Unit 3: Romey & J (Blog 6)

In class today, we performed our final assessment scene (Act 3 scene 5). I played Juliet and Farah played Lady Capule. You can find a link to Farah's blog here. Last week, we performed our rough draft of the scene.

Rough Draft
I think that I did do a significant amount of practice both at home and in class on Wednesdays. I asked my mother to help me learn my lines and to help me with the vocal emotions in the scene. I went over the lines in my head many times so that I would not forget any of my lines when it came to performing the rough draft. 

I think that the blocking of the scene was good but my character emotions need work. This is because I got feedback from Ms Kimey saying that it was what needed working on. Farah needed to learn her lines since she was reading off of the script and I was not. We also needed to work on running smoothly through our lines since it did not sound natural to me. I think that the audience understood what the scene was about but did not understand the emotions which is the main thing that needed working on. I do think the audience understood the language because none of them looked very confused. 

To improve my performance for the final performance, which was being graded, I worked extensively on my character emotion and improved the blocking of our scene. Farah learned the gist of her lines so she could use the script as just a prompt. This is the feedback I got from Ms Kimey for the rough draft performance:

You lines at the beginning need more confusion, emotion etc.
You are overwrought with emotion-you've been crying ENDLESSLY and need to be weak at the beginning of piece (to convince parents) so much that you ultimately "die" of grief.
Change reaction to "behold him ... dead" to an easier, less comical recover
Desperate questioning and begging - not that strong at "I will not marry"
More sadness, weakness and desperation
Excellent job with lines, work on character emotion

Final Draft
i think that our final draft was so much better that our rough draft. This is because my lines had more emotion in them and Farah learnt some of her lines. I used all of my feedback to improve my performance because I really wanted to do well on our final assessment of the year. Everything that Ms Kimey told me to do in my feedback, I tried to apply as much as I could to the performance. There was more emotion in my lines and it was less "comedic". I think our performance greatly improved from before.

I do think the audience understood what was going on in the scene even better this time because we tried to speak clearer so that the audience could hear and process what we were saying more easily. Also, I think that the Shakespearean language was clear and people could make out what we were saying. The emotions were also clearer because we tried as best we could to put more emotion into our movements and our voices. 
My feedback was:

Better sadness this time
In the future, pack more sub-textual understanding in lines-these are so rich with double meanings throughout
Perhaps rise on "Madam if you could find but a man"
Good inflection on "What joyful tidings" bit

Final Reflection
I have a lot of new understanding regarding Shakespearean theater and Romeo and Juliet. One new understanding I have is that Shakespeare would make up a lot of words for his plays. The audience members wouldn't have been able to understand the actors on stage if they didn't project and articulate their words properly The emotion of a line really helps the audience to understand what is going on. I learnt that from performing my final assessment. 

I have a new found appreciation for actors who perform Shakespeare in modern times now because, I know how difficult it is to memorize lines, let alone Shakespearean language! You have to put a lot of emotion into lines for audience members to understand and also have to exaggerate a lot. They deserve a lot pf respect for being able to perform Shakespeare well!

One acting skill that I learnt in this unit is putting emotion into lines and movements. Another skill I learnt is inflection which is changing my voice to suit an emotion. I had to do this a lot in my scene as I went from sad to pleading/begging. In Shakespeare, time in class is not enough to rehearse. I learnt that I have to do a lot of practice at home to get the performance right which I did and it went very well

Bye!  xxx

Unit 3: Romey & J (Blog 5)

For our summative assessment, we are doing a scene from the play Romeo and Juliette by William Shakespeare. I have chosen o do my scene with Farah Moreel. You can find a link to her blog here. We have chosen Act 3 Scene 5. I play Juliette and Farah plays Lady Capulet. We have to mark our script and upload pictures of them. The annotations include the stage set up and also stage directions. I have marked what each line is portraying, costume choices, lighting/technical choices and the content of the line.

 Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

In this scene, Juliette is overcome with emotions for her husband Romeo, who has been banished, and her Cousin Tybalt, who was killed by Romeo. She is upset and weak from endless crying over both of them. 

My movements are very slow and sad and I am mostly sitting down on my bed because I am tired. I voice is quite high pitched as Juliette has a high voice but at times it is low to exaggerate the sadness that Juliette is feeling. I speak quite slowly for most lines again to show I am tired. Some lines are delivered quick like "Madam, in happy time, what day is that?" because Juliette is worried and also confused about what is going on. My mood changes slightly when I hear about the marriage but Juliette is more trying to convince her mother than being a stroppy teenager.

(To Ms Kimey. If the pictures aren't clear enough, please tell me and I will show you my script in class.)

Bye now! xxx :)

-K

Unit 3: Romey & J (Blog 4)

For this blog entry, we need to pick a scene we would like to perform.

I have chosen the balcony scene. I decided to do this scene because I know how famous this scene is and I wanted a chance to do it. So many famous people around the world have performed this scene . It is also a challenging scene and I think that  it is good to challenge myself. I like this scene because it is so sweet and lovely. That may sound like a very cliche thing to say but it is what I think and why I like this scene so much. Also, a lot of emotion is portrayed in this scene which will make it more fun to perform.

If I were to direct the scene, I would need to think about many different elements. Of course the scene will be set at the balcony of Juliette! But there are other things to think of like costumes and lighting. For the staging, I would probably make the balcony out of some chairs to stand behind and a small piece of platform for Juliette to stand on. Costumes would obviously be traditional and also with masks from the party before. For props we could have a rose or some sort of gift for Romeo to give Juliette even if it isn't in the script. For lighting, there would be spot lights on Romeo and Juliette. The one on Juliette would be off until she says her first line.

This is who I would cast in this scene

Romeo:

Farah. Because she is really sweet and kind like Romeo is. She is also uite sensitive when it comes to relationships as is Romeo. None of the boys in our class really fit the role of Romeo.

Juliette: 

Me. Because I think that I really suit her role as she is obeying to her parents and is fun loving just like me. I think I would be able to pull of Juliette

Nurse (Not really in the scene but is heard):

Guglie. Because he is very sarcastic like the Nurse and can be quite funny at times. The Nurse is very outspoken and Guglie does this a lot.

Did I choose a good cast?

That's all! Bye! xx <3

Unit 3: Romey & J - Reduced Shakespeare Company (Blog 3)

In class, we watched a version of Romeo and Juliette by the Reduced Shakespeare Company (R.S.C).
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzVyqiskpMk
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKUyq-uCZr0

There were many Shakespearean elements in this version. This includes the fact that their were no girls at all during the play, just like there weren't any girls in Shakespeare's time. Also, they involved the audience a lot in the show. This includes breaking the fourth wall, and interacting with the audience. Whilst on stage, the actors would speak to the audience.

They also made some changes to the play. One of these things was that they broke character but on purpose. An example of this is at the end when Romeo kisses Juliette before he dies, Romeo breaks character and says 'Oh get over it!' to the audience. This is because, a modern day audience isn't used to seeing a boy kiss a boy so the R.S.C made a joke out of it. Another thing they changed was the script. They wanted to shorten the play so that they could fit more plays into their performance time. To do this they only used important scenes and only some of the lines. For example, they shortened the scene where Tybolt is killed to only a couple of seconds.

I don't think that this kind of performance would be successful in Shakespeare's time because it was adapted to suit a modern day audience. Many of the jokes made in the performance would not be funny in his time and no one would get the jokes.


-K xxx

Unit 3: Romey & J - Baz Luhrmann (Blog 2)

We watched the Baz Luhrman movie  (1996) version of Romeo and Juliette in drama class. It was originally a play written by William Shakespeare. It is set in modern day time but they speak in Shakespearean language from the original script of Romeo and Juliette. 

I think that he interpreted it very well but some parts have also been interpreted in a way that I don't think works. I will touch on this more later.

Some clear Shakespearean elements were used in the movie. This includes Shakespearean language. It is used throughout the entire movie although some of the parts are in modern day English. This is because it was not in the original script for Rome and Juliette.

I do think that Baz Luhrman is very talented but, in my opinion, I do't really like this version of the play. This is for many things to do with the language the setting and also the interpretation of the play. I do not like the characterization of Mercutio in this version as I think that it is very over the top. I also don't like the fact that they are in a modern day world with cars and guns but are still speaking in Shakespearean language. I think that they should have either stuck to the original time that the play was set in, or change the script so that it is in modern day English. One other thing I on't like is some of the interpretations. Like when they take a drug in the Luhrman version. I don't think that it works and it makes the movie also very confusing.
I do like some parts of the movie as well though. For example I love the modern day setting because it allows us to more fully understand the story line as it is easier to relate to for our generation.

I agree with the argument that this movie was a bad idea. This is because of reasons said before. I think Shakespeare would agree that Luhrman tried his best but the movie did not quite work and did not do justice to the works of Romeo and Juliette or even Shakespeare himself.

This has been and evaluation and movie review of Baz Luhrman's Romeo and Juliette (1996)

BYE! xx

Sources:
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/romeo-and-juliet-1996
http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C0CE7D91139F932A35752C1A960958260
http://peggy8_8.tripod.com/baz.html
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/sep/07/1

Unit 3: Romey & J - Shakespearean Theatre (Blog 1)

In this post I am comparing Commedia dell'Arte and Shakespearean theatre. I have created a table to compare the two. It includes both the differences and the similarities:

Commedia	Similarities	Shakespeare
Spoke in Gromalot	Everyone was involved (acoustics, performers, audience, etc.)	Spoke in English
Women were allowed to take part in the plays, they were paid and were treated as men’s equals	Anyone could come watch the play. It didn’t matter if they had a lot or little money, there was a place for everyone	No woman were allowed to be in the plays. They were played by young boys with higher voices
They used stock characters (Same set of characters for each performance e.g. Columbina)	Both were thought to be devil worshipers by the church	They had different characters for each play. No character was repeated in another play (e.g. Romeo)
Started in the 16th century	They performed during the day because they could not afford candles or oil lamps to light the stage/theatre. (No electricity)	Started in the 17th century
Most of the Commedia characters wear masks throughout the performance	They broke the fourth wall. This means they interacted with the audience throughout the play	Usually wore just makeup on their faces
Their plays could be performed anywhere that they thought would work (found spaces e.g. town square)	Plays were performed in troops of paid actors. They each had a specific art to play. In Shakespeare, if you were the lead male, in every show you were the lead male. In Commedia, if you were Columbina, you were always Columbina.	All the plays were performed and rehearsed in a theatre on the same stage every time; The Globe Theatre.
All of the story lines in Commedia are comedic which means they are meant to be funny almost all the time	The costumes for the shows were always the actors’ responsibility. They had to use their own clothes or get them specially made for a show	Many of the story lines are very tragic and usually the ending is sad and include more than a few deaths

Thank you for reading! (Below sows where I got my information from)

http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa110800a.htm

http://www.bl.uk/treasures/shakespeare/basics.html

OWN KNOWLEDGE!!

The Love of Three Oranges!!!!!!

Hello!
On the 27th and the 28th of March, I took part in the MS production of 'The Love of Three Oranges'. I played Celio, the good Wizard, and nemesis to Fata Morgana. This is my reflection:

My first impression of the play when I had read the script was, this is going to be an awesome play. We had been doing Commedia in class so I thought that it would be a great experience for me and that it would help me in my learning. As I read the script, I could tell that  it was a teenage version of the original play because it was full of lazzi and it was just hilarious! During rehearsals, I made contributions like ideas for blocking and small pieces of lazzi that we could incorporate to make the play even funnier. Some early concerns that I had were that not everyone would remember their lines on stage or suffer from stage fright because that would have been a disaster. At the beginning of the term, my skill level was okay because we were studying Commedia in class but there were things I needed to improve on like articulation and projection.

During the rehearsals leading up to the play, I tried my best to go off script and speak as loud as I possibly could to fill the auditorium. To help me with this, I practiced a lot at home with my mum because she studied drama at school. To help with my articulation, I did a lot of tongue twisters because they actually help a lot! I made progress because I was able to fill the auditorium with my voice and still have articulation in all of my sentences. In rehearsals, I learnt how to be a part of a BIG team and get along with everyone! I also learnt so much about live stage performance.

On the 26th (Wednesday) we had a dress rehearsal in which we had an audience of about seven or eight. I think that it went quit well but there were a few errors with sound effects which was okay because it was our first time performing with them. The feeling of performing was really good because the audience laughed at everything. If I were to grade myself using Criterion B, I would give myself a 9/10 because developed many skills and applied them to my performance. My performance also included my personal interpretation because I thought about what I found funny and played the scene that way to make it funnier. I would give everyone a score ranging from 3-9 out of ten too because I think that we all tried very hard in the rehearsal. My score for the ensemble averages out at around 7. Something that was really good was that no one forgot any lines on stage which helped the play to run smoothly and quickly, otherwise the play would have been extremely long. Something that was bad was that we hadn't done a proper full run before so the scene changes took quite a while which prolonged our performance slightly.

On the first night if the real performance, we had over 150 people watching us. I honestly think that it went really, really well. We had gotten feedback from the dress rehearsal and it was applied to our performance. The buzz that we got from the audience laughing was amazing! I would again give myself a 10/10 for this performance for the same reasons though I did improve from the dress rehearsal. I would give everyone a grade ranging from 4-10 because we put 100% effort in. As an ensemble I would give us an 8/10. One thing that didn't work out well was the sound effects because we hadn't rehearsed them enough. This did turn out to make a good thing though which was the improvisation we used when things didn't go to plan. Apparently, it all looked like it was part of the plan to mess up the sound effects which was a good thing too! It made the audience laugh even more.

On our last night performing, we had around the same amount of people watching us. This performance also went really well but I think that the first night was better because the audience laughed more. The buzz was still immense though! I think that I would give myself a 9/10 this time because I forgot one of my lines but it still ran smooth because was in one of my big paragraphs so I just skipped to the next sentence. I would give everyone a score ranging from 4-10 because some people still put loads of effort into the performance and tried their best! This averages out to about 8 again. One thing that went really well was that the sound effects were on time and the scene changes happened really quickly. This meant that the play wasn't 2 and a half hours long! One bad thing though was that people didn't remember their lines as much and were making small silly mistakes but it didn't have a big effect on how good the show looked!

I will take away so many things from this amazing experience. One of the major things is that I now have a connection with people from the lower grades and have so many new friends that I have become really close to. I learnt so much about making your voice heard and about friendship and happiness (the message in the play!). The thing I enjoyed most was performing live on stage for everyone to see and enjoy. Another thing that I liked was hearing the audience laugh because it made me feel really good. Things that I want to work on for next time is my evilness because I would like to play an evil role someday. Another thing is my improvisation on stage.

I can't believe that it is really over! All those weeks of rehearsing and it's finished :(.

It was so much fun. This is and experience that I will never forget!

And they all lived happily ever....in laughter.