Here are the exercises you did. For each one you should write what you learnt about the play by doing the task. Don't just describe the exercise. Say why you made the choices you did:
Working on the Prologue.
You created the prologue in pairs by adding in the other character’s lines.
What questions is the taxi driver asking and answering, what lines aren't in the text?
What did you create and why?
Me and my partner just looked at the part of the prologue that we were given and tried to figure out what text was missing. The paragraph we looked at and in fact the whole of the prologue seemed like we were just reading one half of a conversation. So we just discussed what the passenger's questions and responses would be and tried to keep the east end feel to the speech as we added in lines.We didn't want to change the piece too much because we the taxi driver and passenger relationship going and not make it seem like a completely different story.One are fist run through with others watching we performed the short extract by having the taxi driver sitting down on a chair facing stag left while the passenger was standing with his back touching the chair facing stag right.The idea behind not facing each other was to show the divide between the passenger and driver and to represent the intriguing concept of two people shearing a conversation without making any eye contact.
What did another pair do that was effective?
A Lot of the groups completely remade he scene into something really different which told a completely different story.This was most apparent and effective in a group which I think contained Roseby and Matilda but I can't be sure. They turned a scene that was just a rather casual conversation into a much more in depth story. One which covered the effect of abuse within the home with out changing much of the text.It also kept perfectly to the theme of the rest of the play as tail 5 has domestic violence as a focus.Yet the scene seemed to stand out on it's own more because the scene now had a completely different feel to it compared to the original text.I think that it really worked.
Hot-seating
You continued to explore the TAXI DRIVER.
You did a whole class hot-seat.
Why is hot-seating an effective technique to use in a rehearsal?
Hot -setting is an effective technique because the people posing the questions are furthering their understanding by exploring different aspects of the character they are questioning. It also benefits the person being questioned because it challenges them as an actor to improvise and having to think up answers on the spot deepens their understanding of what it means to be that character.
What did you learn about the driver?
Ensemble taxi driving:
Whole group activity to explore being a taxi driver.
You all became taxi drivers and created some improvised movement, thought of some lines that the driver might say.
Developed moments of ensemble work – could potentially be part of the final piece.
Explain what you did as a taxi driver. Why did you make these choices? (Think about character- voice/physicality.)
Unfortunately I feel that I portrayed my taxi driver much like everyone else did, in that we were all creating the same sort of character: sloughed,tiered,confident in himself. Perhaps there was not as much variety as there could have been but then again it might be a good thing that we all had a similar way of portraying a taxi driver.In creating lots of characters with the same feel to them we are subconsciously agreeing that the driver should be rough around the edges and a rather stereotypical east ender. I imagine that this will make it easier for when we do the final performance because we all share the same ideas.
What did other people do?
There was definitely a camp taxi driver within the mix which was completely unexpected and there were quite a few creative choices being made. But mostly everyone created a driver of a similar persona.There was a lot of us leaning back in chairs and spreading out our legs in order to look lazy.Almost everyone's faces were tired looking to show the effect of driving all day and all night.I saw that lots of arms were relaxed and slack with only one hand on the steering wheel to show that the driver is a confident bu relaxed driver.
How did you work as an ensemble?
TALE 8
In groups you read through TALE 8.
You needed to underline anything that suggested a location, weather, or atmosphere to them.
Write some examples of what you underlined OR take some photos of your script.
Eerie And hail stones bombard the darkness
She's standing in this alley-way
But to Michelle, queen of the concrete jungle
CREATE/REHEARSE
Once you'd done this you went through anything you'd underlined and created a series of sounds and some movement to develop the scene.
You were asked to focus on creating the atmosphere and think about being the buildings, the weather, and the atmosphere.
You were allowed to use some of the lines from the text – however you might have decided to just use your sounds and movements to tell the tale.
You then SHARED the work with the class and reflected.
The cawing of crows and the drumming of hail stones on rooftop and pavement were created by me with my voice and a plastic chair to create an eerie atmosphere.Other sounds like the chattering of monkeys were added to certain parts of the piece to illustrate the metaphorical jungle which Michelle was queen of. Throughout our piece we used very few words and I think the only line that was spoken was the phase"queen of the concrete jungle".
•
What was effective about the movement they had decided to use?When it came to creating the concrete jungle scene we made monkey sounds and pretended to be different jungle animals.We used are bodies to make the narrow alley ways through which Michelle walked by making two lines facing inwards.
To be honest a felt a little foolish jumping around like a mad thing, waving my arms around and portending to be a monkey. However I suppose it is good to get out of your comfort zone when it comes to theatre.It helps to build up your confidence and allows you to become more comfortable with different and unanticipated scenarios.
We could have creatd a more eerie atmospphere at the begining by adding more soinds to the piece.As well as reinforcing those sounds with creepy actions and sinister movement.If we had had more time we might have elaborated on the idea of the east end woman being "queen of the concrete jungle" which is a phrase that is very effective at creating imagery for the audience.In order to further this idea some of us could have bowed down to her while others waved palm leaves at her to keep her 'majesty' cool.
Do the sounds and movement have the same impact as just reading out the lines? Is it a better way to help tell this story?
I think that speaking the lines allows the audience to use their imagination to create an image for themselfs of the setting and atmosphere. If we take my favorite line in the scene "queen of the concrete jungle" for instance, when spoken aloud the audience can interpret what is being said in there own way and picture in there mind the setting that is not laid out on stage. However, this is theatre, not a book, using sounds and movements is a much more bold and startling way to deliver a story to an audience member. And also gives them less time to comprehend and come to terms with what is likely as series of abstract and interesting movements happening on stage. I therefore think that sounds and movements have more of an impact on the audience but do not allow them the same freedom that comes with spoken word.
No comments:
Post a Comment