Objectives, rehearsals, exercises

Objectives are very important; http://hollygarciaactingskills.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/objectives.html

As well as being Daphne I was also part of the ensemble cast so I had other objectives for different area of the play.

Stanley Halls:

Dress rehearsal

When entering Stanley halls, we really got excited for the performance, the justice, liberty and science sign really pulled the play together and it was a beautiful space to work in, did two dress rehearsal's one was very slow because we had to adapt to the space, and work with the sound and lighting and the second run through we did without stopping. These were the first time we had performed the play all the way through and in the space.

We all entered the stage as rehearsed, our objectives were to look and to explore the building, we were told in the real performance we would also have powder paint to put on our faces to become part of the play. In the dress rehearsal it allowed me to practice how I would transform from a teenager into a tribal person. When we became sailors and our objectives were to pray, to panic and to balance I was able to take of my coat and jumper and put it into the orchestra pit whilst moving. The objectives then changed to drown and then to stare as zombies at each other and the audience members.
These first three scenes went very well, because we all kept our characters and they flowed smoothly. However me and Eleanor did find it difficult when rolling out the blue sheet to represent the wave, because it was hard to keep hold of it.

The next scene I was in was the sea scene, in this scene we became the sea, I really enjoyed exploring the movement of the scene and I believe we worked well as an ensemble to create the tide coming in and out by having the objective to sway. In this rehearsal we were also able to alter the way in which Sam was lifted to make it a smooth transition. We need to remember in this scene to commit to the sound we are making otherwise it sounds weak and by grabbing kit and fighting for her it made the scene more tense. Furthermore we corrected our exit, we changed this to marking in order to announce the presence of the raiders which appeared in the next scene.

Scene 8 was the birth scene here all the girls sat in a circle and mumbled, our objectives were to pray and to chant. When the baby was born we all stood then sat back down, our objective was to sigh. Then we watched Daphne and Mau (to watch) and when she ran off we did to giggling to show the similarities of the two different cultures in love and relationships.

In scene 10 our main objectives were to dance, to celebrate, to look and to protect when first entering the stage as hungry islanders. The chanting went well, however we had a limited space so it was quite difficult to move within the inner circle, this could have been improved by stretching out the circle more to make an oval shape. I felt we really pulled together on this scene, there was a exciting atmosphere and the song at the end was very successful.

Scene 14 and 15 were the dream scenes. Our first objective was to look, we were all supposed to be looking at Daphne in order to make her feel uncomfortable. The dream fish section was ok but again the transitions were not very smooth because some people did not know the cue lines. As the islanders dancing I decided to really let go, by closing my eyes I imagined no body was watching and it allowed my movement to be free because my objective was to open and to dance freely. The funeral transition was a lot better than it had previously been but the song still wasn't right, therefore for the performance the directors decided only me and Katie should sing it. We added a drop to the floor to transform back into islanders, again our objective was to look, we were waiting for Mau to wake up and also when creating the cave entrance we were looking at Daphne in order to entice her in. This was the end of act one and I believe it was a powerful image to leave the audience with because we were humming and create an interesting atmosphere that the audience were left wondering what was in the cave.

Act two was a constant flow of movement and lines. Scene one begins with islanders going about there normal lives, cooking, hunting and making things. Me and some others then group together to sing happy birthday to twinkle, we perform abstract movement and sing the tune but replace the words with tribal noises. Our objectives then change to look and to watch, we stare in admiration as the god anchors enter and we are also fascinated by the watch twinkle receives. When they talk of opening the cave I chose a different objective, I decide to change to protect and to hide to show my disbelief and how my islander character completely believed in the Gods. We then turn into statues, the only movement we perform is moving the spine to create a ripple affect. Both scene one and two were good in rehearsal because everyone was on their lines, everyone was committed and it was fast moving.

The transition into scene 3 was good we became servants, and walked to the balcony doors where we stood as aristocrats. Here we just had to react to the scene, by laughing , chatting and gasping at the shocking news.

Scene four - we again created the sea to show Polegrave and Foxlip had been washed up on the beach. My objectives in this scene were to touch, to look and to protect. Whilst scene five occurred we cradled the body of Ataba and performed a chanting gesture to show us blessing the body. I believe this was really effective because it showed the atmosphere on two different parts of the island.

Scene six was the trial scene. Here our objectives were to look, and to follow Mau's command. This scene was good however some of the lines were said in the wrong order.

After scene six I became Daphne which I have talked about in the previous post.

Voice Thursday Lessons and Other Rehearsals

We had to arrange some extra rehearsals during lunch and on Friday in order to finish the play and run through scenes. This occurred because we did not realise the sheer scale of the project and the performance date was approaching fast. These happened at lunchtimes, on Fridays and before school. My tribal group decided to rehearsal our tribal chant during scene ten and we changed it to what we made up previously in the lesson because the shoulder lift was too difficult and the transition would take to long.

In our Thursday lessons we were working on voice work, this was extremely helpful for our performance of nation. The main techniques that have helped me are projection, articulation and breath control. The tongue twisters and facial muscularity building really helped when I had to use received pronunciation as Daphne. The semi supine voice exercises helped me when creating sounds-capes and combining body and voice. By evaluating my voice throughout the process of nation in my voice log book I was able to improve the areas I needed to work on.

The rehearsal period was a very long and slow process, some scenes everyone was together, others only the main characters were taken to run lines and sometimes I would just sit and watch a scene. I did find it difficult to adapt to this way of rehearsal because it meant that I did not know what was going on in every scene which made it harder to know scene changes and create smooth transitions.

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

Scenes 10, 15 and 16

Scene 10

When Mau says 'I have a plan' we all enter from different doors as islanders and say 'No'. We stand in two circles boys and girls and perform a dance relating to the four elements, girls are fire then water and the boys are air and earth. The circles cross over and we spit in the middle to show a ritual is taking place. The steady chanting of beer creates a tribal atmosphere. We then all perform our offerings into the middle in groups using levels, movement and voice in order to create a beautiful picture of all the islanders coming together in order to save a child. In this section we use shoulder lifts and echoes and whispers, in order for this to work well we need to fully go for it and work well as an ensemble. I think this did go well in the rehearsal cause no one cared what they looked like and went full out however I do need to rehearse getting onto Lara's shoulders cause it needs to be slick and look easy.

After the ceremony we go back into a circle and when Mau says 'come' we turn into trees. Becoming a tree we have to create weird body positions and link with others around us in order to make space for Mau and Daphne to travel through. The cue for us to turn into piglets is 'look', here we have to snort and fight for our place by the mother. This occurs in the top corner by the stage.

Finally on Mau's line 'that's it, come on' the piglets disappear and in that same corner in a huddle we enter as tired and hungry islanders, we look around the island and then exit through the doors underneath the balcony slowly.

In order for this scene to look successful we need to have good transitions and work together as an ensemble so that our movement and voice are strong. Other tips given in the lesson were to keep up the energy and open the voice if trying to show you are higher status. To improve we need to rehearse this scene so that everyone knows what they are doing and so that transitions work effectively.

Scene 15

Everyone enters as death, walking around Daphne keeping her always in our sight. Whenever Locaha speaks we freeze in order to show that he is our master and we are controlled by him. We then split into four groups when Mau says 'Run Daphne'. We then become dream fish, we cross the centre and then move around. In order for this to be effective we have to use our whole body to create a ripple effect to make it seem magical.

When Daphne says 'I cant', we turn into islanders, I have chosen three actions, lighting the fire, chopping and stirring a pot. This is all in mime so the actions have to be really clear so that the audience will understand what we are doing. We then notice a telescope in the middle of the stage, between the rows of audience. We start dancing with happiness to create a contrast between our happy atmosphere and the voice of Locaha. We laugh and dance to ourselves not realising what is happening between Locaha and Daphne. Then when Mau says 'it's coming' we notice a huge wave coming from the balcony, we scream in terror and run to the sides of the room.

Finally we create the funeral scene, I am a mourner. We walk in a group, two people are carried representing the dead mother and baby. As we begin to sing we walk to the edges of the room while the coffins are lowered to the ground. Daphne then has her speaking bit when she places the baby into the mothers arms.

To improve this scene we need to all learn the words to the song, again like scene 10 there are lots of changes in setting therefore we need our transitions to be smooth in order for the scene to be effective. Also because this is a magical scene everything needs to be clear and easy to understand because it might be difficult for the audience to grasp what is happening.

Scene 16

After scene 15 we stay in our circle around Mau, Daphne and the other principal characters. When Marisgala says 'dream fish' we do a quick arm action to represent the fish connecting it back to the previous scene. After this we begin to hum and echo 'what does it mean' as the circle splits and moves round to the entrance of the cave (the door under the balcony). Here we are trying to draw them into this magical cave to show there is more to come in Act Two.


Through all of these scenes the main techniques we are using are ensemble, lifts and changing the voice which I have spoken about in my previous post: http://nationhollygarcia.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/scene-7-and-11.html