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
Thursday 12 June 2014
Wednesday 4 June 2014
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
(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
Monday 19 May 2014
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
Tuesday 6 May 2014
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
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
Tuesday 29 April 2014
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
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
Wednesday 23 April 2014
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)
OWN KNOWLEDGE!!
Wednesday 2 April 2014
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.
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.
Wednesday 19 March 2014
Final Draft Evaluation
Hello!
In class today, we performed our final draft of our Commedia Performance.
Part 1
Part 1
The strength of our performance was the use of Gromalot in our performance. This is because we all used Gromalot. Though sometimes it was unclear, I feel that we improved a lot on it because we were actually using what sounded like words most of the time. Another strength of our performance was our mimed interactions. We had five mimed interactions during our scene which I think were very clear and made sense to the audience. We have improved on this from last lesson because we did not have as many mimes in our rough draft performance.
If I were to score our performance, I would give us a 24/35 (6/10).
Overall, I think that I tried very hard with this performance. I did as well as I could when speaking Gromalot and tried to stay in character even though Ayasha forgot to do the ending of our performance AGAIN. We practiced our performance quite a lot which helped our performance. I think I did my best.
If we did have the opportunity to perform again, I would improve our scene structure. This is because, I felt it was a little unclear for the audience even though we had practiced a lot. To improve, we could create a scene structure that was easier to remember (as I touched on before). Also, we would improve our characterization in our performance to make it clearer as to who was who. We did try to improve on this by changing the way that we walk and also the way we speak. I still think that we can improve on this more if we had more time to practice and discuss our performance more thoroughly.
Part 2
A group that did as well as us was Amara and Ibtehal's group. This is because I feel that they met the same descriptors that we did and I would give them roughly the same score I gave my own group Ibtehal played Magnifico and Amara played either Zanni or Harlequino. I wasn't quite sure.
I think that the strengths of their performance included their audience interactions. This is because they made good use of audience interactions and also used takeouts to the audience. The final time of their performance was 4 minutes and 10 seconds which was in the time limit given to us. Another strength of their performance was the structure of the scene. It was clear that they had planned it well as they knew what they were doing and when they had to do it.
If I could, I would score them a 23/35 which is also a (6/10).
I think that they did try to do their best but didn't put 100% effort into their performance. They included most of the elements that have been shown on the rubric and effectively incorporated them into the performance. They also played along with the audience when they did something they weren't supposed to like throw the balls back at Ibtehal. They improvised and made it work. I am not sure if it was planned but it worked really well.
If they had a chance to improve, I would tell them to improve on their use of Gromalot and sound effects. This is because the use if them in the performance was limited as they did not use a lot of it but when they did, it was effective. I would also tell them to improve on their characterization because it was not clear what Amara's character was. This could be because I don't know the characters extremely well though so this is an unfair comment to make.
Part 3
A group that did not do as well as us was Nafisa and Shadman's group. NAfisa played the First actress on Shadman played the captain. I don't think they did as well as us because they did not meet a lot of the requirements listed on the rubric.
The strength of their performance was the use of Gromalot. I thought that it was quite clear even though Nafisa spoke for most of the performance and Shadman just said a couple of words. It was understandable for most of the performance put their were no sound effects used to enhance the performance.
If I were to give them a score, I would give them a 19/35 (4/10)
I think that Nafisa did try her best to perform well but it was difficult because it was clear that Shadman didn't practice and didn't put a lot of effort into his character. If he had tried harder, it would have been quite a good performance. It was clear Nafisa was trying hard since she took on the bulk of the performance whereas Shadman didn't do a lot.
If they had time to improve upon their scene, I would tell them to improve on their character movement and gesture. If they walked in the way that their character did, it would have been a more convincing Commedia scenario. I would also tell them to improve on their audience interactions because they did not have many and the one that they did have was confusing to some of the audience members as they did not know what they were supposed to do. The last thing that they could improve on was their scene structure. Some parts were a bit confusing and unclear and the performance was under the time limit given.
That is all I have to say for now!
Bye xx
If I could, I would score them a 23/35 which is also a (6/10).
I think that they did try to do their best but didn't put 100% effort into their performance. They included most of the elements that have been shown on the rubric and effectively incorporated them into the performance. They also played along with the audience when they did something they weren't supposed to like throw the balls back at Ibtehal. They improvised and made it work. I am not sure if it was planned but it worked really well.
If they had a chance to improve, I would tell them to improve on their use of Gromalot and sound effects. This is because the use if them in the performance was limited as they did not use a lot of it but when they did, it was effective. I would also tell them to improve on their characterization because it was not clear what Amara's character was. This could be because I don't know the characters extremely well though so this is an unfair comment to make.
Part 3
A group that did not do as well as us was Nafisa and Shadman's group. NAfisa played the First actress on Shadman played the captain. I don't think they did as well as us because they did not meet a lot of the requirements listed on the rubric.
The strength of their performance was the use of Gromalot. I thought that it was quite clear even though Nafisa spoke for most of the performance and Shadman just said a couple of words. It was understandable for most of the performance put their were no sound effects used to enhance the performance.
If I were to give them a score, I would give them a 19/35 (4/10)
I think that Nafisa did try her best to perform well but it was difficult because it was clear that Shadman didn't practice and didn't put a lot of effort into his character. If he had tried harder, it would have been quite a good performance. It was clear Nafisa was trying hard since she took on the bulk of the performance whereas Shadman didn't do a lot.
If they had time to improve upon their scene, I would tell them to improve on their character movement and gesture. If they walked in the way that their character did, it would have been a more convincing Commedia scenario. I would also tell them to improve on their audience interactions because they did not have many and the one that they did have was confusing to some of the audience members as they did not know what they were supposed to do. The last thing that they could improve on was their scene structure. Some parts were a bit confusing and unclear and the performance was under the time limit given.
That is all I have to say for now!
Bye xx
Tuesday 18 March 2014
Rough Draft Reflection
Hello! Once again, it's me; Kheilah. In class, we performed our rough draft of our final performance task.
Part 1: My Performance Evaluation
In my performance, I think that our mimes and interactions were the best aspect of our performance. I think this because, we used at least five mimes in our performance and they were quite clear. Also, I think that our Gromalot was OK but it can still be improved over time. our performance did go wrong at the end because Ayasha forgot some of our scene which impacted very heavily on the scene and we had to cut it short. She forgot to go fetch something from the audience which is what rounded off our performance.
This is the feedback that we received in class on Wednesday:
*Gromalot seemed to be repetitive
*Go back and research your characters to take a better look at how they move and their personalities
*Some of the audience interactions were confusing
*Plot line was also a little confusing
I think that we can improve by practicing more so that we are comfortable speaking loudly and clearly in Gromalot and also become more confident with it. I have gone back an researched more on the character of Columbina so I now have a better understanding of her which I will put into practice on Wednesday.
Specific improvements that we will make will mainly to be to do with the audience interactions and also the plot line of the scenario. This could include bringing someone up on stage and supporting them through the scene or including more takeouts to the audience. We may also change the plot to make it easier for the audience to understand us.
Part 2: A Group That Didn't Do As Well As Us
One group who's performance wasn't as good as ours was Arman and Farhan. Arman played Maginifico and Farhan played Zanni.
In their performance they did do some things well. This includes that it was clear what characters they were. They used clear movements and lead with their leading body part. This made it easy to determine who was who and what the status level was.
This is the feedback that I gave them:
I would give them a 19/35 (4/10) based on the rubric
They need to improve on their gromalot because they didn't use any! They only had one sound in their entire performance and it was very short. All it was, was Magnifico shouting 'Oi!' at Zanni. Also, they need to take a look at how the characters treat each other as Magnifico wouldn't hug Zanni, though their characters were clear. Inlude more audience interactions and takeouts to get a higher level.
Part 3: A Group That Did Better Than Us
I think that Guglie and Rohan's group did better that us. Guglie played First actor, and Rohan played Maginfico.
They used Gromalot very well as it helped the scene and we could sort of understand them. They were confident with their Gromalot and almost spoke it fluently! It was as if Guglie knew the language (even though it really isn't a language, it's improvisation). They had a clear structure to their scene and it had a beginning, middle and end.
This is the feedback I gave them:
Part 1: My Performance Evaluation
In my performance, I think that our mimes and interactions were the best aspect of our performance. I think this because, we used at least five mimes in our performance and they were quite clear. Also, I think that our Gromalot was OK but it can still be improved over time. our performance did go wrong at the end because Ayasha forgot some of our scene which impacted very heavily on the scene and we had to cut it short. She forgot to go fetch something from the audience which is what rounded off our performance.
This is the feedback that we received in class on Wednesday:
*Gromalot seemed to be repetitive
*Go back and research your characters to take a better look at how they move and their personalities
*Some of the audience interactions were confusing
*Plot line was also a little confusing
I think that we can improve by practicing more so that we are comfortable speaking loudly and clearly in Gromalot and also become more confident with it. I have gone back an researched more on the character of Columbina so I now have a better understanding of her which I will put into practice on Wednesday.
Specific improvements that we will make will mainly to be to do with the audience interactions and also the plot line of the scenario. This could include bringing someone up on stage and supporting them through the scene or including more takeouts to the audience. We may also change the plot to make it easier for the audience to understand us.
Part 2: A Group That Didn't Do As Well As Us
One group who's performance wasn't as good as ours was Arman and Farhan. Arman played Maginifico and Farhan played Zanni.
In their performance they did do some things well. This includes that it was clear what characters they were. They used clear movements and lead with their leading body part. This made it easy to determine who was who and what the status level was.
This is the feedback that I gave them:
*There was no Gromalot used little sound
*Would Magnifica hug Zanni?
*More audience interactions (take outs)
*Don’t set up Zanni
*Back to the audience a lot
I would give them a 19/35 (4/10) based on the rubric
They need to improve on their gromalot because they didn't use any! They only had one sound in their entire performance and it was very short. All it was, was Magnifico shouting 'Oi!' at Zanni. Also, they need to take a look at how the characters treat each other as Magnifico wouldn't hug Zanni, though their characters were clear. Inlude more audience interactions and takeouts to get a higher level.
Part 3: A Group That Did Better Than Us
I think that Guglie and Rohan's group did better that us. Guglie played First actor, and Rohan played Maginfico.
They used Gromalot very well as it helped the scene and we could sort of understand them. They were confident with their Gromalot and almost spoke it fluently! It was as if Guglie knew the language (even though it really isn't a language, it's improvisation). They had a clear structure to their scene and it had a beginning, middle and end.
This is the feedback I gave them:
*Guglie controlled the scene
*Include Rohan more
*Use some sound effects
*Change the characters to make realistic
I would give them a 25/35 (6/10) based on the rubric
I would give them a 25/35 (6/10) based on the rubric
To improve, they should each have equal parts in the scene. Guglie kind of took over the scene as Rohan died quite early on in the scene. They spoke well in Gromalot so to improve even more, they could add appropriate sound effects like sad music when Rohan dies instead of Guglie just screaming and crying. I don't think that the first actor would ball his eyes out over Magnifico's dead body or even stab him for that matter. It's more something Brighella would do so they should re-think their characters.
This has been an update by...Moi! So thanks for reading! BYE! xx
Monday 17 March 2014
Exploration of Exemplar
In one of our previous classes, we watch a video of the Cirque du soleil cown Amo Gulinello. This is the video link:
My favourite lazzi (part) of the performance was when he got his hand stuck in her hair. I found this funny because it would be really embarrassing in real life and that is what he made it look like. He was making it look like his hand was really stuck it was actually just placed in her hair. He looked like he was trying really hard to get his hand free.
During the performance, he only used three props. These were two chairs and a rose. All of his other interactions were mimed like the car, the car doors, etc. It was clear that he was in a car because of his clear interactions with the chairs, steering wheel and the mirror. Because of his interactions, we could see that he was talking a walk with her in a park or some other place like that. His character was clear. He was a man looking for love but he was failing to find it because his character was awkward and strange.
He had many takeouts towards the audience that did not include bringing someone up on stage. He made small gestures to the audience that made them laugh like when the girl did something she wasn't suppose to do, he made fun of her to the audience. He did a few of these throughout his performance.
He had a lot of exaggerated emotions during his scene. At the beginning, he was nervous because he was going to meet a girl. Then he was excited because he found a girl and she had agreed to go on a 'date' with him. He got progressively more excited as the scene went on which means he went from a 1 to a 10. But when they got stuck in traffic, he got angry and frustrated that they couldn't move. After this he was in love but this time he went from a 10 to a 1 because she wasn't getting into it and his hand got stuck.
His physicality in the scene was very good as he used the entire stage in his scene. His movements were also exaggerated to help show his emotion to the audience so that they could follow along the scene and understand it. This also had to do with his facial expressions. These had to be big and exaggerated because he was entertaining a large audience and had to make sure that even the people at the back could see what was going on. If he just used normal facial expressions, it would be hard to understand what he was trying to get across to the audience.
I think that the Commedia stock character that he was mostly like was Arlechinno. This is because his major emotion was in love. Arlechinno falls in love with any passing women that he deems attractive. He also makes frequent takeouts to the audience which Amo does too. One of Arlechinno's lazzis, is to lose control and flail around which Amo does often.
He made great use of sound in his performance. This includes music and sound effects. The music helped to show what was going on in the scene as did the sound effects. The sound effects also explained the mimes because sometimes they would not have been clear like the traffic. Other mimes were clear like closing the car doors. He didn't use too much lighting. The only lighting he did use was when he was finding the audience member to bring on stage.
He made it clear to the girl what she should do by leading the way. When he wanted her to walk, he started walking and then she followed him around the stage. When he wanted her to sit in the chair, he showed her the chair first and then she sat down. This may not have been clear to her because she sat down before he could mime opening the door. He made her feel comfortable because he didn't go too far with her. He made it awkward but he didn't make it so that she didn't want to be there.
Bye! ;)
Tuesday 11 March 2014
Commedia Emotion and Language (Gromalot)
Hello! It's me again.
In our drama class, we have been looking and the emotions and the language (Gromalot) of Commedia dell'Arte. We watched two National Theater videos that I have put the link to below:
We completed a series of tasks in class to help us to further understand the form of emotion and language in Commedia which included small skits and performance tasks.
What gromalot is: My understanding of gromalot is that it is the language of Commedia dell'Arte. It is used to have communication between characters without really having to say anything. It's all babble really, but because of body movement, facial expressions and tone of voice, the audience and other characters can understand what is trying to be communicated.
The seven primary emotions: Happiness, Grief, Fear, Laughter, Anger, Surprise and Love.
For the emotion point, we had to chose one of the seven primary emotions. After we had chosen, we were to act out these emotions either starting from 1, which was when the emotion was dialed down, or 10, which is when the emotion was at its highest. If we had started from 1, we needed to work our way up to 10 getting more and more exaggerated. If we chose to start from 10, we had to slowly dial down the emotion to a 1. I chose to do Fear. I started from a 1 and escalated to a 10.
To practice our Commedia language (gromalot) we were put into pairs. In our pairs, we were to devise a short skit in which we spoke in gromalot. I was put into a pair with Nafisa. Our scene showed us walking and talking to each other and then we found a dead body on the floor and started to cry. It was actually quite difficult to speak in gromalot because it is all improvisation.
Thank you for reading this! Bye! xx
Tuesday 4 March 2014
Ideas for Commedia dell'Arte Scene
My partners are Farah and Ayasha. We are doing a Commedia dell'Arte scene together. I am Columbina, Farah is The first Actress and Ayasha is Brighella. We also have to include emotions. These are our ideas:
1. Farah is walking with the First actor and I am her maid following her along. Ayasha sneaks up behind us and stabs the First Actor. Farah cries and then faints I scream at the sight of the dead First actor. I help Farah up and then we accuse the audience of the death. Then we catch Ayasha with the knife and she is hung. We choose someone from the audience to hang Ayasha
2. We are all in a carriage and Ayasha is the driver. She hits the horses so that we fall out of the carriage. Audience member helps us back up. Farah breaks her foot. Ayasha makes ambulance sounds and makes the horses rush to the hospital. Audience member holds up Farah's foot while she waits. I badage up her foot and we get back on the carriage. Ayasha maks us fall again. Audience helps us up again.
3. Farah has just got engaged to the First actor and is showing off her ring to me. Then, Ayasha is stealing something and I catch her. I take her to Farah. She has to kiss Farah's hand but steals the ring off her hand. There is panic in the house. Ayasha goes into the audience and asks them to keep the ring. I asks the audience if they have seen the ring. I look behind some of the audience members to look for the ring. Ayasha feels bad and leaves the ring for me to find. I give it back to Farah and she gets married.
We chose idea 3. This is because we thought that it was the most realistic Commedia scenario out of all of our ideas. In the first and second idea, Ayasha purposefully tries to hurt us, but this is not something that Brighella would do since she does not want to really hurt other people but just cause mischief.
Our scenario choice fills most of the requirements that are listed in the rubric. We have two audience interactions but they are quite simple. We have included mimed interactions but only two at the moment which is something that we need to improve on to get a higher grade. We speak in Gromalot throughout the scene and I think that we are okay at using Gromalot.
One weakness that I can already see is our character personality and gestures. They aren't very clear and it can sometimes be difficult to understand which characters we are playing for other people. Our scene structure is good but can be confusing at times which means that the audience might not be able to understand what is going on.
BYE! :-)
1. Farah is walking with the First actor and I am her maid following her along. Ayasha sneaks up behind us and stabs the First Actor. Farah cries and then faints I scream at the sight of the dead First actor. I help Farah up and then we accuse the audience of the death. Then we catch Ayasha with the knife and she is hung. We choose someone from the audience to hang Ayasha
2. We are all in a carriage and Ayasha is the driver. She hits the horses so that we fall out of the carriage. Audience member helps us back up. Farah breaks her foot. Ayasha makes ambulance sounds and makes the horses rush to the hospital. Audience member holds up Farah's foot while she waits. I badage up her foot and we get back on the carriage. Ayasha maks us fall again. Audience helps us up again.
3. Farah has just got engaged to the First actor and is showing off her ring to me. Then, Ayasha is stealing something and I catch her. I take her to Farah. She has to kiss Farah's hand but steals the ring off her hand. There is panic in the house. Ayasha goes into the audience and asks them to keep the ring. I asks the audience if they have seen the ring. I look behind some of the audience members to look for the ring. Ayasha feels bad and leaves the ring for me to find. I give it back to Farah and she gets married.
We chose idea 3. This is because we thought that it was the most realistic Commedia scenario out of all of our ideas. In the first and second idea, Ayasha purposefully tries to hurt us, but this is not something that Brighella would do since she does not want to really hurt other people but just cause mischief.
Our scenario choice fills most of the requirements that are listed in the rubric. We have two audience interactions but they are quite simple. We have included mimed interactions but only two at the moment which is something that we need to improve on to get a higher grade. We speak in Gromalot throughout the scene and I think that we are okay at using Gromalot.
One weakness that I can already see is our character personality and gestures. They aren't very clear and it can sometimes be difficult to understand which characters we are playing for other people. Our scene structure is good but can be confusing at times which means that the audience might not be able to understand what is going on.
BYE! :-)
Saturday 1 March 2014
Commedia dell'Arte Task 7
We did our final performance in class last week.
For my rough draft performance, I chose to play the girl that everyone loves/likes. In my performance, I invited someone up from the audience and walked with them. I got a phone call. Then someone tapped me on the shoulder so I said spoke to them then walked away.
I practiced my performance in class before the performance and also a few times at home.
This is the feed back that I got for my rough draft performance:
For my rough draft performance, I chose to play the girl that everyone loves/likes. In my performance, I invited someone up from the audience and walked with them. I got a phone call. Then someone tapped me on the shoulder so I said spoke to them then walked away.
I practiced my performance in class before the performance and also a few times at home.
This is the feed back that I got for my rough draft performance:
Hair out of face when you perform
Good use of audience member and good “hosting”
her through scene
Use Gugli bit
Physicality more defined
Good use of space
For my final performance, I changed how it stood as I said in my previous post. I did this so that I look more defined and not just like an average girl. I also changed my walk. It was more bouncy and less flat. the last thing I changed was when the person tapped me on the shoulder. Instead, someone bumped into me but then I took the blame for it and apologized to the person. I think that my final performance went well but I think that it was hard for the audience to see the difference between my two performances. The piece was clear in my head but not really for the audience. The feedback that I got said that I looked like the same person in my rough draft performance.
I would give myself a 7/10 using the Criterion B descriptors. This is because I performed with a good level of proficiency because I had rehearsed. Also, I had a good idea of what I wanted to do and a theme.
Peer Evaluation
I will once again be evaluating Amara's performance as her character is the opposite of mine. Her character is The Party Girl”—She goes to parties and does illegal things. She portrayed this character very well I think because she was committed to her role.
For her rough draft performance, this was her feedback:
I would give her a 9/10 for her performance because her performance and ideas were very clear to the audience. She performed very well and didn't break character.
Bye!
I would give myself a 7/10 using the Criterion B descriptors. This is because I performed with a good level of proficiency because I had rehearsed. Also, I had a good idea of what I wanted to do and a theme.
Peer Evaluation
I will once again be evaluating Amara's performance as her character is the opposite of mine. Her character is The Party Girl”—She goes to parties and does illegal things. She portrayed this character very well I think because she was committed to her role.
For her rough draft performance, this was her feedback:
Waking up from
night before?
Drinking something from cup
More grumpy?
Falling into someone, hugging them, etc.
Pukes, smoking something
Good reaction to Sapphire
Good interaction with Guglie & audience
members
Nice parallel going back to sleep
Beginning/Middle/End to scene that was nice
Really committed into character—looked
tired but sick but somewhat animated when necessary
Good use of space, but make sure you go
where everyone can see you?
A little long?
I believe that she got her character spot on. I liked the beginning, middle and end of her performance because it was something that no one else had. When she walked she stumbled which made her character more believable. She improved from her rough draft performance because she took her feedback into consideration. To improve, she should make sure that her back isn't to the audience. She also spoke during her scene which she wasn't meant to do.
I would give her a 9/10 for her performance because her performance and ideas were very clear to the audience. She performed very well and didn't break character.
Bye!
Tuesday 25 February 2014
Commedia dell'Arte Unit: Task #6
HELLO!
In our last class, we did our rough draft of our high school stock characters performance.
I chose to play the girl that everyone loves (Katrina). She is popular, but because she is so nice. Everyone is her friend because she is friendly to everyone. She stands tall but has a skip in her step because she is usually happy. I chose to play her because I feel that I can relate to her. I am nice to everyone and I feel that everyone seems to like me at least a little bit.
Their stereotypical feature is her chest because she is also confident in herself. I attempt to center my energy there by walking tall and keeping my head high
I chose to interact with the environment by pretending that I was in a hallway in a school. I interacted with an audience member and she said that she felt welcome in my performance. I used an imaginary person in my performance who I talked to. Also, I used a prop which was a phone. As a take out to the audience I smiled at them and invited one on stage.
Feedback I got from my performance was not to break character. Also, I should change my walk because it looked like just a normal girl walking around. I had a good take out to the audience by inviting Aditi on stage and she felt comfortable to be up there with me.
In my next performance, I will change how I walk and how I stand. This will make me look more confident and it will be easier to separate my character from a normal person. I will keep my focus on my performance and if someone distracts me, I will incorporate it into my performance so that I keep the flow of it going.
Peer Evaluation
I will be evaluating Amara's performance. She played the rebel who does illegal things like go out to parties and get drunk. Her character is always drunk or having a hangover.
As a prop she used a cup which was filled with imaginary alcohol which she took sips of throughout her performance. This reminded us of her character.
A takeout to the audience that she used was grabbing onto Sapphire's arm and being sick on the floor. She also went to Guglie and fell asleep on him. I think that these takeouts were very well planned.
This is the feedback I gave her:
In our last class, we did our rough draft of our high school stock characters performance.
I chose to play the girl that everyone loves (Katrina). She is popular, but because she is so nice. Everyone is her friend because she is friendly to everyone. She stands tall but has a skip in her step because she is usually happy. I chose to play her because I feel that I can relate to her. I am nice to everyone and I feel that everyone seems to like me at least a little bit.
Their stereotypical feature is her chest because she is also confident in herself. I attempt to center my energy there by walking tall and keeping my head high
I chose to interact with the environment by pretending that I was in a hallway in a school. I interacted with an audience member and she said that she felt welcome in my performance. I used an imaginary person in my performance who I talked to. Also, I used a prop which was a phone. As a take out to the audience I smiled at them and invited one on stage.
Feedback I got from my performance was not to break character. Also, I should change my walk because it looked like just a normal girl walking around. I had a good take out to the audience by inviting Aditi on stage and she felt comfortable to be up there with me.
In my next performance, I will change how I walk and how I stand. This will make me look more confident and it will be easier to separate my character from a normal person. I will keep my focus on my performance and if someone distracts me, I will incorporate it into my performance so that I keep the flow of it going.
Peer Evaluation
I will be evaluating Amara's performance. She played the rebel who does illegal things like go out to parties and get drunk. Her character is always drunk or having a hangover.
As a prop she used a cup which was filled with imaginary alcohol which she took sips of throughout her performance. This reminded us of her character.
A takeout to the audience that she used was grabbing onto Sapphire's arm and being sick on the floor. She also went to Guglie and fell asleep on him. I think that these takeouts were very well planned.
This is the feedback I gave her:
-Good interactions with props (cup)
-Audience interactions (sleeping + sick)
-Good character
-Got into it/Was committed
-Had a good use of space
-Had a clear beginning middle and ending
-Didn't break character
Bye bye! xxx
Monday 27 January 2014
Commedia dell'Arte Performance Task Peer Evaluation
Hello! Me again <3
Referring to my last post, I also have to do an evaluation of one of my peers. Their character had to be the opposite of my character so I chose to do The Witch because she is sneaky and evil but Columbina is sweet and kind. The witch was played by Amara
Evaluate their character based on what you know about the character
I think that Amara's character as the witch was quite weak. Witches are more serious and her performance was more entertaining. She wasn't evil enough to be a believable witch. She could have taken the role more seriously. She did try to play the witch but didn't study her enough and probably didn't practice her performance
How close did they come? What did you like about the performance?
Amara didn't come very close with her performance but some aspects were good. I liked what she was doing in the performance. The evil laugh wasn't the best but it was a good thing to add to the performance.
How can they improve their performance?
Amara can improve her performance by not giggling when she did her evil laugh! She also could have walked differently because it looked as if she was about to fall over. She should have walked more broadly. She didn't look very evil so she should have changed her facial expressions and used her eyes to take out to the audience.
What score would you give them out of 10 based on the Criterion B descriptors? Explain why
I would give Amara a five out of ten. This is because she showed that she had applied the techniques but not very well. Her performance did fit some of the descriptors of what we had to do but it was clear that the performance was unpracticed. She did not use a range of skills.
BYE! xox
Referring to my last post, I also have to do an evaluation of one of my peers. Their character had to be the opposite of my character so I chose to do The Witch because she is sneaky and evil but Columbina is sweet and kind. The witch was played by Amara
Evaluate their character based on what you know about the character
I think that Amara's character as the witch was quite weak. Witches are more serious and her performance was more entertaining. She wasn't evil enough to be a believable witch. She could have taken the role more seriously. She did try to play the witch but didn't study her enough and probably didn't practice her performance
How close did they come? What did you like about the performance?
Amara didn't come very close with her performance but some aspects were good. I liked what she was doing in the performance. The evil laugh wasn't the best but it was a good thing to add to the performance.
How can they improve their performance?
Amara can improve her performance by not giggling when she did her evil laugh! She also could have walked differently because it looked as if she was about to fall over. She should have walked more broadly. She didn't look very evil so she should have changed her facial expressions and used her eyes to take out to the audience.
What score would you give them out of 10 based on the Criterion B descriptors? Explain why
I would give Amara a five out of ten. This is because she showed that she had applied the techniques but not very well. Her performance did fit some of the descriptors of what we had to do but it was clear that the performance was unpracticed. She did not use a range of skills.
BYE! xox
Commedia dell'Arte Performance Task Personal Evaluation
Hello there!
In class on Wednesday, we performed our final Commedia pieces for the entire class. As you know, I was Columbina! I now need to write o personal evaluation.
What choices did you make for your rough draft performance?
In my rough draft performance, I chose to do a scene which shows Columbina helping her mistress to get dressed. I decided to curtsy at the mistress to chow that she had a higher status than me and it helped the audience to understand what was going on. As a take out to the audience, I smiled at them.
How much time did you spend practicing for the performance?
I spent a lot of time practicing for the performance. I practiced during the class time and also in my own time. I practiced most nights and also on the day of the final performance.
What specific feedback did you get for your rough performance?
My feedback was:
In class on Wednesday, we performed our final Commedia pieces for the entire class. As you know, I was Columbina! I now need to write o personal evaluation.
What choices did you make for your rough draft performance?
In my rough draft performance, I chose to do a scene which shows Columbina helping her mistress to get dressed. I decided to curtsy at the mistress to chow that she had a higher status than me and it helped the audience to understand what was going on. As a take out to the audience, I smiled at them.
How much time did you spend practicing for the performance?
I spent a lot of time practicing for the performance. I practiced during the class time and also in my own time. I practiced most nights and also on the day of the final performance.
What specific feedback did you get for your rough performance?
My feedback was:
Lower you’re very tall, so try to walk a little lower
Good interaction with hair and such nice curtsy, head down when curtsy
Head down when you walk as an act of subservience
Watch some Downton Abbey and see how staff interact with Family
Less flitty/tippy toey and more “earthy” for walking/movement.
What did you choose to change for your final performance?
For my final performance, I did not change too much. I made another take out to the audience where I do a curtsy at them. I took my feedback into consideration and kept my head down when I walked. I also looked down when I curtsied as my feedback suggested.
How did you feel your final performance went?
I think that my final performance went well because I kept to my plan and everything went well. The only thing I forgot was to keep my head down when I curtsied. I looked down but did not bow my head. Overall though, I think it went very well.
What specific feedback did you get?
My feedback was:
Nice take out to curtsy
Remember head down to be more tall actually
bow head instead of just looking down
Interactions appropriate
Pick up item downstage instead of upstage
so no back to audience
Look down when curtsying
How do you thing your performance compared to the stock characters in the video?
I think that my performance was different to the stock character of Columbina in the video. This is because I was following my teachers advice and was doing the performance in a way that she though was right.
What score would I give my performance out of 10 using Criterion B descriptors? Explain why
I would give myself a nine out of 10 based on the Criterion B descriptors. This because, I was able to use a range of appropriate skills in my performance, for example, a take out to the audience. I was also creative with my piece of work which I think deserves a high level.
Bye now! xox
Bye now! xox
Monday 20 January 2014
Commedia solo performance
Hi!
In class last Wednesday, we watched some videos from the National Geographic. They described most of the Commedia characters in detail. We were asked to create a blog post about them but I have already done that in my post 'Stock characters of Commedia dell'Arte'. We were also told to pick a character to play. I chose Columbina. I did not write about her last time so I will now.
Columbina
She is the perky servant girl to one of the higher status women. She wears better clothes than most of the other servants because she is the lady's personal made. She always has a basket and dresses like her mistress or a skirt that falls slightly below the knee. She is a petite and attractive girl but also a strong, confident character. She is a mix of all the different characters. Most of the time, Columbina is unmasked, but her eyes are made pretty with makeup. Sometimes, she wears a mask that covers just her eyes which is also quite pretty. When she is standing still, one leg is straight, and the other bent. She leads with her hips to show off her features. She walks with a small flick of her foot and has a bounce to her walk. Her hands are usually placed on her hips. Columbina has a gossipy voice which varies in pitch depending on her mood. She is in love with Arlecchino. She has a very strong relationship with the audience. She often flirts with the audience and shows them that she also thinks that the rest of the characters are making fools of themselves. Columbina is usually at the center of everything that happens in the plot. She has a very strong influence on the outcome of the story. Her animal is a dove.
Columbina Mask
I chose to play Columbina because she is a very feminine character like me! She is quite a main character and I like being main characters because I get the most experience from doing more. She is an extremely interesting character and I really enjoyed researching her.
In class last Wednesday, we watched some videos from the National Geographic. They described most of the Commedia characters in detail. We were asked to create a blog post about them but I have already done that in my post 'Stock characters of Commedia dell'Arte'. We were also told to pick a character to play. I chose Columbina. I did not write about her last time so I will now.
Columbina
She is the perky servant girl to one of the higher status women. She wears better clothes than most of the other servants because she is the lady's personal made. She always has a basket and dresses like her mistress or a skirt that falls slightly below the knee. She is a petite and attractive girl but also a strong, confident character. She is a mix of all the different characters. Most of the time, Columbina is unmasked, but her eyes are made pretty with makeup. Sometimes, she wears a mask that covers just her eyes which is also quite pretty. When she is standing still, one leg is straight, and the other bent. She leads with her hips to show off her features. She walks with a small flick of her foot and has a bounce to her walk. Her hands are usually placed on her hips. Columbina has a gossipy voice which varies in pitch depending on her mood. She is in love with Arlecchino. She has a very strong relationship with the audience. She often flirts with the audience and shows them that she also thinks that the rest of the characters are making fools of themselves. Columbina is usually at the center of everything that happens in the plot. She has a very strong influence on the outcome of the story. Her animal is a dove.
Columbina Mask
Columbina and Arlecchino
Columbina and Arleccino
I chose to play Columbina because she is a very feminine character like me! She is quite a main character and I like being main characters because I get the most experience from doing more. She is an extremely interesting character and I really enjoyed researching her.
In class we made a small mime scene with our characters that lasted around 15-30 seconds long. We had to act on our own just to show who the character was. My scene shows Columbina helping her mistress get dressed. I decided to curtsy at the mistress to show that she had a higher status than me and to help the audience understand what was going on. To invite the audience into the scene, I smiled at them and gave a small nod of the head towards them.
I got feedback from my teacher because she watched my draft. She said that I need to walk lower since I am a tall person naturally. She also said that I had a good interaction with hair and did such nice curtsy, but my head needs to be down when I curtsy. I should keep my head down when I walk and also be less tippy-toey but 'earthy'. At the same time I should try to stay perky though to keep to my character description.
When I do my scene in our next class, I will do it slightly differently. I will try to have a few more interactions with the audience and try to keep them 'in' the scene. I will also, follow my teachers advice and keep my head down a bit more. I will change my scene a little by using a basket as a prop but keep the story line of it the same.
Evaluation for another Person (Nafisa S)
My teacher asked us to evaluate someone else's performance from our group, I chose Nafisa. She was playing the first actress who is an aristocrat. The first actress/actor leads with their shoulders. In Nafisa's scene, she walks in with the first actor then another man asks her to dance so she dances with them. She did not use any props.
I think that her scene was very clear and it was obvious what she was doing. Nafisa should have at least said goodbye to the first actor because she just left him alone and went to dance. During her performance she did not smile which is what the first actress always does. She should be more confident because that is her character description and also make herself bigger to show that she has power. She never interacted with the audience which is one of the most important things to do when doing Commedia. Overall, she just needs to be more confident in herself so that she feels more comfortable playing any kind of character.
I got feedback from my teacher because she watched my draft. She said that I need to walk lower since I am a tall person naturally. She also said that I had a good interaction with hair and did such nice curtsy, but my head needs to be down when I curtsy. I should keep my head down when I walk and also be less tippy-toey but 'earthy'. At the same time I should try to stay perky though to keep to my character description.
When I do my scene in our next class, I will do it slightly differently. I will try to have a few more interactions with the audience and try to keep them 'in' the scene. I will also, follow my teachers advice and keep my head down a bit more. I will change my scene a little by using a basket as a prop but keep the story line of it the same.
Evaluation for another Person (Nafisa S)
My teacher asked us to evaluate someone else's performance from our group, I chose Nafisa. She was playing the first actress who is an aristocrat. The first actress/actor leads with their shoulders. In Nafisa's scene, she walks in with the first actor then another man asks her to dance so she dances with them. She did not use any props.
I think that her scene was very clear and it was obvious what she was doing. Nafisa should have at least said goodbye to the first actor because she just left him alone and went to dance. During her performance she did not smile which is what the first actress always does. She should be more confident because that is her character description and also make herself bigger to show that she has power. She never interacted with the audience which is one of the most important things to do when doing Commedia. Overall, she just needs to be more confident in herself so that she feels more comfortable playing any kind of character.Monday 13 January 2014
Are Commedia dell'Arte characters relevant to modern day audiences?
HELLO!
This was a question given to me by my drama teacher. I had to think about it for a while but I think I got it figured out. Here is my answer.
I think that the characters are relevant to modern day audiences. I think this because if we look closely at our lives, we see there is an Arlechinno, Capitano and Pantalone in the modern day! There is always a person of low status (poverty) an outsider (foreigners) and someone at the top of the food chain (government).
In my own life, I see many examples of these characters. Since I live in Bangladesh, there is poverty all around me. Every day, I see people begging on the street and trying to sell things to others. I also see many foreigners here who have come here for work like my dad. And right at the top we have the Bangladeshi government who have way too much power to me.
It's the same with TV shows. There is most defiantly someone who is worth nothing to others like a side character. Then there is the outsider, the loner who is always alone and trying to be someone else. Then, of course, there is the main character who the show revolves around.
To me, Commedia dell'Arte is linked to everything around us. We may not notice it, but it is.
Bye! xox
This was a question given to me by my drama teacher. I had to think about it for a while but I think I got it figured out. Here is my answer.
I think that the characters are relevant to modern day audiences. I think this because if we look closely at our lives, we see there is an Arlechinno, Capitano and Pantalone in the modern day! There is always a person of low status (poverty) an outsider (foreigners) and someone at the top of the food chain (government).
In my own life, I see many examples of these characters. Since I live in Bangladesh, there is poverty all around me. Every day, I see people begging on the street and trying to sell things to others. I also see many foreigners here who have come here for work like my dad. And right at the top we have the Bangladeshi government who have way too much power to me. It's the same with TV shows. There is most defiantly someone who is worth nothing to others like a side character. Then there is the outsider, the loner who is always alone and trying to be someone else. Then, of course, there is the main character who the show revolves around.
To me, Commedia dell'Arte is linked to everything around us. We may not notice it, but it is.
Bye! xox
Stock characters of Commedia dell'Arte
Stock Characters in Commedia dell'arte are not very well known. Three of them are quite well known to people involved with drama and theater though. They are, Arlechinno, Capitano and Pantalone.
Arlechinno
Many believe that his name literally means 'little devil' because of Commedia dell'Arte's Italian origin. He is played as a servant which is mostly to Pantalone. His costume is a tight fitting jacket that reaches his waist and long, tight pants. The pattern on his clothes are random shapes of the colours green,yellow,red and brown. His shoes are small, flat and black. He also wears a thin black belt. Arlechinno is clumsy but graceful at the same time. His voice is gruff and hoarse from selling on the streets. His mask is almost like a carnival mask. It has quite a low forehead and small roundish eyes. Most people would say that his animal is either a cat or a monkey.
Capitano
Though his name sounds like 'captain', Capitano is a bit of a loner. Wherever the story is set, he is not from there. Because of this, he often pretends that he is more important than he really is to people of higher status. So because they locals do not know him, it is easy to convince them he is something he is not. His costume usually has a military look to it. He has a feathered hat and often, large boots. Whilst on stage, he has a large presence and is made to get attention from the ladies and therefore be intimidating to men! His mask has a long nose, like a crocodile, and also a bristly moustache. His animal is mainly known as a cross between two aggressive dogs: hunting dog and a mastiff. His voice has a very deep base to it. His feet are always plated on the ground in a way to occupy as much space as possible. His chest is pushed forward and his back is straight which gives him a formal look.
Pantalone
Now he, is most defiantly at the top of the Commedia dell'Arte food chain. Pantalone has money. He is always obeyed since he controls the finance. His costume includes a tight jacket with tight, long, red pants. He also wears a loose black cloak and yellow slippers. His hat is a red woolen skill cap. Pantalone is tall, yet scrawny. His mask has a long and hooked nose. It also includes bushy eyebrows and a moustache. His beard is very pointed that stuck out in front of his face. He back is bent over from old age. His feet are close together while his toes are strangely spread out. He cannot walk very fast due to his stance. His voice is very high pitched. His animal is most likely to be a chicken or a turkey.
If you would like to know more, you can visit my source for many of my Commedia dell'Arte posts: http://shane-arts.com/commedia-stock-characters.htm
xxxx
Arlechinno
Many believe that his name literally means 'little devil' because of Commedia dell'Arte's Italian origin. He is played as a servant which is mostly to Pantalone. His costume is a tight fitting jacket that reaches his waist and long, tight pants. The pattern on his clothes are random shapes of the colours green,yellow,red and brown. His shoes are small, flat and black. He also wears a thin black belt. Arlechinno is clumsy but graceful at the same time. His voice is gruff and hoarse from selling on the streets. His mask is almost like a carnival mask. It has quite a low forehead and small roundish eyes. Most people would say that his animal is either a cat or a monkey.Capitano
Though his name sounds like 'captain', Capitano is a bit of a loner. Wherever the story is set, he is not from there. Because of this, he often pretends that he is more important than he really is to people of higher status. So because they locals do not know him, it is easy to convince them he is something he is not. His costume usually has a military look to it. He has a feathered hat and often, large boots. Whilst on stage, he has a large presence and is made to get attention from the ladies and therefore be intimidating to men! His mask has a long nose, like a crocodile, and also a bristly moustache. His animal is mainly known as a cross between two aggressive dogs: hunting dog and a mastiff. His voice has a very deep base to it. His feet are always plated on the ground in a way to occupy as much space as possible. His chest is pushed forward and his back is straight which gives him a formal look.Pantalone
If you would like to know more, you can visit my source for many of my Commedia dell'Arte posts: http://shane-arts.com/commedia-stock-characters.htm
xxxx
Sunday 12 January 2014
Stereotypical clique Masks
Hello! On my last post I talked about three stereotypical people in secondary schools; the girl everyone loves, wanna-be popular and the teachers pet. I have also designed masks for them.
Teachers Pet
Ok, this one is pretty simple because a teachers pet wants to look smart for their teacher. The colours are basic and the design is simple. This is the mask I think a teachers pet would wear. Tut-always pleasing the teacher!
Wanna-be popular
This one is full of colour and designs. This is because, People who try to be popular, end up looking awkward and stand out. This mask STANDS OUT. It has small motifs on the sides and ribbons on the ends! I think the mask is quite cute
Girl everyone Loves
This mask is so pretty! It is butterfly based. It has a really cute flower in the corner and swirls. It also has cool pink eyeliner around the eyes. I like the dark pink outline around the edge which I really like.
Wanna-be popular
This one is full of colour and designs. This is because, People who try to be popular, end up looking awkward and stand out. This mask STANDS OUT. It has small motifs on the sides and ribbons on the ends! I think the mask is quite cute
Girl everyone Loves
This mask is so pretty! It is butterfly based. It has a really cute flower in the corner and swirls. It also has cool pink eyeliner around the eyes. I like the dark pink outline around the edge which I really like.
Wednesday 8 January 2014
Stereotypical Cliques of Secondary Schools
Hey!
In Drama today we were discussing what the stereotypical cliques of secondary schools were. We went into partners to do the task. My partner was Sapphire. This is the link to her blog: sapphirefaruque.blogspot.com
We found that there were loads of different cliques in every school-over 15. We managed to narrow it down to six; Girls worshiped by all, nerds, wanna-be populars, new kid, teachers pets and the trouble makers. I'm going to talk about three, you can find the rest on Sapphire's blog.
Girls everyone loves
These girls are always dressed to impress. They wear the latest fashions, have the cool accessorize and are adored by all. When it comes to hair, it's always styled in a new way. The reason she is popular is not because she is pretty but because she is so nice to everyone. That is why everyone loves her. She walks with a small skip in her step because she is mainly happy. He voice is slightly higher than a normal persons but not over the top. I called her Katrina because it's a cool name and sounds fun.
Wanna-be populars
These are the people that follow popular people EVERYWHERE. They try to dress the same and act the same but it always ends up going slightly wrong. For example, they over-dye their hair blonde, and it goes orange. They talk in an annoying voice most of the time which to them sounds cool. They never really date anyone but try to flirt with others in an awkward way like fluttering their eyelids too much or staring for too long. I named her Nixi because it's an awkward name that not a lot of people have.
Teachers Pet
They always just suck up to the teacher. Whenever the teacher makes a comment, they agree, even if it's for more homework! They dress quite smartly to impress the teacher and their hair is always neatly tied back or combed nicely (depending on the gender!). In class they speak with a clear voice and use a wide range of vocabulary but out of class they are usually a completely different person. They do stupid things with friends that a normal kid would do. They just think that if the teacher really likes them, they will get better grades. I named him Samuel because it's a smart name that sounds posh.
In Drama today we were discussing what the stereotypical cliques of secondary schools were. We went into partners to do the task. My partner was Sapphire. This is the link to her blog: sapphirefaruque.blogspot.com
We found that there were loads of different cliques in every school-over 15. We managed to narrow it down to six; Girls worshiped by all, nerds, wanna-be populars, new kid, teachers pets and the trouble makers. I'm going to talk about three, you can find the rest on Sapphire's blog.
Girls everyone loves
These girls are always dressed to impress. They wear the latest fashions, have the cool accessorize and are adored by all. When it comes to hair, it's always styled in a new way. The reason she is popular is not because she is pretty but because she is so nice to everyone. That is why everyone loves her. She walks with a small skip in her step because she is mainly happy. He voice is slightly higher than a normal persons but not over the top. I called her Katrina because it's a cool name and sounds fun.Wanna-be populars
These are the people that follow popular people EVERYWHERE. They try to dress the same and act the same but it always ends up going slightly wrong. For example, they over-dye their hair blonde, and it goes orange. They talk in an annoying voice most of the time which to them sounds cool. They never really date anyone but try to flirt with others in an awkward way like fluttering their eyelids too much or staring for too long. I named her Nixi because it's an awkward name that not a lot of people have.Teachers PetThey always just suck up to the teacher. Whenever the teacher makes a comment, they agree, even if it's for more homework! They dress quite smartly to impress the teacher and their hair is always neatly tied back or combed nicely (depending on the gender!). In class they speak with a clear voice and use a wide range of vocabulary but out of class they are usually a completely different person. They do stupid things with friends that a normal kid would do. They just think that if the teacher really likes them, they will get better grades. I named him Samuel because it's a smart name that sounds posh.
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