Final Performance and Evaluation

Our final performance went very well and not much comes to mind when I think of places for improvement apart from energy. There could have been a little bit more of this but we had enough to make our last show go off with a bang. The only significant thing that went wrong was Harry Brewer's bed breaking in the middle of the scene where he and Duckling are about to have sex. Audience members did notice that but TTA took the defective bed out during a blackout.

Overall, I really enjoyed working on Our Country's Good and it has been an honour working with such a company of actors. At first I think we were all a bit apprehensive towards the play as we were comparing it to the other common ground plays too much. The other plays were more relevant to today's audience and were more understandable and aesthetically pleasing whilst just from reading the script we instantly found it boring.
I think Our Country's Good is one of those kinds of plays where you need to give it time to grow and get on it's feet before you can begin to enjoy it. It's complex to understand but you need to listen to the words. Listening to the words is one of the most important things any audience must do and as our set was quite simplistic, the acting and speech had to make up for it/keep the audience entertained.

I think we made up for it because the actors cast were all very strong, worked hard and gave this play everything they could and things the audience said to us showed this. When we weren't doing the show we were all communicating with each other, planning rehearsals outside lesson, helping each other with lines, etc. Like every other piece of theatre there were things that were stronger and weaker in each show, but if you take note of these things you can apply them to your next performance and that is what we all did.

Things I've learned from this experience is that a cooperative company of actors is essential and you all need to listen and support each other. Especially the director. No matter how much you may dislike the play at first, you need to put these thoughts and feelings aside or this will reflect in your acting and if you don't believe in the play, nobody will. One person affects everything.
Also, it isn't just the actors who make the show, TTA have a lot to do with it as well. In fact without them, we wouldn't be able to put on the shows that we do and it's important to respect them as well as your fellow actors because they too, are part of the company. They put in a lot of work and they were in after we had left taking the set down. Though they can't be seen during the performance, they play such a large part in it, so thank them at the end of each show.