This rehearsal was our first time working with the crates in the space. The crates are made of proper wood so they're quite heavy and it's wise to be wary of splinters and they're first used in our scene and used throughout the play, mostly as chairs.
The transition from scene 5 to our scene is quick and as soon as the actors from that scene start walking off, we walk on straight to our places and all make eye contact and, in sync, put our crates down and begin the scene. At the end of our scene, we look at each other, pick up our crates in unison and walk off apart from Layla and Finn who stay on and position the crates for the following scene which is the one between Duckling and Harry.
Our scene still has the regular problem of pace and forgetting to cut each other off. If we remembered that this is an argument scene, we would be cutting each other off at the end of our lines but as we forget this the scene drags on. If we cut each other off it would go from one person to the other immediately and the scene wouldn't be as long and boring.
Tuesday, 26 November 2013
Thursday, 21 November 2013
Accent Coach
Our Country's Good has a variety of different accents so we had an accent coach who came in to work with us. He was a Scottish man called Gary and he's worked with many different actors, drama schools, theatre companies, etc. I was very exited to work with him and he was immediately quite assertive in what he wanted from us because we only have this week and the next with him.
The first lesson we were introduced to different "zones" of the mouth/throat. When you use these different zones, your voice and accent may change and as you use the zones you realise how different accents use different parts of their mouths that we don't. So I found some of them quite hard. I found than when I used zones at the front of my mouth my voice sounded deeper whereas zones in the back of my mouth sounded higher. The positioning of the tongue really does affect a lot in terms of sound and slight movements and changes to position changes a lot of things. We did some work with the northern accent as that was his natural accent and it would be easier to teach us that as we all know what it sounds like.
For example; the "L" sound made in the northern accent is different than that of a Londoner accent because Scots do what is called a "Heavy L" and that is where the tongue touches the back of the teeth but curves down whereas the one in a Londoner accent, the tongue stays straight or curves slightly upwards. The end of some words are elongated and some consonants are dropped to form a Scottish accent.
After we did that, he said that if you ever forget your lines onstage and are doing an accent, learn whatthe hesitation for that accent would be. That way you won't break the illusion. Gary also said to research the history of the accent you're doing, the dialect and how it came to be what it is.
The accent I'll be doing is RP (Received Pronunciation) which is spoken by those of a middle class or "Queen's English". I have a quote from Wikipedia that briefly explains the history of RP:
The following lesson we focused more on our individual accent that we would be doing. I, as earlier mentioned, am doing RP and that means articulating every vowel and consonant. I have a habit of sometimes dropping my consonants and not opening my mouth very wide when I speak, but with RP you need to use your mouth, face muscles and tongue a lot more when you speak. You can't rush speech either or you will trip on words, so taking time will allow you to make more sense of your sentences and make them clearer. There is also a way you carry yourself when you speak with this accent. You can't speak in this accent and slouch, it doesn't match up. Plus, when I do this accent it makes me feel prestige so I work on my posture and how you communicate with others. As officers, we are sophisticated men so the note on posture and interaction is for us all.
The first lesson we were introduced to different "zones" of the mouth/throat. When you use these different zones, your voice and accent may change and as you use the zones you realise how different accents use different parts of their mouths that we don't. So I found some of them quite hard. I found than when I used zones at the front of my mouth my voice sounded deeper whereas zones in the back of my mouth sounded higher. The positioning of the tongue really does affect a lot in terms of sound and slight movements and changes to position changes a lot of things. We did some work with the northern accent as that was his natural accent and it would be easier to teach us that as we all know what it sounds like.
For example; the "L" sound made in the northern accent is different than that of a Londoner accent because Scots do what is called a "Heavy L" and that is where the tongue touches the back of the teeth but curves down whereas the one in a Londoner accent, the tongue stays straight or curves slightly upwards. The end of some words are elongated and some consonants are dropped to form a Scottish accent.
After we did that, he said that if you ever forget your lines onstage and are doing an accent, learn whatthe hesitation for that accent would be. That way you won't break the illusion. Gary also said to research the history of the accent you're doing, the dialect and how it came to be what it is.
The accent I'll be doing is RP (Received Pronunciation) which is spoken by those of a middle class or "Queen's English". I have a quote from Wikipedia that briefly explains the history of RP:
"RP is often believed to be based on the Southern accents of England, but it actually has most in common with the Early Modern English dialects of the East Midlands. This was the most populated and most prosperous area of England during the 14th and 15th centuries. By the end of the 15th century, "Standard English" was established in the City of London.[16] A mixture of London speech with elements from East Midlands, Middlesex and Essex, became known as Received Pronunciation. By the 1970s it was estimated that 3% of British people were RP speakers."
The following lesson we focused more on our individual accent that we would be doing. I, as earlier mentioned, am doing RP and that means articulating every vowel and consonant. I have a habit of sometimes dropping my consonants and not opening my mouth very wide when I speak, but with RP you need to use your mouth, face muscles and tongue a lot more when you speak. You can't rush speech either or you will trip on words, so taking time will allow you to make more sense of your sentences and make them clearer. There is also a way you carry yourself when you speak with this accent. You can't speak in this accent and slouch, it doesn't match up. Plus, when I do this accent it makes me feel prestige so I work on my posture and how you communicate with others. As officers, we are sophisticated men so the note on posture and interaction is for us all.
Tuesday, 12 November 2013
Rehearsal
WE'VE BLOCKED THE WHOLE PLAY *fist pump*
So the blocking is going very well and I'm particularly enjoying the scene where Major Ross comes into the rehearsal and ruins everything AND breaks the news that Liz Morden will be hung. I think that the energy and characterisation in this scene is so strong, particularly Tian who really makes you hate his character for being such a killjoy. His accent in coming along very well and he plays the pauses and tension. This scene is quite an important one too because it exposes the convicts and makes us feel sorry for them. We truly see that they're not the bad people here, the officers are. The play doesn't have any scenes of what they endured on the ship either but we get a taste of it in this scene and watching the humiliation is painful. When the other convicts run their lines in order to save Mary from revealing an extremely personal tattoo, relationships come to surface and we see that even though they do cuss each other and have attitudes a lot, they have each other's backs. It's very sweet.
However, Sarah says we still need to work harder and we should. Though we've blocked the whole play and are starting to add details, we need to pick at those details but still do our own research outside rehearsals to help development.
Friday, 8 November 2013
Rehearsal notes
This rehearsal, we blocked a few more scenes in act 2. In fact we're almost done which is quite exiting.
As part of our warm-up, we assessed ourselves on where we think we're at in terms of rehearsals. I put myself between merit and distinction because though I know what I'm doing, I'm on stage when I need to be and when I'm off stage I'm quiet and doing something productive. However when I am on stage I feel like I'm not doing enough, I feel I could be doing more. My scene is the only scene I'm in and I want it to be tense, snappy and electric not boring. With my lines I think I need to play around with how I want to say them. There is only one line that I have this problem with but I want it to be a one good line that can "boast" my character.
Notes that Sarah had were that she wants to change the opening scene slightly because she feels it's too comical. It's when the convicts are brought on, they're just thrown into a pile and admittedly I can see what Sarah means. There could be more time taken with this scene and more fear can be struck into this. Detail needs to be put into the scenes and relationships need to be established between characters and applied to the scenes to make it more real.
In terms of detail and playing relationships, I think it would be interesting if Finn and I played with the relationship between our two characters in the scene. Finn's character, Reverend Johnston, disapproves and almost hates my character throwing indirect comments to him here and there. If me and Finn could be sat close to each other and irritate one another, I believe it would bring some fun to the scene.
As part of our warm-up, we assessed ourselves on where we think we're at in terms of rehearsals. I put myself between merit and distinction because though I know what I'm doing, I'm on stage when I need to be and when I'm off stage I'm quiet and doing something productive. However when I am on stage I feel like I'm not doing enough, I feel I could be doing more. My scene is the only scene I'm in and I want it to be tense, snappy and electric not boring. With my lines I think I need to play around with how I want to say them. There is only one line that I have this problem with but I want it to be a one good line that can "boast" my character.
Notes that Sarah had were that she wants to change the opening scene slightly because she feels it's too comical. It's when the convicts are brought on, they're just thrown into a pile and admittedly I can see what Sarah means. There could be more time taken with this scene and more fear can be struck into this. Detail needs to be put into the scenes and relationships need to be established between characters and applied to the scenes to make it more real.
In terms of detail and playing relationships, I think it would be interesting if Finn and I played with the relationship between our two characters in the scene. Finn's character, Reverend Johnston, disapproves and almost hates my character throwing indirect comments to him here and there. If me and Finn could be sat close to each other and irritate one another, I believe it would bring some fun to the scene.
Wednesday, 6 November 2013
Off Text Improvisation
This was an exercise we did you test ourself on how well we knew our given circumstances, objectives and characters.
We went through our individual scenes and almost paraphrased them. This was a good exercise if you understood all these things but some people had struggled a bit because they were trying to learn their lines as well as objectives and it was a bit much for them. We only covered the scenes we had blocked and started rehearsing. Through doing this, we gained an understanding of what purposes our characters served to the scenes and how the individual scenes affected the whole play. I think it's important to have done this exercise so we all got the general gist of the play and I think doing this in your own time can help you learn your lines easier. Perhaps in the performance if someone was to forget their line, they would know the direction of the scene and can improvise a line that doesn't disturb the harmony of the scene.
We went through our individual scenes and almost paraphrased them. This was a good exercise if you understood all these things but some people had struggled a bit because they were trying to learn their lines as well as objectives and it was a bit much for them. We only covered the scenes we had blocked and started rehearsing. Through doing this, we gained an understanding of what purposes our characters served to the scenes and how the individual scenes affected the whole play. I think it's important to have done this exercise so we all got the general gist of the play and I think doing this in your own time can help you learn your lines easier. Perhaps in the performance if someone was to forget their line, they would know the direction of the scene and can improvise a line that doesn't disturb the harmony of the scene.
Tuesday, 5 November 2013
Rehearsal
We started off with an improv warm up about our characters. We got into partners and improvised a scene (that is not in the play) based on something we wanted to explore about our character. I was paired with Asa and we did my little scene first which was George's interview for the position of 1st lieutenant. I didn't think this would be that useful but it really was because when asked about past experiences with the navy, I told him when I was younger I served with my regiment.
When I researched George I found out that his father was a captain and got him a position as a second lieutenant when he was roughly 12 years old. I don't know George's personal experience on his childhood, but when asked about serving with my regiment as a young boy I said it gave me a firm basis for knowledge and skills. But after the exercise, I thought about what it would really have been like serving with the marines at such a young age. Would it have caused damage? Was he scarred? Did he see things a child of his age shouldn't have?
I also was asked about family. I wasn't sure about George's marital status at the time so I said that I had a wife and two young children, Matthew and Lily. I was asked how I felt about leaving them behind, what my plans were in terms of keeping contact, etc. I said I was confident that my children were in good hands with the rest of my family and would grow up to be resourceful members of society and if possible, I would latewr bring them over to Australia so they could be part of this new country. In reality I'm not sure how most officers would have felt about leaving their family behind, especially their children. I don't know whether they were particularly close with their children, if they came over to Australia or if they were ever reunited again.
We switched over and did Asa's scene. Asa is playing the role of a convict, Robert Sideway and in his scene we improvised a conversation between a prostitute he lives with (me) and himself. He's just come back from a round of pickpocketing and saw his favourite actor, David Garrick, come out of the theatre. Through this improvisation I realised how intelligent Robert Sideway is. Most of the convicts or people of his class wouldn't have cared for much let alone the theatre but Sideway's love for it shows how clever he is. He seems to have gone to watch several of Garrick's plays and loved them, showing a level of understanding for literature. Asa plays this very well and onstage, the intelligence exhumes from his character. He has the common touch yet has his airs and graces.
We ran though act 1 and the transitions need to be quicker and sharper. People can sometimes slack when it comes to that and are unsure of that they're doing. We all need to be off book as soon as possible because some scenes are doing well but having a script in your hand takes away from the scene. We all really need to work on volume too.
I think the scenes that are really strong and working well are the scenes between Duckling and Harry because James and Tiffany don't acknowledge the potential awkwardness that could be in their scene. They got over that pretty quickly and when they're onstage, the chemistry between them seems true. They don't lie about it and take their time.
A scene I think can improve is still the discussion between officers scene. When we haven't ran over it after a few rehearsals it gets shoddy and boring, though it has been boring for quite a while. Pace is the main issue in this scene because it's such a long scene but there's nothing entertaining about it. The stakes are quite high in this scene but we aren't playing that yet.
When I researched George I found out that his father was a captain and got him a position as a second lieutenant when he was roughly 12 years old. I don't know George's personal experience on his childhood, but when asked about serving with my regiment as a young boy I said it gave me a firm basis for knowledge and skills. But after the exercise, I thought about what it would really have been like serving with the marines at such a young age. Would it have caused damage? Was he scarred? Did he see things a child of his age shouldn't have?
I also was asked about family. I wasn't sure about George's marital status at the time so I said that I had a wife and two young children, Matthew and Lily. I was asked how I felt about leaving them behind, what my plans were in terms of keeping contact, etc. I said I was confident that my children were in good hands with the rest of my family and would grow up to be resourceful members of society and if possible, I would latewr bring them over to Australia so they could be part of this new country. In reality I'm not sure how most officers would have felt about leaving their family behind, especially their children. I don't know whether they were particularly close with their children, if they came over to Australia or if they were ever reunited again.
We switched over and did Asa's scene. Asa is playing the role of a convict, Robert Sideway and in his scene we improvised a conversation between a prostitute he lives with (me) and himself. He's just come back from a round of pickpocketing and saw his favourite actor, David Garrick, come out of the theatre. Through this improvisation I realised how intelligent Robert Sideway is. Most of the convicts or people of his class wouldn't have cared for much let alone the theatre but Sideway's love for it shows how clever he is. He seems to have gone to watch several of Garrick's plays and loved them, showing a level of understanding for literature. Asa plays this very well and onstage, the intelligence exhumes from his character. He has the common touch yet has his airs and graces.
We ran though act 1 and the transitions need to be quicker and sharper. People can sometimes slack when it comes to that and are unsure of that they're doing. We all need to be off book as soon as possible because some scenes are doing well but having a script in your hand takes away from the scene. We all really need to work on volume too.
I think the scenes that are really strong and working well are the scenes between Duckling and Harry because James and Tiffany don't acknowledge the potential awkwardness that could be in their scene. They got over that pretty quickly and when they're onstage, the chemistry between them seems true. They don't lie about it and take their time.
A scene I think can improve is still the discussion between officers scene. When we haven't ran over it after a few rehearsals it gets shoddy and boring, though it has been boring for quite a while. Pace is the main issue in this scene because it's such a long scene but there's nothing entertaining about it. The stakes are quite high in this scene but we aren't playing that yet.
Friday, 1 November 2013
The Start of Blocking
Over the past few rehearsals, we have started to block the scenes in act 1. The whole cast has been cooperative in this process, so blocking the scenes wasn't too dragging. However, we've gone over the scenes so that everybody knows what to do and what works for individual scenes, which deliveries create the most energy. We know what's going on for each scene and we are now at the point where we can go through act 1 smoothly with the exceptions of words.
The opening scene will be happening as the audience come in. I find it quite pleasing to watch because the layout is solid, regimented and it's silent but it's effective. I think that if in this scene, the lighting was just white spotlights that change when the audience are seated and the play is ready to begin. I'm interested in seeing the final choice made with the lighting for this scene.
The officers (the more important ones which don't include me) are stood at the left and right and back of the stage and are rigid apart from Tian who signals Layla to bring the convicts on one by one and throws them into a square (their enclosure) on the floor. Once they're all in there, the play begins.
My scene is in act 1 and we blocked it. It's a scene that definitely needs work and commitment because it becomes boring so easily. We started off by trying it with a meeting table layout where we were all sat down in a horseshoe-like formation and this was so deadbeat. I was getting bored and it's my only scene, I was pitying the audience who would pay money to sit through a dry scene. We all agreed that it was boring and tried a more scattered layout where people could get up from their chairs and walk around if they pleased, though hierarchy determined where you would be seated or stood. We also tried changing the way we delivered our lines. Before we were letting people finish their sentences and we decided to change it to being on the end of each others' sentences and borderline cutting people off. This is, after all, a scene where the officers are discussing whether to let this play happen, they have different opinions and are getting hot-heated about it so naturally this would be a fast-paced scene.
When it comes to cutting each other off and keeping a fast pace, you have to be careful with tripping over your words and making sure you articulate your words. Also finding and following through with the meaning of your point is important. We all need to be aware of this in the scene because this can either go really well or really badly.
If we rehearse this scene more and know what we're saying, I think there's a lot of potential to make this scene electric.
The opening scene will be happening as the audience come in. I find it quite pleasing to watch because the layout is solid, regimented and it's silent but it's effective. I think that if in this scene, the lighting was just white spotlights that change when the audience are seated and the play is ready to begin. I'm interested in seeing the final choice made with the lighting for this scene.
The officers (the more important ones which don't include me) are stood at the left and right and back of the stage and are rigid apart from Tian who signals Layla to bring the convicts on one by one and throws them into a square (their enclosure) on the floor. Once they're all in there, the play begins.
My scene is in act 1 and we blocked it. It's a scene that definitely needs work and commitment because it becomes boring so easily. We started off by trying it with a meeting table layout where we were all sat down in a horseshoe-like formation and this was so deadbeat. I was getting bored and it's my only scene, I was pitying the audience who would pay money to sit through a dry scene. We all agreed that it was boring and tried a more scattered layout where people could get up from their chairs and walk around if they pleased, though hierarchy determined where you would be seated or stood. We also tried changing the way we delivered our lines. Before we were letting people finish their sentences and we decided to change it to being on the end of each others' sentences and borderline cutting people off. This is, after all, a scene where the officers are discussing whether to let this play happen, they have different opinions and are getting hot-heated about it so naturally this would be a fast-paced scene.
When it comes to cutting each other off and keeping a fast pace, you have to be careful with tripping over your words and making sure you articulate your words. Also finding and following through with the meaning of your point is important. We all need to be aware of this in the scene because this can either go really well or really badly.
If we rehearse this scene more and know what we're saying, I think there's a lot of potential to make this scene electric.
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