Introduction to professional practice

Since the beginning of the rehearsals I have seen a great development on myself. Before the course I had never been taught vocal warm ups, now I have a wide range of vocal warm ups to choose from. This has benefited me also as I now focus on articulating my words whereas before the pronunciation of my words were not clear. I have learnt different skills which make me think deeper about my character and unlike before, instead of just learning my lines and acting. I've begun to focus on really becoming and learning my character e.g. her age would affect how she walks, speaks and stands etc. Furthermore, practicing going from neutral to my character to portray the difference from myself to my character. Whilst at the Shakespeare workshop learning the 5 crucial tips whilst performing:

• The first was 'Land the line' therefore we must be able to project our voices whether someone is sitting in the front or sitting at the back but not forgetting to articulate our words.

Secondly 'stay in character', this means when we are walking onto the stage we should already be in character and even when we are leaving the stage.

Then there is 'Embrace the audience', letting the audience be our magnet, that way we are not at the back of the stage performing but rather closer to the audience so they can engage more.

Fourth is ' Avoid the kiss and kill position' whereby the characters are standing opposite each other very close; but they are not going to kiss or kill anyone. It is useful to avoid this as by moving further way from one another it makes the dialogue more exciting and the audience are able to see their facial expressions. 

Finally, 'Cheat with your feet', therefore your feet face the audience and you just move your head which allows you to say your dialogue towards the audience, this also allows the audience to see your facial expressions at all times.

 I found these 5 tips extremely useful as it will develop me as a character, this also taught me how to engage with the audience more whilst performing my monologue.For example 'cheat with your feet' in scene... where the nurse tells me Romeo is banished, this then allows me to make sure everyone can see my side profile so that the audience see's the emotion and pain i am going through. 
 was also helpful as it taught me what to do and what not to do on stage, and how 5 tips can help improve my skills , also making me become more aware when performing. 


Things I need to work on

My tutor Rob, informed me on things I can work on through the development of our performance. I need to work on the projection of my voice in the theartre, this could be done by using the vocal exercises' I have learnt during this course. One that could be useful is when we pretend to hold a heavy bucket leaning down to one side, then we begin saying "whoaa" and as we throw the bucket we get louder and louder. This is useful as it helps me project my voice through my diaphragm rather than my throat. I also need to work on the pace of my monologues, making sure I take my time in each one and get every emotion across. For example in the balcony scene, I have a few long monologue's, therefore in my own time I  need to read over them and look for where the punctuation is which will allow me to pause and pace myself.


Time Frame

We've had just over two months to rehearse for Romeo and Juliet, we have been working well within the time given. Our tutors told us that we must be off script two weeks before the play which  I managed to achieve, I've also memorized all the entrances and exits and which scene I  need to come on, to ensure my scenes are on swiftly never leaving a dead stage. For example after the nurse finds out Romeo does want to marry me and they are walking off, its my responsibility to be on stage otherwise it is a dead stage, therefore learning when I need to come on it is crucial. We also need to begin to think about our costumes and how our clothes will represent us. I want to wear an outfit that expresses I am a rich Capulet, but also a spoilt young girl. I had in mind, A white blouse, with a sort of skater skirt, long socks and loathers.


Warm ups

It is important for actors to warm up physically and vocally for many reasons. It is important to have physical warm ups because it allows us to work on your focus and concentration. Paying attention to your breathing and feeling in your body and muscles. Doing a physical warm up reduces tension throughout the whole body. Tension and stress can stop you from breathing, thinking, feeling and responding which is essential for actors. Because the voice is in the body it is important to prepare your vocal apparatus.
It is also important to do voice warm ups, the goal is to release tension. It is good to prepare the vocal apparatus and work your range. Voice warm ups are also important as it helps with articulation.
One warm up I enjoy doing is, over the top chewing and humming then exaggerating chewing and sticking our tongue out. This voice warm up is useful and it warms the jaw muscles out and also by stretching the tongue it helps with pronunciation and articulation. A physical warm up I enjoy is, walking around the room, our teacher can tell us to 'stop', 'go', 'change direction' and also remembering to fill the space. This is a helpful exercise as it allows me to get my brain in focus and in gear ready for the lesson.


Sensitivity to individual needs


I've begun to show sensitivity to individual  needs, thinking deeply about what is going on in each scene and my inner monologue throughout. Two scenes that are particularly important is when I find out Romeo is banished and when Romeo is dead. I will use the technique of Stanisvlaski's emotional memory, by this I mean I will use a personal memory that makes me feel upset and therefore it will reflect and be projected through my scenes. To begin with I wasn't quite sure which emotional memory to use as I thought it didn't quite fit the scene. I also felt a bit awkward performing such an emotional scene in rehearsals and having everyone watching. Therefore, I felt I was just saying lines rather than the acting with it.  However, I'm glad I have come past that short stage, I began to use the idea that what if I saw my loved one lying there and how I would react. As I was rehearsing I felt I wasn't really using Stanisvlaski's concept of an emotional memory, although the scene and my emotions were improving drastically. I've added in pauses, screams, less facial expressions to begin with to show my shock and horror but later on in the scene we see the pain I'm experiencing. Now I will begin to use a personal memory to me of when my friend passed away and be able to channel those emotions in the scene. I can also use this in scene... where I find out Romeo is banished, to begin with I didn't use any memory but as we went through rehearsals I found using a memory was much more easier. Therefore I decided to use the same memory as before, since then I have seen an improvement on my scene. I begin to breathe heavier and quicker, my voice is shaking and my facial expressions show how devastated I was.

 Safety of the production

 It is important to have regular safety meetings with the workers identifying situations that may be unhealthy or unsafe for workers. Also considering and responding to health and safety from cast and crew. Participating in regular workplace inspections is also important.

Orientation

 All workers must be given an orientation for things such as:

• fire exit route/ marshaling areas
• Location of first aid kit
• Fire extinguishers 
• how to report accidents

Safety inspections

Inspections should be conducted by supervisor and a work health and safety representative

• Emergency equipment and safety routes
• Backstage lighting
• Tripping hazards
• Platforms and stairs
• Flown items
• Electrics
• Crew and work practice 

Risk assessment- Risk/solution

1.  Electric shock- regular maintenance of equipment. Check wiring, plugs, sockets.Ensure power is off when replacing fuses. 
2.  Circuit overload-Technicians and teaching staff must be familiar with power ratings of luminaries and circuits. .
3.  Burns-Use protective gloves when focusing luminaries.When replacing Tungsten halogen lamps, handle new lamp in its plastic sleeve to avoid damage to lamp from finger sweat/grease.
4.  Overhead objects- Regular check on suspension of luminaires, projection screen etc. Safety chains/secondary suspension systems must be in place.Wire rope suspensions to be correctly fitted. Colour frames to be fitted correctly. Luminaires not be moved/adjusted or colour frames fitted when people underneath. 
5. Working at heights-o not work at height if you suffer from vertigo. Wear safety helmet. Take care with low beams in the roof. Should be insured to work at heights. No alone working. Catwalk must be kept tidy, any cables neatly secured to avoid risk of tripping. Only certified persons may use the tallescope.

     We also need to use safety for our own production of Juliet here is a list:

• We must know where the fire exits are in case of an emergency.
• Being careful at the wings of the stage as it will be dark on the night, so making sure not to bump into anyone. This can be avoided if the people back stage stay in a line away from the stage.
• There is going to be, three different schools on the day and it is going to be packed backstage, so its ensuring  everybody keeps a steady pace and pays attention to where they are going. 
• Also the we will not be able to see the end of the stage because the light will be so bright.Therefore, on the rehearsal at the theatre we must learn how far down stage we are going to so we do not fall. 
• There are also lots of buttons back stage, so making sure we do not touch any as we do not know what that button is controlling. 
• If there is a blackout and we have to come off stage sometimes it is hard to see the wings, to solve this we can stick white tape on the floor to direct us. 

      The national Theatre   

    The National Theatre company have a variety of warm up  videos to help performers. These                were two I picked, a voice resonance warm up and a breathing warm up. The first is working on      a voice resonance, resonance means the quality of a sound being deep, full and reverberating whereby th  the majority of the video was based on humming. First they just hummed, patting their chest, ribs, ba back and hips, which gave them a buzz through their bodies and fill voice. They then shaked their ent entire body continuing humming to loosen up the voice through the body. Next they dropped their he heads to their chest, humming sound to the floor and playing around with the pitch then lifting their head and into the distance. Lastly, was a high head hum sliding it down and changing pitch throughout the body, they were told to think about the sound going into the audience. I have found this video useful as it has taught me different exercises to us on my voice not just for the throat, jaw or diaphragm but also, loosening up your voice through the entire body and working on a range of pitches for the performance.
       I use some of the warm ups that are given in the first video. One is when you drop your head           to your chest and start by saying sounds to the floor. For me I say random lines from the script,           one in particular I use is the balcony scene. Learning how to project my voice through the whole          theatre, " Tis but thy name that tis thy enemy" this warm up allows me to focus on projecting my        voice, so that although my head is at the floor my voice still carries. I am to doing  this exercise          in my free time( rehearsals at home) or before we rehearse at college.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBoOyCLlCcU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc-_hoG4nec

 To begin, they put their hands above their heads and stretched side to side and rotated, which opens up the ribs. Then they leaned over from waist upwards, which allowed them to focus on the breath and breathing. Then crouched down on his knees, focusing on deep breaths through the body especially in the stomach and back. To continue, they took three long breaths on a 'S' sound. Which was useful as it allowed the organization of breathing muscles. They then lied on their back and used their fingers to massage the jaw and muscle in front of their ear. Which allows them to contact lung breath. Whilst on the floor the made a 'Z' sound making the voice come through the body until it reaches the tip of the tongue. Finally, to make sure they feel the support of breath they count to ten to feel the difference. From this video I have learnt, that breathing warm ups organise the breathing muscles and extend capacity of the breath. This will be useful in the play as will relax my breathing before I go on sage as I will be slightly nervous. As these exercises allow you to focus on your breathing it may also help with my longer monologues, taking breathes at the right time and knowing how to pace myself. I will defiantly will be using some of these techniques.
 One warm up i can use from this video is when they are crouched down on their knees and three long 'S' sounds. As this exercise helps you focus on your breath around the body, this is useful to me in scene... when Juliet sees Romeo dead.  In my monologue I say "what's her closed in my true loves hand", I am sitting next to Romeo therefore I need to be able to focus on pouring out emotion but also my breathing so I deliver. Likewise, I do these warm ups in my rehearsal at home or at the college. 


References
 http://www.nsg.northants.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2012/10/Theatre-Performance-areas-Risk-assessment.pdf
 RISK ASSESSMENT FOR THEATRE PERFORMANCE AREAS - Theatre-Performance-areas-Risk-assessment.pdf
 

                       Engaging with the audience

The relationship between and Actor and audience can be quite diverse, the audience can either be involved or completely ignored. Some audience members tend to dislike being involved, as they don't want to get up on stage and in some opinion feel like a 'mob'. However, some people dislike being ignored and can find it harder to believe if the action has anything to do with them, they don't feel engaged but passive. An audience can be very excited to go to the theatre this is because it may be their favourite play or they enjoy going to the theatre. However, some people may not be interested as they could have been forced from school or their partners have took them with them.  However, other people may be very critical on a performance and pay attention to every detail. The audience members could also be very young so some plays may not be suitable for them, others may be of older generation and have more insights to the play. 


Because of these characteristics I will use certain techniques to make sure that the ones who wanted to come and see the play I perform to the best of my standard. There will most likely be children in the audience so I must be over energetic to keep them engaged and the language we use has to be suitable. If the audience are drifting, we can pause and wait, by this I mean the audience may think that we have forgot our line. Because some of the audience may have seen many different Romeo and Juliet's we aim to make ours in a way that is original and completely different.
Prior the 20th century, the audience was a vital part of the creation, actors spoke directly to the audience. It was argued that the relationship between the actors to the audience was more important to the relationship between performers. During the 19th Century actors would plant themselves in the audience for communication. Supporting players had to turn their back to the audience to play with the lead role, because of the 'bad' acting during the 19th century a technique called 'fourth Wall' was introduced.




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. By this I mean we will not be using the convention of fourth wall. This is because we will trying to engage the audience as much as possible. By looking into the audience and using facial expressions to really play the moment.

In Stanislavski's production of 'The Cherry Orchard' in Moscow Art theater 1904. A three dimensional box set gives the illusion of a real room. The actors act as if unaware of the audience, separated by an invisible "fourth wall", defined by the Proscenium arch. In our production we have been

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.
 

In our production we do not use realism as such. This is because we do not use modern language but rather Shakespearean language.  We also are not using real settings as we are only using a  minimum amount of props. However, the other convention of ordinary people also doesn't relate to our play, this is because We are upper and middle class actors, although not everyone in the audience will be upper and middle class therefore this takes away from the realism.

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 stratergies. 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 to 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. As i am playing Juliet i will focus deeply on using Stanislavski's method of emotional memory when i see Romeo dead. Not only will this benefit me as i will be able to show the pain and heartache i am experiencing properly. But also for the audience to see the different layers of my character and connect to the journey of falling in love to loosing it all.

Non-Naturalism 
Our play was mostly non naturalistic, one of the reasons is because we broke the fourth wall, by this I mean we are talking to the audience. For example when I've just had an argument with my parents I spoke out to the audience "O ancient damination most wicked fiend" I am speaking out to the audience therefore that is non-naturalistic and if the fourth wall is broken that means it cant be natural. Although I cannot directly see because of the lights in scene 5 where I found out Romeo is a Montague I say "My only love sprung from my only hate" I am making eye contact with the audience so that I am bringing the audience in with me on my journey. In scene 11 where we get married in Friar Lawrence's cell at the end Friar Lawrence looks out into the audience and makes some gestures breaking the fourth wall once again. We are also miming some scenes, in scene 12 when Tybalt and Mercutio are fighting they mime there swords which is un-naturalistic. We also have a use of physical theatre for the balcony and at one point they both look up and shake there heads, although this brings humour to the scene it is also non natural as a real balcony wouldn't come to life.


 Methods used to convey meaning to an audience
  



Spacial awareness/ proxemics:
Whilst performing on a stage, stillness can be powerful however you may begin to lose your audience's interest. It is important that you are spaced on stage so that the audience can see your portfolio face at all times, because if you're too close to one another and are facing each other one side of the audience may not be able to see and will be missing out on crucial facial expressions or gestures and could switch off. The space between two characters can effect the whole scene, it can show the relationship between performers and the audience can interpret the scene differently. In our production of Romeo and Juliet proxemics is very important, this is shown as when Romeo and Juliet first meet they are already standing exactly opposite each other conveying they have a deep connection already and are comfortable with one another. However, when Capulet and Lady Capulet demand I be married, we are very spaced apart expressing the division and an unhealthy relationship I have with my parents which can be shown to an audience.

Blocking:
Blocking is the decisions on where an performer enters, exits and stands on stage. Blocking is important as it focuses on space and making sure everyone is seen. If a performer has a long monologue but rather than performing it downstage center they perform upstage left it does not look interesting for the audience to watch and will not feel connected. If an actor has to turn upstage to speak to another actor and we can no longer see their face, the power is lost. Deciding where a character moves to is very important. For example in scene17 Juliet, Paris and Friar Lawrence we had trouble blocking as everyone was walking into each other. However, we fixed this by having me downstage left and Paris to the right of me a bit more upstage and Friar Lawrence next to him, this shows the audience that I don't like Paris one bit.

Voice:
It is important to be able to use our voice whilst performing, the certain tones, pace or pitch can convey different meanings to an audience. You also need good articulation especially for Romeo and Juliet it is crucial that the audience understand everything you are saying to grow a connection. A stern tone could portray someone is in control and demanding another could be when someone is shouting this could show frustration, excitement or angry. One warm up that I use to help me with my voice is saying a line from the text and pretending to throw it over a hill this will then help me project my voice throughout the theatre. In scene 10 when I say " How art thou out of breath when thou hast the breath" I say these lines quickly to show the audience how impatient I am to hear the news. In contrast in scene 13 when I find out Romeo is banished, "O God did! Did Romeo's hand shed Tybalt's blood?" I slowed this monologue down dramatically and my voice was shaking to express to the audience the tragic event which has just happened and how emotionally broken I was.

Applying appropriate methods of communication to the audience
In our production of Romeo and Juliet, we aimed to modernise the play and take it away from a stereotypical version of the play therefore we don't speak in the 'Shakespearean voice'. We didn't want the audience to be bored and wanted them to see something different. This also links to our costume, We did not wear the 16th Century clothing but rather our own ideas of what our character would look like. My costume is a simple off the shoulder yellow and white stripped dress with white converse conveying to the audience I was a young stylish girl and although from a rich household I did not have to dress in rich clothing. Whilst watching the other schools they also used different methods to convey meaning. The midsummer nights dream cast used physical theatre to show the audience trees which brought the scene to life with the different shapes, they also used modern hastags such as 'lol' to add comedy to their scenes. In the Tempest they used two narrators on each side of the stage which was effective as if the audience was ever confused about the scene the narrator would fill us in on the events and keep us drawn to the piece.





We were given the privilege of watching the other performing arts and musicians perform on Tuesday. One group that stood out for me was the group that performed 'Billy Jean'. I enjoyed this as one singer in particular was enjoying his time on the stage which made the audience enjoy this performance with him. He was dancing and moving around in his space, which kept me engrossed in watching him. However, what he could have done to improve this great piece is perhaps look at the audience more instead of looking at the ground/microphone, therefore he would have grown a more intense connection with us. All of their vocals were also amazing, they kept to the pace of the musicians and all harmonized well. However, it would have been brilliant if not only just the one boy enjoying the music but everyone else getting involved and dancing too.


The following day the other actors/actresses performed for everyone. One group I enjoyed was the musical theartre's last piece. They performed a dance to a dream girls song. I enjoyed watching this piece as it was full of energy and excitement. They were all in time with one another and gave it 110%. There was a lot of movement and they used different levels which made it more interesting to watch. They also used great facial expressions. However in this performance they were only miming the lyrics hopefully as they develop their piece they can add singing and although some were using good facial expressions others faces were neutral, they may have been focusing on getting their routine correct but forgot to enjoy their performance.




references
 https://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zygqsbk/revision/3
 https://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zygqsbk/revision/1
 https://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/spd130et/realism.htm
 Fourth wall - Wikipedia

Warm Ups

• In one of our first sessions, Sharon made us lie on the floor, we then had to say difficult phrases "she sells sea shells on the sea shore". the advantages of these exercises was to focus on pronouncing our vowels correctly this would further help us when it came to Romeo and Juliet and pronouncing difficult words.
• We was also stretching our tongue and mouth as far as possible. this allowed the muscles to be more relaxed and allows us to project our voices.
• whilst in the theartre 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 energized for the lesson. It was also useful.
• In Sharon's lessons we performed different exercises. The first was of all of us to stand in the line as an assemble. We then 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. 
• Rob gives us an exercise where we hum and chew 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" *get voice note*. This exercise helps us pronunciate different words properly and warm us up for when we have our lines.

For our performance of Romeo and Juliet we are determined to change it from our stereotypical version of Romeo and Juliet for the audience.
some of the things we find boring consist of

• The language
• Boring stories
• predictable
• a long play( it runs for 2hours and 50mins)
• uncomfortable seats
• Costumes
• Price (£25-£40)
• Too serious

what we want to see

• Different culture
• Humour and over dramatic
• non-typical story line
• make it shorter
• Modern (blood and krips)
• different music
• more intervals

Technical Skills
The first technical skill we could use during our performance is emotional memory, by this I mean we use a personal emotional memory and use it in the most appropriate scenes to show a certain emotion. This technique can be challenging as you must learn to turn the emotion on and off, to show great delivery to the audience. I use emotional memory in scene 13 when Romeo is banished and scene 21 where I see Romeo dead. I wanted to learn this skill to allow me to have a raw emotion during these scenes and so that it becomes believable to the audience.
You must also have good vocal projection whilst performing on a big stage. One vocal warm up which is useful is sticking our tongue out and reaching for our upper lip and bottom lip to exercise for our mouths. We also use the warm up where our tutor gives us a line and we pretend to throw our lines over a hill, which is effective as it allows us to then fill all the space with our voices. We also bend down to one side and throw our voices out, this helps with projection of our lines. I will need good vocal projection in scene 3 whereby I am behind the curtains and must shout "how now, who calls?" I must be able to project so that the audience can hear me.
Another crucial skill is being able to understand your character, this will help a performance massively, the audience will see you are not only just learning your lines but the delivery will be effected as they will begin to believe you are not your own person but the character i.e. Juliet and will feel every emotion. In my own time I focused on my own character, reading the script and understanding each scene I'm in. I learnt why my character said certain things or who she was talking to which was crucial as in some of the scenes I even changed the way I said things, for example in scene 16, before I used to plead to Lady Capulet "I pray you, tell my lord and father, madam" However after going over it, I changed my tone to angry and I was even shouting at Lady Capulet which expressed how furious I was that my parents were always trying to make decisions for me.
The next is characterization , using Stanislavski method that you can become your character in movement, and the way you speak. This is effective as you are able to engage more with the audience and once again your delivery of your character will be more believable.
You also need good stage presence, by this I mean you can 'cheat with your feet' therefore we can stand towards the audience but move our heads so that the audience are still able to see our portfolio of faces rather than our backs. When I am speaking out to the audience after I have just had an argument with my parents I say "Alack, alack that heavens should practice such stratagems", by having good stage presence I will be able to connect with the audience so that they feel the emotion I myself is going through.
It is also crucial that we have articulation, by this I mean pronouncing your lines clearly to help with this we have vocal warm ups such as 'D and T' which warms up our mouths and jaws, we also use tongue twisters such as 'unique New York, New York unique'. Having good articulation you begin to look more professional with your dialogue and the audience are able to understand what's being said with difficult language such as Shakespeare, I myself struggled to begin with, with my articulation especially with the lines " If that thy bent of love be honourable, Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow". As I continued to do the vocal warm ups and go over my lines I was finally able to say them.
Lastly, having good communication and engaging with the audience is a good skill to have as you can take the audience on the journey with you and let them feel they are living the moment with you. In scene 5 where I just found out Romeo is a ontague and I speak out to the audience " my only love sprung from my only hate" the audience begin to see the frustration that Romeo had to be from the other house.

Skills Audit

Before

Before starting this course, I believe there was skills that I took into the classroom myself. Some are projection of voice, proxemics, stage presence and good body movement.
To begin with I have always had a loud voice and project my voice when needed, I have never had a problem with being to loud on stage which I think is a crucial skill to have in acting. However, although the projection was coming from the throat rather than diaphragm warm ups have helped me change. Whilst performing Romeo and Juliet, some scenes are crucial to being able to project my voice. For example in scene 7 where Juliet says "O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Rome?" This needs projection as to the scene must be believable and I should be expressing my new love by being exaggerate so the audience engage in a crucial scene. Projection of my voice was used in a different scene (16) where Juliet's parents force her to marry, I am shouting at lady Capulet to express my anger and frustration. I feel the scene would not be interesting or believable if I was just speaking in a quiet voice and the audience not being able to hear what I'm saying, they will disconnect.
Another skill I have is proxemics, proxemics means the amount of space that between themselves and others within a stage. It is crucial to know when to close together and far away, we improvised on the some of the scenes with this skill. For example scene 16 again to begin with everyone one in the scene was close together and everything was mainly center stage. However, We worked on this scene to make greater space between the characters, this worked because when Juliet says "and when I do marry it shall be to Romeo" I then began to walk upstage right leaving Lady Capulet downstage left. Then Capulet walks in, therefore I end up centre backstage  and Capulet is further down and the nurse next to me. This scene just added more space between up representing the division of the family and made the scene much more interesting to look at.
Another skill I had was stage presence, making sure that when I am on stage I am not corsping at any time and I am always reacting to whatever is being said. Where I had monolgue's where I am talking to myself I look out into the audience but still considering my body language and facial expressions. For example in scene 18 when Juliet is about to drink the poison I say "Farewell God knows when we shall meet again", by shaking my head, looking down at the poison and shrugging my shoulders, shows I am bringing the audience in, in almost my inner monologue and taking them through this journey I must be able to deliver the make it believable.



Now
 In addition to the skills I have, I have added a few from my time on this course. Such as articulation, emotional memory, understanding your character etc.
Articulation means having clear and distinct sounds in speech. In the past I had not really thought articulation was important and I didn't use it for myself, I never really thought about how I was pronouncing words as long as I could say them. However, beginning various exercises has helped massively especially for Romeo and Juliet. For example doing tongue twisters such as "she sells sea shells on the sea shore" This tongue twister allows us to slow down our speech focus on the letters and pronouncing them correctly which I then could incorporate in the text. In scene 10 when Juliet says " How art thou out of breath when thou hast the breath to say to me..." To begin with I could never get these words right and would get the lines muddled, but during rehearsals and being more aware of my articulation i was finally able to say my lines clearly then gather the acting behind it.
Emotional memory was an idea made by Stanisvlaski whereby you would use a personal memory that sets off an emotional trigger which is then portrayed in your scene. The first time I was told about emotional memory I had not heard of it before. Although, as I got to understand it more I wanted to try it myself the skill is being able to turn the emotion on and off quickly in certain scenes. I used it in scene 13 where I found out Romeo is banished and scene 21 where Romeo is dead. At first I did not use any memory however I did not feel the scene was believable so i decided to think more about the 'Magic if' and how i would react IF I was in that circumstance and yes It helped improve the acting of the scene but I felt it took away from the idea of an emotional memory. So I then used a personal memory that happened years ago and it did trigger lots of emotion for me, on the night my voice became shakey, I was breathing very heavily, I too long pauses etc. Which made the audience see the heartache I was going through.
Before starting the course I did not know what understanding a character was but going through lessons and getting taught about it was very useful. I did not understand some of Juliet's lines e.g. "If that thy bent of love be honorable" I was a bit lost and did not know how to say it but by going along and finding out why that allows me to then develop my lines and it will eventually become me not just learning the lines but taking it into our own interpretation and acting with them. It about understanding why your character in a certain scene is walking on, for example in scene 13 and the first line is "O come gentle night give me my Romeo" at first I interpreted Juliet as being mellow and sad however, during rehearsals I was shown that it was really that, Juliet was happy and oblivious to the last tragic event of Romeo being banished. This changed my body movement from small to big and my inner monologue whilst walking on the stage was thinking about how excited I am for my trip to Jamaica to show excitement in the scene. Being able to understand your character is crucial because it shows you are not only just learning lines but becoming the character and responding how they would now respond.

Romeo and Juliet Opening Scene


We began focusing on the chorus and finding a diverse way to do this. We decided that by making the chorus apart of the characters instead of narrating. This set the scene and portrayed the hate of the two houses.
They created different fighting freeze frames reflecting what the chorus was speaking. This was effective as it emphasizes a visual rather than vocal representation of the hatred between both houses. Speaking in a modern voice rather than stereo-typical Shakespeare voice will engage the audience more so, so that they are not bored.
However there are particular things that could have been changed. The proxemics is an issue as everyone was too close. The actors need to be more diagonal so that the audience can see.




Characterisation
We focused on Romeo's monologue and the punctuality throughout the monologue. I began thinking about facial expressions whilst reading the monologue. I portrayed I was in ore with Juliet. Using gestures such as reaching out in front,  and facial expressions e.g. my eyes focused in one position and a slight smile. Emphasizing my love for Juliet.
Whilst I was whispering I feel that I projected my voice in a specific way, which came from my diaphragm and not my throat. However I will focus more on articulating each word, I could use tongue twisters such as 'red lorry, yellow lorry' to help me concentrate on my words and focusing deeper on the punctuality.This will result in me having more time to express my emotion and also engage with an audience more.

We created freeze frames in our group of which we thought were the most important scenes in Romeo and Juliet. These two images show Romeo dead when Juliet just wakes up. We also used the wedding scene. We thought about proxemics and making sure the scene was more interesting to look at rather than in on space, we also added levels so that our freeze frames were more diverse.





Language
We focused on Language for Romeo and Juliet by beginning to learn to articulate our vowels by whispering. This was effective as it allowed me to pronounce every single word clearly, which in the future will let the audience hear my lines clearly without seeming bored and I myself will understand the language. We then stood at the back of the stage on the theartre, first whispering to the candle, then the chair, and then the back line of the audience. This was a creative way to help me over pronounciate each vowel and work on vocal projection. However next time I perform it I will think about the emotion behind it rather than just projecting my lines. Another person I enjoyed watching was Kamal, throughout each stage in the theartre he was able to be heard by the audience and projected his voice clearly even though he whispered. One thing he could work on for the future is focusing more so on the emotion, because as he got louder his emotion become more angrier, this was shown in his facial expressions such as frowning. However he should try to keep the same emotion throughout.
We then played a game with a partner when one person says "yes it is" and "no it isn't", these simple lines allowed us to explore a variety of ways we can say this, we could be angry whilst saying this, frustrated or even happy. It allowed us to think about gestures, facial expressions and voice.



The fight scene
Sharon made us create one of the fight scene for Romeo and Juliet. we began in parallel lines but improved this by standing in a slight V shape line, this was effective as it allows the audience to see every aspect/character in the fight. In the lines me and Abe are fighting in slow motion. I punch Abe he then punches me, I duck and then upper cut him. We then had to go in partners to create our own individual fights. Me and Nikaya decided that I would knee her, she then slaps me, I slapped her, then I break her neck, she drops and as I go to stomp on her she grabs my foot. we do this once in slow motion and once fast. This shows a contrast and adds in the drama mediums of pace, it is a dynamic way to keep the audience engaged and adds climax to the scene. To expand our piece we then started each individual fight in a canon this is effective as it had layers to the fight. We also started moving in slow motion it also allows us to use the explorative strategy of  marking the moment. It brought the scene to life and it becomes more interesting for the audience to watch.

25/09/17

In today's lesson we focused on the party scene, Balcony scene and wedding. Working on the party scene, we went into different groups and our group took shots. At first it wasn't clear that me and romeo had just met, we just made a quick glimpse. However we improved this by marking the moment, we were in the center stage we paused, looked each other in the eyes. The people in the back became quiet. This was effective as this allows the audience to see the significance of Romeo and Juliet meeting. We show that we are interested in each other by our facial expressions. Romeo glared into my eyes and his body movement was still. I glared and had a slight grin, which was effective as it shows our audience that we adore each other.
For the balcony scene, we improvised with using a bench for our balcony to add levels making the scene more interesting. Romeo used spacial awareness and was able to project his voice throughout the whole theartre, this was effective as it allows Jeremy to project his emotion and allows the audience to engage more, and the scene becomes more real that Jeremy is in love with me. However Jeremy, sometimes slipped into the 'Shakespeare voice'. He can improve this by focusing on the context on why he's entering the scene rather than his voice and how he would naturally speak in this circumstance. I can also improve on the context of why I'm entering the balcony. e.g to catch fresh air, therefore I'm walking on with an objective rather than just walking on out of character. Also improving the balcony of using physical theartre of vines.

Later on in the day we focused on freeze frame, these were the three frames we thought were most important in the play, we then added another three. Unlike the first time we decided to add more levels throughout our freeze frames. for example in the fight scene I was lower down reaching for Tybalt and the fighting was at a higher height in the middle. This was effective as it draws the attention to the middle fight but also makes it more interesting to observe. Sharon then asked us to improve our freeze frames with our lines. To practice this we each took it in turns to stand on stage whilst someone sat at the back, to see if we could hear them. This exercise allowed us to channel not only our voice but emotion throughout the theartre. We also made sure each person in our group was over exaggerating their lines, we needed to see facial expressions and body movement. One person in particular who improved was Molly. To begin with, she wasn't projecting her voice and was standing still, but by the end of it I could see the anger in her face when projecting her lines, frowning her face and widening her mouth, she also began to move her hands more to show she was furious. This lesson was useful as it allowed us to focus on our spacial awareness on such a big stage, it also let me emphasise my emotion when delivering my lines.

On Wednesday, we focused mainly on improvisation. We had to make a semi-circle which was our proscenium arch 'stage'. Our scene was a park and only three actors were allowed on at one time, we had to make up a scenario and just continued to improvise anything. I enjoyed watching Elonca, she came on as a drug dealer. However, she over exaggerated her character which made it interesting, she bopped onto the scene and changed her voice so that it was deep. Elonca was going around to everyone to asking them if they wanted drugs her character was interesting to watch as it was the complete opposite of her which made it funny. The other two actors went along with it and were disgusted by her. When I came on I was a nine year old girl called Jessica, I portrayed myself as a kid by skipping into the scene my voice was very high and I was pronouncing words wrong. I was also miming playing in the park, I told a story that my mum had left me but we turned it comical my lip was trembling over dramatically. When I came off the stage my character was continued and we finished the improvisation with me running from the police. That improvisation exercise was really fun and useful as it teaches us to think as actors/actresses on the spot without coming out of role which is crucial, if we were to mess up in front of an audience we would stay calm and controlled. It also lets us work as an assemble to come up with story lines on the spot.

Throughout the week we continued on building the foundation for Romeo and Juliet. We were able to get through the whole play. We used an explorative strategy of Forum theatre when rehearsing suggesting different ways to make the scene more engaging. Rob also done this whilst working on the Mercutio and Tybalt fight we were able to add in choreography, Kamal and Abe worked together to perform a slick fight. I enjoyed watching this because I loved the way they portrayed their characters and the hate towards one another, this was shown through projecting a stern voice, facial expression and body movement. They used another explorative strategy of marking the moment when they moved in slow motion this was effective as the different dynamics kept me engaged throughout and adding climax.
Another actor that stood out to me was Gabriel who is playing Capulet. Whilst demanding that I (Juliet) must marry Paris, his delivery of the monologue was fantastic. He looked me straight in the eyes, showing the audience how intimidating he is, Gabriel also projected his lines through his diaphragm so his voice was stern and furious. Because he believed in what he was saying I myself on stage believed it as well. He also used a drama medium of gestures, he was pointing his finger, this emphasised how demanding and in control he was. However to improve this scene, he could add body movement and begin to walk towards me to almost threaten me to build more tension.
In the last bit of the play with the death of Romeo and Juliet, whilst Jeremy(Romeo) he is over me performing his monologue. However for the future rehearsals I believe he needs to have more emotion and more movement. For example, holding my body whilst delivering his lines, he could also begin to cry, to emphasise his dying love for me .I could also improve my monologue when i see Romeo dead by potentially screaming "Romeo!" to project the pain I am experiencing. Throughout the rehearsals I will begin crying with my dialogue to show the audience I have truly lost the love of my life.



week 2/10/17
Character Development
 Konstantin Stanislavski
He takes the approach that the actors should inhabit the role that they are playing. The actor shouldn’t just know what lines they need to say and the motivation for those lines. However they also know every detail of that character’s life offstage as well as onstage. This idea is very effective so that the character becomes reality. The way we speak and move should be reflected on how well we know our character. I am learning how to develop my character now in my own time I will look over the words and understand why Juliet is saying what she says, for example in the balcony scene to begin with I thought I could already see Romeo however as I was going through rehearsals I realised I could not see Romeo until the middle of the scene meaning this changed the whole way I began this scene. It emphasises to the audience the secrecy and risks Romeo is willing to take for me.


 movement and body language
Because I am Juliet and only 13 years old, my characters body movement should not be the same as how my parents would walk. My movement will be more immature than others around me, I will not have a complete upright posture. When the nurse calls me and I walk on stage, stomping my feet and I roll my eyes. I would say I have a teenage mentality  throughout the play, through the different facial expressions and mannerism.
We focused on improvisation throughout the lesson to grow a background information on our characters. We started with the first fight scene Nikaya and Shamsaul, had great characterisation. They portrayed the hatred between one another strongly, this was done by projecting their voices, their eyes were locked to one another and they used strong facial expressions e.g. frowning. They also used a good spacial awareness, getting in each others faces to show the hatred but then moving back to add dynamics and making sure other characters can be seen. We then also added in a short fight scene between Tybalt and Benvolio. They also all used their voices very well, they spoke at a steady pace and often fast to add a contrast between the characters, they also had a stern tone to express they're anger for one another. This is effective as it goes straight to the action and keeps the audience engaged.


3/10/17 Characterization and Improvisation
In today's session we focused on our individual characters, we were given the questions of who we were, where we lived and who our friends were. 

We then made an improvisation piece with Capulet, Tybalt, Romeo, Benvolio and Paris. Me (Juliet) and Malcom(Paris). We decided we would show a scene of how we first met. Paris was very forward with me, reaching for my hand and trying to make conversation and I was reserved as I didn't know I was going to marry, when the news gets broken to me I immediately leave whilst Paris is still positive. This exercise was useful as it helps me portray how I feel about Paris behind the scenes and throughout the play. Now that we have done this exercise, how I speak and feel about Paris can be related to our piece and will develop us as performers. This relates to Stanivalski idea of naturalism and builds a 3 dimensional character, instead of just acting/speaking our lines we now build a background story so that we can portray our characters more effectively.


4/10/17 Character Development
In today's lesson, we focused on improvisation skills to develop our characters. Me (Juliet) and Friar Lawrence showed a background story of how we met and our relationship. The first time I met her I was a little girl confessing my "sins". I had a high pitched voice and moved around a lot. The second time I came, I was a little bit older, asking the Friar why my mother said that I cant speak to the Montague's. I can use this for the play as I can show that I can express I don't have a problem with the Montague's at all. Finally, the last time I asked, I told the Friar I had fallen in love with a Montague. I can show in the performance I trust and care for the Friar as I say "Give me some present counsel I long to die", showing that I am quite dependent on the Friar's help.This exercise helped me as I can portray in the play the love and respect I have for the Friar through my gestures and the tone of my voice whilst speaking to her.

5/10/17
In today's lesson, we looked deeper into character development. We were given a piece of paper and we had to describe ourselves. Where I live (Mayfair), what I would wear (shirt, skirt,socks), what I dislike(the Capulet feud), who my friends are(Nurse and Friar Lawrence). We then took it in turns to be introduced, this was effective because, by using the Stanivalski idea we begin to get to know our characters ins and outs. We use the information we have created and we can then develop our character on how they would behave, speak to other characters and their own mannerism. We then focused on our 'objectives' as characters, my objective was to be happy and loved by Romeo. However, my supreme- objective is to be happy in general. A line in the play which supports this is "I have bought a mansion of love but not yet possessed it", emphasizing that I have so much love to give and I'm so loving, but yet unable to be with Romeo and have his love freely. Objectives are useful as they turn into actions which develops our characters behaviour, how we walk on and off stage and how we speak to other characters. We began to look at different theories that could help us whilst we are in role and developing our character. One idea is an emotional memory, whereby we would use a personal memory that triggers a certain emotion to perform our scene. I believe this is very effective as it allows the character to project real emotion in the play, they are able to connect with the audience more and it again links to Stanivalski's idea of bring the character to reality. Another idea was the magic 'if', this idea is to make us as actors think, what if this was to happen in real life how would we react to it. For example how would I react if my parents were forcing me to marry someone I wasn't in love with and channel that emotion to the scene. This is useful as we can emphasize each scene and make it a reality, therefore the play will begin to look like not only have we rehearsed our lines and added techniques, but begin to add in natural reactions which will make the play much more believable of every emotion. Finally, we have to think about our objectives coming on and off stage. This will ensure that we are not just walking on the stage neutral, but are already in role. For example, in the past when the nurse told me that Romeo wanted to marry me. After she finished her lines, I would just walk off. However, after thinking about my objectives I have improved this scene. When I walk off I have a massive smile on my face, a little skip and I talk to myself out of excitement. This improves the scene as now it doesn't just look like we've done our scene and then leave the stage but that I'm ecstatic about the news and I'm smiling with joy as I'm going to be a wife.


'FEC' lesson
9/10/17
In today's lesson rob gave us an objective 'FEC' which stands for focus, energy and concentration which we should be using throughout every rehearsal. We began by doing tongue twisters which are important to help articulate our words/vowels. Today we focused on building on the beginning to the party scene, we began adding in more detail throughout. Whilst the chorus is speaking we improved our still images to portray the hate between both houses from the beginning. Two people our holding Romeo and I apart, others are biting their thumbs whilst others are ready to fight. This is effective as the different freeze frames add interest from the very beginning and shows the story in just an image, resembling the feud. Actors are also showing naturalism through the scene and showing great character development e.g. Tybalt to begin with in the fight scene he would have anger in his face but I didnt believe this was his enemy, however as we have been going through I now see the anger in his facial expressions frowning constantly at Romeo, looking him dead in his eyes and his body language has improved using gestures such as pointing straight in Romeo's face, pushing him also, this is effective as the audience can now see the amount of anger Tybalt has. They change the tone of their voices sometimes quite to build the tension and other times raising their voice, highlighting the feud between both houses. Tybalt and Benvolio also improved their fight scene by having it at different paces, they begin in slow motion marking the moment, then speed up. These dynamics are entertaining as an audience to watch as it is building climax. Furthermore, for the party scene, once Romeo and I start talking everyone else freezes, this emphasises and important moment for the both of us and that the audiences attention should be to us only. We then practiced in the theatre with the lights at the beginning to begin making progress on the lighting.






Visit to the Conway Hall

We went to the Conway Hall to do a group workshop with members from the Shakespeare's school festival. We first started with two warm ups. The first was to over exaggerate saying different foods. For example Cucumber, Pineapple, Banana and Orange. We added an action with these and this exercise was helping us to articulate our words and allow us to pronounce them properly, also allowing us to warm up the body. We then played a game where William would call out an order and we would follow. These actions consisted of go, stop, clap and jump, these then got harder as we had to do the opposite of each. This exercise was to switch our brains on and have a higher attention spam and also stay focused.
The members then gave us 5 top tips on performing:

• The first was 'Land the line' therefore we must be able to project our voices whether someone is sitting in the front or sitting at the back but not forgetting to articulate our words. For example in our play when I say "O Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo?" I need to be able to project my voice to the back row  landing my line in this scene will express my emotion and seeing a variation of emotions which is more interesting for the audience.
• Secondly 'stay in character', this means when we are walking onto the stage we should already be in character and even when we are leaving the stage. In scene 7 I would walk on stage in neutral and then begin my lines, however I needed an objective to be going towards the balcony so I changed it to me going out to get some fresh air and I am also yawning, this now looks more professional as I am not only acting when I have lines but also an inner monologue throughout.
• Then there is 'Embrace the audience', letting the audience be our magnet, that way we are not at the back of the stage performing but rather closer to the audience so they can engage more. In scene 5 when Romeo and I first meet in the party scene, we should be centre downstage to show the significance of our meeting and we can pull the audience into our scene.
• Fourth is ' Avoid the kiss and kill position' whereby the characters are standing opposite each other very close; but they are not going to kiss or kill anyone. It is useful to avoid this as by moving further way from one another it makes the dialogue more exciting and the audience are able to see their facial expressions. In scene 10 when I am waiting for the nurses news, when she eventually comes we are standing right next to each other which didn't look interesting to watch. However, we changed it by me pacing up and down the stage it shows the audience how impatient I am to hear the news, rather than us both standing still.
• Finally, 'Cheat with your feet', therefore your feet face the audience and you just move your head which allows you to say your dialogue towards the audience, this also allows the audience to see your facial expressions at all times. In scene 17, at times I had my back towards the audience, but we changed it so that although I was speaking out towards the audience my face would sometimes turn so that you could still see my reaction and the fact I cant stand Paris.

I enjoyed this workshop as I have now learnt 5 simple tips that makes a big difference on a performance, I will definitely focus on these and use them as much as possible. I found these 5 tips extremely useful as it will develop me as a character, this also taught me how to engage with the audience more whilst performing my monologue.

We then both showed our pieces to one another. I enjoyed watching the other schools performance of Macbeth, there use of physical theatre was used well whilst creating a tornado for the witches. They also used slow motion well during the fight scene it added a more intense feeling and I was waiting to see what happened next. They also started with Lady Macbeth lying dead first, which was a diverse way of starting the play as we are all intrigued to know who is on the floor. However, one thing they could work on is emphasising their facial expressions during the fight scene to emphasise their hate for one another.
We then went on to developing the first few scenes of our scene. So instead of walking on from the back of the stage into our freeze frames, We were already in character walking the streets of Verona and then once the chorus started talking we move into our images. This improvement was also effective as it sets the scene clearly and lets the audience know our characters a little before the play starts. We then focused on our freeze frames, particularly our facial expressions and body movement exaggerating our facial expressions to emphasise the hate between each house. I improved mine by placing my hand on my heart, staring into Romeo's eyes, this if effective as you can see the love I have for Romeo in just one image. Once the Prince starts her monologue all the citizens rather then just the characters in that scene go onto the stage, we then either agree with what the prince is saying or we disagree, through quite sound and facial expressions. This was also useful as it shows the audience a bit about the character, whether they want to keep the piece or just want to cause chaos.

Overall, I found this workshop very useful as it helped me develop more understanding to use the stage, space and voice. It also taught me different warm up exercises that I am able to use before a performance and I will definitely develop my character deeper through this, I am excited to see the tips we have gained from this workshop used in rehearsals.

Back from half term we continued to build on the play after the party scene. For the balcony scene we added in physical theartre where Abe and Dillon are kneeling with their hands in front to create a balcony. This has added more reality to the scene and I am no longer just standing but have something to lean over. I've also added in stage whisper on the balcony, this scene has now become more realistic as I'm trying to hide from everyone.
In today's lesson we ran through the whole play to recall everything, we were then given feedback to n focus on. First was the assemble, to have care on and off of stage and being able to focus on rehearsal without talking. Furthermore, being able to use our eyes more by this I mean looking at who we are speaking to and also looking out towards the audience. this is effective as if we were not acting we would be looking at the people we were speaking to therefore it should be the same in the play. The next is pace, when we are performing our dialogue to not speak to quickly because the energy can be lost. It is better to take our time so that the energy and meaning is behind the lines. Moreover, we need to be thinking by this I mean playing the moment and being able to react off what each other are doing. We also need to work on our articulation, as well as pronouncing our words right we must be able to maintain not falling back into Shakespearean voices. We also need to take responsibility by playing around with our roles and adding in our interpretation rather than just the directors notes. Finally, we need to cheat with our feet, spacing and not standing directly towards the character and also look forward. In the second half of the day we received more feedback after running from the top. We all need to become more confident with our roles and become are character even more. In the next lesson we are going to run it 'over the top' because that's how we can bring more life and energy. In one of my scenes when I say 'my only love sprung from my only hate' and 'O ancient damination...'  I need to direct that to the audience so that I am engaging with the audience.


As I've been,  rehearsing and observing everyone there is a few scenes that have enjoyed watching. Tybalt's fighting scene has developed from when they first started, they have added in slow motion in some of their moves. This is effective as it marks the significant moment of when Mercutio dies. Tybalt and Mercutio also use good facial expressions when they are fighting, gritting their teeth looking into each others eyes, they also move around in a circle slowly before getting into the action, therefore the audience is waiting for the climax to come and it adds tension. The other scene I also like is Mercutio's dancing before the party scene, I believe its adds to  his character as he is confident and self-centred and believes he is the best. He  is also good in his last fight scene,  he looks Tybalt dead in his eyes to be intimidating and he begins to frown which shows the anger in his face.


I also like working with Jeremy in the balcony scene as he gazes into my eyes at all times, emphasizing that he is in ore by me. When the nurse calls me I begin to then stage whisper at Romeo so that the scene becomes more realistic that we don't want to get caught.  I have also improved on my articulation and take my time when saying my monologue so  that the audience can feel every emotion that I am feeling.  I also enjoy Friar Lawrence's' first scene, Kenya has shown great  character development. When Romeo explains his love for Juliet she looks out to all the audience mouth wide open with her hands on her face, this is very effective as it shows she is engaging with an audience and breaking the fourth wall. At all times Friar Lawrence's facial expressions are reacting to what Romeo says at all times, which shows she is thinking about her character at all time and the body movements that they have. I have began to develop my scene when I find Romeo dead, at first I would just say my lines with emotion in my voice, which I myself didn't believe that I had just lost my one and only love. Therefore develop this scene, I have begun to cry out Romeo's name I also lay on his chest and weep to make it a more believable the audience and I want them to also feel  the heartache I am experiencing.




The visit to the shaw Theatre 

Today, we were given the privilege of performing in the Shaw Theatre. We ran through the whole play and I saw a big improvement. By this I mean I myself was beginning to project my voice throughout the theatre. Taking Rob's feedback I learnt not to just wonder with my eyes but rather look out into the audience whilst delivering my monologues to make a connection with the audience. Friar Lawrence, also projected her voice thoroughly throughout the audience, she also shows she is breaking the fourth wall by making eye contact with the audience, which is effective as she allows the audience to see her every emotion. I also improved scene 15 where my parents were forcing me to marry Paris. Instead of just standing there I now respond to every bit of aggression Capulet gives me. I also go towards my parents for comfort and they walk away from me, this has improved the scene as we now see the reality of a child who has no relationship with her parents. We also worked on spacial awareness in the theatre, we were avoiding the kiss or kill position at all times, by this I mean standing closely next to a character when they are not about to kiss or kill. Because we are acting we feel we need to stand close to one another but whilst performing the further away we stand we are focusing on spacial awareness and fills up the stage.




Plan for the last rehearsal
We have now arranged a plan for the next week coming up to our rehearsal *get picture* this is helping us as an assemble to become more professional an organized. We also worked on the last scene to make it more believable that the city has just witnessed a tragedy. Friar Lawrence, Capulet and Lady Capulet are on their knees next to me in freeze frames before they speak. The levels are effective as in real life parents would not just be standing there in a line speaking but rather in emotionally agony. It is also more interesting for an audience to watch. The freeze frames are effective as it captures the emotional agony that the parents are experiencing and the shock that Friar Lawrence is going through. We also thought  about spacial awareness in this scene we needed to make sure that nobody was being blocked. Making sure everyone's power in the scene is equal as if you are standing down stage you usually have more power (more concentrated on)and if you are upstage you have less power in the scene. Therefore, because all the main characters are equally spaced in the middle, representing the unity of the two houses.


On Thursday we began going from the party scene on wards and developing and detailing every scene. We added in a dance to the party scene, boys on one side and girls on another we then cross over each other and I begin to dance around Romeo. This development is effective as it now sets the scene, it also brings it to life and a better reason for me to see Romeo. I believe within the scene the transitions are much better, for example when I dance past Romeo the nurse is already in position to be asked the question, which not only makes it cleaner but allows us to cut down time overall and that can be used in other longer scenes. We also added in a bit more detail for the balcony scene, although Romeo is in complete ore over Juliet, this wasn't being shown, therefore Romeo began to be over dramatic in his movement and body language. When i began to speak he feel to the floor, rolled over and placed his head in his hands. This was effective because not only did it add a comical side to the scene but is now believable for the audience to see how much he adores Juliet already. To finish the characters began working on the fight scene, thinking about their spacial awareness on stage and making sure each character was not blocking. We will carry on that scene in our next lesson.
Later on, Sharon wanted us to run through the whole play with everything we had added in. She said that the play was very good overall and that it was coming together very nicely. Sharon also mentioned that the energy in each scene was rising and great character developing. However, what I need to work on especially is the delivery of the lines and looking closely at the punctuation. This mean that a comma or a full stop etc. was when i was meant to pause or that is the end of the sentence, not the end of the line on my paragraph. Therefore, over the weekend I will read through my script and begin to start training myself on when to stop and pause rather than just speaking the lines.

In Monday's lessons we continued to work from the fighting scene to the end, focusing on each scene in detail. The first scene we worked on was scene.. where Juliet is told Tybalt is dead and Romeo is banished. To show a contrast of emotion through this scene, when i first start my dialogue "O come gentle night", my facial expressions is full with smiles and big body movements. However when the news gets broken, I loose every happy expression in my face and now my face is in shock. I done this by opening my mouth slightly, my body is still, I am staring and then slowly move my head to face forward. This scene is effective as up to that point, I have been happily in love then at this point we begin to see another side in my character begin to come out. This scene is also effective, as it is now more believable to watch, the pauses are now adding more realism to the scene. I am also beginning to use the 'O's' more effectively to express the pain and heartache I'm experiencing. The Nurse also shows much more expression and emotion, for example she is shocked by my words and pulls me to one side "will you speak well of him that is your husband", adding a pause I am able to build up emotion to then say my next lines and the audience are able to see the heartache. In scene... When Romeo and I have spent the night together, we have now expressed that in this scene by me starting off on the floor doing my hair and fixing myself as Romeo creeps up behind me. This little scene before the dialogue gives the audience some understanding of what is going on and it also brings the scene to life.We've also added in levels where Romeo is on the floor and we are messing around, highlighting are fun love we are experiencing. the levels also make it more interesting to watch for  the audience. In scene.. where Capulet and Lady Capulet force me to marry Paris, I am beginning to show my immature features and characteristics in my monologue. I shout "He shall not make me a joyful bride", my body language is very strong, throwing my arms back, stomping my feet and moving my head more. This is effective as the audience can see my anger but also realize by my immature actions I am too young to marry anyone. We then added tension, as I begin to storm out my room Capulet comes in and everybody goes silent, I stand dead still as if I'm frozen by his authority. He begins his Monologue and as I go to speak he always cuts me, this emphasizes he does not care about my opinion on my life, but rather just listens to himself. we also thought about the spacial awareness in this scene having each character at different places on the stage, which is useful as it lets the audience in to this scene and becomes more tension filled.

In Tuesday's lesson, we ran through the play until scene 13 where I find out Romeo is banished. We were working on coming on stage swiftly, we were also working in the theatre with the lighting to allow us to become more comfortable with the queues and light changes. We were also working in costume to allow us to also get comfortable in moving in our costume.
On Wednesday we worked on individual scenes that we as a class thought needed working on. We first focused on scene 12 where Tybalt and Mercutio dies. We felt the scene wasn't realistic enough and that the characters were not reacting well enough to what was happening. Firstly, when Mercutio says "O calm, dishonourable.." He pushes Dillon did not react to this therefore, we told him to go and run into Mercutio then Benvolio pushes him back which then gives them a reason to have tension by looking at each other in the eyes and moving around slowly, which is effective as it is growing climax and the audience will be waiting for something to happen. We then worked on both death's first by mercutio and Tybalt running into each other and Romeo leaps in front, It gave the scene more energy and became more interesting as before the death looked a bit awkward. We then worked on scene 21 the final death scene. We focused on making Jeremy become emotional  instead of just speaking his lines. He improved massively in the rehearsals, he now picks me up, touches my face and he holds me. This is effective as it shows the audience how much he is hurting and how much he cares for me, it now looks believable that he has lost his wife.




On Thursday we were just going over the play and making sure our entrances and exits were slick. We were also performing in costume and using props so that we were getting use to the queues and working with them. For example in scene 7 which is the balcony scene, where I use flowers and before I would just say my line "what's in a name that which we call a rose" I can now emphasize this by picking up the rose and smelling it. Also at the end I throw the rose to Romeo, this is effective as it adds a more realistic feel to the scene and the rose is symbolic of my love for Romeo which he uses for the wedding scene. However, the people backstage needed to work on being quite because they were able to be heard and some were missing their queues which was slowing down our rehearsal. Although I think as we get closer peoples focus will much better.




Performance Day
We had to meet at the Shaw Theatre for 8:45am for our tech rehearsals. I enjoyed the tech run it was fun to get to finally run through with all the lighting and it gives me feel of what I could be potentially doing in the future. We then done a dress rehearsal and ran it from the top, I felt we all done very well as everyone was projecting their voices and using the space well. The feedback we got was that some actors needed to be louder, to have more intent whilst coming on and off stage. For example, when I come on stage with "O come gentle night" instead of just walking in neutral onto the stage, I must already be in character as I must show my intentions at all times, we were the last to perform and I was so happy with the performance.


Things that went well:
Everyone projected their voices clearly one person who projected their voice was Abe who played Tybalt in scene 12 he shouts "Thou, wretched boy, shalt with him hence." Tybalt is shouting in Romeo's face which expresses his anger and hate towards Romeo and I truly believe his hate for them. Gabriel also projected his voice in scene 16 Capulet says "Speak not, reply not, do not answer me." As we are halfway through the play some of the audience may be beginning to switch off, however this scene had a lot of tension, Gabriel's excellent projection of voice draws the audience in and we see how cruel and not understanding Capulet really is.

Everyone used the space well and was closer to the front of the stage but before we used to be more to the back of the stage. In scene 17 Friar Lawrence, Paris and Juliet where we are in Lawrence's cell. To begin with we struggles as we always ended up in the kiss or kill position although, we cheated it by as I walked on the stage I'm trying to get away from Paris so I stood downstage left. Friar Lawrence was more center stage with Paris just in front. This made the scene more interesting as we were all spaced out and it expressed that I didn't want to be near Paris.


We were all swiftly on and off stage never leaving a dead stage. For example in scene 11 when Romeo and Juliet just marry we exit upstage left and then the beginning of scene 12 Benvolio and Mercutio entered downstage left therefore there is never a dead stage so that the audience is always engaged and never waiting for another scene.


One of the workers for the Shakespeare school festival Louis also gave us feedback, he said the emotions throughout the performance being able to switch from comedy to heart ache was very good. This could be shown in scene 13 where I have just found out Tybalt is dead and I showed a lot of heartache and pain whereas it was quickly changed in scene 16 when me and Romeo have just spent the night together, he also said we projected our voices very well.


What we could have improved:
The way people came on and off stage, making sure that as a character is going off another character is not coming on the same was as them so that they never cross. We could also use more props such as in the fight we could of had knifes to bring the scene more to life.



From this experience I have learnt a lot as an actress. I was taught different techniques such as stanisvlaski's ideas of emotional memory's to help me in scenes. It has given me the confidence to go forward and hopefully perform in other theatre's. I came into this course with only a few skills but have been able to gain more knowledge and built on my skills. I have proven to myself that I am able to work within a given time frame with things such as lines, costumes etc. I will use everything and take it on board such as the 5 tips from the workshop, I'm excited to see what we do in the future.





Practioners  

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.
This practioner links to our production of Romeo and Juliet as it captures the harsh reality of life. Tybalt and Mercutio are murdered, Artaud showed the reality of what was happening in everyday life of murder. A purpose of a play is to have some sort of meaning, Artaud liked to capture harsh reality that some audience members were not able to handle. His theory has stayed relevant throughout generations as although Romeo and Juliet were set up in the Elizabethan era, murder and rape was happening during those times, and even in modern theatre stories of murder are still being shown.

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. In our production of Romeo and Juliet, I aim to do the opposite of Brecht's ideas I want the audience to come on this journey of emotions with me. When me and Romeo begin to fall in love and get married, I hope the audience will feel happy for us. Then as the play goes along I want their emotion to eventually turn to sad, this is because I want my character to be as natural as possible and believable, therefore if my character is believable the audience should feel some sort of emotion.

Augusto Boal
Brazilian director, writer and politician Augusto Boal created the theory of Theatre of the oppressed which provided tools for people to explore collective struggles. Theatre of oppressed is a range of theatre techniques and games that seeks to motivate people, restore true dialogue and create space for participants to rehearse taking action. Boal use of visual techniques help bond the audience with performer. He uses complex issues around oppression social and political change and isolation. The aim of Augusto's theatre was to energise participants so they become more than just spectators but rather exploring and transforming the reality in which they are living. I agree with Boal's idea and I will begin to research some of his techniques which I can  then use myself to bond with the audience. In the production I sometimes have to talk out to the audience therefore not  only will I act but now begin to think about the skills I will use behind it.