17/10/14 - Post performance and overall evaluation

Last night my cast and I performed our 'Noughts and Crosses' play to everyone's parents. I think it went really well and everyone did their best! I gave the performance my all and instead of having a nervous breakdown, I used my nerves to fuel my excitement. The only thing I found annoying about the evening was the fact that lots of parents were late, and as the door is very squeaky, it was very loud and annoying! But everyone was very good at staying in character, I didn't see anyone break out of character.

The strengths of my performance was my facial expressions, hand gestures, body movements and my use of voice. My facial expressions, hand gestures and body movements really showed what my character was feeling, and because I found Lynette a hard character to interpret, I am proud of the outcome. I used more clarity and diction in my voice so that everyone could hear me clearly and understand every line I delivered. I know that I pulled it off well because when my family gave me feedback, that was the first thing they commented on, my voice was clear. 

If I had to change anything about my performance, I would try to raise my voice even louder if my character is supposed to be angry, but other than that, I think I did a good job!

The overall performance was smooth apart from one long silence, but that was covered up by some improvisation and no-one seemed to realize that that wasn't meant to happen, I think the audience though it was there for suspense! Our stylized opening and ending worked without any mistakes, everyone (from what I saw) was in time to the music and it was really effective. Our transitions were simple but easy to understand.  

I really liked Jamie's acting during the performance because you could really see her character's emotions. She and Oliver had a long pause but she managed to stay in role the whole time and she picked up the scene swiftly by saying some of her other lines. I found that brave of her to be on stage and sort out a problem whilst acting at the same time.

On the 18th September I wrote out some long term targets:

• Contribute more in class because I'm much shyer when I'm not acting
• To become more fit and healthy because I am losing my breath VERY quickly
• Try out different voices/accents to suit my character
• Research more into my character's feelings and show them

I didn't contribute a lot in my Theatre lessons because I like to listen to others first, but I think I can definitely say that my confidence has grown within the last eight weeks. I have done things I don't usually do in front of others because I would usually think it is embarrassing and stupid. The warm-ups and exercises helped me because we had to do silly things in front of each other, and after a while I wasn't shy or quiet about it anymore because I realized that we were all there for a reason - we wanted to act! - so there was no need to be shy.

So, the last eight weeks have been very tiring for me and I'm very glad about a two week holiday, but I'm excited to do more Theatre! 

- Matilda ^_^  

13/10/14 - Classwork

In today's lesson we did a few exercises that helped me to develop my understanding of the play and more character development.

We first did a warm up where we had to imagine that we were late for work and walk around the room. We weren't allowed to make contact with anyone because we had to be realistic, no-one would start talking to each other on a busy road. I find that this exercise helped me to think in a naturalistic way when acting. Not everything has to be over the top and exaggerated for the audience to understand what's going on.

The next task we did was a debate, the class was split into two and we had to debate over racial division and whether it's a good or bad thing and why. I didn't contribute but I listened intently to what every spokesperson had to say. The debate was actually really interesting because it made me think about the problems in the news and society today. Recent topics did spring up in the debate like the outbreak of Ebola, 9/11 and UKIP. This task also helped my character (Lynette) because when all the reasons for why racial division is good were being explained, I could really feel Lynette agreeing to every single one, so it's like I got to see inside her head of what she thought of everything politically. 

My performance is this Thursday night, I'm more excited than nervous, but still nervous. It will be my first performance whilst studying at Brit! I can really feel that my characterisation is improving and the only thing I need to work on for my performance is to be able to raise my voice so that when I shout it's much louder than when I say my other lines!

- Matilda ^_^

13/10/14 - Acting skills audit and reflection

Here is my acting skills audit for 6/10/14 and the reflection I did today.

 - Matilda ^_^

7/10/14 - Improvements and lesson work

Monday's lesson, my birthday :D (6/10/14) was a lesson that was basically just a few run-throughs and then feedback. I wasn't given any feedback except to project my voice like I'm on a stage, not in a classroom. I hope I projected more but if not then I can practise again in Thursday's lesson.

I think that it's a good thing that I didn't get any feedback because it means that I have to figure out what I'm doing right and what may need working on by myself. The director's words of advice is obviously important too but I feel like it's better to develop my skills independently.

During the second run-through Mr Warden popped in to see how we were getting on and his feedback was pretty positive! He said to remember that we are actors and we must always act like it, whether on stage or not. I also learnt a new word 'catalyst' which means something that is the 'spark' of an idea. For example, the catalyst for Lynette being mentally ill was when she got beaten up by the group of noughts.

I also took into account what my peer told me last week. Harmony told me that I should use more colour in my voice and that my facial expressions needed some work. I focused on perfecting those features and I think that on my Monday, I had given my best performance yet. 

We have just over a week until the real performance and I'm really excited for my parents to see what My cast and I have created in just a couple of weeks!

Here is my reflection from my audit:      

- Matilda ^_^

2/10/14 - Peer assessments

In today's lesson, we got into groups so that me and my partner, Rory, were with another two groups (Harmony and Benji, Connor and Taffy). In these groups we had to watch each other's performances and then write about one of them on a peer assessment sheet. On the sheet was the performance marking criteria, that explained what a pass, merit and distinction was. There was also a 'student friendly' box that just watered down the technical language so we could easily understand what we had to do to achieve the goal we wanted. There was a space for us to write where we thought the peer was at level-wise. Finally, at the back of the sheet was a big box to write in advice for your peer if you had any. 

I assessed Connor and Taffy's scene. Their scene was the very simple phone call scene. I found it very hard to assess this as the scene was so simple, but in the end they gave a pretty good performance and I was able to write both good comments and what they would need to improve on. 

Rory and I were the first pair in our group to perform and Harmony assessed me and Benji assessed Rory. I know during that I didn't give it my all that time around because my voice was playing up and I had to keep clearing my throat! (I've been very ill the past week and I'm recovering XD) Harmony's feedback is really helpful and I thank her for taking the time to write it so detailed. 

Everything that Harmony wrote I totally agree on. My hand gestures and movements are on point but I need more facial expressions and tone in my voice to compliment it. My character is Lynette and I think she is a hard role to play because of her mental illness and traumatic past/experiences. To help me perfect my gestures, I'm going to refer back to my audition role. 

To get into the Brit School, I performed a monologue from 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time'. You may be wondering why I'm referring back to this but I feel, personally, that Christopher and Lynette are quite similar. Christopher has aspergers so my monologue was of me standing there with my shoulders hunched, not really looking anywhere specific and my tone of voice was the same, almost monotone. The hand gestures and little movements I did during my scene really reminds me of what I have to do with Lynette. 

Finally, from all of this, I have figured that I need to show that Lynette is very distant from reality so she needs to be staring off into space and I think that, in my opinion, she would sound quite monotone at times to show emphasis on her spacey/dreamy personality. However, I need to be able to show this without people thinking I'm just bad at acting and that I can't use facial expressions.

I hope this all makes sense, it's just been in my head and I had to write it down somewhere, so why not on my theatre blog xD!   

- Matilda ^_^

2/10/14 - Audit (On time! YAY!)

Here is my acting skills audit for this week and on time! I will write my reflections on Monday (AKA My birthday!)

- Matilda ^_^

2/10/14 - Script progression

I have added a lot more detailed notes on my script that I think will help me perfect the portrayal of my character. I've realised that writing notes on my script or in my notebook really helps me when I'm at home and I need to practise. I have a few shots of my script and the red writing is the new writing. My script is such a mess so I had to photocopy it before writing on it again because the original was practically falling apart! The notes I have written on my script are like a step-by-step guide of my character's feelings and how she's feeling throughout the play so I can clearly see how I have to act, whether is over the top or very subtle.  

- Matilda ^_^