs.
Another practical problem is that we may not have enough old/raggedy clothes for the performance, this is because we have to rehearse with blood to guarantee it will work and we have two shows, we may not have clothes at home that are appropriate for the shows requirements. We will fix this by buying very cheap clothing to perform in on the night and one top which we can all use in rehearsal to test the blood out on.
To continue, we have a number of props on the night and only three cast members, we need to ensure we can bring props on and off stage quick enough. A solution to this is already having all the props on stage at one time, because we are mainly is our tents/ huts we can keep that set for the majority of the play. Any extra clothes i.e. the baby grow Halleema makes for me can be hit in one of the buckets on stage. We also thought about the transition from the forest into our new home, deciding how we would bring the whole set onto the stage. We decided to use the first set of curtains to hide our set and once we need it we pull the curtains back.
Finally, making sure we do not have a dead stage at any point. Fortunately, one of us is always on stage at any moment however, we need to ensure that the energy is at it's peak at all times to keep the audience engaged. We will do this by making sure that when the only person on stage is about to leave the stage, a new scene should be beginning straight away.
Technical problems
One technical problem could be the specific lights we need are not working, we would solve this by finding an alternative light to use to still fit the scene. One example of this is the lighting for the tents, our ideal colour is a warm orange if we cannot use that colour we will need to use a subtle orange to compromise. There is a risk the lights shut off completely during the performance (which has happened in the past), we need to be prepared as to what we would do. I believe the best option is to stand still in character on the stage so that the audience does not see us corpse and now see our own self rather than the characters.
Furthermore, if the music does not start in time or fails to play at all. For instance when we dance to Uptown Funk in scene 13, if the music fails to start we can either make a decision as a group to improvise a few lines until the music starts or prepare for the song (positions, fix faces). If not because it is in our imagination we can begin to sing the song unaccompanied, as long as we as a company decided together we can carry on without the audience noticing.
Theoretical Problems-
A theoretical problem could be many things one of which includes loosing your voice, this would be a very unfortunate situation to one of our company members in. To avoid this from happening we need to make sure, we are always warming up our voices before rehearsal and making sure we project our voice through our diaphragm/stomach rather than our throats. If we are unsure of how to use our stomach rather than our throat we can watch exercises online to help us with that problem.
To continue, missing cues could be another theoretical problem. In the case of one of us missing a cue on a night us as a company need to think fast and work around it. We could do this by improvising a line that helps to trigger the actor to remember or simply continue with the script. However, in order to avoid this in the first place we need to make sure we are practising and focusing during rehearsal making sure we listen out to what line is said before us so that we do not miss a cue.
Another problem is forgetting lines, forgetting a line is bad however if we are experienced enough to cover up that we have forgotten it could save us from the audience catching on. In the case of us forgetting lines, likewise with missing cues the other characters support one another in subtly prompting them, helping them through movement even. Ways to avoid this is again, making sure we are solid with our lines and continue to go over lines in rehearsals.
Risk Assessment
I will now show a risk assessment, this will include the location of the risk, what the hazard is, the severity of the risk and how to prevent it.
- On stage - props on stage may be a hazard actors may trip- medium risk- large amount of practice with props on stage, making sure the continuity of props remains the same so actors are familiar with whereabouts.
- On stage- actors slip on surface- medium risk- assuring the floor is clean and swept, making sure the actors are wearing footwear with grip on them.
- On and off stage- Electric shock or burns from equipment- high risk-regular maintenance checks on equipment, checking wiring plugs, sockets and ensuring power is off when replacing fuses.
- Behind stage- actors tripping over objects behind stage- Medium risk- making sure behind stage is clear for actors to walk through and having a dim light for the actors to see.
- Overhead objects- objects such as the projector or lights falling on the stage potentially a actor- low risk- regular checks on all overhead objects.
It is crucial to assess the different areas of problems we may face and a risk assessment. This is because, we want to be aware of all these problems to prevent them from happening. Learning and thinking of the best ways to work around the problem as a company if very important because, we can then put on the best show possible without any hazards. These risks and problems are always around us but as long as we are able to adapt and move forward with them we can put on a very successful show.
Stages
http://www.theatrestrust.org.uk/discover-theatres/theatre-faqs/170-what-are-the-types-of-theatre-stages-and-auditoria
Proscenium Stage
A Proscenium arch stage usually has an architectural frame, this is stage is not always arched. Instead the stage is gently sloped rising away from the audience. The stage normally includes a pit for live music and a fly tower for movement of scenery and lights. My company and I have decided to use a Proscenium arch stage, this is because our college theatre is set up in this way. We want to make sure that everybody in the audience is able to see the stage, I know from past experience one levelled seats can effect your view.
Thrust Stage
The audience sits around three sides of the stage, the stage is not always square but can potentially be a semi-circle or even half a pentagon. This sort of stage increases intimacy between the actors to audience. We did not decide to use this stage because for our production we do not need to be as intimate with the audience and would rather them watch us as if through a scene. We are not breaking the fourth wall at any moment therefore we do not need to be so close to the audience. However, a stage like this could work for another actor Jeremy who is speaking out to the audience.
Theatre's in the round
The stage is the central performance area, the audience is surrounding on every side, usually and square however can be circle. We cannot use this stage as we do not have the accessibility to, our theatre is not set up to have this stage.
Black-Box or studio theatres
These are flexible performance spaces a single room painted black. The floor of the stage is level to the first row. Once again we cannot use this type of stage because of our theatre however I think this is a good theatre to use for our piece as the simplicity of the room shows the basic fundamentals that we can have at the camp. The room can represent that we are trapped in this current time, because there is never a dead stage, we could use this room to our advantage.
Traverse Stage
This is stage has the audience on either sides of the stage, like a runway stage. We cannot use this stage as the layout of the theatre will not allow us to in regards to the exits (the audience could potentially see us behind stage)and large amount of props on stage.
Evaluating the different stages and finding what is most suitable for our production, and in our instance the proscenium arch is a very important part of production. We think about what is best for our audience to have the most amazing experience they possibly can. We would like to keep it traditional and authentic for the audience and felt it did just that, it always us to perform bigger reaching the back row we must assure our energy is up for them at all times.
Skills
Voice
Using voice to represent a character or to provide information to an audience or user. Using our voices is essential in any performance we can play around with pitch and tone depending on the character and circumstance. As I am a teenage girl I can continue to use my normal voice however if I was a baby I may use a higher pitch voice for my character. My tone of voice may also change during my performance for example in scene 12, Haleema and I have an argument so I may begin to project my voice and talk more sternly towards the girls. The voice can determine and show the audience how we feel about one another.
Articulation
Articulation is the form of clear and distinct sound in speech. This skill is extremely important to have throughout our show, this is because I want to make sure the audience understand every word that is spoken on the day. One line that I found hard to say was "A flower that can tear a bottles mouth from a metal cap", at first I couldn't get my mouth around the wordplay however with perseverance and exercises that help with articulation I was able to perform the line.
Accents
An accent is a distinctive mode of pronunciation of a language or nation. Although our play is set in Nigeria we will not be doing the accents. This is because none of our actors are from Nigeria and have not been professionally trained to use that accent. There will be Nigerians in the audience, so we do not want to offend anyone.
Vocal Projection
Vocal projection is the strength of speaking and singing, the voice is used loud and clearly. Projection is crucial throughout are performance, I need to make sure that the audience sitting in the back row can hear every word said. This is because I want the audience to follow every detail of the play and understand the importance of the script. I will ensure this is being done by warming up my voice before rehearsals and using exercises to help with projection.
Stage Presence
Is being able to have a certain charisma and charm that a theatre actor possesses, that draws the audience's full attention. I believe this is a skill I use well, as soon as I enter the stage I will have lots of energy and embody my character on and off stage. I feel it is important to have this amount of energy as I want the audience to not want to take their eyes of the stage at any moment. As the character of Ruhab she is very confident, vain and lively, these qualities are used in my advantage as I can show my confident and fun side for the audience.
Stage awareness
Having the ability to be aware of oneself in the space. It is an organized knowledge for actors and props in relation to oneself in given space. Because our set is on the floor and there are a lot of props such as buckets and newspapers we need to be sure we have good stage awareness. Although we are still acting, we need to have rehearsed well enough, to understand where the set will be placed. Therefore although we are walking around not looking at the set we will subconsciously know where all of our set is.
Body Language
Body language is the type of way, which our bodies communicate our own or a characters attitude. The audience can pick up someone's age, emotion, status and health. Because I am a teenage I will walk as if I am myself I will not walk slowly as if I am old for instance. When I have a miscarriage, my posture will be very low and still, which is a big contrast to Ruhab's normal self. It will show that I am depressed and numb from the pain I have gained. After the second half I may decide to begin to walk a slower or more stiffly, this could portray my health is declining. I will not walk around on stage with my head held high and chest high because that posture would show I have authority and power so I need to think about how I will show my status on stage.
Gestures
Gestures are a form of non verbal communication in which visible bodily actions are used to communicate important messages, place of speech or combined. There are many gestures that are used throughout the play, for example when Haleema says "Nobody's coming we are old news" I (Ruhab) then fold my arms and looks away; this gesture suggests I do not want to accept what is being said. Another gesture is when Haleema goes to talk to Tisana and Ruhab holds up her hand and widens her eyes which indicates stop. Gestures are important to show relationships or emotions for ourselves and between characters.
Script Analysis
Script analysis is being able to work through your script at the beginning stage of rehearsals, each line or scenes I identify my characters actions, objectives, wants and beats. I also write about what is said about the character, this is fundamental in acting to be able to understand your characters objective throughout the play. It allows me to think deeply about who I am as a character and how I feel toward the other characters during each scene.
Still Images
A still image is when an actor holds their position on stage and freezes their facial expression and body language. In our production we have decided not to use still images, this is because we wanted to keep the style of play as naturalistic as possible. We didn't feel as if there was a time in the script whereby we needed to use and for that reason didn't.
Improvisation
Acting without the script spontaneously either for fun or out of necessity, this is a skill I require as you never know what could potentially happen on stage. If someone forgets their lines, us as a company need to be able to improvise and adapt quickly around that situation in order, to make sure the audience does not catch on that there is a problem.
Physical theatre
Physical theatre is a form of theatre which emphasizes the use of physical movement, as in dance and mime, for expression. Within our production of girls we used physical theatre for scenes 21,22 and 23, because we wanted to express our individual emotions at this point. Therefore, in rehearsals we described how we were feeling at that moment in the play, put the music on and let our body move freely. My character Ruhab had just lost her baby and had gone into a state of depression, after researching and asking individuals who had, had an abortion. I was able to mix how I thought I would feel and other peoples experiences, to create my scene. I decided to keep hold of the cloth covered in blood to portray I did not want to let go over the only thing connected to my child, I was on my knees looking up. I then mimed me screaming, this was to show my feelings inside that I couldn't let out, followed by a massive scream I fall to the floor. Tisana and Haleema add more into their movements expressing them protecting us and also wanted to kill themselves. I like the contrast between our pieces because we all have different emotions built inside of us, being the character who moves the least I believe it was effective as it's an contrast to how I normally act. The majority of the play I am the motherly figure and running around with Ishy, but here I am still and being looked after . When I drop to the floor I am comforted by the other girls, they come and sleep over me, this represents me covered with their love and care, highlighting how strong of a bond these girls have.
Stanisvlaski
https://www.biography.com/actor/constantin-stanislavski
His real name Konstantin Sergeyevich Alexeyev, also known for his name Konstantin Stanisvlaski. He was born in 1863 A Russian actor and director, who developed the performance method of naturalism through his 'Stanisvlaski Method'. His family was extremely drama orientated his father constructed a stage within their estate and his grandmother was a French Actress. Stanisvlaski started acting at 14 joining a family drama circle in 1885 who gave him his stage name Stanisvlaski. He also worked in a theatre as a teen and later went on to co-funding Moscow Art Theatre in 1897. He there developed method acting, whereby the actor uses personal history to express authentic emotion.
This is a simplified way of understanding how Stanisvlaski wants us to embody the character and what steps we need to take in order to do so.
- Read through the script carefully, gaining a better understanding of the motivations, needs, desires and identifying the role.
- My characters objectives, wants and obstacles standing in the way of achieving these goals and how far I will go.
- Evaluating how my character would behave and act.
- Break script down into bits/ beats.
- Determine characters action.
I believe these steps are vital in character development, this is because getting to the root of your character and understanding why they behave or react in a particular way helps to drive the play. Remembering why I am in this situation and how I feel or plan to get out determines how I will behave or feel in those scenes. One point that stuck out to me was what my obstacles were and how I would overcome them, the first one that comes to my head is the obstacle of surviving the camp itself, in the 2nd Scene I say "I can't go back there it will kill me". I feel I get over this by having a relationship with Ishy, he is able to give me inside information and keep me from getting in trouble and that is my way of 'surviving'. I write down through my script what my objectives and challenges will be, so that I can keep focused on my goals in the play and the audience can see the journey I have to take in order to do so. Looking at beats are also important, an example of this is 'You know how many calories are in one portion of- this is the best...' The beat is after the dash where my thoughts have changed. Being able to understand the beats in order to determine how your emotions change within a sentence.
Another exercise to look at is is 7 questions about my character to have a better understanding of the given circumstances and the world of the play as a whole.
- Who am I?- I am Ruhab a 16 year old Nigerian tribe belonging to the Hausa tribe.
- Where am I?- Nigeria to begin with a forest and then a military camp.
- When is it ?- The year 2014, between April and December.
- What do I want?- At first I wanted to go home, then to survive by all means possible in the camp.
- Why do I want it?- To be able to live freely without fear, then I want special treatment so that I am not hurt in any form and to make the best of what I have.
- How will I get it?- By marrying Ishy and having his child.
- What do I need to overcome?- My fears of living in the camp, adapting to a lifestyle that does not fit my high maintenance character and overcoming my miscarriage.
These questions have allowed me to narrow down what my process through the play is and how I will explore them during rehearsals. I can look deeper into my objectives and thought process throughout the play and how these questions will influences my decisions and delivery.
Circles of attention
Stanislavski created the theory of Circles of attention, whereby actors need to be isolated to produce characterisation and avoid unnecessary tension. The actor needs to be able to concentrate on themselves. The first theory Stanisvlaski made was public solitude whereby the actor is able to be in complete isolation and are able to explore their character and have better understanding freely. The second is to be aware of the character they are addressing and the third circle is to include the rest of the production. Stanislavski believed there should b no direct awareness of the audience and it uses great focus and attention.
I am intrigued by this theory I believe it is very beneficial in finding yourself as a character then building/layering each detail needed for the production. From this theory I will go away in my own time and think about Ruhab the character all of my objectives, obstacles etc. I will then incorporate my other characters Haleema and Tisana and how I will interact and what I think of them. To continue I will look at my relationships with characters that are mentioned in the play but are never seen in order to show how my further relationships vary. I will then look at the production this includes the lighting, sound, costume and props, to be able to see what fits our goals and themes of the play. Finally, looking at the audience setting going through our production ideas with the tech team and how close we to each of the goals.
Stanisvlaski Techniques
Given Circumstances
Given circumstances is information about the character that you start with. How old they may be, what situation the actor is in, the relationship with the other characters. From reading and analysing the script I have discovered my name is Ruhab, the script does not say my exact age but from the information given I have decided to age myself 16. I am also living in Nigeria this is explained by the type of artists, food and names within the play. I am also married to a man called Moses but he is not with me nor is any of my family at this time. This initial information allows me to understand what my character is first going through and the sort of journey my character will need to go on.
Subtext
The script of the play is the text, the subtext is the actual meaning and motivation behind the lines, spoken and actions taken. By this I mean a boyfriend may say to his girlfriend 'I love you', we may think it's a happy ending, however the delivery may be different if she thought he as going walk out on her. Therefore, whilst going through the script I will evaluate particular lines such as "Take it, I hope you escape", it may seem like a positive line. However, Ruhab has gotten to the point of no longer caring for Haleema.
Objective, Super-objective, through line
An objective is a reason for your actions. A super-objective is an over- reaching objective linked to an overall outcome of the play, the essential idea/core. The characters objectives lead to the super-objective. If the journey is perceived as a clear path to the super-objective, then you have a through line. Whilst playing the role of Ruhab I must think about the relationships that I have whilst off stage, this is from my parents to my relationship with Ishy, this will show my feelings for him whilst on stage.
Emotional Memory
Emotional memory is where actors find a real past experience where they felt similar emotions. The actors must borrow those feelings for the role. One exercise which is useful was in Rob's lesson, he made us sit down with our eyes closed. Rob made us think about our favourite chocolate and made us imagine, the taste and the smell. He also made us think about the emotion behind it, how excited we may be, the taste when it melted in our mouths and how are emotion was at the time. My character goes on an emotional journey from happy, to worried, to extremely upset. I will use memories that I feel relate with these emotions and add them into my piece, making sure the upsetting memories do not take over my acting and I am able to control them.
Magic If
Stanislavski said that all actors should answer this question, "what would I do if I was in this situation?". This means the actor must put themselves in the same situation of the character and decide how they would behave /react. This technique encourages the motivation of the actor for this role. Putting myself in Ruhab's shoes is very difficult, I couldn't imagine the horrors she was faced with. However, I believe I relate to the character and believe I would act the same way she did. I would begin to make the best of my situation, and try and be comfortable until a plan came together.
https://vimeo.com/240409401 This video shows Stanisvlaski explaining his craft and Realism, I will use this video to work on my own craft thinking deeper into my character. I will also see how the style of realism can influence my character.
Antonin Artaud
Artaud, is considered one of the most influential figures in the evolution of modern drama theory. He is associated with surrealist writers, artists and experimental theatre groups in Paris 1920s. When political differences resulted in his break from surrealists he founded the theatre Alfred Jarry with Roger Vitrac and Robert Aron. He created the Theory of cruelty- this is an intense theatrical experience combined elaborate props, magic tricks, special lighting, primitive gestures and articulation.
He used various themes with his work such as: Rape, torture and murder to shock the audience into confronting the base elements of life. One of his plays were called 'Les Cenci', where a man rapes his daughter then, the father was murdered.
Artaud, links to our production of Girls,in regards to performing harsh situation such as murder, violence and miscarriages. We are not able to use special lighting or magic tricks, due to restrictions in the theatre and only one day of tech. However, I would like to explore gestures and articulation within rehearsals.
Bertolt Brecht
Epic theatre departed from the conventions of theatrical illusion. Brecht developed drama as a social and ideological forum for leftist causes. He was influenced by Chinese theatre and Karl Marx, he brought out dynamic theatrical styles to express his views he made and shaped theatre in a way, revolutionary. When naturalistic theatre was at its height he wanted to make his audience think and famously said that theatre audiences "hang up their brains with their hats in the cloakroom". He was against Cathartic theatre. By this I mean if the audience become emotionally involved they loose ability to think and judge. Brecht wanted the audience objective distant from emotions, they will be able to see social comments or issues, however the presentation of real life but not the real life itself. Brecht aimed to make the audience distance themselves from emotional involvement. However, for our production of Girls we are doing the opposite. We want our audience to be emotionally invested in our piece, letting them believe that this is no longer theatre but they are apart of our stories.
Fourth Wall
Fourth wall is an established convention, which is an invisible wall which separates the actors from the audience. The audience can clearly see the actors but the actors act as if they cannot see them. Fourth wall
is modern realistic theatre, which has led some artists to draw attention to it for dramatic or comedic effect. The fourth wall is broken, when an actor or character addresses the audience directly, referring to the play as a play or the characters fictionally. The temporary suspension of the convention engages the audience's attention for the rest of the performance. For the performance of Girls we are not breaking the fourth wall, we decided this because we want the audience to feel like they are apart of this time. By this I mean we don't want to feel they are in the same circumstances than us, rather they are watching someones life that they can't relate to however know the story. The characters feel isolated and all alone in this time of trouble, we don't have anybody to meaning our relationship should go no further than the characters.
Realism
Realism in the theatre was a movement that began in the 19th-century around 1870s, and remained relevant throughout the 20th century. It developed a set of dramatic and theatrical conventions with the aim of bringing a greater loyalty of real life to texts and performances.
Stanislavski was committed to realism throughout his career and came to stand out against the scientific idea of naturalism. Stanislavski used experiments to approach theatre. Productions of Chekhov plays with extraordinarily realistic sets but Stanislavski also, for instance, explored symbolism.
These 5 key methods emphasise on using realism:
- Everyday conversations and style of speaking. Realistic plays would use prose rather than poetry. Actors would also use ordinary/modern language, rather than a heightened emotional vocabulary.
- Ordinary people. Stories are about people who are more readily defined as middle or working class. For Stanislavski, it was usually the middle class or bourgeois, to use the right term in the Russia of his day, that he put on stage.
- Carefully rehearsed acting style creates or confirms the impression of reality.
- Real settings. These plays are set in realistic contexts.
- A carefully selected and distilled representation of real life that is still theatrically effective
This image is a technique from Stanislavski called 'The System'. This method was used to get a good performance in his actors. It focuses mainly on helping an actor recall the emotions needed for a role.
Throughout our production we are using the method of Realism, this is because we are performing a play created in the same decade therefore, all audience members will be able to understand the circumstances and the language we use. To continue, the convention of ordinary people does and doesn't relate to our play, this is because we are teenagers and remember what it was like to be that age so easier to work with. Although not everyone in the audience will be a teenager in the audience, neither will they have gone through what these girls have gone through.
Naturalism
Naturalism is in European drama and theatre, which began late 19th and early 20th century. Naturalism attempts to create an illusion of reality through dramatic and theatrical strategies. Naturalistic acting is when acting replicates real life and portrays the realistic version of it. I believe naturalism is essential part of acting as an audience can relate to real life situations and connect to the stories. Stanislavski, wanted his actors to become more emotionally and psychologically involved with their roles, he believed that acting was based on the truth and the actors put themselves in the characters shoes. In 1911-1916 stanislvaski trained his actors to draw believable emotions to their performances based on emotional memory. This method is still useful for actors today. I also think this is extremely useful as it allows the audience to see a variety of emotions of the character, the audience themselves could also feel emotional as the character shows great emotion. Because of this I feel naturalism can add great meaning to the audience as it
represents real life and the different emotions emphasised with can really connect to an audience. The play of Girls reflects Naturalism, these are real events within the story, so the audience does not need to imagine these events.
Rehearsals
Warm ups
- By lying on the floor, we had to say difficult phrases such as "she sells sea shells on the sea shore". The advantages of this exercise is to focus on pronouncing our vowels correctly this would further help us when it came to 'Girls' pronouncing difficult words or phrases.
- Then stretching our tongue and mouth as far as possible, the scrunching our face tight. Allowed the muscles to be more relaxed, followed by projection to our voices.
- Whilst in the theatre it was important for us to speak with volume therefore Rob made us do an exercise where we had one leg forward and starting down an executed with a heavy bucket whilst saying "whooaaaa". This was useful as it taught me the importance of speaking through our diaphragm rather than our throat.
- We also play a game "yes lets", this focuses on our improvisation and help us become energised for the lesson.
- We had to move down the class one at a time without moving at the same time. This warm up was beneficial as it allowed us as an assemble to work together without any communication on stage.
- The next exercise we done was 'Institution stop' where we walked around in circle and had to stop telepathically at the same time. This was also a useful exercise as it allows us as an assemble to work together, as there is no leader in an assemble we must learn to stop in a play.
- To continue, with our mouth we hum and chew imaginary gum at the same time, we then over exaggerate the chews and move our tongues around. This exercise is useful as it allows us to exercise the jaw and tongue.
- We then have different words to pronounce e.g. "D and T", "M,P,B" . This exercise helps us pronunciate different words properly and warm us up for when we have our lines.
- We run around the space, filling in all the gaps and making eye contact with each other. We do this to our body warmed up and get the blood circulating. This also allows us to be aware of our spacial awareness on stage making sure we fill the space.
- We then added different instructions such as, 'clap' 'jump' 'floor', this allows us to focus and get our minds ready for the different tasks we have to take on.
- Tongue Twisters- "Unique, New York", "Red lorry yellow lorry", "she sells seashells on the seashore", tongue twisters help with articulation.
For our first rehearsal today we are going through the script and reading it over again, we do this exercise so that we can pick up more information about our characters and anything that we have missed from our first read through. I picked up on my characters information and I felt I was the oldest of the 3 girls. This is because of how I talk to the other girls in the beginning scenes I stopped the girls from arguing saying things like "Leave her" and "she just means" like an older sister, I am also the first to have sex and to be married so they ask me many questions. I was also looking at the punctuation and our characters talk over one another quite often, it is important we are able to learn how to cut one another so that it still makes sense for the audience and does not sound we are waiting. I like how much the characters talk over each other because it is very naturalistic as that is something as humans we do a lot. It makes me feel like I am having a normal conversation and we can be more comfortable on stage.
Character Development
Following yesterday's rehearsal the task was to write about ourselves in first person and what we thought of ourselves, this allowed me to think deeper into my character and help me determine how she will act on stage.
I then went on to writing additional information about my character:
- Age- 16
- Height- 5"4
- Weight- 8st 6
- Skin colour- Black
- Favourite food- Yam and Garri
- Favourite colour- Yellow/Pink
- Favourite celebrity- Beyonce
- Religion- Muslim
- Location- Village/Forest/Camp
- Relationship- Married
This allows me to visualise my character more and the characteristics she holds, I can about think my given circumstances and about my how I will appear on stage also.
To continue, we then all had to walk around the room as our characters,regardless of the play.When we stopped opposite one another we had to introduce ourselves. This exercise allowed us to see our individual traits, seeing the differences in age, class and genders. Interacting with different characters allowed me to explore how I would portray my young age, I done this through gestures such as waving rather than shaking hands. My body language and posture was not upright (having my chest high), fidgeting with my hands and leaning more so on one leg to show a child like manor. We then got into pairs and had to have a conversation with another character, I was paired with Gogo played by Abdul. Gogo was very old and had dimenta. His character was very comical as he kept on introducing himself, it was clear he was quite old and very reliable on his friend. For my turn, I made sure to show I was concerned about my appearance by asking how my hair looked and how living in the camp was taking a toil on my appearance. I also made it known that I was cheating on my husband, talking about how much I adored Ishy but felt bad for my husband Moses. Furthermore, we then watched some of the other characters come to life. One character I particularly enjoyed was Brad's character, he made his character very pessimistic, he complained about the life he was living and wasn't satisfied. I could tell he was a white middle class male, he spoke about his two daughters and how much he earns a year but we could tell he wanted a boy from his facial expressions.
This lesson allowed us to see the different characters, within the room and little characters beginning to build. I will bring this lesson with me into further rehearsals, so that I'm remembering my character traits and why she may act a certain way.
To continue, with our individual characters, we had to stand in the line of our age, we had characters such as Gogo(Abdul) at the top and characters like Ruhab(me) and Tisana(Ilonka) at the bottom. This exercise allowed us see the difference in our characters ages, we could then see that we shouldn't be acting in the same way that someone is younger or older than us. We done the same exercise but this time with class, once again myself and the girls in my play were at the bottom. By seeing this it made me realise how far away our characters were from the rest of the world, we are the youngest characters but have most likely experienced the most pain and suffering.
In today's rehearsal we had to make up a favourite memory, we would then be hot seated by people in the class. Hot seating is a skill whereby we sit in front of a group and they ask us questions, Hot seating is beneficial as it allows the actor to now start thinking off the spot as the character and how they would react and answer questions. I decided that I couldn't choose between two memories as I feel my character is indecisive. So I chose my wedding day because I looked like a princess and felt very elegant. Also because I feel Ruhab likes to have attention, so having everyone's eyes on her that day is even better. My second memory was my mum doing my hair watching the sun going down, this memory was precious to me as this was a week before my house got burnt down. I also love this memory because in the play my hair is always being done by Tisana and I still feel my mothers touch through Tisana doing my hair.
Haleema's worst memory was FGM (Female Genital Mutilation), when she was six years old. Her story was horrific and made me understand why she is such a strong headed feminist, her traumatic and doesn't let her experience define her.
The hot seating was crucial to my character development because I was now thinking as Ruhab rather than Georgina. I am adding on more layers to my character and finding little details about myself.
Today's rehearsal we wrote about our characters again, but this time in a bit more detail, this allowed us to see our character development and what else we had learnt about them. The personal feedback that I got from the group was positive, that I had grown in my character's personality and starting seeing obvious traits such as caring for my appearance whilst once again talking about the effects.
Another exercise we used to character build was, coming up with a scenario based on anybody we wanted to be. Our peers then had to guess are age, class and location. My name was Diana also known as Aunty D, I was 40 year old billionaire entrepreneur. I was living on my yacht in Bora Bora, with assistants for hair and make-up, planning for a business launch. Hearing feedback, I understood that I portrayed a older woman 35 upwards, they also recognised my high status from the way I spoke and carried myself. The only thing they were not able to guess was my location, i tried by gently rocking or moving as if I was going over waves but was difficult to show. This exercise was useful, allowing me to think about deep character work and making it obvious to the audience the given circumstances without having to make them guess.
Improvisation
We played a game whereby we were given a letter and we could only use words beginning with that letter. This was a good game to play it allowed us to develop any scene and take it anywhere.
Whilst in rehearsals we have improvise when one of us forgets a line or messes up the order, we do this not only to practice the skill but to prepare us if anything goes wrong on stage. We can cover this up, by swift transactions so the audience does not know.
Script Analysis
Script analysis is crucial when beginning to work on a play, I have to think about my beats, objectives and actions.I recently read a book called Actions,
‘Caldarone, M. and Lloyd-William, M. (2004) ‘Actions’. The Actors’ Thesaurus. 4th Edition. London: Nick Hern Books Limited.which brings me depth about actions needed for an actor. This book help influence my actions within the play and a better general understanding of actions. Objectives are important for a character it gives them more layers and a drive for every scene. Understanding the script inside out, knowing exactly what your character's goals are and what they will do in order to achieve them .
In today's rehearsal the group and I began working on the first 3 scenes, we thought about our positioning on the stage and how we would interact with one another. We added levels to give the stage more dynamics, we began by placing me on a stole whilst Tisana stood behind me to do my hair, Haleema was sitting further front on the right side. We walked through the scenes to where we would stand, because there is only three of us it is important we are covering the stage at all times. We then read through the lines till scene 3, the main notes was to work on where we moved to once the scene has begun and keeping a distance between us.
Today's rehearsal consisted of a fast run through, this means we said our lines fast. This exercise is to test how well we know our lines and where the weak parts are. Overall, this exercise was useful as we were able to identify our weak scenes which was scene 3, it is a long scene with many lots of talking over one another. We aim to work on scene 3 this week, the first half is strong however, the energy is lost with remembering lines.
Later on we then worked on scene 3, we done this by once again running our lines over. After getting feedback from Shenagh, she wanted me to really portray that I was playing eye spy. This meant instead of just looking around and saying the lines, instead I look around for longer beginning to really think about what I'm looking for. This helped because, I then believed that I was really enjoying the game myself. I also worked on the later scene whereby I am talking to Haleema about the child soldiers, I thought about my emotions a lot. By asking myself questions such as 'Do I want to tell her?', 'How do I feel about the situation' and 'Am I scared or nervous to tell her?'. These questions can affect my approach on these lines so it is important I think about my objectives. What went well in today's rehearsal was the focus we gave in order to develop the scene, made sure to pick up our cues and remembering lines. We need to work on keeping the energy alive in every scene and for Haleema, its continuing to look up when talking.
Today's rehearsal we wanted to challenge ourselves on yet again testing how well we know the play and our lines. We done this by doing scene by scene and if someone forgot their lines, spoke before someone else, or did not come in at the right time we would start again. This session was useful as it required us to stay focused at all times and having to keep the energy up. We got to scene 7 in the time that we had, we started over many times but it allowed us to familiarise ourselves with scenes we may have been weak on.
We worked on scene 12, we thought about how we would deliver the lines. At first I felt I was shouting a lot through the scene, however working on my deliverance was important to make it more effective. One line I worked on was, "only because nobody wants you", to begin with I would shout at Haleema, however I changed my approach. This was by walking past Haleema to show her I have won the argument, when she says her line "I am nobody's prize", I then slowly turn around and say the line sternly. This was effective for me, I felt I was delivering my lines from my gut rather than throat. By pausing before I deliver the lines, also builds suspense for the audience, peers also gave the feedback that they preferred when there was different tones and volume in our voices.
In today's rehearsal we peer assessed one another's group, one group in particular I enjoyed watching was Brad and Gabriel. Their production was based on a park bench in New York. What I liked about their piece was their character work, you could see a clear difference in class and wealth. This was shown by body language, voice and how they described where they lived. I also liked the consistency of energy, there was not a moment whereby the energy dropped or the lines lost depth. They have learnt their lines, so this made it easier to bounce off one another and keep eye contact. However, there are a few things that need to be worked on prior to the performance. Thinking about their objectives in the way and what exactly their goal is, at times this was not clear. Also working on a gradual build up of trust and a relationship it seemed that Brad's character was not sceptical to give information to this stranger. Finally thinking about their seating on the bench, they were sat quite comfortable with one another for people who had just met. Overall, a good piece is forming which kept me entertained and engaged.
After performing the first few scenes of our play, we received our feedback. We were told that the girls and I had a great relationship on stage and you could see I was the mother-like figure in the group. Our use of space on the stage was also good, we kept the audience involved at all times by doing this. We projected our voices, clearly allowing the audience to hear us at all times. The main bit of feedback was to show our different characteristics better, we have begun to show them however, we need to now perfect it.
In today's rehearsal we worked on scene 9, working with the blood needed and how we would hide it before the audience sees it. We decided that Tisana will have a top over the bloodstains, then take it off in the night scene before. The focus is on Ruhab and Tisana in scene 8 therefore it gives her enough time to do so.
Scene 1-12
This week we are blocking scenes 1-12, this is so we have our first half blocked and ready. Whilst doing a run through this week, I have seen we are more confident with our acting, maintaining the energy throughout the scenes. One scene we struggled with was scene 3 due to lack of energy in the later part. After doing consistent run through of that scene we were significantly stronger, remembering to keep occupied with our chores, because the scene was long sometimes we forgot to stay busy with chores and the girls often were looking at the floor, this brings the energy levels down. Within scenes 1-12 we wanted to capture the relationships that the girls and I had, expressing our dependency on one another. This was shown especially in the first scene, by expressing our bonds, we discussed our village e.g. Tisana's dad and Bawa, which will show the audience we have shared lives. Our individual character work allowed us to bounce off one another, expressing to the audience our traits. Ruhab being very self-centred but mother like, Tisana, is extremely sweet and optimistic, we care for her like the baby. Finally, Haleema is strong headed and independent. Peers also said they could see our different characteristics, our teacher Monique said "I'm really pleased to see the development of your characters, they have become so strong!" Thinking about skills we kept them minimal, we did not add any still images, split scenes, miming etc. This is because we wanted to keep the production as naturalistic as possible, we wanted the audience to follow every scene without being distracted by skills. Within the play the girls talk over each other frequently, we found this difficult at first because we are used to performing where lines are finished. However, once we knew our lines and began seeing the play as an conversation it became more natural for us.
Scene 13-27
The second half of our play reveals the more emotional and touching subjects in the story. I especially worked on my scene including a miscarriage, I wanted to do every women watching justice for this scene. I watched countless videos from film/TV and asked women who have been through it their experience. From this knowledge I applied this to my work, at first I tried lying still when I heard the news, I felt this wasn't effective as it didn't capture the raw pain. Therefore, I tried with screaming and preferred it, due to more emotions being shown. After asking Jeremy what he thought, he said he preferred me crying out was more effective for him. The group and I then wanted to show mime in the next three scenes which didn't have text, we wanted to show our inner thoughts. After loosing my child, I decided to have a basic choreography, this was to emphasise how dumb I was feeling on the inside. I then used an idea from the film 'Us' directed by Tyler Perry, in the film a lady is silently screaming from the window with pure emotion, however looking from the outside you would have thought she was screaming loudly. I loved this technique I believed it showed things may seem different on the outside in comparison to what is happening on the inside. I used this to silently scream whilst holding the cloth filled with blood, this was to express my pain was trapped inside. After silently screaming I let out a massive scream, this highlighted I could no longer control my pain and suffering.
What I enjoyed about these later scenes, is you begin to see how close the girls and I become again.We see the importance of sisterhood, dependency, but also growth. We see how each girl has decided what path they want to take to survive, Ruhab is finally settled within the camp, Haleema and Tisana decide to try and escape. Within the second half the girls tone of voice changes, we begin to talk more calmly and listen to one another, this shows maturity but also the realisation that we all have different opinions. For my character of Ruhab I believe my persona changes, I was very controlling of the other girls, accepting they have a choice allowed Ruhab to become more calm and humble. Throughout all of this development, we worked on our spacial awareness, making sure if we sat around the table, it was at a diagonal. We would always have one person sitting in front of the table one in the centre and one at the Garri, this was to open up the stage to the whole audience leaving no dead stage.
Working on the last scene was important, we needed to make a quick transition from the blackout, to lying dead. It was interesting exploring different ways in which to position ourselves, I sat face down in the sack, when Tisana pushes me I roll over revealing I am dead. Haleema is lying down however, once Tisana rolls her over she is also revealed to be dead. I am so proud of our development of these scenes, I feel we have come a long way and I am excited to start working with the light, sound, costume and props.
Today we had two ideas for our back screen, we wanted the audience to be living within the play. Making the audience feel like they are in this time and reminding them of how many stories can be quickly forgotten and what has happened to them now. The first idea was layering different news clips of 2014, this plan was to make the audience realise how many stories were in that year that alone and how easily the media can move from story to story.
Here is the link to our new reports:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13OpvNU9oAaj-6KgQj3vj6zj-hsWKnkDT/view?usp=sharing
We also used a PowerPoint these images showed soldiers, children, the girls that were taken and protests. The goal of these images is to move the audience further, highlighting these issues are still alive today and the suffering in those children eyes. We wanted to remind the audience that these events are real, still happening till this day, we reach a goal of the audience being moved but also humbled.
Sound
Following the next stage of production our company has begun to think about sound for our performance. We would like to pick out songs that match the circumstances and also the emotions in that scene.
For our opening song we have choice the song:
We chose this song to set the scene for the audience, therefore they know they are now in Africa. I also liked the song because it had children singing in it and the song was upbeat.
For scene 1 we chose the song:
This song was chosen because we needed a song that represented our sisterhood and what better song than a song about sisters itself. We all loved the song so we decided to use it.
To continue the next song for scene 13 we used:
Because our play is set in 2014 we wanted to use a song from that year, therefore we used this song
The next song we used was in scene 19:
We decided to use a Beyonce song because we mention her a couple times during the play, our characters love Beyonce so it felt necessary to have one of her songs in.
For the next one we had changed the songs about a week before the performance, this song was for scene 21,22 and 23.
The first song we had was:
But was later changed to:
Both of these songs were moving and added the effect of sadness and pain in our scenes, however the second song felt more effective. This is because being a Christian in real life and having this gospel song, I related to the lyrics, I felt I was giving more emotion with that song and after getting feedback from peers they had said they felt more moved with the second song.
Furthermore, for this finally song we also wanted it to be moving, this is because I have made a PowerPoint with pictures including the girls, the military etc. We would like a powerful song to be played behind it.
We had two options
First was:
Second was:
We decided to go with the second song, both songs were powerful however once again the lyrics just felt more fitting for our production. It was a prayer that resembled how the girls may have been feeling in their time of need.
Finally our closing song was:
Although this was a very emotional performance we wanted to lift the audiences spirits afterwards with a joyful song.
Lighting
We had to be very specific with the lighting we chose because, we have to think about our environment and the time of day. For example we could not use a light blue light for the day time, this would show we are not in a warm area. We went through each scene to find the what type of lighting was required and this was our final result.
Scene 1- Green lighting to portray a forest to back out.
Scene 2- No lights only a spotlight moving as if a spotlight.
Scene 3- Warm orange/red with dim side light as the day time lighting.
Scene 4- Same lighting.
Scene 5- dark blue to represent night time.
Scene 6- Day time lighting.
Scene 7- Day time lighting.
Scene 8- Dark blue.
Scene 9- Day time lighting.
Scene 10- Warm orange/red without the side light to show evening state.
Scene 11- Dark blue.
Scene 12- Day time lighting.
Scene 13- Day time lighting.
Scene 15- Evening lighting.
Scene 16- Dark blue lighting.
Scene 17- Dark blue lighting.
Scene 18- Day time lighting.
Scene 19- Day time lighting.
Scene 20- Day time lighting.
Scene 21- Day time lighting.
Scene 22- Day time lighting.
Scene 23- Day time lighting.
Scene 24- Evening lighting.
Scene 25- Evening lighting
Scene 26- Black out.
Scene 27- Day time lighting.
This lighting reflected the day time lighting.
Night time lighting.
Props
After evaluating the script and thinking about how we wanted the set to look, we picked out everything we could from the prop room. Here is a list of the props used:
- Black cloth
- Small knifes
- Pots and bowls
- Mirror
- Garri and nuts
- Needle and thread
- Rags for wounds
- Newspapers
- Baby grow
- Chocolate
- Buckets
- Sack
- Cards
- Teddy
- Big mat
I thought it would be an interesting idea to bring the props on gradually throughout the play, this could demonstrate how long we have been living there and making our tent become our own home. Therefore we start off with just a mat to sleep on, cloth for the food,cloth with needle and thread, two buckets a sack, Garri, newspaper and a bowl. Whenever one of us needs to go off stage we bring something else onto the stage. Our production has a lot of props to think about and where to stage them, this means in rehearsals we need to think about how we will bring objects on stage and where they will need to be moved to at any point.
The cast and I had a long discussion about what our costume would be. Ilonka wanted to wear a traditional African dresses/ dashiki's she has. However, because we are using fake blood and we have two performances the bloodstains would still be on the costume for the second performance which we don't want. We then decided to get simple costumes, whereby we have black hoodies, white tops, black leggings and flip flops.We chose this outfit after seeing the original casts outfit, they were in simple t-shirts, cardigans and trousers, this showed that our outfit did not have to an African print for the audience to know that we were in Africa rather through our acting and the rest of the technical side. We also wanted to wear the hoodies, so that we could hide blood on our tops and quickly reveal them when on stage. I also wore an extra white vest top underneath my hoodie so that in scene 8 where there is blood all over my top I take off my black hoodie so that it is revealed to the audience and Haleema, I then put on my second white top. We also wanted to have a simple costume reflecting that our identity is being stripped from us whilst there and we only have our individual personality, beliefs and spirits to remind us who we are. We may all have to dress the same but we are different background and stories and I hope that is shown to the audience.
Tech Run
Today is our tech run and we are finalising, our sound and lighting. This is our first time working in the theatre with all our costume and set, this tech is crucial as we can now see all of our set and how to move our props around the stage. We went through scene by scene and added our sound and lighting, the day time lighting represented the warm and humid look we were going for. The evening light was also shown by using the same lighting for the day but dimming the lights on stage, to give a darker effect. We also got to see for the first time our news reports being added in, it fitted perfectly for scene 6, the message that the world is still moving forward and more things are happening although we are still her living this nightmare. The group and I had to think about, how we would bring all our props on stage without it taking a long time. Therefore, we closed the halfway curtains and set up the props we needed first behind the curtains, this made it easier to find our props in the dark, getting them on efficiently. Another hurdle we had to face was placing our props in the correct places on the stage, so that we knew exactly where to find them. We solved this by going through the script and whenever we needed a prop we would place it where we first need it, then if that prop is used again we make a mental note of where it needs to be in order for it to make sense in the performance. An example of this was the mirror, it is used frequently in the play in scene 6 I have to use the mirror but to begin with I brought it over into scene 7. Tisana asks for the mirror because she cant find it although it does not make sense if its right next to me and she wants the mirror. For that reason I had to leave the mirror at the table for it to work. To continue, another point we worked on is the transitions from scene to scene, because someone is on stage at all times and many of the scenes do not require a black out. We worked out a way in the scenes required to keep the play flowing without having to come off stage or a black out. This also benefits the audience, they have to stay focused at all times and we do not give them a opportunity for their mind to wonder. An example of this is scene 24-25, after we have done our individual movements, we did not want a black out because the audience may feel it is the end of the performance. Instead, we changed the day time lighting to the evening as it was also our last dinner, showing a transition of time. Within the tech run, I also had to think about how to use the blood for my miscarriage. The idea we came up with was to fill a condom with fake blood, cover it with a cloth and squeeze it near my upper legs so that the blood will drip down onto my hands. This was effective because I couldn't get blood on my top in the first performance as I needed it for the second, by hiding the cloth and only drawing attention to it whilst having a miscarriage it shocks the audience. We left that cloth behind the bucket in the same position until it was time to use it, it was accessible and discrete for the time I needed to use it. The sound effects we needed worked perfectly in every area needed and we made sure to give a note to the tech to keep the volume up with all the songs as we did not want to be heard. We also required three spotlights, one for Tisana and the rest of the stage pitch black, then the same for me followed by a centre spotlight for all of us. This did not work because although we had a spotlight on one person you could still see the other cast members, in a result of this it did not give the effect on isolation and darkness we were aiming for. To fix this we asked for a moving spotlight, that resembled a torch of people looking for us, our goal was to stay out of the torch until the end when Tisana jumps in front of the torch for us to be found.
Overall our tech run was extremely useful, this was the first time putting everything into practice and being able to alter any issues we couldn't see whilst in rehearsal room. The lights and sound enhance our goals whether that be emotions or knowing where we are, the play has come together with all the tech and I'm very excited to see our final outcome.
The cast and I have now finished our final performance and I am so glad with how it went. Firstly, I will talk about our skills within the play. I believe by keeping the style naturalistic we captured the full theory of realism, this is because not using as many non naturalistic skills such as still images or split scenes allowed us to focus more so on the characters journey and emotions. The play had a powerful message, we felt there didn't need to be many skills for this to be put across. To continue, this was our first time in front of the audience, I felt we worked well as a team and bounced off each other even better. All of our cues were sharp, making sure the conversation felt natural and not hesitant. After both our shows I got feedback from the audience, we had a few tears which one of our goals, to move someone with our message to the point of tears. They said after watching the scene where Ruhab has a miscarriage, "Even though you pre-warned me, I was still emotional after watching that, having been someone in that situation you captured exactly how I felt thank you" After hearing those words it really encouraged me, to know that all my hard work of making sure I get this scene right for those who have been in that situation is important. To continue various people said they were moved by the piece and that it was "thought provoking", this was amazing feedback as a few off our aims was to leave the audience thinking/reflecting on what we had performed and personally for me to be able to relate to the woman who have been affected and do their experience justice. We managed to receive feedback from industry professionals, although Monique teaches us she works alongside theatres such as Rich Mix. She mentioned how our individual characteristics were shown throughout the play, they mentioned how far it had come in regards to development and you could see all our individual objectives and needs, this was great to hear as individually and within the group we have been working on ourselves to show the differences between us and it definitely paid off. Another industry professional was an Agent called Darren who was kind enough to see us. One moment that stuck out to him was the moment in scene 12 whereby I dropped the knife after the argument "At that point I just knew exactly what you were thinking and said yes this is it". This feedback was very encouraging knowing that we had worked on that scene for some to get it right. It was also noticed by the audience that they enjoyed our PowerPoint at the end, showing the girls made them realise how alive still this situation is, it allows the audience to reflect on what they have seen and question where they could be today. Audience feedback is positive, letting us think about the good things we produced and also what we needed to work on for the second showing.
There were a few things we could have improved on, these included our use of props. This was evident in our first show, as it was dark and under the pressure of getting all the props on stage, I left the bucket and sack in the wrong place not being able to find it in the dark. This meant I had to improvise in the first scene by acting as if I was collecting the Garri when I knew I didn't have a line coming up. Another prop we could have worked more with was the cloth and blood, for the first performance I had put too much blood in the condom and therefore it dripped whilst being brought onto the stage. It wasn't evident but I did not want the audience to be distracted by the trail. This was fixed in the second performance by putting less blood in the condom and wrapping it better so the blood does not drip. Furthermore, for myself, I would like to work on emotional memory to bring out deeper emotions within myself. My miscarriage scene was very emotional, although I feel with the help of professional training or even mastering Stanisvlaski techniques. I could've given more emotion to the point of tears but I believe that will come with practice.
Reflecting over our goals for the performance I believe we reached the targets that we had set initially. Our goals were to remind the audience of the unimaginable circumstances these girls were in and the things we did not see on TV. We also wanted to show the importance of themes mentioned such as relationships, miscarriages, child soldiers etc and what effect they have on our individual characters. I believe we showed these goals by our character work for example, my character was very protective over the girls, we then saw a change in Ruhab once she realised Haleema no longer wanted to listen to her. What I loved is how we came together after the argument, Tisana had begun to go crazy and regardless of our issues we stuck together. For me that showed a real sisterhood and I believe we showed this to the audience, even in the later scenes our relationship is stronger than ever.
We also show the issues of how quickly the media moves on from problems around the world, this was shown by getting news clips from 2014 and layering them over each over. By showing the PowerPoint at the end we managed to move many people, the feedback was that being able to see the girls and pictures surrounded with the issue reminded them how real this problem is and questioning what they're all doing now.
Moreover, we were faced with problems along the way however we managed to fix them. One of the problems was not being able to have enough clothes that we wanted to get dirty, we sorted this by buying cheap plain clothing which we did not mind disposing off afterwards. To continue, we also didn't know if using blood was going to be an issue however, we managed to use it discretely on stage by covering it with cloth. We also had a risk of someone loosing their voice before the performance, we avoided this by making sure we had warmed up our body and voices before each rehearsal and show. We were also sceptical in regards to the lighting being used, not being able to capture the warmth of the country, but the tech team done an amazing job in fitting our themed lights. Although some of the cues were slow, it was our job as actors to improvise until the lights had changed. One example of this was in the second showing, in scene 1 the song went on longer than needed, therefore we had to use the skill of miming to pretend we were talking and joking around with one another until the blackout. Not all of the lines were perfect but us as a company managed to improvise and continue on.
Another performance I loved watching was Jeremy's in his production of Misty, we worked closely alongside him so seeing the final piece was incredible. What I loved about the piece was his engagement with the audience, he remained open, relaxed and kept eye contact with us at all times. This made me feel apart of his production and I did not want to take my eyes off him. He always worked hard on the rhythm of the text, but still managed to articulate correctly. He needed a lot of energy for this one man show and he definitely showed this with the use or voice body language and projection. The voice over's used were effective, we began to see his different relationships and what he thought of them using facial expressions, he managed to meet each cue whilst doing so. The only improvements I would say, is in a particular scene he has his back to the audience talking to his sister. For me as the audience I could not see his facial expressions, instead he could have tried using different points on the stage to show the different locations. Overall, he done an excellent job.
Overall, I strongly believe this performance was a success, this has been my favourite production to date. I enjoyed that us as actors had complete control of the production, we decided our lights, costume, sound and direction for the play. It was a great task to challenge ourselves as we had never been asked to do so before, this allowed our creative side to come out and explore the styles that we are interested in. Being able to see our piece evolve and the ideas that continued to come out was amazing to be apart of production. If I could perform 'Girls' again I would dive deeper into transitioning in regards to props and costume, this means I would want to show more bruises on Tisana, a pool of blood for Ruhab's miscarriage and even our positioning after the explosions. This is so the audience can also see more clearer what we see as the characters. From this unit I have learnt how to take full responsibility for a production in different areas such as tech I didn't think I could do. I also feel I have learnt how to work with actors better, having to find solutions and compromise when there are problems whilst working. I am also much more appreciative of my upbringing, knowing that I do not have to face these horrible situations that these young girls are forced to face. Moving forward I would like to perform 'Girls' around different schools and institutions to remind them of these terrific events that have been forgotten about it.
References
Nagarajan, C. (2016) Don't forget the girls kidnapped in Nigeria: they need are help more than ever. The Guardian. Available at:
Holpuch, A. (2018) Stolen daughters: what happened after #BringBackOurGirls? The Guardian. Available at:
Gaurdian staff and agencies. (2017) Boko Haram releases dozen of kidnapped schoolgirls, say Nigerian officials. The Gaurdian. Available at:
