On February 12, my ensemble and I delivered two performances of 'East End Tales' which we have been working on for about two terms now. It was performed with physical theatre, lack of props and scenery, and no conversational dialogue. I think our performance was a great success and everyone should be proud of what we achieved, I know I am!
We developed ideas for the performance by using the play-script itself, doing deep research and also class discussions. In the early stages of research, we discussed altogether that because there isn't a specific role to give out, we should have to think of a creative and imaginative way to perform 'East End Tales' The script was structured out as a monologue, also like a poem, and so we decided that physical theatre would be a good option. I had never done any form of physical theatre in drama before so this was exciting to me. This term wasn't just working on physical theatre, but also improvisation. I don't particularly like improvisation, but in these past two terms, I've grown a bit more comfortable with it. During the rehearsal process, I could see that we made progress every lesson. We made progress in our improvisation, team work, listening and leadership. We let everyone have their own individual moment. Before the actual rehearsals, we did mini improvisations of our own so we could interpret the texts ourselves with our own views and opinions.
There were a lot of strengths in the final piece and there were a lot of moments that worked really well. One moment that really stood out was in tale 5 where Taffy is being carried away by other actors. This was to symbolize her body being taken away after her death. My favourite moment was in tale 6 when the lady puts her hand on the man's shoulder and his anger melts away. I think this moment affected the audience because the whole scene was very suspenseful because his anger was building up and then it suddenly vanishes. We wanted the audience to feel a connection with the characters as the man was letting his guard down and we wanted the tense feeling to have an impact on the audience, we wanted them to feel emotion for the two people. I think the scene was perceived well by the audience because it was a very still, quiet moment for the play, with nobody moving. An effective moment created by another actor was Harmony's line 'You are the weakest link, goodbye.' This line was effective because it created a small atmosphere of humour because in a way, it took the idea of domestic violence and sort of made it surreal, as if it was just a game, or a TV show.
The two main weaknesses of the piece were pace and the storytelling. Especially in tale 2, the pace was quite slow, I wanted people to be interrupting each-other, in which I tried to do but the pace of the scene kept me back from doing it. If the pace was faster then it could have been 10x more exciting. What made up for the lack of speed was the way in which each line was delivered, everything was spoken differently to give the tale levels. The storytelling itself could have used a bit more commitment from everybody. It's a story, so it should be thrilling when you tell it to someone who hasn't heard it. We should be accounting each story as if it's the first time we're telling it.
The main acting skill I have developed is trusting someone else and working in a team who all have different ideas. I don't particularly like working in groups, but this project has let me put trust in my classmates and not have to be the only one doing any work for once. I have learnt that acting isn't all about dialogue, you can show a great lot of emotion and messages through your physicality and just overall using your body.
Reflecting on my personal management skills, there isn't a lot to say to be honest. I learnt my lines during the Christmas holidays, I always made sure to stay focused in the classroom and I gave 100% effort every rehearsal.
In conclusion the performance went very smoothly both times (even if I was pretty ill) and I think I have definitely developed my skills as an actor by participating in this project. I feel more confident with improvisation, team work and physical theatre. I can't wait for the next project!
- Matilda ^_^
Monday, 16 February 2015
16/2/15 - Overall research
This is an overall evaluation of the research that I did for this project.
'East End Tales' is set in the East End of London (east of the Roman and medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames.
The play doesn't exactly specify where in the East End it is set so you can imagine the story happening anywhere there. To be honest, the tales and stories that occur in this play don't just take place in the East End, they can happen anywhere.
'East End Tales' doesn't have a specific day, month or year in which it is set in. It is set in the present, it is set right now, this very second because the drama in the play are things that happen every single day, these things can happen to anyone at any random time.
The East End has always been, stereotypically, a rough area to live in, an example of this is it's portrayal in the media ('Eastenders'). The writer, Fin Kennedy, wrote his play using photos and news articles from local newspapers as inspiration. Some of the tales are quite gritty and dark, but some are also quite happy and very easy to connect with, showing that the East End cant be as bad as anywhere else. (Although I am saying this but I haven't been many times myself so I don't know first-hand).
Also, the specific tales Kennedy chose to write about are very relatable, not like if you've experienced any of it primarily, but it does appear in the news a lot or if you've witnessed it yourself from friends, family or neighbours.
Here are some links to news articles and photos that could influence a play like 'East End Tales':
Bow cab driver pleads guilty to sexual assaults
Pupils pack East End Jewish cemetery to remember Auschwitz
Stroke survivors hold public fair in East End to explain how to avoid risk
As I've never really been to the depths of the East End, this research had helped me an awful lot. I also got a lot of research out of some of my classmates because Jake and Matteo both live in the East End, so we got told stories about certain interesting characters in their area, the scenery and the overall atmosphere. They said that the atmosphere is pretty good as everyone knows each other and it's a good community. Of course there are drugs and crimes but the towns aren't all run down and dodgy.
Research helped me with my characterization. I'm not playing one character, I'm playing multiple characters, like a narrator, along with everybody else in my ensemble. Learning about the different types of faces and people in the East End of London helped me to differentiate my speech and objective to every character.
- Matilda ^_^
'East End Tales' is set in the East End of London (east of the Roman and medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames.
 |
| East End present day |
 |
| East End 1882 |
'East End Tales' doesn't have a specific day, month or year in which it is set in. It is set in the present, it is set right now, this very second because the drama in the play are things that happen every single day, these things can happen to anyone at any random time.
The East End has always been, stereotypically, a rough area to live in, an example of this is it's portrayal in the media ('Eastenders'). The writer, Fin Kennedy, wrote his play using photos and news articles from local newspapers as inspiration. Some of the tales are quite gritty and dark, but some are also quite happy and very easy to connect with, showing that the East End cant be as bad as anywhere else. (Although I am saying this but I haven't been many times myself so I don't know first-hand).
Also, the specific tales Kennedy chose to write about are very relatable, not like if you've experienced any of it primarily, but it does appear in the news a lot or if you've witnessed it yourself from friends, family or neighbours.
Here are some links to news articles and photos that could influence a play like 'East End Tales':
Bow cab driver pleads guilty to sexual assaults
Pupils pack East End Jewish cemetery to remember Auschwitz
Stroke survivors hold public fair in East End to explain how to avoid risk
As I've never really been to the depths of the East End, this research had helped me an awful lot. I also got a lot of research out of some of my classmates because Jake and Matteo both live in the East End, so we got told stories about certain interesting characters in their area, the scenery and the overall atmosphere. They said that the atmosphere is pretty good as everyone knows each other and it's a good community. Of course there are drugs and crimes but the towns aren't all run down and dodgy.
Research helped me with my characterization. I'm not playing one character, I'm playing multiple characters, like a narrator, along with everybody else in my ensemble. Learning about the different types of faces and people in the East End of London helped me to differentiate my speech and objective to every character.
- Matilda ^_^
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