Category: CAS

LO1: Identify their own strengths and develop areas for growth.

LO2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

LO4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

In Grade 11, I was part of a High School production called ‘In The Heart Of Robin Hood’. This was my first time being a part of a High School production. I played one of Prince John’s second-rate guards (they thought they were good fighters but were actually terrible). Even though I didn’t have a big role in the play, I was so grateful to be a part of this production as I really want to do something in the field of theatre and performance after graduating high school. In the past, I auditioned for other plays like Aida, but was never able to land a role. This was a completely new experience for me and gave me insight into how a play is put together behind the scenes. Being a part of Robin Hood helped me to gain more respect for those putting together shows. It takes a tremendous amount of effort and dedication to create a good performance. As an audience member, you only see the finished product of a show, which took months to practice and rehearse. You don’t really think about how much time the cast, director, lighting crew and sound crew invested into making a good production. Before being a part of Robin Hood, I already knew creating a show takes a lot of effort, but knowing and experiencing it first hand are two very different things.

It never occurred to me how much patience was required in the making of a production for those with minor roles. We were often required to sit and wait quietly for extended periods of time, while the director worked with other cast members, which was challenging for a lot of people. Thankfully, patience is one of my strengths and this wasn’t a problem for me.

Despite my love for theatre, being a part of Robin Hood was also a challenge for me as I have stage fright. I love theatre and want to work in the acting industry, but I don’t like drawing attention to myself or being the centre of attention in social situations. In order to be successful in this field, I have to find a balance between these two opposing forces and be comfortable and confident with the attention. However, this is very much out of my comfort zone. Having the presence of other actors on stage in Robin Hood gave me the support to feel confident in myself and helped me develop resilience. It is through my involvement with this production that I learnt I actually enjoyed being pushed a little out of my comfort zone. I love the thrill, excitement and exhilaration I feel when I perform in front of an audience, despite it terrifying me at the same time. With more practice and more experience, I imagine this becoming easier. Where some might shy away from this feeling, I feel drawn to it and want to overcome the fear. I want to continue to be involved in putting on productions and hope to gain experience with more important roles. I want to overcome my stage fright and become more relaxed and confident with an audience.

LO5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

At the start of Grade 12, I was part of the student directed performance Antigone. Despite having some experience in High School productions, being a part of Antigone was still a completely new experience for me, being that it was student-led as opposed to teacher-led. The COVID pandemic had a great impact on school life in general, but particularly on theatre performances. This year, the usually large High School production had to be divided into smaller productions, with smaller casts to comply with the COVID regulation protocols  There were four shows in total. I was really excited to have auditioned and been given a speaking role in the play, Antigone. Student-led productions are a lot more hands-on for the whole cast compared to the productions put on by the teachers, like In The Heart Of Robin Hood. We were often asked by the Director, as cast members, to devise our own scenes, enabling us to create intricate motifs and movements. Afterwards, we would all come together and try to create a nice, cohesive moment. We were all required to collaborate well, being respectful of all contributions from the cast and collectively decided on the direction of the play. It was important to recognise that each member brought something new to the group. Bouncing ideas off each other was an effective way to problem solve any issues we had, trying to create a specific intention.

LO2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

• Learnt about the different disabilities children may posses:
  • include symptoms and what the best way to help them is.
  • Helps us improve our skills in how to best support the children and their needs

Breathing Co-ordination

Alexandar ____ techniques

• Getting body back into natural alignment

• 1 technique: semi-supine position
  • get a book, lie on back, feet flat on floor, arms in t-shape
  • Breath, let gravity pull you down
  • Body will realign it’s self
    • Called constructive rest

• Silent la la la
  • Coordinates the breath (slows it down)

• • Push against wall while speaking lines – keeps you grounded and energised

Feedback:

• Do omnish (paints a picture)
• Pushing against the wall (make endings more sharp)
• Stop gloating
• Don’t rest things for the sake of reciting them, give a perspective

 

• you feel the words on the page and make them yours
  • Make your monologue true to you, make it sensor – make it more believable
• When speaking a classical monologue, don’t speak in rhythm, try and speak normally.

• Impatient of not hearing back from a text she sent
• Fidgety

• Frustrated
• Angry
• Upset at protese?
• Happy letter was from protease

Feedback:

• Go deeper into text
• Find a person who who love not form you family – put face to nurse
  • Love her
  • Being mean to her
  • Know who the nurse is
  • Someone who is an older woman who you trust
• can be a little skitzo – 14 year olds are a little skitzo when talking about love
• Have to know how hot Romeo is – find that person in your life
  • Know how exciting that is

Challenge:

• Understanding what’s happening

Success:

• Get out of the rhythm

Focusing on the musicality the voice

Gurning:

• Art of making silly faces

Omnish

• More gurning will change the way you sound

Exercise:

• Speak lines normally
• Speak lines in Omnish
• Speak lines normally again
• Notice the differences

Reflection

• Difficulties in speaking Omnish while speaking your lines (the same intention)
• Change in pitch and pace
• More animated in voice and facial expression
• Difference between first and 3rd read
• More emotion
• Gives us more, range, color , texture
  • Sounds we’re not used to making these sounds
  • More range, color and texture we have make us sound more interesting
    • Breaks the usual rhythms we get stuck in

ABAB:

• Get an idea of character playing though different tactics (e.g.: energise, fear, ..)
• Get story/understanding of character
  • Commit to the words and actions creates the allusion of character
• Pitch changes
• vouls shift
• Vocal energy can shift
• Texture
• change in speed and delivery
• Break habit, change tactics
  • More variety and options
• Hard with short word/phrase – can’t explore tactic much
• Adding nuance to the word
  • Creates more depth to the story
• Brings intention.

• What do you want form the audience?

• Zoom Call
• 4 sessions.

 

Job of an actor:

• Articulation/be heard
• Remain in character
• Remember lines
• Remember que’s

• Knowing what and when to say
• Being heard
• how much energy you should bring to the stage
  • Must bring freshness when repeating the scene
• Keep your breath
• Reality and truth of humanity
  • How do you use your props as if you use them every day (e.g.: smoking, using your whole body)
    • can use rosemary Tabasco instead of actually smoking
• Must have self care
• Must find own way to get into scene (e.g.: playing a drunk when you’ve never been drunk)
• Have to do all of this and make it look effort less

Given Circumstances:

• who
• What
• When
• Where
• why

The actor as detective

• Must read the text to get the given circumstances
• Must understand what is happening in the scene and why they said what they said
• At teh given time
• Don’t think of it as a speech, but as a series of thought
  • The character doesn’t have speech planed out,

Objective:

• I want
• I need
• I must have

Choose the strongest

Raise the stakes

How do I get it? – action

• As long as you can physically do it, that’s what gives it the “action”

• What’s in the way of achieving your objective? – gives you drama.

• Don’t want perfection/polished actor when auditioning
• Looking for actor who they can work with (actor will bring something the producers like)
• want to see your version of the character
• What motivates your character – what makes them human?
  • Take them off the classical/heightened language pedestal and make them human
    • there’s sometimes a tendency to put on an actor voice – don’t
    • Want to hear your voice
      • Want clarity of utterance (speak clearly)
      • Pace
      • Ease
      • All things that are far easier said than done

Homework: Study play:

Questions:

• Who are you? – Juliet
• Age? – 13
• Gender? – Female
• Race? – Italian
• Professions?
• Social status?
• Family? – daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet
• Relationships? – Romeo – love interest
• Education?
• Wealth? – wealthy family

For your speech specifically:

• Where are you? – Capulet’s Orchard
  • geographical – Verona, Italy
  • Environmental – garden
  • Time of day
  • Season
• Where have been
• Where are you coming from
• Where are you going
• What do you want? – to meet with Romeo

• What is fact
• What can you speculate/assume

• Zoom Call
• Did some imagery breathing techniques
• To free the voice, we need to free the breath
• Want to be honest when we use our voice
• Born with amazing body
• Over time with conditioning, things go wrong:
  • Can you please be quiet
  • All these muscular conditioning affects our vocal conditioning
• Excess muscular traction can hinder our communication despite feeling great
• Releasing tension
• Freeing the breath
• Allows expression and undoes the conditioning
• Breathing impulse is primary impulse
• Breath connected to voice – communicates better
• Freedom within the body will allow freedom within teh breath and vice versa