Day before the show
Today we wen't to Pelham, to continue our rehearsals for tomorrow's show. We started with doing the tech and dress run, first time all of us performing in costume. I had some problems with my costumes, since they didn't really fit right on my chest area. During the run trough, especially during my dancing scene, my dress kept opening from the back, since just before the scene, I had to do a quick change with Sav, who I shared the dress with. I need to get someone to help me button-up the dress, since I only have a limited amount of time to get the dress off of Sav, put the dress on and then go on stage on time. I do have a scarf that can cover some of the open back, but it would be more assuring during the performance if we would be able to close the dress properly.
When running trough the scenes I felt that there are still some things that need to be worked on with our scenes. There was some problems with the cheering bits, since we hadn't really talked over, who is cheering and when, so a lot of the times, the cheers were forgotten about. Also, I feel that people need to be more focused, so that everyone will be on stage on time and not skip any lines.
Wednesday, 26 February 2014
Tuesday, 25 February 2014
Using the research
How did I use the research to develop Nell's character and the scenes?
I already discussed some part of this in my research of syphilis and how I wanted to use it to show her physicality in the last scene, which you can find here. Also, you can find the rest of my research over here.
Doing the research was very important when working on Playhouse Creatures, since it is set in a completely different time simply reading about that time in history helps us to understand the motivation of each character better, and it certainly helped me. I found that knowing what happened before the play is set, about the Puritans and theatres closing down and all the friction happening between the different kingdoms, helped me to understand the situation Nell is in and where she is coming from. Women do not have the best position in the society, but rather they are seen as property to men, and they are basically worthless without a husband or a socially powerful lover. So, getting to become an actress, a profession that used to be monopolized by men, can seem like a career of power and success to someone young like Nell, when reality the profession of an actress was very close to being a prostitute. Researching this period of time and the social models really helped to get in touch with the women's objectives to find lover's and men to support them - without the men they were basically doomed for a low living style and destined to poverty.
Researching Nell's life obviously had the biggest influence to my creation of her character, since knowing her life could help me with playing Nell in three different parts of her life. Since she was little, Nell worked for her mother to basically advertise a brothel to men. This really helped to come in grasps with Nell's fearlessness, especially in the scene where she is on the stage, making up a dance as she goes. She has never been afraid to use her voice and obviously she is creative enough to be able to think on feet and make it up as she goes. Her past is also why seem's so struck by the audience at first. She isn't afraid immediately, but in awe of the attention and glory. It is something she has never experiences before, being the centre or attention, with royalty admiring her. It is only when the other women snap her out of this awe, that she realizes that actually, she is in bit of trouble.
I already discussed some part of this in my research of syphilis and how I wanted to use it to show her physicality in the last scene, which you can find here. Also, you can find the rest of my research over here.
Doing the research was very important when working on Playhouse Creatures, since it is set in a completely different time simply reading about that time in history helps us to understand the motivation of each character better, and it certainly helped me. I found that knowing what happened before the play is set, about the Puritans and theatres closing down and all the friction happening between the different kingdoms, helped me to understand the situation Nell is in and where she is coming from. Women do not have the best position in the society, but rather they are seen as property to men, and they are basically worthless without a husband or a socially powerful lover. So, getting to become an actress, a profession that used to be monopolized by men, can seem like a career of power and success to someone young like Nell, when reality the profession of an actress was very close to being a prostitute. Researching this period of time and the social models really helped to get in touch with the women's objectives to find lover's and men to support them - without the men they were basically doomed for a low living style and destined to poverty.
Researching Nell's life obviously had the biggest influence to my creation of her character, since knowing her life could help me with playing Nell in three different parts of her life. Since she was little, Nell worked for her mother to basically advertise a brothel to men. This really helped to come in grasps with Nell's fearlessness, especially in the scene where she is on the stage, making up a dance as she goes. She has never been afraid to use her voice and obviously she is creative enough to be able to think on feet and make it up as she goes. Her past is also why seem's so struck by the audience at first. She isn't afraid immediately, but in awe of the attention and glory. It is something she has never experiences before, being the centre or attention, with royalty admiring her. It is only when the other women snap her out of this awe, that she realizes that actually, she is in bit of trouble.
What could Nell look like?
 |
| Nell Gwyn |
 |
| 17th century common dress |
 |
| Playhouse Creatures |
In this picture of another production of the play, you can see the different actors having different sort dresses, the woman in the middle obviously being Mrs. Marshall or Mrs. Betterton because of her more expensive dress. Nell would be most likely wearing something more like the woman on the left or the girl in the green dress, simple, no-fuss dresses.
_Large_2.jpg)
In the last scene, Nell would be wearing something better quality, since she has been the Kings mistress for some time, enabling a stable life because of his help. Still, she is weak condition, so she would most likely be wearing something a bit more comfortable than a hard corset and pounds of jewelry and accessories. I think, that she should be wearing something yellow or orange, since a lot of the paintings she is portrayed in those colours.
The hair during the Restoration era was often curled and made as extravagant as possible, since the return of Charles II to throne made French fashion popular. Women's hair was often flattened at the top and then curled from bottom.Before the return of Charles II to England, the Puritans insisted on modesty and simpler style, encouraging women to keep their hair short, straight and preferably covered. I think Nell will probably have her hair up in some sort of a bun or a braided hair-do, since it is still the early days of Restoration and
her style might still be affected by the Puritan fashion. Also, that way her hair would be away from her face when she is working at the pub.
Monday, 24 February 2014
Research about Nell's death
To really get in touch with Nell's condition in the last scene, I wanted to research syphilis and how it would have spread in the body during the Restoration era. I did some initial research about Nell's life and death, which can be found here with some of the sources I used as well.
Nell Gwyn died of apoplexy, which is a word used in the Restoration era to describe a sort of a stroke, but nowadays the word is used in the cases of some sort of internal bleeding. Nell most likely died a sudden dead, a heart-attack from all the strain syphilis had put her heart under, or a stroke of another kind. Since it was such a long time ago, non of the sources I used in my research were completely certain, exactly what caused her death, but the combination of syphilis, caught from the King, which later caused half of Nell's body to be paralyzed, certainly had a impact on her ever lowering health.
Obviously, the treatments would have not been as good as today, since modern medicine was not invented, and so the symptoms of the disease would have been much stronger. There is four stages in syphilis:Primary, secondary, latent and tertiary. The first stage consist of getting infected and within 2-4 weeks sores to come up in the infected area. If left untreated, what they would most likely have done in those days, the sores disappear within 3-6 weeks, but the infection will stay in the body and move to the next stage. The secondary stage starts to appear seemingly random, symptoms including having a sore throat, losing hair, weight loss and feel of occasional headache or fever. At this point, if the symptoms are left untreated, the disease will start to spread to the entire body. The latent stage is a stage without any obvious symptoms, and might take up from a month to a persons entire life time to move to the next stage, At this stage, the disease will start to attach itself to an individuals vital organs, skin and bones. When the disease moves to the last stage, tertiary stage, it is nearly impossible to recover from the disease. The disease would have started to create painful tumour all over the person's body and vital organs, slowly eating away the bones. Also, neurosyphilis might develop, which means that the brain is affected. This might change the individuals personality completely, resulting in general paralysis of the insane.
In the last scene, Nell is obviously very sick, the disease spreading to her brain most likely, she is in a fragile state, but still functioning. She is in the early part of the tertiary stage. She has probably recently realized, that she will be dying soon, or at least getting to a state when she no longer cannot move so freely and so comes to the playhouse to bid her last goodbyes. To show her sickness, I have tried to make her feel quite fragile, moving slowly and speaking with as few words as possible. There are moments, when I think she is trying to seem stronger, like when she talk about how the tiring room they are in used to be hers, showing some of that old Nell, determined Nell, to make Doll finally recognize her. Still, Nell's sickness is very visible just before Doll start to tell her story. Doll mentions the death of Charles II, which makes the disease in Nell's brain make her uneasy, not being able to hide her emotions any longer, but having to rest on the floor, rocking back and forward like a maniac. And I guess, Nell has lost part of her sanity, slipping in and out of being in control of herself.
Sources
http://www.allsands.com/health/advice/syphilishisto_zkq_gn.htm
Nell Gwyn died of apoplexy, which is a word used in the Restoration era to describe a sort of a stroke, but nowadays the word is used in the cases of some sort of internal bleeding. Nell most likely died a sudden dead, a heart-attack from all the strain syphilis had put her heart under, or a stroke of another kind. Since it was such a long time ago, non of the sources I used in my research were completely certain, exactly what caused her death, but the combination of syphilis, caught from the King, which later caused half of Nell's body to be paralyzed, certainly had a impact on her ever lowering health.
Obviously, the treatments would have not been as good as today, since modern medicine was not invented, and so the symptoms of the disease would have been much stronger. There is four stages in syphilis:Primary, secondary, latent and tertiary. The first stage consist of getting infected and within 2-4 weeks sores to come up in the infected area. If left untreated, what they would most likely have done in those days, the sores disappear within 3-6 weeks, but the infection will stay in the body and move to the next stage. The secondary stage starts to appear seemingly random, symptoms including having a sore throat, losing hair, weight loss and feel of occasional headache or fever. At this point, if the symptoms are left untreated, the disease will start to spread to the entire body. The latent stage is a stage without any obvious symptoms, and might take up from a month to a persons entire life time to move to the next stage, At this stage, the disease will start to attach itself to an individuals vital organs, skin and bones. When the disease moves to the last stage, tertiary stage, it is nearly impossible to recover from the disease. The disease would have started to create painful tumour all over the person's body and vital organs, slowly eating away the bones. Also, neurosyphilis might develop, which means that the brain is affected. This might change the individuals personality completely, resulting in general paralysis of the insane.
In the last scene, Nell is obviously very sick, the disease spreading to her brain most likely, she is in a fragile state, but still functioning. She is in the early part of the tertiary stage. She has probably recently realized, that she will be dying soon, or at least getting to a state when she no longer cannot move so freely and so comes to the playhouse to bid her last goodbyes. To show her sickness, I have tried to make her feel quite fragile, moving slowly and speaking with as few words as possible. There are moments, when I think she is trying to seem stronger, like when she talk about how the tiring room they are in used to be hers, showing some of that old Nell, determined Nell, to make Doll finally recognize her. Still, Nell's sickness is very visible just before Doll start to tell her story. Doll mentions the death of Charles II, which makes the disease in Nell's brain make her uneasy, not being able to hide her emotions any longer, but having to rest on the floor, rocking back and forward like a maniac. And I guess, Nell has lost part of her sanity, slipping in and out of being in control of herself.
Sources
http://www.allsands.com/health/advice/syphilishisto_zkq_gn.htm
24.2.2014
After half-term, a week's pause from all the rehearsing of the play, we finally got back together to start the last few rehearsals before the big show. Since a week's break, I felt that people's focus was all over the place, which was obvious from going trough the scenes once again. The main thing we needed to work on today, was to just get our focus back on the right track and remember all the hard work we have done before. Once we started running the scenes, with every run trough I could see everyone get more in tune, lines and cues were remembered better and the over all pace of the pieces seemed to get better as well. Since none of us is using a script anymore to prompt with our lines, the emotions within the scenes have become much better, letting us actually act and not just read what we are supposed to say.
On my first scene as Nell, I used a lot of the afternoon to practice my dancing bit, just going trough it over and over again to get that confidence and easy feeling that Nell would have mostly likely had in that moment. During half-term I added a bit more tease to the start of the dance, letting Nell show her legs at the start, before starting the actual dancing around the stage. I also showed it to two of my group members, to get some notes, if it was whimsical enough, and luckily they felt that the small changes that I made worked well with my character and the situation.
We also worked on the scene where Mrs. Marshall comes of from outside, been thrown shit into her hair. Before, Sophia would walk around the stage saying her lines, but after some comments and looking at the scene ourselves, we felt that it would be better, if Mrs. Marshall would plant herself mid-stage on the ground. This way she would be the center of the attention, but also show her reaction to this humiliation. We also sharpened our own reactions, trying to imagine the smell of shit and dirt.
With the second scene I play Nell in, we worked on our blocking a bit, changing something to make the scene look and work better. We made the part with the actresses teasing Otway with their breasts a lot more spacious, so that we all had our space to work on. This way the stage won't be as crowded and it will be more effective to the audience as well.
On my first scene as Nell, I used a lot of the afternoon to practice my dancing bit, just going trough it over and over again to get that confidence and easy feeling that Nell would have mostly likely had in that moment. During half-term I added a bit more tease to the start of the dance, letting Nell show her legs at the start, before starting the actual dancing around the stage. I also showed it to two of my group members, to get some notes, if it was whimsical enough, and luckily they felt that the small changes that I made worked well with my character and the situation.
We also worked on the scene where Mrs. Marshall comes of from outside, been thrown shit into her hair. Before, Sophia would walk around the stage saying her lines, but after some comments and looking at the scene ourselves, we felt that it would be better, if Mrs. Marshall would plant herself mid-stage on the ground. This way she would be the center of the attention, but also show her reaction to this humiliation. We also sharpened our own reactions, trying to imagine the smell of shit and dirt.
With the second scene I play Nell in, we worked on our blocking a bit, changing something to make the scene look and work better. We made the part with the actresses teasing Otway with their breasts a lot more spacious, so that we all had our space to work on. This way the stage won't be as crowded and it will be more effective to the audience as well.
Tuesday, 11 February 2014
11.02.2014
Videos of the scenes I was in:
1st scene
2nd scene
3rd scene
Discuss the different scenes and how they are developing.
Sophie, Izzy, Sav, Liam, Harry, Jenny & Jade
At the start, during her monologue, Sophie seemed to be really restless with her feet, rocking from side to side as she talked. This really takes attention away from her acting, and is very restless to watch. Also, she uses her hand to point while she talks a lot. I do not know, weather this is a decision she made for her character, but if not, she could look into it some more, maybe grounding herself a bit more during her speech This could bring power to the monologue and status to her character. With this scene, I especially enjoyed the relationship between Sav and Sophie, and how they interacted with each other during their duologues on the stage. It seemed very relaxed and natural, since both of their characters are well developed, and don't seem forced. I feel that I really need to look at how Sav portrays Nell, since I have been having some problems with her character. Unlike Sav, I don't seem to show the inner confidence of Nell that she needs, even though I am working towards it.
This scene still needs a lot work during the bar-pit. I don't feel like the men in this scene are clear enough, and EVERYONE in this scene needs to be stronger and now their lines and cues better. Also, making the characters and emotions stronger will help to develop this scene further. Some parts Liam and Harry seemed to lose character, especially when they were not talking. They really need to work on their focus on stage, and need to stay in character, even if someone else is talking. This way the mood of the scene isn't lost, which I felt occasionally was, since people didn't stay in character.
Greta, Chloe, Jenny & Izzy
I have always liked this scene, and in my blog post about the last run trough, I remember saying, that I felt that their story was the clearest and each characters objectives were quite clear. I still felt that each character was very well played, but now I would just like everyone to push themselves a bit more to bring the emotions into the next level, and at the same time make the character more interesting and clearer. This group was really good at creating the feeling of the tiring room and the relationships between the women. This is something I want to work on in my scenes as well, to show that these women work together everyday and make seem true to their nature.
Liam & Bella
Bella is truly in her element in this scene and her characterization was excellent throughout. I liked the fact that she started the scene slowly, letting us to observe the way she moves and acts as Mrs. Barry, admiring all the costumes and the glory of the room. She delivered the humour of her character with such ease, something that I really admire about her. Liam, on the other hand, still needs some work on his character, since most of the time he still looks and feels like a teenage boy. Perhaps he needs to really think about, how Rochester would hold himself, as he is only a step down from royalty.
Jazz, Mitch & Jade
Jazz really needs to work on her monologue, because it seems extremely rushed and the purpose of it was very unclear from the way she played it. Jazz has a good and clear voice, and this monologue could so much stronger, if she just worked on it a bit more. She also shuffled her feet a lot, which, even if Nell is fast tempo'd character, seemed very distracting. Jade had obviously worked on her characterization with Mrs. Betterton, since her posture and delivery of most of the lines was spot on. Still, it was obvious that all of the members in this group weren't completely memorized. Rehearsing the scene will help with this and enable for everyone in this scene to be more confident on stage.
In general, I think that the scenes are developing in the right direction. My scenes mostly need some fixing up, for example the tit-part needs to be more spaced out and choreographed to make more powerful and funnier for the audience. Also, later on this scene, during the rehearsals, I need to play the french-character as Nell would play it, so more flirtatious.
1st scene
2nd scene
3rd scene
Discuss the different scenes and how they are developing.
Sophie, Izzy, Sav, Liam, Harry, Jenny & Jade
At the start, during her monologue, Sophie seemed to be really restless with her feet, rocking from side to side as she talked. This really takes attention away from her acting, and is very restless to watch. Also, she uses her hand to point while she talks a lot. I do not know, weather this is a decision she made for her character, but if not, she could look into it some more, maybe grounding herself a bit more during her speech This could bring power to the monologue and status to her character. With this scene, I especially enjoyed the relationship between Sav and Sophie, and how they interacted with each other during their duologues on the stage. It seemed very relaxed and natural, since both of their characters are well developed, and don't seem forced. I feel that I really need to look at how Sav portrays Nell, since I have been having some problems with her character. Unlike Sav, I don't seem to show the inner confidence of Nell that she needs, even though I am working towards it.
This scene still needs a lot work during the bar-pit. I don't feel like the men in this scene are clear enough, and EVERYONE in this scene needs to be stronger and now their lines and cues better. Also, making the characters and emotions stronger will help to develop this scene further. Some parts Liam and Harry seemed to lose character, especially when they were not talking. They really need to work on their focus on stage, and need to stay in character, even if someone else is talking. This way the mood of the scene isn't lost, which I felt occasionally was, since people didn't stay in character.
Greta, Chloe, Jenny & Izzy
I have always liked this scene, and in my blog post about the last run trough, I remember saying, that I felt that their story was the clearest and each characters objectives were quite clear. I still felt that each character was very well played, but now I would just like everyone to push themselves a bit more to bring the emotions into the next level, and at the same time make the character more interesting and clearer. This group was really good at creating the feeling of the tiring room and the relationships between the women. This is something I want to work on in my scenes as well, to show that these women work together everyday and make seem true to their nature.
Liam & Bella
Bella is truly in her element in this scene and her characterization was excellent throughout. I liked the fact that she started the scene slowly, letting us to observe the way she moves and acts as Mrs. Barry, admiring all the costumes and the glory of the room. She delivered the humour of her character with such ease, something that I really admire about her. Liam, on the other hand, still needs some work on his character, since most of the time he still looks and feels like a teenage boy. Perhaps he needs to really think about, how Rochester would hold himself, as he is only a step down from royalty.
Jazz, Mitch & Jade
Jazz really needs to work on her monologue, because it seems extremely rushed and the purpose of it was very unclear from the way she played it. Jazz has a good and clear voice, and this monologue could so much stronger, if she just worked on it a bit more. She also shuffled her feet a lot, which, even if Nell is fast tempo'd character, seemed very distracting. Jade had obviously worked on her characterization with Mrs. Betterton, since her posture and delivery of most of the lines was spot on. Still, it was obvious that all of the members in this group weren't completely memorized. Rehearsing the scene will help with this and enable for everyone in this scene to be more confident on stage.
In general, I think that the scenes are developing in the right direction. My scenes mostly need some fixing up, for example the tit-part needs to be more spaced out and choreographed to make more powerful and funnier for the audience. Also, later on this scene, during the rehearsals, I need to play the french-character as Nell would play it, so more flirtatious.
Tuesday, 4 February 2014
4.02.2014
Today's agenda was to do a stagger through, the first run through with all of the scenes performed in the order they will be in the final performance. This was really the first time we would see each others scenes, which made this lesson especially exciting. Not only was it nice to get some kind of structure and idea what the play will look like in the final performances, it was also an opportunity to look at the different choices others have done with the same character and learn from them in our own characterization. Characterization has been a bit of an theme for all of us with this project, since many, including me, have struggled with it. So, we were given specific questions to answer, using examples, not only from our own scenes, but also from other peoples scenes.
Videos of the scenes I am in:
1st scene
2nd scene
3rd scene
Are the characters clear?
Getting to see all of the scenes, I feel that pretty much everyone is on the right track, but there is a lot of work still to be done. The problem with a lot of the scenes is, that the characters are not portrayed strong enough. I felt that in the first scene, with Izzy as Mrs. Farley trying to do her late fathers job by preaching at the bar, there was a lot she could have done with her character. I wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to get out of this scene, so her intentions and character portrayal could be stronger. This could also help the reactions from the men be clearer and more understandable. I feel that this might be because they might not exactly know, what their character's intentions are, which is a problem for me as well in some of my scene. In my first scene as Nell, I need to be enjoying the stage more, since now I have only shown her uncertainty, when she should be excited about being on stage. Also, when I am doing Nell's monologue, of her telling how she felt like on the stage, I should be reliving the moment more, rather than just telling what happened. In other scenes of mine, I felt characterization for Nell was stronger, especially in my last scene. I have managed to show the sick state of Nell, but still show that the young and lively Nell is still somewhere inside that dying body.
Are objectives clear?
I think I have shown Nell's objectives in the first scene quite well, since they are very clear. She wants to become an actress at the playhouse and is almost desperate save herself once she doesn't know what to do when she is left alone on the stage. True to her nature, she doesn't let her fears win her over, but starts to dance. Obviously, I need to still work on the dance and considering her objective at this point, I need to be enjoying the stage more, since that would fit Nell and her objectives better. Also, when Nell finally comes off-stage, her objective being convincing the others that she is still worthy to be a part of the playhouse, I need to make it seem like Nell is reliving the moment on stage, when she has her monologue.
In my second scene I feel that my objectives are clear, but I need to present them stronger and with more determination. When Nell is trying to get some jokes from Otway, I need to be more manipulative. When the actresses are practicing their play, I need to do the scene as Nell would play it. During the abortion I need to make my reactions sharper and stronger, to make it seem as naturalistic as possible. This scene is now really just getting everything fine-tuned and run trough it often enough to make it run smoothly.
My last scene is, in my opinion, the strongest one for my objectives. Nell is there to say goodbyes, but because she is sick, it is harder for her than she might have imagined. The nostalgia of the moment gets her overwhelmed, which is why she has to let herself rest on the floor, gripping on Monimia's dress, trying to find some comfort from it.
Is the story within the scene clear?
Yes and no. There are parts in our scenes that show the story very clearly, for example I feel that the scene where Nell comes to the playhouse pretending to have gone to talk to Mr. Betterton and being assigned a line. The whole scene from start to end with Mrs.Marshall being attacked was very clear with the story, being able to show the different sides of the lives of the actresses during that era. This doesn't mean, the scene is without any faults, but we have been able to tell the story strongly. I have a lot of work I need to do with Nell's character, and I feel the other character could be more accusing and angry towards Nell, when she finally comes off-stage.
In my second scene, the scene with the abortion at the end of it, there is a part where the story isn't very clear. The section where Mrs. Betterton and Doll are having a conversation about Mrs. Betterton's lost ring, seems very vague to me, and I have to say, I personally do not get the point of the scene. It seems sort of out of place compared to all the other parts of that scene. What I think we need to do, is to discuss this scene with the whole group and try to figure out, what is the meaning and objective of this scene. Also, just at the start of this scene, where Otway is reading his play, I would like to get his story more clearer. I know that the male characters don't have such a big part in the play, but it would be nice to see the fact that Otay is a struggling writer and hasn't eaten in days. Yunusa could so this by showing a bit more of the mind struggle he goes trough when deciding weather to eat the biscuit or keep his work of art untouched.
One of the other groups scene's, that I think have a clear story within them, is the second scene, with Chloe, Greta, Izzy and Jenny in it. I felt that the scene was extremely easy to follow and each character was clearly represented. Jenny performance as Mrs. Marshall was very well done and her anger towards the man who fooled her into bed was very well performed. With this scene, with learning lines, they should still work on the blocking, since I feel now they are not really doing much or using the stage to their advantage.
Videos of the scenes I am in:
1st scene
2nd scene
3rd scene
Are the characters clear?
Getting to see all of the scenes, I feel that pretty much everyone is on the right track, but there is a lot of work still to be done. The problem with a lot of the scenes is, that the characters are not portrayed strong enough. I felt that in the first scene, with Izzy as Mrs. Farley trying to do her late fathers job by preaching at the bar, there was a lot she could have done with her character. I wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to get out of this scene, so her intentions and character portrayal could be stronger. This could also help the reactions from the men be clearer and more understandable. I feel that this might be because they might not exactly know, what their character's intentions are, which is a problem for me as well in some of my scene. In my first scene as Nell, I need to be enjoying the stage more, since now I have only shown her uncertainty, when she should be excited about being on stage. Also, when I am doing Nell's monologue, of her telling how she felt like on the stage, I should be reliving the moment more, rather than just telling what happened. In other scenes of mine, I felt characterization for Nell was stronger, especially in my last scene. I have managed to show the sick state of Nell, but still show that the young and lively Nell is still somewhere inside that dying body.
Are objectives clear?
I think I have shown Nell's objectives in the first scene quite well, since they are very clear. She wants to become an actress at the playhouse and is almost desperate save herself once she doesn't know what to do when she is left alone on the stage. True to her nature, she doesn't let her fears win her over, but starts to dance. Obviously, I need to still work on the dance and considering her objective at this point, I need to be enjoying the stage more, since that would fit Nell and her objectives better. Also, when Nell finally comes off-stage, her objective being convincing the others that she is still worthy to be a part of the playhouse, I need to make it seem like Nell is reliving the moment on stage, when she has her monologue.
In my second scene I feel that my objectives are clear, but I need to present them stronger and with more determination. When Nell is trying to get some jokes from Otway, I need to be more manipulative. When the actresses are practicing their play, I need to do the scene as Nell would play it. During the abortion I need to make my reactions sharper and stronger, to make it seem as naturalistic as possible. This scene is now really just getting everything fine-tuned and run trough it often enough to make it run smoothly.
My last scene is, in my opinion, the strongest one for my objectives. Nell is there to say goodbyes, but because she is sick, it is harder for her than she might have imagined. The nostalgia of the moment gets her overwhelmed, which is why she has to let herself rest on the floor, gripping on Monimia's dress, trying to find some comfort from it.
Is the story within the scene clear?
Yes and no. There are parts in our scenes that show the story very clearly, for example I feel that the scene where Nell comes to the playhouse pretending to have gone to talk to Mr. Betterton and being assigned a line. The whole scene from start to end with Mrs.Marshall being attacked was very clear with the story, being able to show the different sides of the lives of the actresses during that era. This doesn't mean, the scene is without any faults, but we have been able to tell the story strongly. I have a lot of work I need to do with Nell's character, and I feel the other character could be more accusing and angry towards Nell, when she finally comes off-stage.
In my second scene, the scene with the abortion at the end of it, there is a part where the story isn't very clear. The section where Mrs. Betterton and Doll are having a conversation about Mrs. Betterton's lost ring, seems very vague to me, and I have to say, I personally do not get the point of the scene. It seems sort of out of place compared to all the other parts of that scene. What I think we need to do, is to discuss this scene with the whole group and try to figure out, what is the meaning and objective of this scene. Also, just at the start of this scene, where Otway is reading his play, I would like to get his story more clearer. I know that the male characters don't have such a big part in the play, but it would be nice to see the fact that Otay is a struggling writer and hasn't eaten in days. Yunusa could so this by showing a bit more of the mind struggle he goes trough when deciding weather to eat the biscuit or keep his work of art untouched.
One of the other groups scene's, that I think have a clear story within them, is the second scene, with Chloe, Greta, Izzy and Jenny in it. I felt that the scene was extremely easy to follow and each character was clearly represented. Jenny performance as Mrs. Marshall was very well done and her anger towards the man who fooled her into bed was very well performed. With this scene, with learning lines, they should still work on the blocking, since I feel now they are not really doing much or using the stage to their advantage.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)