Drama Unit 1: Storytelling Reflection

With the Unit 1 of Drama finally concluded, the time has come to reflect on our learning. It was nervous, to say the least, but simultaneously, relieving. I thought our group performed pretty well, all things considered, despite our setbacks. I enjoyed the performance, as the weeks of practice that we endured, all to try and make the best possible piece.

As with every piece of Drama, ours (the Cat in the Hat) had its setbacks. Most notably of which was the fact that Akash switched from DT to Drama roughly halfway through the creative process, and became a part of our piece. Not only did this call for significant changes in our piece, such as the rearrangement of roles (completely cutting out Sally from the piece), but it also meant the recreation of a scene we had already planned out (the scene with Thing 1 & 2). However, this pushed us to improvise, adapt, and overcome to difficulties, and, overall I think this improved our piece significantly.

It was difficult to play the Cat in the Hat, as there is a certain level of pressure that accompanies fitting into the role of a significant character, especially one as iconic and eponymous as the Cat in the Hat, as he gives the play its name. I felt that my efforts to create a wacky and zany personality to compliment the Cat in the Hat’s actions and emotions went rather well, considering the setbacks and issues we faced. I had to balance being an interesting enough character to not appear 2-dimensional to the critical eye but also being interesting and funny enough to make the children (our audience) feel involved and invested (emotionally) into the character.

One of the largest elements that had an impact on not only the creative process but how I change as an actor, was the idea of moulding our piece to interest and fit our audience, which was, in this case, a class of first-graders. We had to make our piece fun, fast-paced, energetic, and zany, to “hook” the children’s attention, and “reel” it in. I felt that we incorporated this into our constant fluctuation between low-energy, melancholy scenes (the Cat being scolded, Thing 1 & 2 being caught, etc.), with high-energy, fun scenes (the Cat balancing the Fish, Thing 1 & 2 playing, the Cat cleaning up, etc.). In this, I felt we captured a perfect balance between high and low energy scenes to offer some level of variety into our piece.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *