Approaching my script

What people say about me and what I say about myself

Mau - 'Ghost Girl', 'Are you one of the raiders?', 'I like your language it's very beautiful', 'You were wonderful', 'Because in that world I would never have met you', 'you're a princess'

Ataba - 'Half-bake', 'Foolish girl', 'This is a strong woman'

Pilu - 'Woman's wisdom'

Marisgala - 'Brave girl', 'Brave Woman', 'Strongest and Bravest women'

Locaha -'Crazy Ghost Girl', 'Mad Girl'

Daphne - 'I've gone native', 'I'm a murderer', 'I am your daughter'

Cahle - 'She is a great women', 'Are you watching her sail away?'

Cox - 'so changed. You've let the sun burn your flesh', 'the girl is mine'

Father - 'Most wonderful advantage, she knew about science. Observation and experiment', 'precious child'

Soldier - 'Just a savage'

Grandmother - 'native girl', 'you're first in line to the throne'

Man - 'She was Queen, Got married'

Boy - 'they turned into dolphins'

Who am I?

I am Daphne, a young English girl who has survived a terrible shipwreck. I am a posh girl whose father is 139th to the throne. I live in Wiltshire and was on the way to meet my father in Port Mercier when the terrible storm happened. I have blonde hair, white skin and I speak English. My Mother died in childbirth whilst having my brother who also didn't make it. I have a butler and my Grandmother looks after me, but she is always telling me what to do. I live in a very traditional society, however being on this island I have to adapt to a new way of living, the more time I spend here the more I feel as though I am falling love with this culture, the people and Mau.

What is the present situation?

Foxlip has just died and we have had a trial, now the raiders have arrived and there leader is looking for me. My intention in this first scene is to fight the raiders, to remain powerful and to be open. However when Mau is fighting cox my objective changes to protect because I am praying that Mau wins.

Where am I?

I am on the island, which is hot and humid. We are currently on the beach watching Mau as he fights cox, everything is in slow motion. I sit in the sad praying that Mau will be OK. My other two scenes also take place on the beach.

Costume

In the end I decided to wear the dress, black leggings, a jumper and my denim jacket. After the breaking in scene at the beginning I removed my jumper and jacket to demonstrate that I was becoming part of the play and was now a tribal character.

My scenes - Scene 7, 8 and 9

Scene 7-

In my first scene the given circumstances are that the raiders have just arrived. In this scene my first objectives are to open. I do this in order to show that I am confident in the fight and when speaking to Cox I am showing him that I am not scared of him and I know who he really is. When I say my line to Mau my objective changes to look, here I am looking at Mau giving him support, and I'm looking at the rest of the nation for support for Mau. When I am on stage whilst Mau is fighting my objectives become to protect and to hide, here I am praying to my God that nothing bad happens to Mau and I am protecting myself scared about what the outcome will be.

Scene 8 -

When I enter scene 8 time has passed so the given circumstances are that a few years have passed and I have just been living on the island with Mau and the others. My first objective is to open because I am really excited for twinkle to share his song with Mau. My objective becomes a lot more serious after twinkle has finished his song, it becomes to look. I am searching for an answer, seeing if Mau really has true feelings for me and when he admits them I slightly change objectives I am still looking but I also change to hide because I know I have feelings for him to.

Scene 9-

Scene 9 is the final scene of the play, in this scene a boat has arrived carrying my father but I don't know who is on the boat yet because I have gone off to tell the other Islanders. My first objectives are to look and to open, I am playing with twinkle and when I see my father my objective changes to embrace. I keep these objectives until Grandmother enters, when this occurs my objective changes to, to hide and to protect, because I haven't seen her in a long time and she is quite strict and I don't think she will approve of the new Daphne. Other objectives used in this scene are to stop, to remember and to admit. Right at the end my objective is to look because it is the last time I will ever see Mau again.

Finishing the play

At the end of scene four whilst scene 3 is taken place we one by one place a candle around Ataba's body. The technique needed for this is too work as an ensemble. We have to all be in sync with one another so that two people do not stand up at the same time. The girls then arrange the body for a tribal ceremony, they clean his arms and make him look peaceful. We all then beginning chanting, the words are quite like a whisper so that scene five can be heard. This I think is a very good scene because we all perform different hand movements making it seen really spiritual and interesting to look at. This quickly changes into a new scene the trial scene, we make the post by covering Ataba's body so that it is a smooth transition. The nation then prepares for battle drumming and looking powerful by the stage.

Scene seven is the first scene when I become Daphne. I really need to project my voice in the first line because their is lots of background noise so I need to make sure I am heard. I really think the 'imperfect world' part of this scene is different and shows the contrast off the two worlds. The movement we use has to be really creative and
powerful to show what Mau has to decide between.

In scene eight I need to remember to keep a distance between myself and other actors because otherwise all the energy is lost quickly and everything is clumped together which is not fair for the audience.

Scene Nine is the final scene. it is quite a long scene and personally I find it difficult. In this scene I really need to show my emotions towards my father and Mau. When I first see my father I need to be in shock but also so grateful that he has come to find me. This needs to come across natural and not staged therefore I have chosen to follow the Objectives to look and to embrace. Before this when I am playing with twinkle I need to make sure I have good articulation because my father is supposed to be able to recognise my voice after all these years. After the coronation I have to say good bye to Mau. The advice I was given in rehearsal is to take my time and to allow long moments of silence when doing the tear and smile. Here we are taunting the audience because we are dragging out the scene. When we freeze I have to stay perfectly still so that the scene cross cuts into the man and the two children, and after I kiss him I walk away and don't look back.

Tomorrow is our dress rehearsal therefore, all lines must be learnt, everyone should be committed and people should invest in the play cause if we don't believe in it how can we expect our audience members to?

For costume the Daphne have all decided to wear similar outfit and our hair gets messier as the show goes on from kits being in a bun, to mine being down. We were thinking a dress that could be tucked into denim shorts and a jumper or something over the top. On Monday we are going to see what each other has and decide on our costume. This is a dress that could be a possibility:

Tsunami and Tribal dance

Aftermath of tsunami

The Nation would find it very difficult to survive, All food would have been destroyed and original settlement. They would have to plant new food but it would be difficult because the land would of had a massive intake of water.

For scene ten we perform a tribal scene, in this we need to think about our voice and body. From research lots of stamping and linking with one another is very traditional. Also the voice is often very powerful, it is spoken from the belly in a chant. Chants are often very repetitive bvut the can also be performed in a whisper.

Rehearsals

I decided to re write my scene staging notes because we changed a few things in the lesson. We have now also started act two and have completed scenes one, two and four.

In scene one we are all islanders going about daily life, my group is rehearsing a dance to happy birthday for twinkle. When making up the dance we thought about using strange, big, twisting movements to make it seem tribal. We also have changed our voices for when we sing happy birthday to make it sound sharp and staccato to show a tribal adaptation. In this scene I have the objective 'to look' quite a lot because I am interested by the god anchors and the clock Daphne gives to Twinkle. This scene is all about the atmosphere therefore I as an islander need to constantly be reacting to what the main characters say and the tribal elements of the scene.

Scene Four is also a tribe scene, we run at the beginning to represent the scene and then we turn into islanders intrigued by Foxlip and Polegrave. When Ataba is shot we have to quickly react to keep the tense atmosphere.

These Three scenes are very simple but the lines need to be quick and everyone needs to react to the situation taking place.








Notes from the lesson:
- Need to be focused in rehearsals - always work at distinction level
- Constantly be switched on ad ready (Don't lose concentration and interest after a few minutes)
- Invest in the play
- Have the courage - to do something with your career and to be someone
- A performance can only be as good as the worst person in it
- Know all movements
- Learn lines
- Rehearsals do not finish - during the week look over notes
- Make good notes on staging diagrams
- Fully commit to rehearsals
- Working as an ensemble means that everyone needs to know lines, what they are doing and be committed.
- Energy and transitions are key don't allow lulls

Scene Ten Song

In South Australia I was born, heave away, haul away
In South Australia, 'round Cape Horn, were bound for South Australia

Haul away your rolling king, heave away, haul away
Haul away, youll hear me sing, were bound for South Australia

As I walked out one morning fair, heave away, haul away
'Twas there I met Miss Nancy Blair, were bound for South Australia

There's just one thing that's on my mind, heave away, haul away
That's leaving Nancy Blair behind, were bound for South Australia

And as we wallop round Cape Horn, heave away, haul away
You'll wish to God you've never been born, were bound for South Australia

In South Australia I was born, heave away, haul away
In South Australia, 'round Cape Horn, were bound for South Australia