Tech and Dress

Our tech and dress rehearsals were really important because I feel that they teach you a lot about working in a professional theatre with a company and putting on a production. Being in a technical rehearsal was really useful for me as it teaches you how to equip yourself in this environment, for example it makes actors realise and that they aren’t always the centre of attention and that the technical team, although rarely seen have an as important job as we do. I think it teaches you a lot about working in a collaborative effort and appreciating everyone’s involvement. It also has a massive impact performing the show on the real stage as it allows you to see how you have to project your voice and feel the stage and the space that you have to fill. I found that in our dress rehearsal it was really important for us to experience the stage with all the technical set and lighting to see how that brings the show to life and adds the final layer. Also I think that it is important because it helps and hinders in the same way, as you have the set sometimes it can make you feel more like you are in the place and time that your play is set allowing you to connect more to the piece. However I also find that with the lighting and everything it can make you feel even more that you are doing a performance and on a stage and as your character you have to work harder to give a real performance.  

 

1^st Show

I found that the performance in the dress run was really interesting to do as it had everything that it needed for the performance with the acting and the technical side all coming together and working to create a really excellent performance. However there was something that I felt was missing slightly and for me that final piece clicked to make our performance as good as it was when we performed our first show. With our piece I think that all of us actors had underestimated the strength of it, from the acting to the humour to the characters and the storyline. When we had an audience I felt that it really brought the play alive and it made us realise the power of our piece. For example there were a lot of times where the audience laughed throughout the first act and I don’t think we had fully realised the humour in it. This really drew the audience into our piece and connecting to the characters and the story that we are telling. Then I feel in the second act after being lulled into a sense of security through the humour, the audience are hit with the reality of the situation and the pain that is caused. I think that this really pulled at our audience’s heart strings and made them truly connect to the characters.

I personally found that the first show, with the adrenaline and everything, brought about small changes in my character. I found that I was pushing my characterisation further and developing small personal actions and movements that made me feel more connected and into my character. For example the pre-set brought about small actions such as rubbing my fingertips together to get rid of the dust; these actions made me get into my character and to start to explore him more. This was really helpful as I think that acting should be about constant experimentation and being present and living on stage, these small changes and developments made me present on stage and in my character.

Warm Up

Throughout this whole process I have found that the majority of my scenes have been the ones that could be the most challenging to keep the audience engaged because of the complex, legal language. These scenes are ones full of debate and the characters are holding heavy decisions in their words, as a result of this I have found that the energy in these scenes have to be pushed even further for the audiences to want to be engaged in the characters and the story that they are telling. However in the rehearsal process myself and the others who are acting in these scenes have found it hard to bring the words and language to life to make them interesting and engaging the audience. I think one of the problems that we have found it hard to overcome was listening to each other and understanding the importance of what we are saying. I think that this could bring the life of the words out of the page and if we as actors believe in the importance of the words I think that it will make the audiences want to listen and to believe in the importance of the decisions that the characters are making as well.

In one our sessions we had a really effective and useful warm up that I felt personally and as a company really helped to bring the scene to life. In this warm up we looked at exaggerating our characters to the extreme, in their voices and physicality and characterisation, and pushing it and us in our decisions that we have made for our characters. I felt that it made my subtle character choice a lot clearer to me and bringing really brought out the personalities of them. In my characterisation I felt that this exercise brought a new energy to my character and that it brought a real life to him. We then ran our first scene and for the first time it felt alive and that the characters had a real energy within them and this drove the scene.

Debate

In today's session we did an exercise where we explored the debates and the views that are most commonly expressed by the guards in the play regarding punishment. I found this exercise really useful as it allowed me to tap into the mental side of my character by connecting to his political views. It also helped to create the atmosphere of debates and how people act within one. This is was really important as the debate scene in the play is long and coukd disengage the audience because of the tehnical and political language. This exercise allowed me as an actor to experience the exciting and engaging energy that can be created in a debate, this has allowed me to understand the energy that needs to be recreated in our scene to drive it and to make it exciting to watch.

For my character I always assumed that he just supported Phillips in his opinions and that redemption was the way forward. However this showed me that my character actually supports hanging as it acts as a demonstration for the other prisoners, as a threat as to what could happen to them. I found that this added a darker side to my character and that he is less modern in thought than Phillips and believed in punishment. I feel that this reflects the society that my charatcer has been socialised into. Consequently this had made me think about my how my character acts in certain scenes an to other characters, for example in my first scene when we are debating how the prisoners should be punished, I feel that the stakes would be higher as I wouldn't immediately agree and support Philips in his ideas of redemption. As a result of this I found that the tension and conflict to get my point across would be higher, driving the scene forward.

RUN THROUGH IN THEATRE

In today’s session we had our first run through on the sage where we will be performing Our Country’s Good.  This was a really valuable experience to have as actors and for the show in general. It allowed us to experience space in full and to work out the proximities for the characters and the situations as a whole. I felt that it gave the director and us on stage the opportunity to see it as a show, it opened up gaps that are in it such as transitions and scenes that need more drive but also it allowed us to experience the scenes that really worked and started to bring the play to life.

As an actor I thought that this was a really good experience to have before the dress and tech because the tech isn’t focused on the actors and is about the technical side and the dress should be a full finished run. Therefore this run through was really valuable to get to know the space and how to act and work the space. Vocally I found that it showed me that I have to work harder and control and use my voice to project. I also felt that this was supported by my RP accent as I have to work harder on my clarity in such a large space.

I also found that the space made me think about the proximities between the characters in scenes and how this related to their relationships.  I found that in my first scene when the guards are out shooting that I had more space to explore and be my character by him. Also I found that with all the space my character wanted to gravitate towards Phillips, I feel because I am supporting his opinion that as my character I wanted to show my support physically as well as vocally.

I think one of the main problems that came up in this run was as actors being able to fill the place with our characterisation, physicality and voices. I think that this is something that all the actors in our show need to work because it is such a hard place to work and to fill and I think that this experience was very helpful and useful to show us this and to highlight what needs to be worked on and what is working already.