Today we had artists in residence from red leap theatre join our class. It was quite an interesting experience as we explored the role of group work, spatial and self awareness, textuality of scenes and even how to choreograph sequences. The energy of the lesson was always captivating and I was engaged throughout.
- Retrospective: Think back on some key learning? Why might have been important to you?
- When I look back upon the work I did, what strikes me the most is how quickly we dived into things. My biggest issue is that sometimes I like to stand around and flesh out idea, when in reality I would get a much better understanding if I just got up and started working. With our limited time we were forced to keep moving and developing.
- Another key point of learning would be recognising my role. We played a game where you made a decision to pause or keep moving, your role in the group was up to you. I think this taught me a valuable lesson about choosing my actions on stage and even in the devising process. Whether it is your turn to take control of a situation, or your turn to sit out and let someone else discuss.
- Intentional:List 2 or 3 things you intend to do with the skills or knowledge required today
- I definitely think I am going to use the walk about activity to get a good sense of my character. Whichever pace feels most natural can give you a great sense of your character’s emotions. Are they sad so they walk slow? Are they scared so they sprint?
- I also think I am going to incorporate physicality more into my pieces. Sometimes there is a misconception that all the best pieces are dialogue heavy and full of theatrical symbols, but actually sometimes facial expressions and movements tell the best story.
- Evaluative: What worked well? What was challenging? How did you solve the problem?
- Something that worked well was everyone’s attitude to try new things. The activities we did today were familiar to some and not to others, but everyone pushed themselves to perform to the best of their abilities.
- Something that was challenging was actually to synchronise everyone’s movements. I know with time it would’ve been better, but it shows us that our characters are always part of something bigger, and it is those links and connections we have to build.
- Action: List things to remember for the future or things to do next as a performer
- Give 100% to any role you play. With theatre sometimes we are pushed to do things that make us uncomfortable, and so we don’t give our full energy so as to not look silly. I learnt today that if you morph into the role you are playing and do the best of your abilities, that the audience will be more interested in the performance and won’t realise that you are nervous.
