We began the day with some drama games and warm ups. We also tried some new relaxation exercises to relieve tension. All of these helped to make me feel a lot more relaxed and ready to perform.
Later we took part in more improvisation tasks. This time, the objective was to speak nonsense in a foreign language, or say the word 'banana' repetitively, as someone else translates for the audience as to what they are 'supposedly' saying. I believe that we did this to improve our physicality (the quality of being physical, especially when emphasised or over emphasised) on stage, as we are not concentrating so heavily on what we are saying. I volunteered to take part in the improvisation task, but I must make sure that I always face the audience, otherwise they will quickly looses interest,as you loose your connection to them.
Afterwards we were asked to retell a fairy tale. We were given a few minutes to plan this in groups of 5/6. Our group decided to retell the story of 'Hansel and Gretel' in which I played 'The Wicked Witch'. Everyone put their ideas forward and I made an extra effort to do this. However, when we came to perform it, we were given 1 minute or less and so the piece was quite rushed, but I thought it worked well considering the time limit.
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We were asked to read through The NHC Christmas Production's Script. This year, Performing Arts Students will put on a 'The Cinderella pantomime'. I was nervous to read to begin with, as I was worried about how my poor reading ability might affect me in the task, but later I volunteered to read as 'The Baroness' (also known as 'The Wicked Stepmother'). I didn't I embraced the character as much as I could have, as I never understand what's going on when I first read through things. I thought that my voice was out of control and I continuously stumbled over my words. It is essential that I practise reading more monologues at home to help with my reading skills and with getting into character straight away.
My first impressions of The Character were that of an evil woman, who was incredibly jealous of Cinderella. I spoke loudly, to show that she had a high status and was incredibly confident. I gave her a posh voice, as past performances I've seen of this character have given her a posh voice. I think it also makes her seem like somewhat of a snob, who looks down her nose at everybody. I tried to use the lower part of my range (the area of variation between upper and lower limits on a particular scale- in this case the limits of my speaking voice), as I thought it would make her more intimidating and authoritative (especially towards her husband, The Baron).
I feel that I concentrates too hard on the accent of the character and less on reading the correct words and breathing where appropriate. I had no difficulty in projecting, especially as I used my diaphragm to push my voice. However I feel that I lowered my larynx too far, which gave me less control over the characters voice. I also have a tendency to panic before my line, as I fear that I will stumble over my words, which is exactly what I end up doing. I should engage in breathing exercises before reading tasks to calm myself down. e.g. exhaling for longer than exhaling, which will make me feel more relaxed.
These are diagrams of the larynx, which is situated in the throat. You can lift and drop the larynx to speak/ sing in different pitches. You lower the larynx to sound low pitched and raise the larynx to sound high pitched.
After The Read Through at college, we were given a copy of the script, so that we could read through it at home, to decide which characters we might have liked to audition for (one of which would be a solo audition and the other, would be in a group with our peers) and to learn part of our chosen characters' lines off-by-heart. I read the script out loud twice, reading every line, in each different character, that was in the play. I did this the first time so that I could practise my sight reading and acting technique and the second time for the same reason, but also to decide which characters were more suitable for me to play.
I decided that I would audition for 'The Baroness' as a solo piece and as 'The Fairy GodMother' as a group audition. I have found that the best technique for me to learn lines is to read the lines over and over again. Therefore, I set myself a task, in which I had to read all of The Baroness' lines, from separate scenes, at least 10 times, until I decided which part of the script I would most like to act out. I chose a scene which involved The Baroness in a heated argument with her husband. I thought that this was the best scene for me because it was quite a tense scene, and I have a lot of experience of acting out arguments with other actors. I then set myself the task, of having to read her lines from this scene at least 10 times a day (until the day of the audition). I also found that reading against members of my family helped, as this helped me to remember my cues.
I did exactly the same for 'The Fairy GodMother'. I read all of her lines, from separate scenes', at least 10 times, until I decided which scene was most suitable for the group of peers that I was going to audition with (i.e. a scene which involved all of the characters we wanted to audition for). After discussing the scene with the group, they were all happy about it, as it involved 'The Fairy God Mother', 'Cinderella' and 'Buttons'. I set myself another task, which meant that I would read 'The Fairy Godmother's' lines from this scene at least 10 times a day (until audition day) in order to learn them off-by-heart. Although I was able to work on my characters physicality and speech, I had to wait until I was with the other members of my group so that we could work against each other and work out how we would use the stage.
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