Brothers Grimm: Iron Hans, 12/6/2014

Today we nearly finished Iron Hans.

To start with we all set up the stage and then decided on what play we should do, although we had already set up for Iron Hans.

This afternoon we will rehearse Hansel and Gretel because we haven't really rehearsed this and I didn't have any ideas of directing it.

We went on to split into two separate games and do the 'Wizard of Oz' exercise.

We had to choose a line and action from Hansel and Gretel.

For Gretel we had: "How do we get out of this enormous forest?" with her arms raised and walking around in a small, clockwise circle.

For Hansel we had: "Don't worry Gretel, I will save us" with him raising his hand on the first line, then stepping forward with a finger pointed upwards on 'I will save us'.

For the Father we had: "No no wife, I can't do that", he was hunched over with his hands clasped and shaking his head.

For the Mother we had: "You did it before, so you'll do it again". She slowly folded her arms over her chest and glared at the person in front of her.

For the Witch we had: "Put your finger out so I can see if you're plump". The witch was lunging forward with her upper body leaned back, finger held out and shoulders up and squinted eyes since she can't see anything.

We then went onto carry on with Iron Hans but didn't have much time left for this, we didn't get very far on with this piece.

As another element to this piece we are using tall bamboo sticks which are decorated. These are being used as the soldiers are going to war with their 'swords flashing in the sunlight'

Brothers Grimm: Iron Hans and arguments, 9/6/2014

Today, we all managed to have yet another argument. But not with each other, only sometimes we would end up shouting at one another which was generally me and someone else shouting because I wanted to move myself so I wouldn't be distracted.

We started late anyway because of some exams but then set up the stage on a smaller ratio. This meant we were limited when we started to run through the piece because when Iron Hans is tackled, we under estimated the space we now had. I moved the stage back a bit but got told off because we were meant to be in a limited space, I only moved it so that people wouldn't get hurt whilst running through the piece.

Before this we were told to do 'meditation' type exercises but everyone started to shout about this and just wanted to start the piece already and not waste anymore time which we keep getting moaned about for. We then started these but someone started laughing and distracted us all. So we had to do it again and everyone still ended up distracting one another.

When we started the piece I had to stand in for the First King again to show what we had done. People were talking over the top of me so I just ignored them and carried on whilst shouting the lines.

We didn't get very far with this piece because Iron Hans nearly got hurt because the set was in the way and there wasn't enough space to tackle him to the floor. But he was fine and there was actually space. Instead people just got into trouble for messing around. Which they weren't. They were just rehearsing the piece.

Once we tried to add on more to the piece, people were still distracted and talking and annoying one another. I was focused and waiting for my part or going over the piece.

Overall, I think we only added on about two more pages of script.

Brothers Grimm: Lady and The Lion 6/6/2014

Today we worked on Lady and The Lion. Although this was a rough work out of the play from the start to the end since we didn't have our main character who plays the Lion. 

We had two directors working on this and went through it quickly. Even though sometimes we would end up off task because we would suggest an idea and lead on with that and expand then loose ourself from the original point. 

Our idea for this play is that we use shadow puppetry with a screen to show the Lady's journey following the Lion when he is a Dove or the fight between the Lion and Dragon Princess. But we weren't allowed to stay on the topic of shadow puppetry because we kept being told off about this which made everyone confused with what we were then going to act out and what would be shown by puppets. 

I feel like this lesson was successful because everyone just wanted to work and get this piece over and done with quickly without arguing. Although sometimes there will always be arguments between us all. 

This is one side of the stage where we have a gate with flowers on and nice colours which is the summer/spring side of the Lions castle

This is the other side of the Lions garden. We are using the iron gate which is black and dull, it represents the dead side of the garden where it is still in winter.
As a group we felt like this would show the difference between the gardens.

Here is Daisy behind the screen. She is playing the Lady. This is when she is in the room with the Lion and he turns into a Dove. We haven't got around to deciding what the dove will be made out of so Daisy was using a book as the Dove which I think worked well. Others within the room thought otherwise.

Brothers Grimm: Iron Hans 5/6/2014

Thursday 5th June 2014

Today we decided that we would do Iron Hans because Luke was there and people needed a good part in order to get a better grade within the course.

We went through the task brief and now have a new date for our final performance which is July 1st.    Our performance will be to a year 7 class in the school space.

No one could decide who would direct Iron Hans because the main director wasn't in school and he doesn't do his work anyway and didn't care when we originally cut the play. So as a class we did decide to have our teacher direct us.

Miss quickly set up a stage area without any ideas. Although we did try to have some input in with the play but we weren't allowed because we weren't directing.

This is where the First King will sit at the start of Iron Hans. The Huntsmen will walk up to the King and around the audience when they get lost in the forest. This can also be used as a spring or be turned around to show the blue screen which matches the screen behind the cage and then turned around when the Boy goes to the spring.

This is Iron Hans' cage in the centre of the front of the stage so the audience can see him. When we aren't acting on stage we will sit beside the cage and then step up when we are acting and have something to say.

I personally don't like us sitting on the stage when the piece is going on because it may take the atmosphere out of the play and the audience would possibly be more focused on us than the actors actually acting at the time.

We are using the two blocks for the huntsmen to stand on whilst looking into the spring. Some people did just jump on George who was playing Iron Hans to capture him. Although this ended up in George with three people on him and then falling to the floor. But this was good for the piece and shows that men will just jump on someone and not be afraid to throw themselves into something even when they don't know what it is and it is the one thing that has been making people go missing.

Brothers Grimm: Hansel and Gretel, Ashputtel 23/6/2014

Friday 23rd May

Today we came to a conclusion of cutting Iron Hans. We were meant to rehearse this yesterday but Luke wasn't in and he is playing the main boy. We moved the rehearsal to today instead but, again, he wasn't in so we just decided to cut this if he wouldn't be committed and learn his lines in the future for this. Everyone agreed to cut this. Iron Hans was one of my favourite of the plays but not everyone can change due to one persons choice, we have to stick as a group and go with a majority vote. It is best to cut this anyway because we know that Luke has never really been committed to the class and probably won't learn his lines for this or take it seriously.


We then went on to rehearse Hansel and Gretel. As I am directing this, I decided that we run over what we had already done and add in Georgia since she wasn't in the lesson last week. We all worked together as a group for this piece because we all have our own ideas for it.
I came up with an idea that, for the start when the Father is talking, that when he is in the woods, Hansel and Gretel are running through the trees and playing since they are children and being introduced by the Father. Someone else came up with having the father walking through the woods when he is talking at the start as he is introducing the piece and he is a woodcutter. I decided that the Stepmother will be watching over the children playing in the woods.

This is a drawing we all contributed to on the board. We have the stage layout including pathways. This is clearly mapped out for everyone within the group and we were all writing down the ideas that we each came up with.

Scene Ideas
- Noises of animals when in forest
-Hansel and Gretel start in forest with father (mother watching over them)
-Trees different levels
-Trees get closer when getting further into the forest
- The actors being the furniture have to come down and be the trees
- Creating one big room for the actors
-When father, step mother, Hansel and Gretel go out to the forest the first time they travel the trees turn. Then the second time they travel they interact with H&G then walk around their fire
-Second tree interaction, H&G get lost - trees surround them more
-Trees coward away from step mother

These are all of the ideas that we each came up with during the first part of the scene when the family leave the house and head into the forest.
Our lesson was successful because we improved on the piece so that we all understood it and came up with ideas until they see the Gingerbread house. An idea was come up with that when they see the house, the trees will all point to it and show Hansel and Gretel their way.

In our next lesson we started to rehearse Ashputtel although I am not really in this play. I recorded the lesson. However the fire alarm did go off in the middle of the lesson and we all had to leave. Soon enough we all went back into the lesson and carried on up until the fire alarm going off again at the end of the lesson. Most people were focused in this lesson and they were coming up with good ideas for the piece to make it successful.

Directors Jodie and Georgia coming up with initial ideas for the opening of the piece

Mother spirit (left) and Ashputtel (right) in the opening of the piece when Ashputtel is called to her mother on her death bed

 One of the step sisters (left), Jodie, and Ashputtel in the back waiting to start rehearsals

 The other step sister, Georgia

Both step sisters will start sitting by the audience as they start their story as beggars

 Father (Nikky) with Mother Spirit (Molly) as she is on her death bed

Father and Mother Spirit

Brothers Grimm: Learning Lines 22/5/2014

Thursday 22nd May

Today, in our first lesson, we were suppose to be rehearsing Iron Hans. But the main actor wasn't in school so we swapped around our rehearsal for Ashputtel to this lesson and Iron Hans will be tomorrow.

I didn't do much within the lesson because I'm not in Ashputtel. Instead I started learning my lines for Hansel and Gretel but did struggle with beginning to learn this and ended up giving up. I drew out the staging area to come up with a pathway of when Hansel and Gretel walk through the woods but got told to stop and just learn my lines instead which I really didn't want to do. I was learning lines with someone else but he didn't have a script so we had to share one but he took hold of it and left me without one. Everyone else in the class was using their scripts to rehearse Ashputtel so I couldn't borrow one either.

Brothers Grimm: New Building Plans 19/5/2014

Monday 19th May

Today we went on a tour of the new building. We went into the new performing arts space which is a big stage area with bleacher seating.

When we came out of the building we started to make plans for our Brothers Grimm performance of Hansel and Gretel. Since this new area has bleacher seating we aren't really able to have the audience wherever we want them such as in the round or transverse.

Since the stage can change levels I decided that I wanted Hansel and Gretel's house to be on stage right but on a lower place than the witches house which would be next to it. This shows that Hansel and Gretel have been hit by the poor society, famine and hunger with their starvation. The witches house will be stage left but on a higher level to than the family. The woods will then be on the floor in front of the audience since there will be a big space between the seating area and the stage.

I then came up with another idea of having the woods on the stairs of the audience. They would come down from the gates by the lighting box on the balcony. However there are many scenes which are performed within the woods so this wouldn't be a good idea to do.

There were other ideas for the atmosphere of the piece for the audience, someone came up with the idea of having the audience just sitting on their own as a one person seat and the woods would be around them. Since sitting on your own within a theatre would be creepy and eerie anyway, having the scots work around you would add to the affect of the piece that we want to achieve.

This is the new staging area at its different levels 

 Here is a view of the stage from the balcony where the lighting box will be. The audience will go up to near the black thing is on the floor or just before there.

This is the balcony area, where the black pipe is is where the lighting box will be. On the far left and far left will be gates for the audience to get don to their seats.

Brothers Grimm: Schedule 16/4/2014

In our first lesson for Brothers Grimm, we went through our performance date which was June 19th. But this had to be changed because there are exams this week and there may be exams in our performance space so we have put the date back to 26th June. This gives us more time for rehearsals since we hadn't started at this point.

We then spoke about our performance space and whether we should go to the primary school to perform or if they would come here. There were only 5 of us within this lesson as everyone else was in an exam. We didn't come to a conclusion on this though so hopefully we can decide this on a later date when everyone is there. 

I then picked out all of the dates which are before the performance and wrote them up on the board. We figured out how many lessons we had left which are about 18 all together because we have two lessons on a Thursday and Friday. 

 I then moved on from writing up the dates and we decided what lessons we would do what plays in. I wrote up each play and then assigned them to each day and lesson.

They go as:

22nd May - Period 1 - IRON HANS
22nd May - Period 5 - LADY AND THE LION

23rd May - Period 1 - HANSEL AND GRETEL
23rd May - Period 3 - ASHPUTTEL

5th June - Period 1 - IRON HANS
5th June - Period 5 - LADY AND THE LION

6th June - Period 1 - HANSEL AND GRETEL
6th June -Period 5 - LADY AND THE LION

Each week repeats like this.

On our Monday lessons on these dates we are going to have the Historical Context lessons but during these lessons we will have one on one with our teacher to sort out all of our paperwork for our units. 

After this Sophie and I explained our idea as directors for Hansel and Gretel. Although these weren't accepted which then caused a 'heated discussion' with our teacher and everything quickly became awkward and silent. 

The next lesson Sophie and I started to direct Hansel and Gretel and talk about the forest scenes to do when everyone else would come back from their exam. We spoke about Snow White and The Huntsman when she walked through the woods and the trees would trip her over. This was the idea we wanted whilst she went through the woods. 

We then spoke about when Hansel and Gretel are left in the woods alone, the trees would move around them and enclose them but when they wake up the trees would suddenly move away. We also came up with when the bread crumbs are eaten, they will walk through the woods but the trees will move and make a maze and block off routes. The trees will be everyone else who aren't main characters in Hansel and Gretel. 

Once everyone else returned from their exam we put our idea into play but Sophie didn't want to direct so I done it on my own with other peoples help who were there when we discussed the idea. 

We went from when Hansel and Gretel left the house and moved into the woods with their parents. The trees would nudge us as we walked past the first time but only slightly. On the second time when we are with our parents the trees would move closer to us when we aren't looking. 

We also created a wall with everyone else in the class where Hansel and Gretel are listening to their step mother and father talk about leaving them in the woods. 

Molly came up with a new staging idea since transverse apparently wouldn't work. This was the staging idea. 

We will have the audience on a diagonal so they aren't facing each other and can see everything that is going on around them. This staging also works for the other plays as well. 

I feel like this was a successful lesson as we were further ahead in this play than any of the others which we hadn't started. 

Although a weakness of this lesson was that we weren't very focused because of the last lesson with an argument. We didn't really want to work and didn't like the idea of changing what we wanted. But we carried on anyway, well, I carried on and directed everyone. Molly did help me as I couldn't explain the forest scenes properly.

Brothers Grimm: Character/Task Brief 15/5/2014

Thursday 15th May

Today we were given our task brief for Brothers Grimm. We read through this and pointed out the tasks we needed to do. 

After this I thought that we just needed to not waste time with this piece since we don't have much time left. I asked if we could just sort out the characters since we never finished this the other day. 

We decided on the characters which now are: 

Hansel and Gretel

Hansel - George 

Gretel - Amy (Me)

Father - Nikky 

Stepmother/Witch - Gabby 

Lady and The Lion 

Lady - Daisy

Lion - Nikky 

Father - George 

Dragon - Jodie

Dragon Princess - Sophie

Wind - Amy (Me)

Sun - Luke 

Moon - Georgia 

Eldest Daughter - Gabby 

Second Daughter - Molly 

Iron Hans 

Iron Hans - George 

Boy - Luke 

Princess - Gabby 

Queen - Sophie 

First King - Jodie 

Second King - Nikky 

Huntsman - Georgia 

Knight - Amy (Me)

Gardener - Daisy 

Cook - Molly 

Ashputtel 

Mother Spirit - Molly 

Ashputtel - Sophie 

Father - Nikky 

Step Mother - Daisy 

Step Sister - Jodie 

Step Sister - Georgia 

Prince - Luke 

Brothers Grimm: Ideas 9/5/2014

Friday 9th May

Today we wrote down all of our ideas from yesterday onto a big piece of paper. I came up with a few more points on my own because everyone was distracted and talking to one another.

We then went onto using instruments to bring the first scene of Hansel and Gretel to life. I feel like as a group we struggled with this because we didn't want to use these instruments within our piece. I personally feel like recorded sounds would work better for Hansel and Gretel instead of the instruments we had. We had tap shoes but even then I feel like these wouldn't work well with the piece.
We used two blocks for the wall and done the first few lines of the piece before we got stopped.
As a group we didn't focus very well because there was a lot of noise coming from the other group with instruments and we just didn't want to use instruments because they wouldn't work.

Brothers Grimm: Atmosphere 8/4/2014

Thursday 8th May

We carried on reading Lady and The Lion in the morning, again, everyone would talk during certain parts or start to argue which is a key point which always happens.

Today we chose our characters for each play we will be doing. Although everyone started an argument over this and the plays we all wanted to do.
I chose to play Gretel in Hansel and Gretel because I wanted a main part in one of our plays since I feel like I haven't had one before. I didn't really like any of the other characters within the Brothers Grimm plays so I chose to play Gretel.
We then split off into groups and we picked out certain points of creating the Hansel and Gretel piece. We had to follow some questions/points of the creations.

- How do you want to affect the audience? How do you want them to feel?
  - Audience feel as if they are on edge when they are in the woods with Hansel and Gretel
  - Like they are in the play

- Atmosphere
  - Cold
  - Smoke - Dry Ice
  - Trees/twigs within the audience so they feel like they are in the woods
  - Dress the seats in black, makes the room darker
  - Dark lighting, minimal
  - Red and Blue lights to make purple, this is a dark colour which would make the room feel more like a tale where purple is used a lot

- Voice
  - Pitch - low tone
  - Volume - quiet, but loud at the same time
  - Rhythm - slow

- Sound
  - Wind
  - Whispering
  - Scuttle of animals
  - Owl
  - Leaves rustling
  - Owls/Foxes/Wolf howling

Brothers Grimm: Importance of Fairytales 2/5/2014

Friday 2nd May

Today we were talking about the physiological importance of fairytales.

We went through what some of our chosen tales are about, we came up with:

Iron Hans - Make the right of passage

Hansel and Gretel - Abandonment of children

Ashputtel - Father remarries and ignores his daughter

There isn't much of a variety with Ashputtel compared to the other stories. Each of these stories are all very similar and don't have much of a difference besides the meanings of the stories.


Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, 1843

Guardians of the FairyTale: 

The Brothers Grimm 

By Thomas O'Neill 

Once upon a time there lived, in Germany, two brothers who loved a good story - one with magic and danger, royalty and rogues. As boys they played and studied together, tight as a knot, savouring their childhood in a small town. But their father died unexpectedly and the family grew poor. One brother became sickly; the other, serious beyond his years. At school they met a wise man who led them to a treasure - a library of old books with tales more seductive than any they had ever heard. Inspired, the brothers began collecting their own stories, folk-tales told to them mostly by women, young and old. Soon the brothers brought forth their own treasure - a book of fairy tales that would enchant millions in faraway places for generations to come. 


Fairytales teach children how to handle their problems. From watching and listening to characters within a story, they help us connect to our own lives and show us how to overcome dreams and anxieties and also what we would do in their shoes. Fairytales will help children how to navigate their lives as they grow up. We are shown that our problems can be overcome even in the darkest of our days. Real life situations are put into scenarios and the characters we watch are overcoming them, this gives us hope that we can overcome what we are struggling with in life.

Rapunzel within Tangled is afraid to leave her tower because of her mother. She has a dream that she is trying to achieve but she keeps having to stop because of her fears. The audience is shown that even if you have a dream that you are afraid to achieve, you can achieve it when you try. Rapunzel is afraid to leave her tower where she has been for 18 years, her mother ties her to it and protects her from the outside life just for Rapunzel to go out into the big world, flee the nest and go out on her own. This is all she wanted to do. And this is like a normal teenager who is just wanting to leave and go against their parents rules but we are being stopped by parents. Disney gives children and adults the hope that we can achieve anything and this is why fairytales are important. Disney princesses and the other characters give us hope that we can do anything even when we get put down and think that we can't do this.
When Rapunzel 'sees the light', she reflects upon her life within the tower when she goes back, after seeing the light as if it is from a light from Christ, she realises her fate and her real life, who she really is.
Even the title of "Tangled" presents the problems we come across, that our lives will get in a mess of knots and we will get tangled up in them. The story then uncovers and 'untangles' the title and shows us how to sort out our problems.

Beauty and The Beast shows that we can love anyone, no matter what they look like, the love is always there and we are motivated to love someone, no matter who they are. Belle isn't aware that the Beast is a prince, but she falls in love with him anyway, not because of his heritage or that he is a beast. We are taught to accept the ugliness inside of us, even if this is acne or if we don't like how we look. The beast teaches us to accept this and the flaw we have is ok because he is accepted and loved, just because of how he looks. If you relax and accept your flaw then you can learn to ignore it, such as the beast does, he ignores his flaw and forgets about it which is why the rose nearly dies, he doesn't notice that his time is wasting away because he is happy that someone has actually fallen in love with him, despite his beastly-ness. Its one thing to be beautiful on the inside but its another to be beautiful on the outside. 

A View from The Bridge: Performance 12/2/2014

Today we had our performance and technical run.

Technical Run
We done this from 8:55-9:55 and then 11:15-12:00. In the first hour we done the technical run, we ran half of our scenes with the lights and sound and also decided that we should run our scenes into each other instead of having blackouts between each. This showed that we were still the same characters and were natural in a house. Not stopping all the time and suddenly being in a different place. After half of our scenes were done we decided to top and tail each scene. We took the first lines and last lines of each scene and went to our opening then closing positions of the scenes. This gave the technical people an idea of when and when not to give black outs and also play the music whilst we changed the set or actors.

A View from The Bridge: Final rehearsal 11/2/2014

Today we had a final rehearsal and then our final dress rehearsal. We also hot seated each character apart from Eddie because he wasn't in until later.

The hot seating was when each character sat down in a seat and was asked questions about their character and what was happening. When we done this we knew the story well but hadn't looked into a back story for each character. Although people came up with a backstory on the spot, we still had not researched into this. I was asked questions about finding out when Rodolpho could sing and also about Eddie. Although I am not very good at being put on the spot, I feel like I did stay in character and came up with the things Catherine would say.

What held us back with not having Eddie was that we did have to act to ourselves and show reactions to no one without this character being there. So I had done all of my scenes without Eddie, just someone reading in for him, he did then turn up after my scenes so I didn't end up with much of a rehearsal with him.
Whilst everyone else was doing their scenes I was always going through my script, rubbing out and re-doing where each extract started and ended, also stage directions in certain scenes which I helped to direct. I also went to look for a coat for Eddie but could not find one within the costume cupboard.
Throughout this rehearsal we came across props that were needed such as extra coffee cups and a cigar which we still did not have.

In the dress rehearsal not everyone had a costume. I did not have a costume to play the immigration officer because I didn't know what we were wearing and the part was short notice for me.
Other than that the dress rehearsal went much better than the final rehearsal because everyone was up with their lines within an hour or two from the final rehearsal.

A View from The Bridge: Week February 3rd - 7th

All week I haven't really been needed in each rehearsal. We ran scenes 7 up until the end because these were the scenes which needed the most work and the lines were not learnt very well. I prompted the actors on stage when they forgot their lines which was basically all of the time.

We did also clean the scenes and re set them so that they were clear and looked well rehearsed, also so that the actors knew where they were going on the stage.

I did stay behind after school on Monday to talk about props and choose the costumes. We decided that we needed:
- A phonograph
- Some Records
- A cigarette
- Lighter
- Newspaper
- Old newspaper
- Round table
- Eddies seat
- A sofa
- 5 wooden chairs
- Coat rack
- Door frame
- Christmas decorations
- Coffee cups
- Tray to carry the coffee cups
- Jackets for the coat rack

The costumes we need are:
- Pink jumper for Catherine 1
- Black skirt for Catherine 1
- Heels for Catherine 1
- Shirt for Eddie, Marco, Rodolpho
- Skirt for Catherine 2
- Wedding dress for Catherine 3
- Braces for Marco and Rodolpho
- Flat cap for Eddie
- Dress for all Beatrice's
- Hairband for the wedding for Beatrice 3
- Wedding outfit for Beatrice 3

A View from The Bridge: Run Through 31/1/2014

31/1/2014

Today we carried on the run-through from yesterdays rehearsal. We only done a few scenes because these were the last few scenes and they hadn't really been blocked yet or even rehearse. Throughout our rehearsals we were more focusing on the first few scenes or the middle scenes, not the end.
The last few scenes had to be rehearsed more than once today as people would mess up their lines, read the wrong lines or just go wrong so that they had to start again.

When we got to one of the last scenes where Rodolpho and Marco are caught, we came across the fact that we needed two Immigration Police. Back when we were first talking about the scenes we would perform, we said that we would just have the Police offstage and have them talking from there. Yet when it came to that today, we decided that we should have the Police on stage. But as we acted out this scene, we did realise that it needed internal editing to get rid of certain parts and keep the time limit reduced.

A View from the Bridge: Runthroughs 30/1/2014

30/1/2014

Today we set up the stage and went straight for a full run through. However we only got half of this done as the bell went for the lesson to end and at the start of the lesson we spent a while talking about the extracts and trying to find a decent sized table for the scene. We had a slow start but in the end we were okay to start running. We didn't come across any issues with our rehearsal today.
We also used the lights today to have the audience dark and certain bits of the stage lit. But this was not a full technical run through.

Not everyone was off book like we should have been. We all had to keep looking down at our books to remember the lines, including me. There are some lines I can't get out when I try to speak. They get stuck and there is just a silence on the stage. Only sometimes though. Many people do get stuck on their lines but we don't know them that well, even though we have had ages to learn them.
I know some of my lines, but there are also those pages that just will not stick in my head.

When the lesson ended we were just going onto the next Beatrice and Catherine group.

The rehearsal went well but we are not very prepared for the upcoming performance. We haven't gone through costumes or props or the full lighting such as when lights will fade and if they will fade between our extracts. Barely anyone knows their lines which all definitely need to be improved upon in order for a good performance.

We now have come up with a schedule for rehearsals which will be every Monday, even though there are only two left. I personally feel like we need more rehearsals in our groups and also as a whole group to put the whole performance together. This was the first time we went for it and properly rehearsed with everyone and started bringing everyone together. I do not feel ready for the performance at all because we have barley done it as a group and also we haven't rehearsed much due to everyone needing the same person in their scenes.
A problem with trying to rehearse at other times is that some people can't do rehearsals after school due to jobs and other people wont rehearse at lunch because they are 'busy' when they aren't. Others seem against rehearsing and just see the play as a time to not take anything seriously and just take it as a laugh.

A View from the Bridge: More Blocking 24/1/2014

We carried on blocking the scenes out and performed the middle scenes on the stage. I wasn't in these scenes so I helped to direct then went and learnt my lines.
However I did keep getting distracted when trying to learn my lines because of the people around me who were talking to me and I just didn't have the patience to learn my lines.
I have been struggling lately with learning my lines. I have re written them on paper and on the computer to help me learn them but I can only get a few in my head.

A View from the Bridge: Staging 23/1/2014

Layout of the apartment - 23/1/2014

I had a rough idea in my head of how I thought the apartment would be laid out. But then we came across issues with the table within each scene and how everyone would be sitting around it - the seating arrangements had to be realistic. Not staged and looking fake.

These are the different arrangements for the flat I came up with. As a group we decided to have the kitchen, Eddie and Beatrice and Catherines bedroom all off stage. This gave us more space for the main room of the apartment to work in.


























































I was working along side someone else in my group, she came up with very similar set designs and we weren't exactly working together. We simply drew how we thought the apartment would be. But in the end we came up with near enough the exact same designs.

Since the group started to have a small debate over the set and the table being 'fake' because of seating arrangements, we split into two groups and each came up with new designs. One group were on the stage and the rest of us were back drawing on the board. When we went in to see what they had done, they were using one of the designs but changed it a little.
Once we all had finally set out the stage and entrances, exits, where bedrooms were and also acted in the space. We decided to move the door and Eddies chair to have a clear lay out and have space for Catherine and Rodolpho to dance in one of the scenes.
Having people act around in the stage with the layout was much easier than just drawing it because we were able to see were people would be stuck on getting to where they needed to go and we were able to see if everyone was able to be seen.
The scene being performed, I was not in, so I was the only one to sit back and watch with them in the setting. This meant I could see where things were going wrong with the table. Not everyone could be seen. So then we stopped and rearranged where people would be sat and moved everyone about.

Layout:
- Table: Downstage Left
- Eddies chair and extra chairs: Upstage right
- Beatrice/Eddies bedroom: Upstage centre
- Catherines bedroom: Upstage left, off
- Kitchen: Downstage left, off
- Front door and coat rack: Downstage right
- Street: Across the front of the stage on the floor, audience level
- Alfieris office: Downstage right, on the floor, audience level

Having the street and Alfieris office being level with the audience meant that we could use the stage for the apartment and the audience level for anything extra which will be happening. As there are a lot of props to be laid out on the stage, there wasn't much room for a stage and the office. Also there is a large piano downstage right on the floor which limits us on where we originally wanted the office. I thought ahead, knowing the piano was there and decided to put the office on the other side of the floor area.

Some original images of the stage layout. We changed this one because there was a big gap downstage left and you wouldn't have a table infront of the door.

More recent images of the stage layout, before moving door and chairs

A View from the Bridge: Blocking 16/1/2014

16/1/2014

Over the day we blocked out the first couple of scenes. This helped us know where we were going on the stage and also know when to leave and enter. We haven't run all of the scenes yet and there are still some which haven't been ran. This was a better way of acting out each scene because we knew exactly where we were going and the people who were not in the scene all acted as directors and put in their own thoughts on where someone should go on the stage.
Everyone had their own say on when someone on the stage should sit down or where they should move to, also if the acting on stage was too still because many of the scenes are set around the table.

A View From The Bridge, 10/1/2014

10/1/2014

Today we started our 4th extract from A View From The Bridge. We started on the 4th one because not everyone was in the lesson. Therefore we took people from other extracts for them to stand in and were directed by the people who were not in the extract since there were no more roles to fill in.
This took a while to try to put together because some people were not focused and also others were late. So we had then started with someone acting as one character, then the actual person playing that character came in and we all had to change about and tell him what to do.

The extract is two pages and a half and is also the first time we will meet Rodolpho and Marco who have come to America from Italy and are trying to get money in order to send it back to their families for food.

We set out the stage and planned where the kitchen, bedroom and front door would be so we could act properly in the area. This was only confusing because we had a lot of chairs about where we had set out where each room was. People would then be sitting on the chairs or move them about. We over came this by telling people strictly where they had to go and that they had to be quiet because we needed to get this done. Our group are more into talking and annoying one another than actually rehearsing. But once we told them that we really did have to do this scene in order to perform it and that we needed to keep going with our work, not keep stopping because people can't focus enough.

A View From The Bridge: Character Workshop Methods/Exercises

Over time we have done these exercises: 

Off text improvisation
We were in our Beatrice & Catherine pairs and had to come up with two improvisation scenes which would not have happened within the play. At first we wanted to create  a scene which was just after Eddie had died or at Eddies funeral. However this would not have helped us improve on our characters as it was not a scene that would have occurred throughout the play.
Instead we chose when Beatrice was taking Catherine for her job interview and also before the cousins arrive when Catherine was sent into the kitchen. Within the play Eddie sends Catherine to clean up the dishes but we do not see the scene within the kitchen, we just see the cousins arrive.
We only improvised one scene which was the one within the kitchen. Although some of the things we said within our improvisation were wrong, we still tried. We did struggle with improvising on the spot but it is helpful in case anything ever goes wrong within the play for someone to improvise on the spot.
Doing these scenes gave us sense of the types of conversations Catherine would've had with Beatrice and how they both were when Eddie was around.
We all showed our scenes but only gave one group tips on how they could improve their scene as they started laughing and didn't do anything. After we gave them tips they re done the scene but struggled again. Then we were all going to say 'stop' and take over from one character. But no one did do this.


'Wizard Of Oz Game'
This exercise is when you come up with a key line that a character says with a gesture. Since there were 3 Beatrice's and 3 Catherine's, each Catherine came up with their own key line for each section and the same with each Beatrice. I came up with 'I got a new skirt, you like it?' and ran my hands over the skirt. This helps us memorise something the character says and we can link together the characters.

 Conscious Alley
At first I did not understand this game. It was when we chose a situation that the character was in and everyone else stood on either side of this character. One side was saying reasons for not doing something and the other was saying the reasons for doing something.
We chose Eddie and his situation of calling the immigration police or not. I was on the side of reasons for calling immigration. I came up with reasons such as 'You'll have your niece back' and 'Rodolpho will be gone'. But as I was on the end I had to come up with two thoughts on the spot and in a row. I struggled with this more because I didn't understand this exercise and wouldn't really know what Eddie would think because I was not playing Eddie. But then that was the point of this. If a character went wrong on stage, with us knowing their thoughts we could contribute to what is going on on stage.
We also put Catherine in the situation of loving Rodolpho. I came up with reasons that I thought she would like him from when I played Catherine such as 'He's a blonde'. Other people said about how Rodolpho cooked and created dresses.
I personally found that this game didn't help me because I wasn't in the Alley but I did also struggle with what was going on.

Status Game
With this we used cards with numbers 2-10 and a Queen, King and Jack.

A View From The Bridge, 9/1/2014

9/1/2014

Single Lesson

Within this lesson, we set out our first extract which is the opening scene of A View From The Bridge. We were doing this on the stage which is a Proscenium March setting. This was the first time we had properly started working on our extracts, since before we were doing extracts that we wouldn't actually perform because we all have one character in our scenes which means he has to keep changing groups.

We were directed by a girl in the class who is playing the same character as me. This was helpful because we could talk about how to act as Catherine and that she is a lot younger than us even though she is the same age. She just doesn't know much about the world like we do and is an innocent girl who will do anything for her Uncle Eddie. We set out where Catherine would be sitting with Eddie until Beatrice, her aunt, came in and also their reactions to each other. I needed to be more of a child like Catherine would've been because the play is set in 1950s Brooklyn. Teenagers weren't educated as well since it was just after World War 2 and women were needed out of education to commit to war help.

We finally set out the scene and decided to perform it without our books which we were reading our lines from. There were a few lines which I got stuck on but they were the simple lines such as 'Why?'. Since this was our first actual time of reading the lines out together as a extract group, I wasn't use to how fast people would read their lines compared to how slow I was reading them to myself whilst trying to learn my lines.


Double Lesson - That afternoon

That lesson we had the single people missing from our lesson. This meant that some of us couldn't do our extracts and then Eddie had to be needed within another extract so I couldn't rehearse properly without him as most of my extracts are just conversations with him. Instead I stood in and played Rodolpho, but we didn't get to the point where I could say the lines because the first part of the extract had to be kept going over to get it perfect.