Today was stressful but enjoyable. We performed our show twice; once for the rest of the strand, the test audience, and the second time for our friends and family who were the main audience. The audiences were very different in terms of reaction and size, but more so in terms of reaction.
The first performance I think went better because we put in a lot more energy than we did in the run throughs and we had just seen the two other groups perform; we absolutely loved their performances and wanted the same reaction they got from everyone so we upped our game. I think what made our first performance so much better than the second was the audience's reaction because they laughed at the bits we wanted them to laugh at and were silent and concentrated at the bits we wanted them so be silent at. They sang along to "Where is the Love?" as they came in and I feel that diffused the atmosphere a lot because we all became a lot more comfortable and the nerves disappeared. Us actors were able to see their reactions and that helped us a lot in terms of acting and making the performance more enjoyable to watch, for example if we could see someone was starting to lose interest, you could put more energy into what you're doing or more volume into your words.
The second performance was very different to our first performance. To start off with we had some technical issues because Sarah blew the speakers after playing the music too loud in our rehearsals and previous performance, so we had to get different speakers and then they didn't work either then after a few minutes the music was sfinally playing. The beginning to that show made it really awkward for us actors and the audience. As the show went on, we did everything the same as before with the same amount of energy and volume, but the audience laughed at nothing. It was like performing to the emotionally deprived. a few people smiled and chuckled and I'm happy that they did because our show was meant to make people laugh and the fact that they didn't laugh was actually quite discouraging. Otherwise everything else went well.
When I compare the audiences together, I can conclude that a performance will be a lot more enjoyable for both the audience and actors and goes much better if the audience react how you want them to. The first show was better because the audience was better and more open with reacting. They enjoyed it and so did we whereas the second audience proved more difficult to please but when I think about it, they don't know much about Brecht or his theatre so they were probably trying to get their heads around that first. Also, they were of a different age range.
Personally, I think I did quite well for myself because I made the audience laugh, remembered my lines and ques and I pushed my physicality and kept the energy going. I had room for improvement though. For example: I could have been a bit more louder when I was speaking because mum said she couldn't hear much, eye contact with the audience was poor and at one or two points, it looked like I had forgotten my lines when I actually hadn't. The audience was laughing just as I was starting to say my line and I started it again, which wasn't such a smart idea, but I didn't think about what to do if something like that happened.
The message we were trying to get across to the audience was put across. Even though both audiences were different, they bot understood our message and when I asked several members of both audiences, they said that our show was enjoyable but it was deep and it made them think about how looks and politics tie in together, think carefully about who you vote for, genocides, and how you judge a politician. So overall I am happy with what we've achieved.
Your blog has been able to capture your thought process throughout the project. It is honest and detailed in your personal responses to the workshops. You have been able to demonstrate your understanding of the Brechtian techniques that we explored.
ReplyDeleteIf you were to use the blog system again for your Actor’s log you should ensure that any research that you use is commented on. Write about why it is there, what you have learnt from it, how does it link to the piece? You could have thought about uploading parts of the text that we worked on, the scenes you wrote and annotated how they went from page to stage.
The evaluation of the piece is good. It is quite general, it could be more critical – you could have gone in to depth about specific moments that worked and why and those that needed further development. You could have written more about the way that the Brechtian techniques were used. Here are the bullet points I put on my blog to help with the evaluation:
• Write about both performances on 11th December. How were they different - think about the audience responses during the shows and maybe what was said to you after
• Did the play achieve what we wanted it to say? How do we know this?
• How did we successfully use Brechtian techniques to create our piece? Give detailed examples to justify your answer.
• How did you think the final performance went? Speak in detail about your own performance giving detailed examples.
• Write about a peer from our group. Why were they successful in the piece? What could they have developed further?
• What have you learnt about political theatre?
• Is this a genre you have enjoyed working on?
Again, is all theatre political? (You answered this question at the start of the project, has your opinion changed?)
Your evaluation of your protest is very good – detailed and honest. You should have included more preparation work. You needed to have some more research that shows the argument you were engaging with. Your piece was thought provoking and inventive. You had clearly thought about the aesthetic of the piece. You being sat with you mouths covered was a powerful image, without you havening to come to life. The audience were posed interesting questions throughout the piece. The audience that stayed for longer would have got a ‘performance’, the audience that passed by would have seen and experienced the protest.
Overall your blog is well presented, however I think more could have been done under your characters section. You have written about the physicality you had considered, however you could have backed this up with some further research.